Representative Michele Bachmann appeared on Pivot TV’s talk show TakePart Live on Monday night to clear up some misunderstandings about the Tea Party, to comment on the ISIS situation, and to address the issue of marriage equality. Also at the table with her? Rocker and legendary party animal Andrew WK, who’s serving as a co-host of…

There’s a folder on my computer, buried deep in my iTunes library, that contains about a dozen of my all-time-favorite songs that I can barely stand to listen to. Opening that folder is like falling through the Sea of Holes in Yellow Submarine. Every track has the power to transport me out of this reality and…

Now that the media buzz from U2‘s surprise free album drop has died down, users who weren’t necessarily excited about the album—but found it in their music libraries anyway—are making their voices heard. Exactly how many copies of Songs of Innocence were actually downloaded is unknown, but it may be as few as 200,000. (Death and…

Bob Crewe, a writer and producer who was a force behind many hit songs—notably for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons—died on Thursday, of a brain injury, at the age of 83. Crewe wrote or co-wrote songs including “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Rag Doll,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” and the Labelle…

“Are you a Replacements fan?” As I participated in the excited run-up to the Replacements homecoming show at Midway Stadium last night, friends and colleagues would occasionally ask that question—acknowledging that the event was of such historic importance in Minnesota music history that I’d pretty much have to be there even if I didn’t like…

For a band who hasn’t necessarily been vocal about their reunion or their relationship with their hometown (ok, they haven’t given a single interview or said a peep about either), it was hardly a surprise that the Replacements were light on sentimental banter and heavy on hits throughout their hour-and-40-minute set at Midway Stadium. They…

This weekend is insane. And the big sold-out Replacements show at Midway Stadium is just the icing on a big ol’ musical cake—there are also big release shows happening Friday and Saturday with Maria Isa and PaviElle, not to mention P.O.S.’s triumphant return to the stage with his first headlining show in two years tomorrow in downtown…

The Target Corporation’s annual meeting—in Target Center, natch—is one of the biggest private music shows in Minnesota each year; it’s up there with the annual Starkey Foundation benefit, where Garth Brooks and Miley Cyrus have shared a stage with Bill Clinton and Meat Loaf. At Wednesday’s meeting, an arena full of Target employees clad in…

The term “old soul” gets thrown around a lot when trying to describe people who seem wiser than their age or experiences can account for. But for vocalist and songwriter PaviElle French, who performs as PaviElle, the words “old soul” describe her not just figuratively but also literally. A native of the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul, PaviElle has…

Maria Isa’s performances have taken her from St. Paul’s West Side to Puerto Rico and, more recently, to Hollywood. Her new album Valley of the Dolls, which she will release this Friday with a show at the Dakota Jazz Club, proves her music has grown throughout her travels into a confident assertion of identity and…