Happy Friday! We're coming up on a busy time for new releases here in Minnesota, and with that rush of new albums comes an influx in new singles and videos. This week started out especially strong, with Lizzo debuting a new video from her Lizzobangers project on national blog Pigeons and Planes and John Mark Nelson popping up on MTV.

I've got those videos lined up for you here today, along with a few other nuggets that emerged this week. Enjoy, and hope you get a chance to check out one of the many great live shows happening this weekend.

Lizzo's cookies

Lizzo dropped the first video from her solo project this week, just a few days after debuting her Lizzobangers songs at the Summit Backyard Bash. "Batches and Cookies" features support from her Lizzobanger cohorts Lazerbeak and Cliff Rhymes, plus Lizzo's fellow Chalice and GRRRL PRTY MC Sophia Eris. Such a hot track.

John Mark Nelson's many hats

It doesn't get much more Minnesotan than this. John Mark Nelson set his jaunty, seafaring new single "The Moon and the Stars" to footage of him playing in Duluth's historical SS. William A. Irvin lake freighter while wearing a variety of different knit hats.

Taj Raj's literalism

Minneapolis alt-country baladeers Taj Raj offer up a literal "field recording" of their song "Emily," singing it while standing in an actual field overlooking La Crosse, Wisconsin. It's a nice companion piece/sequel to a similar outdoor sunset performance that I kept on repeat a few years back.

Mark Mallman's cross-country marathon

For the fourth installment of his "Marathon" series, Mark Mallman performed for 180 hours straight while traveling across the country, employing a series of hacked electronic devices and brainwave readers to help him continue creating music even as he slept. This week, Mallman posted a mini-documentary in which he reflects on the experience and takes fans behind the scenes to show exactly how he executed the experiment.

Greycoats' drones, not drone

And now for something completely different: For their latest video, "Leviathan," Greycoats enlisted the help of a drone to capture aerial footage. The whole video makes me feel paranoid for some reason, so I think the desired effect was achieved.