On her second solo release, the Fiery Furnaces singer mines the music of her birth decade. "I'm not embarrassed to say I love the sound of an Elton John record or I love the sound of a Carole King record," she says. "That's my taste."

Taj Raj are changing their tune. Formed out of a hardcore punk background, their debut "Your Thief" was a rocking affair. But now they're going the alt-country route for new EP "Fine Hearts Alive." Their first release since 2011 sees added instrumentation, lush arrangements and an affinity for soundscapes.

To honor our youth, we're going to play songs for today's Coffee Break that feature an antiquated form of communication.

MPR Arts Reporter and Cube Critic Euan Kerr joins Steve Seel and Jill Riley to talk about the new Will Smith sci-fi film and about a new documentary by Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley.

  I typically save the Friday Five space for all the best new Minnesota music videos that have debuted each week. But before we get to the audio-visual portion of today’s roundup, I have a few other items to share: 1. Marijuana Deathsquads just released a free, two-EP collection called Music Rocks 1 and 2.…

The Morning Show's Jill Riley hung out with Michael Ian Black and discussed his childhood trouble-making, his favorite television shows, and his recent projects.

The Monkees TV show begins taping, The Sex Pistols get banned, Lipps Inc. went to no. 1 with an ode to a hip town Today in Music History.

Dan Israel - Live On, the title track from his new album.

We're not the only ones who like Daft Punk. Apparently they went to #1 in 97 countries on the planet this week! Sold over 330,000 in the US to top Billboards chart (Vampire Weekend only sold 139K last week to be #1?!) And they became the biggest Spotify hit ever, outdoing Mumfords!

  The Local Radar is getting a little revamp. Each week, we’ll focus on a single new release that we feel deserves a spotlight. Erros Mágicos Last summer, local psych rockers Magic Castles emerged from an extended slumber that began with their contribution to Moon Glyph’s Regolith Vol. 1 compilation in 2010. The two years…