Alabama Shakes shoot up the Chart to #1; Rock the Garden act Courtney Barnett jumps six spots; Florence and the Machine are the highest new entry; Houndmouth celebrate their album release with a Chart debut at #20.

Few rock historians would call Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” the first rock and roll song. (Many would give that honor to Jackie Brenston’s 1951 “Rocket 88,” co-written by Ike Turner, produced by Sam Phillips, and later covered by Haley.) When asked to date the beginning of the rock and roll era in popular…

Roberto Carlos Lange, creator of Helado Negro, will be joined by a large group of international musicians for the world premiere of "Island Universe Story" at the Ordway Concert Hall this weekend.

Modest Mouse have created a “linguistic remix generator” for their new album Strangers to Ourselves: it creates an audiovisual experience pairing text you provide with images and music from the album. Meanwhile, frontman Isaac Brock posted a track-by-track album commentary on Spotify. (Pitchfork) Read Leah Garaas’s review of Strangers to Ourselves, and grab tickets to see Modest Mouse…

Photographer Bridget Bennett is sharing photos and stories from her first-ever SXSW experience. Watch for more updates from Bridget this week and weekend, and listen to The Current on Friday from noon to 6:00 p.m. for a live broadcast of the Public Radio Day Stage concert at SXSW. It’s a festival of standing in lines,…

As the last weeks of March approach, all eyes are on Austin’s South by Southwest Festival. For Jim Anderson, a dedicated music fan from the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis, the conference itself isn’t even the real draw. Instead, he seeks the music on the periphery of the festival—the artists in little-known clubs and dive bars…

What songs by artists who were underrated or under-appreciated during their initial run would you like to hear? Tell us your suggestions.

Joe Alton stops by The Current's Morning Show to talk to Jill Riley about some of Minnesota's underrated or overlooked breweries.

On Saturday’s sunny afternoon I met Kelsey, a Milwaukeean who’s been on The Current’s staff since August, and asked whether she could have guessed a year ago that she’d be standing on a street corner in South Minneapolis, waiting to go to an attic-bedroom ratpop show. Kelsey shrugged, and we walked up to a house with TVs in…

Frank Sinatra made his first recording; the Bee Gees had a had in the top three singles in the U.S. singles charts; the Ramones got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; and the Clash released their very first single, Today in Music History.