Minnesota may be the land of 10,000 bands, but it seems none could be better suited than Brute Heart to create a score for the classic horror film, Dr. Caligari. Known for conjuring haunting soundscapes from bass, drums, and viola—along with vocals that earned a “best female vocalist” nod this year, the band’s influences range from art rock to orchestral music to Middle Eastern traditions.

A Twin Cities music legend in his own right, Jim Walsh has chronicled the scene in the pages of the Pioneer Press, Rolling Stone, and his own book, The Replacements: All Over But The Shouting, among others. Launching our new series tied to the exhibition This Will Have Been: Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, he shares his thoughts on Minneapolis-St. Paul during a critical decade.

Hailed as “a born storyteller who’s chosen rock as his medium” (Pitchfork), Craig Finn is many things: Springsteen acolyte, avowed Twins fan, Breck High grad, stand-up guy, and frontman for the Hold Steady. As Finn returns to his roots and readies the band to headline Rock the Garden 2012, I took a moment to catch up with him on music, the Twin Cities, and the shape of things to come.

Bucking band-culture expectations, the Lisps have added a nontraditional project to their recording and touring schedule: making a musical. The band prioritizes spectacle over, say, shoegazing, but their work FUTURITY is still “a musical made by people who don’t make musicals.” The group’s Sammy Tunis and César Alvarez weigh in on why they chose this form and how it kept their band together.