"The one and only Prince described it well with Purple Rain/ Where Bob Dylan spent his days before he caught the New York Train."

If you haven't gotten your band written about in the Twin Cities, one semi-surefire approach is to pen a fawning song about us. (And then have your publicist send out emails emblazoned "KODALINE WRITES A SONG ABOUT MINNEAPOLIS!! THE BAND CHALLENGED THEMSELVES TO WRITE A SONG FOR EVERY CITY THEY PLAY IN!") That was the approach that Irish band Kodaline decided to take, anyhow. The band is out on the road with the Airborne Toxic Event, and they're taking a page out of mid-aughts Sufjan Stevens' playbook and writing a whole bunch of songs about cities. The inspiration? Their tour routing.

So, here's the first one, the seemingly earnest "A Song for Minneapolis," as filmed in a truck stop selling body-slimming cream. Unfortunately, Kodaline was here on Tuesday, so there's no hope of going out to see them play this locally for a while. Knowing the Twin Cities' proclivity for local pride that occasionally borders on navel-gaze, this Mumfy-esque and acoustic approach could help this band gain some traction here eventually.

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Top 20 best Minnesota songs: The complete list

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Here's Har Mar talking with his hands.

Your day will improve measurably to see the on-camera interactions between Har Mar Superstar and future talk show host Leo Lorge. Initiated by MTV Hive, the interview occurred as part of a Kidrockers show (more on that here) recently in Brooklyn.

The young and bold Lorge holds his own asking moderately tough questions of Har Mar, including some in-depth inquiries about an appearance on the George Lopez's talk show Lopez Tonight. Compared to many of the conversations that are surrounding this week's release of Bye Bye 17, Sean Tillmann's new Julian Casablancas-facilitated transformation into a soul singer, this shows an undeniably softer side.

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Photo by Erik Hess

One of Prof's biggest weekends ever just wrapped. He was on the cover of City Pages and commanded two sold-out shows at First Avenue. Erik Hess was at Friday's show, and in addition to taking some vibrant shots of the night, he had GIFs on his mind. Here are ten moments from the night that will repeat forever.

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Prof takes over First Avenue, 4/13/13
Slideshow: Prof takes over First Avenue: Night One, 4/12/13
Slideshow: Prof takes over First Avenue: Night Two, 4/13/13
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Low getting stopped in the border in their "Canada" clip.

The Low Movie (How to Quit Smoking) is part of this year's running of the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, and the band is coming back to town to celebrate its release here. The event caps what is fixing to be a banner year for Low, following the recent release of their latest studio album, masterful The Invisible Way.

The 70-minute film, directed by accomplished music video creator Phil Harder (Jayhawks, Prince, Foo Fighters, etc.), traces the Duluth-based band's 20-year career and follows his work on several Low videos -- including 1994's "Words," 1995's "Shame," 1996's "Over the Ocean," 2002's "Canada," and 2005's "Monkey." The movie -- which appears to be an excellent companion to 2008's You May Need a Murderer -- incorporates all of Harder's 16mm negatives, and features many outtakes never seen anywhere.

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Low at Fitzgerald Theater, 3/23/13
Low's road to The Invisible Way: The influential Minnesota band release a milestone 10th full-length studio albumMore »

A new Minnesota Twins ad proves that anticipation for the 2013 Major League Baseball season and the snow still lingering on the ground don't have to be mutually exclusive. Anyone who needs something to interrupt the perpetual grumbling about winter should immediately check out this love letter to our lakes, the ice, and all the rest set to the Decemberists' "January Hymn." It's earnest, and certainly can fly with a certain brand of local music fan.

Set at the teeny little "forgotten" Brownie Lake located just north of Cedar Lake -- and not terribly far from Target Field, come to think of it -- this project created by Jonathan Chapman Photography and co. is a carefully structured piece of Americana that might even have a person pining for a few more cold days before the grass starts growing. Or not.

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Minnesota Twins should pick a Bob Dylan song for a new anthem
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If the drool-worthy posters shown above haven't already pulled you in, the rest of the story of Swissted: Vintage Rock Posters Remixed and Reimagined certainly will. Just released this month, the book features 200 freshly created concert posters recalling the nascent shows of some of the finest underground bands -- many of whom later blew up. Conceived by Stereotype Design's Mike Joyce, each features clean Swiss graphic design for a look far more refined than what a mimeograph machine and scraps from a magazine could ever offer, and every page is perforated for easy hanging.

Within, you get an '89 Nirvana gig that cost $5 to attend, the Velvet Underground's 1970 residency at Max's Kansas City, and Pearl Jam's 1990 in-store show at Compact Disc World at the Menlo Park Mall in New Jersey. Plus, several Twin Cities acts -- including the Replacements, Hüsker Dü, Soul Asylum, and Babes in Toyland -- get a nod. In sum, it's the best way to paper your walls with Michael Azerrad's indie rock history tome Our Band Could Be Your Life.

Gimme Noise caught up with Joyce to discuss the Minneapolis inspiration behind Swissted. Plus, with the gracious permission of his publisher, several of his designs are reprinted here. More »

Here's how you do the Harlem Shake with no clothes on in the snow.

Now that the fad of Psy's "Gangnam Style" appears to be waning in its cultural relevance, we have the "Harlem Shake" phenomenon upon us. With just a 30-second clip from the song by Mad Decent-signed dance outfit Baauer, the country has lost its damn mind, and any semblance of rigidity in its spinal column.

Basically, each "Harlem Shake" clip features one person -- often masked or wearing a helmet -- flopping around uncontrollably for the first half, and then once the key beat drops midway through, a sea of revelers appear. It's something that anyone with iMovie and about five minutes to spare can execute, and since the clips are so short, they risk less of an annoyance factor and a sap on productivity. Except there are like thousands of these things floating around.

Interestingly enough, Baauer is actually in Minneapolis this weekend at the Skyway Theatre with Just Blaze. So sweet instant gratification can be yours if you wish to live out the Harlem Shake in person. Here are ten of the best of our local takes on the Harlem Shake phenomenon.

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An idiot's guide to the Harlem Shake
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Yeah, those are goats behind him.

News had mostly been quiet out of the P.O.S. camp lately -- when we spoke to him briefly a few weeks ago, he was still waiting on his kidney transplant --  but that changed today with the video debut of "Weird Friends (We Don't Even Live Here)" off the excellent 2012 album We Don't Even Live Here.

Produced by Housemeister, the dark synth stabs and sirens in the track might wake up a few Atari Teenage Riot Fans, and the furious pace of the rhymes are ready to run off the rails. But they never do.

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A still from David Bowie's new video.

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MN Original's new music program The Lowertown Line debuted on December 31 featuring the pickin' talents of Duluth's Trampled by Turtles. Now you can view the footage. As you can read in our print story on the matter, the show is an expanded venture that the Twin Cities Public Television folks hopes can grow into a regular show on the channel. If you always wanted to say "taped in front of a live studio audience," here's your opportunity.

Host Dessa conducts interviews between songs -- topics include the band's 10-year anniversary party and passive-agressive bluegrass fans. Guest Alan Sparhawk shows up to join the band to sing a fuzz-fueled Low track from their 2009 album The Great Destroyer. Aside from that, the five-song set features tracks from their triumphant Stars and Satellites.

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MN Original leaps forward: New Lowertown Line series takes a closer look at live local music
Trampled by Turtles star in MN Original and TPT's first Lowertown Line episode

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