There are a bumper crop of new releases this week! Jay and Jade spotlight new music from Maggie Rogers, Sharon Van Etten, Alice Merton, Toro y Moi, James Blake, and Deerhunter. Plus, a tribute to the late Germs bassist Lorna Doom.

Ahead of the Suburbs' performance at The Current's 14th Birthday Party, Chan Poling and Hugo Klaers talked with Oake and Riley about the Suburbs' new lineup and revisiting some of the band's earliest songs.

Kerry Alexander of Bad Bad Hats 'steals' the Local Show from Andrea Swensson for a Theft of the Dial. Bad Bad Hats are playing The Current's 14th Birthday Party on Friday, Jan. 18 at First Avenue

Thanks to Loran for writing in with today's theme idea -- songs that are NOT about keeping calm. What songs can you think of for today's 9:30 Coffee Break that mention panic, freaking out, hysteria, etc?

The Smiths bassist turns 54, The Rolling Stones put out their first EP, Jimi Hendrix couldn't pay his bill, and Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles is 60 today.

At the tail end of my recent interview with Dua Saleh, I pulled up a Ness Nite tweet making the rounds: We can drop genre-defying now since everyone is at this point — ness nite (@nessnite) January 7, 2019 “Yes!” Saleh exclaimed upon reading it, and I got the feeling they hear “genre-defying” often. As…

Alice Merton tops the chart this week, joined by a heap of debuts from Mitski, Cloud Cult, Death Cab for Cutie, The Raconteurs, and more.

Alan R. Pearlman, whose synthesizers were favored by everyone from Kraftwerk to 'Star Wars' sound designer Ben Burtt, has died at 93. Also in the news today: the Killers haven't exactly been known as a political band, but their new single is a protest song. Plus: Corey Hart is being inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Colin Kaepernick hasn't cosigned the Super Bowl halftime show, musicians cover silence (yes, really), and a fiery blues guitarist goes viral.

Thanks to Jesse for today's (morbid, but great) theme idea. A U.K. palliative care doctor has started paying attention to the music his patients request to be played as they are passing on. For today's 9:30 Coffee Break, tell us -- what's the last song you want to hear before you die?

Faith No More are like the elephant in the famous parable: every listener will describe them differently. If there's one thing they want readers of this new authorized biography to know, though, it's that they don't want to be blamed for nu metal.