The Current

Great Music Lives Here ®
Listener-Supported Music
Donate Now
The Current Music News

Today’s Music News: Prince doubles down on Kentucky concerts

by Jay Gabler

March 12, 2015

Prince is kicking off his "Hit & Run" tour in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday, and while no further stops have yet been announced, he and his band 3RDEYEGIRL are showing Louisville a lot of love. They've added two Sunday shows to the originally announced pair of Saturday shows, for a total of four shows this weekend. They also gave a recording of a new song, "What If" (click here to listen via Stereogum), to Louisville radio station WFPK to debut on Thursday afternoon. 3RDEYEGIRL drummer Hannah Welton, whose husband Joshua Welton is one of Prince's producers, is a native of Louisville. (WLKY)

In other Prince news, for Record Store Day (April 18), Lydia Loveless will release a pair of Prince covers ("I Would Die 4 U" and "Under the Cherry Moon") on purple vinyl. (Stereogum)

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/193425134" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]

Consequence of Sound has profiled Minneapolis hip-hop label Rhymesayers as it celebrates its 20th anniversary; the profile includes photos and reporting from The Current's tenth anniversary show at First Avenue, headlined by Rhymesayers' Atmosphere.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, best known as Theo on The Cosby Show, is continuing with his acting career—and he also has a music career that's suddenly taking off. He won a Grammy for best traditional R&B performance for appearing on Robert Glasper's Stevie Wonder cover, and he has a new single called "I'm Ready" featuring Minnesotan singer Stokley Williams of Mint Condition. (Billboard)

Kim Gordon had an hourlong conversation with Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney on March 4 as Gordon promoted her new book Girl in a Band. The conversation, which took place at the San Francisco JCC, has now been published online as a video. (Pitchfork)

Björk released a typically eye-popping video for "Lionsong." (Billboard)

A leaked e-mail reveals that Spotify believes it will account for 11% of Universal Music Group's revenue over the next year. (Billboard)

Don't worry: Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke sleep just fine at night, "knowing they didn't copy" Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give it Up." Unfortunately for them, a jury disagreed. (Rolling Stone)

We need to turn our backs on the Internet if we want to find peace, says Jarvis Cocker of Pulp. (NME)

Clean Water Land & Legacy Amendment
This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.