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Amadou & Mariam, Acoustic Century, and more

Acoustic Century: Gabriel Douglas and Danny O'Brien

Acoustic Century series launches at New Century Theatre in August

See Also:Slideshow: Summer Beardoff at the Triple RockThe 4onthefloor: Howler must've actually listened to our recordIf you've ever wanted a personal look into a musician's process and job, New Century Theatre's new Acoustic Century series is offering that opportunity. The series launches with music ... More >>

Kevin VanDeraa Wins $50,000 on TV's 'Cupcake Champions'

Millions of people around the country tuned in last night to watch local cupcake guru Kevin VanDeraa win the finale of the Food Network's Cupcake Champions, a tournament of past winners of the popular series Cupcake Wars. VanDeraa, owner of the popular Minneapolis bakery Cupcake, beat out the top th ... More >>

Kevin VanDeraa advances to finals of TV's 'Cupcakes Wars'

Kevin VanDeraa, owner of Minneapolis's Cupcake Bakery, has made confectionary history, advancing to the final round of Cupcake Wars' first ever Cupcake Champion series on the Food Network TV show, which airs June 10. If his team wins, he will bring home a sweet check for $50,000, which he hopes to i ... More >>

Picked to Click 2011: The ballots

​​As is the yearly tradition, we're publishing the ballots of all 115 of our Picked to Click voters for your perusal. Check out all of this year's contributors below, and thanks to all the writers, photographers, label owners, club bookers, DJs, and local music experts for weighing in on th ... More >>

SoundTown Series: Catching up with the New Pornographers

​The New Pornographers are one of those bands that seem like they will just quietly endure, continually putting out quality from the indie-pop front lines. Since the 2010 release of their fifth studio album, Together, various members of the Canadian supergroup (a term which the band seems to p ... More >>

SoundTown Series: Sims talks about his first headlining tour and new EP

​The beats never stop for the tireless crew of Doomtree. It was barely six months ago that Sims released his sophomore album, Bad Time Zoo, to overwhelming support from critics, peers, and fans. His smooth delivery and the intelligent persistence of his rhymes make Doomtree's youngest partner ... More >>

SoundTown Series: New Century Masters talk about adding Joey Ryan to the group

​Five-piece folk-pop ensemble New Century Masters do a good job of keeping it mysterious. Their Facebook cites Hamm's as a major influence, and you'll be hard-pressed to figure out who the members of the talented group are unless you sit down for an interview with them. The band released their ... More >>

Wayne Coyne's doodles: 10 psychedelic drawings from the Flaming Lips frontman

​When Wayne Coyne was on the phone with writer Natalie Gallagher for her interview that is running in this week's City Pages, the Flaming Lips frontman mentioned that he was using his time tethered to the phone for interviews to sketch an "elaborate doodle." After their interview, Coyne uploaded i ... More >>

Weekend Checklist: Owl City, Joey Ryan, Red Stag Block Party, Beach Boys

​"Every now and then we hear our song, we've been having fun all summer long."-"All Summer Long," The Beach Boys

Big Lake release their debut EP, with another EP and full length on the way

Photos by Pedro Atkins​Big Lake is a brand-new band with songs that will creep up on you and take you by surprise. One minute, you're passively listening to one of the tracks from their debut EP January Second Election, and the next, you're tilting your ear toward the speakers, trying to sift ... More >>

Conrad Plymouth, Zoo Animal, and pukin' Santa

​There's a helluva lineup at the Kitty Cat Klub this Friday  night, featuring Milwaukee Americana act Conrad Plymouth (whose four-song vinyl EP was the inaugural release for new imprint Ten Atoms, run by local blogger Kyle Matteson and Muzzle of Bees founder Ryan Matteson), and locals Zoo Ani ... More >>

Picked to Click 2010: Complete list of ballots

​We had 108 local music scene peeps participate in this year's Picked to Click poll. Below, you can judge -- er, "peruse" the ballots of each and every one of our voters, along with descriptions of their contributions to the local scene. For more on Picked to Click, check out this year's issue, al ... More >>

Picked to Click 2010: List of all ranking bands

​The bands who received nods in this year's Picked to Click poll aren't just limited to the 11 we featured in this week's issue. See below for a full list of all of the bands who received votes in this year's poll, with the total points awarded to each band.Remember: Voters were told to choose fiv ... More >>

Mark Mallman's kicks off his Marathon 3

Photo by Erik Hess​Mark Mallman kicked off his third marathon performance at the Turf Club at 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon to a small but intent crowd and several video cameras (watch the live stream online here). Gimme Noise will be checking in on Mallman as he attempts to play for 78 hours strai ... More >>

Oktoberfest, Lyn-Lake Block Party: Freeloader Friday

covilha via Flickr.com​ As the seasons change, so do the types of events happening around town. This weekend we have two different Oktoberfest festivals, a block party (bring an umbrella), and free films.

New Century Masters release debut this Friday

New Century Masters are releasing their debut this Friday at the Nomad, and their classic, polished pop melodies should help to stave off the summer's end for at least a few more days. We're digging this flyer for their CD release show -- props to designer Jordan Linde, who in addition to creating s ... More >>

Uptown VFW to host fall Lyn/Lake block party

​The James Valentine VFW Post 245, better known in the area nightlife scene as the Uptown VFW, is celebrating its 86th year in business this fall by throwing the first annual fall Lyn/Lake block party. Ten bands will perform on two outdoor stages, including headliners Rogue Valley and touring hip- ... More >>

Nomad World Pub's World Cup Block Party this Sunday

​Whether you've watched every game half-drunk in the early morning screaming along with some American chav analogues, or you can't wait for people to stop talking about it, the Nomad's World Cup Finals Block Party gives both sides of the fence a fitting conclusion to the month-long competition.

Memory Lanes announces block party lineup

Photo by France Barbeau​Between the Basilica Block Party announcement last week, the Current and the Walker's Rock the Garden announcement this afternoon, and now this schedule for the Memory Lanes Block Party, we're starting to feel like this warm weather might really be here to stay. The Memory ... More >>

No Money Down! A Lifetime to Pay!

Welcome, friend, to the booming field of "subprime" mortgages. Think you can't afford a house? You're probably right, but that won't stop us from putting you in one!

Tomorrow the Green Grass

Megawatts and Margins

NSP hands the keys for its Minnesota reactors to a holding company. Is this part of a dangerous chain reaction in the nuclear power industry?

Zine, Not Heard