Last week, the two weird sisters of pop rode into town on the backs of motorcycles. Read more...

Photo:

Nicki Minaj performs at the 2010 Video Music Awards. Minaj recently released the music video for “Super Bass,” which features an ice sculpture motorcycle.
(MTV Press)

The Beastie Boys has officially become "old school." Its brand of funky, heavy, guitar-tinged hip-hop faded off the radio airwaves years ago, relegated to the same cultural graveyard as boom boxes, Lollapalooza and other facets of the '90s. However, nostalgia can be a band's best friend. Read more...

Photo:

(Credit: Capitol Records)

Forget about sophomore slumps. Fleet Foxes' second album, "Helplessness Blues," lives up to the expectations of the band's critically acclaimed debut album with a collection of gorgeous indie-folk songs that wrestle with heartbreak and existential questions about life and purpose. That's not to say the album came easy. Read more...

Photo:

(Credit: Sub Pop)

Friday, third-year ethnomusicology student Miles Freeman will be paying "“ and playing "“ a tribute to one of his inspirations, a man he describes as the "American Mozart." Read more...

Photo:

Credit: Smithsonian Institution
Duke Ellington (left) with the Bharatiya Kala Kendra Orchestra in New Delhi, India in 1963. The photo is a part of the exhibit running with the performance.

Releasing a critically acclaimed album can be both a blessing and a curse for a band. Read more...

The Airborne Toxic Event burst onto the alternative music scene in 2008 with its eponymous debut album, which featured the oft-played "Sometime Around Midnight." That album was outstanding. Read more...