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

Matt Torgerson of St. Paul:

1 Let It Be Records. The famous downtown Minneapolis record store that made a significant contribution to the Minneapolis music scene vibe may have closed its doors in 2005, but a recent warehouse sale in St. Paul made us aware that owner Ryan Cameron still operates Let It Be Records, but now as one of the more popular and reputable online vinyl record retailers in the nation. He usually announces his flash warehouse sales on Let It Be's Facebook page.

2 Julianna Riolino, "All Blue." Known as the backing vocalist for Daniel Romano's Outfit, she was noticeably absent from the Turf Club stage during Romano's recent gig, which led me to learn of her new solo career and her album, which highlights her amazing voice and unique cosmic country alt-rock sound. My current favorite.

3 Bruce McCabe. No blues keyboardist I've seen, on the local or national scene, has mastered the Hammond B3 sound like Minneapolis' McCabe, who made his mark with Lamont Cranston, the Hoopsnakes and Jonny Lang. McCabe is now a frequent guest at several Twin Cities blues bars, including Shaw's in northeast Minneapolis and the Blues Saloon in St. Paul. He sounds better than ever.

Jon Bream, Star Tribune critic:

1 New Year's Eve music on television. Social media was all atwitter about 1) Paul Anka singing "My Way" on "New Year's Eve Live" on CNN (he wrote the lyrics to the song that Frank Sinatra made famous; google it, kids) and 2) Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong changing the lyrics in "American Idiot" to "I'm not a part of the MAGA agenda" on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest."

2 The New Standards, the Dakota. It's a tradition. The trio's annual "preeners" (pre-New Year's Eve) shows were a treat, thanks to jazzy remakes of hits by the Replacements, Gnarls Barkley and others, nutty repartee between Chan Poling and John Munson, and the song-defining vibes of hardworking, dance-happy Steve Roehm. For an encore, Poling unveiled a suitably deep-voiced rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" without attempting to hit the showstopping high notes. Amen to that.

3 The Bad Plus, the Dakota. It's a tradition. The Minnesota-launched modern jazz combo played for four nights, starting on Christmas. The intriguing, enthralling show I saw featured five new numbers from a forthcoming album, including Dave King's spinning "Casa Ben," Chris Speed's speedy "Cupcakes I" and Ben Monder's dark, mysterious "Li Po." A member since 2021, saxophonist Speed has grown more confident and prominent in this always rewarding, revamped group.

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