This week's new #1 artist has spent most weeks on the chart this year.

News and notes from December 13, 2012

For today's 9:30 Coffee Break let's focus on sitar and it's influence on rock music. What rock songs featuring the sitar would you like to hear today?

Bob Dylan was on the cover of Rolling Stone, Phil Collins made his acting debut and David Bowie released a "golden" song Today in Music History.

“Go home. Meditate. Write music,” instructs a hand-written note on Peter Pisano’s new website. “Do NOT make any decisions RE: label, PWC, music career. Before you allow yourself to make decisions, you must first write and lay down some tracks that you feel good about.” The note was slipped to Pisano from a social worker…

Nate Ryan collects the amazing pics from local photographers

Wednesday night's star-studded affair was a spectacle to behold. From fake Eddie Vedder to the Paul McCartney-Nirvana mashup (McVana?) the performances ran the gamut from laughable to laudable. What were your favorites?

Enjoy photos and audio from our latest Policy and a Pint, featuring a discussion of climate change with special guests The Theater of Public Policy and MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner.

This week on New Hot, we're exploring the best albums of 2012. Read about a Baltimore duo whose lead singer is opera trained, the first non-electronic band on Warp Records and a San Francisco guitarist who has released three albums this year. These are our three best albums of 2012.

News and notes from December 12, 2012