6 cool things in music this week include Noah Kahan, Bob Dylan and Rolling Stone investigation of Sean Combs

A half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view:

Corey Sweeter from Champlin:

1 Hippo Campus, “Everything at Once.” Another catchy yet contemplative new single from the local favorites has me thinking of my daughter and of being a parent. Hit songs from Hippo Campus’ debut EP made it into my playlists years ago and caught the attention of my young, budding music fan. Now, 10 years later, she’s a huge Hippo Campus fan, she’s graduating from high school this weekend and we get to bond over the band’s every move at a time when she’s setting off on her own adventures.

2 Viva Knievel, Bauhaus Brew Labs. Art-A-Whirl is always chock-full of great live music and art, but catching Minnesota’s best cover band has been my favorite way to kick off the weekend. It just so happened to coincide with my 50th birthday this year and spending the evening dancing in the rain and singing along with the exuberantly, faithfully performed hits of my youth was an especially memorable and cathartic way to celebrate the milestone.

3 Noah Kahan. My daughter introduced me to his music with his great “Northern Attitude” single with Hozier last year. I lost my own father recently, and listening to Kahan’s “Stick Season” album and its themes of isolation and home has helped me through this time. The way that Kahan blends his emotional vulnerability, hooky anthems and rootsy, relatable personality reminds me somewhat of Johnny Cash, whom my father introduced me to when I was the age that my daughter is now. Through it all, good music is eternal and brings life full circle.

Jon Bream, Star Tribune critic:

1 Bob Dylan birthday celebration, Duluth. On the occasion of the Minnesota’s bard’s 83rd birthday, about 40 people stood in a dreary drizzle on a 39-degree afternoon in front of the duplex where Bob lived for his first six years, listening to local warbler Greg Tiburzi deliver Dylan songs with frigid guitar fingers for 90 minutes. The duplex’s brand-new tenant from California witnessed the scene in his 2024 Dylan tour T-shirt, sweatpants and sliders. Talk about dedicated Bobcats.

2 Block Rockin’ Weekend, 89.3 the Current. For Memorial Day weekend, public radio’s hipster outlet once again eschewed its somewhat restrictive usual playlist and spun three songs in a row by a single artist. What a treat to hear blasts from the Sex Pistols, Talking Heads, Killer Mike, Gossip, Jamila Woods, Rage Against the Machine and Paul Simon, among others.

3 “Bad Boy for Life: Sean Combs’ History of Violence,” Rolling Stone. After a six-month investigation, reporters Cheyenne Roundtree and Nancy Dillon present a harrowing account of Diddy’s long-standing predilection for violence, especially toward women and staffers, even though not all the sources allow their names to be used for fear of retaliation. With lawsuits and a federal investigation into sex trafficking pending, the courts, not the court of public opinion, will decide Diddy’s fate.

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