January 2008

Lead Belly was born on January 23 1888, or January 20 1889, or maybe some other day sometime in the late 19th century. Here’s a possible 120th birthday wish from Resident Curmudgeon Chuck Myers and his total bastardness…

I like to think of myself as musically omnipotent. I know music, I know it well, and I certainly know more about it than you. I mean, c’mon. You probably don’t even know that Jim Steinman, the man behind Paradise by the Dashboard Light and Total Eclipse of the Hear, was responsible for those annoying Sisters of Mercy goth anthems like This Corrosion. When it comes to self-righteous rock snobbery, I could beat you with my left ear tied behind my back.

Alas, last year I learned that I’m ignorant. I learned that I’m flawed. I learned that my musical omnipotence is more like impotence.

I’ve always heard people talk about Lead Belly, but I’ve dismissed them as wannabe snobs who are trying to impress those of us who know music. So what if Kurt Cobain said that Lead Belly was his favorite? Kurt was probably just trying to score points with that chick from Hole so she’d sit on his cock. And yeah, Led Zeppelin’s Gallow’s Pole was (ahem) borrowed from Lead Belly’s Gallis Pole, but Zeppelin borrowed stuff from pretty much everybody. Read on for more…

Festivals, they’re fucking everywhere these days, so you’d think we would be opposed to any new festies entering the overcrowded fray. For the most part that’s true, but we’d make

Fantastic news for fans of that lovely brooding baritone emanating from the mouth of Leonard Cohen. The legendary Québécois songwriter “will tour with his band in Canada and the U.S.

One of our loyal readers sent in this video and message, and because we’re in full Jessie Spano On Caffeine Pills Mode (there’s never any time!), we thought we’d just

Take it from famed New York Metropolitan Ed Kranepool and watch this short video as to the true origin of the band’s moniker. Our confidential informant Jesse Jarnow passed that