N.W.A., Cheap Trick, Deep Purple, Chicago, and Steve Miller were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in a Friday night ceremony that was marked by an unusual amount of controversy. During Miller’s acceptance speech, the classic-rock stalwart admonished the Rock Hall “to be more inclusive of women, and to be more transparent in your dealings with the public”;…

Each week on the Local Show, we’ll meet a new person from the Minnesota music community who has some fresh discoveries to share in a feature called “Ask a Cool Person.” These people will come from all corners of the scene, including record store clerks, recording studio engineers and producers, artists, writers, bookers, photographers, and…

On July 21, 1987, Guns N’ Roses’ groundbreaking debut album, Appetite for Destruction, was released on Geffen Records. It went on to become the best-selling debut album in history, but sales really didn’t start picking up until the following year, thanks in part to regular airplay on MTV (back when it played music videos). That’s when Appetite connected with…

From locally-grown and Minnesota-made music videos to a feature-length documentary about Japanese punk rock performance artists, the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival offers an eclectic mix for local music lovers. The festival kicked off last night, April 7, and will continue through April 23 with events and screenings at venues around the Twin Cities. Here are five highlights.…

Since last May, The Current has been inviting local musicians to take over our all-Minnesota music stream to talk about the local music scene and to share tracks from their favorite local artists. So far, the roster for Local Current’s DJ in Residence has included Gabriel Douglas, Sophia Eris, Eric Mayson, Reina del Cid, and…

Hippo Campus: “South” Vevo’s “dscvr” series is so anxious to find the hottest new bands, it doesn’t have time for vowels. Woodbury upstarts Hippo Campus recorded a new live video for their song “South” as the sprightly number, a hit among our listeners, continues to spread nationally. The band are busily touring the U.S., but they’ll…

Jessica Hopper of MTV News interviewed Replacements biographer Bob Mehr about his new book Trouble Boys. Along with the interview, MTV published previously unseen footage of Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson being interviewed by Kurt Loder in 1989. Among the topics: music videos, Slim Dunlap, and Prince. (Loder: “Have you been tempted to move to California, or are you happy right where you…

Bob Dylan has detailed plans for his 37th studio album: Fallen Angels, due out May 20. Like his most recent album Shadows in the Night, the new disc will again consist entirely of classic songs from the Great American Songbook. The album art is above; below, see the complete track list and hear “Melancholy Mood,” a just-released cut…

Simon and Garfunkel have broken into the top ten on Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart thanks to “Sound of Silence” being included in a viral video that shows Ben Affleck looking existentially sad after being asked about the overwhelmingly negative reviews for his new movie Batman v Superman. The video now has over 20 million views on…

Country legend Merle Haggard has died today — his 79th birthday — of pneumonia, his manager confirms. Haggard was one of the best-known purveyors of the Bakersfield Sound: a twangy alternative to the increasingly slick sound coming out of Nashville in the mid-20th century. Haggard rose to stardom in the early 1960s after a tumultuous youth…