Transmission's roots are in the worlds of punk, post-punk, new wave, synth, power and dream pop, shoegaze, psych, mod, space and Krautrock. Host Jake Rudh presents his picks of the top songs released in 2014 that fit the Transmission mold.

The locally-made documentary Legends of Ska will be screened Sunday at the Bryant-Lake Bowl, one of a growing number of movies to be shown at the restaurant/bowling alley/theater. Created by Minneapolis director Brad Klein, the film chronicles the history of the Jamaican art form and its roots in music culture — both in its native Jamaica and around the world. “One of my…

What songs do you want to hear from Elvis or Bowie for today's Coffee Break?

MPR News Arts Reporter Marianne Combs joins Steve Seel and Jill Riley to talk about one arts event each for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

After being flooded off of Harriet Island and spending a year at the Carver County Fairgrounds in Waconia, the music and food festival A Taste of Minnesota is again searching for a home—but it won’t find it at the Washington County Fairgrounds in 2015. Organizers of the festival that featured Soul Asylum, Halestorm, the Castaways and Starship…

The Beatles started a run at no. 1, Rush became Ambassadors of Music, and David Bowie was born Today in Music History.

A lot can be said about those who hustle. Hustle, you might ask? You know, the kind of energy and drive that pushes some folks past the rest of us. Those who cut their teeth and cut them again and again because settling for good enough is never, well, enough. Motion City Soundtrack (MCS) embody this…

Neil Young‘s high-end Pono music player, backed by the most successful Kickstarter campaign ever (measured in terms of number of supporters), hits select retailers this week at a price of $399. Young appeared at the Consumer Electronics Show to talk the player up. He dismissed questions about whether there will be room for the new…

After a three week hiatus and lots of inductions to the Chart Show Hall of Fame to round out the year, we're blessed with a bumper batch of new entries. Spoon, alt-J and Ryan Adams—regular denizens of the Chart in 2014—return with new songs and four of the other eight Chart debuts (Doomtree, Belle and Sebastian, Brandi Carlile, Modest Mouse) are off albums yet to be released!

The Strat just turned 60, but the guitar born at the dawn of rock 'n' roll has barely aged a day. NPR Music Librarian Robert Goldstein has more about this iconic instrument.