Jay Boller of City Pages:
1 Father John Misty, "Pure Comedy." Everybody's favorite acid-dropping existentialist returns with a master class in postmodern folk songwriting. Religion, tech obsession and humanity's shortcomings are all addressed on his sprawling, hilarious and aching LP.
2 ClickHole's ad songs. The BuzzFeed parody site from the Onion dipped into branded content — without the knowledge or consent of AutoZone and Red Lobster — with two outrageously bad ditties about $1 million mufflers and bathroom scampi.
3 PWR BTTM, "Big Beautiful Day." The LGBTQ-empowering punk duo teases "Pageant" (out May 12) with a glittery music video for the kiss-off anthem lead single.
Contribute: popmusic@startribune.com.
Jon Bream of the Star Tribune:
1 David Letterman inducts Pearl Jam into Rock Hall of Fame. His speech was the right mix of irreverence and respect.
2 "West Side Story," the Ordway. The brilliance of the Bernstein/Sondheim songs remains, and the story surprisingly still resonates 60 years later.
