MSNBC’s Jan Herman is an excellent reporter. He was outraged by the Beastie Boys’ sampling case, which, as a sampler, I am of two minds upon. But being an excellent reporter, he followed up with the Beasties and received this statement from the group: “For the last year,” the statement …

Great news: Radley Balko (damn, I love that name) is joining Blogcritics, and he will be doing a running commentary/review of The Sopranos season episode by episode. Here’s the first installment from his site: One murder, some coke, an orgy with Icelandic flight attendants, loads of manipulation, and a capo …

I still can’t believe classic rock writer and Billboard editor Timothy White died of a heart attack at the age of 50 in June: it’s a real tragedy and 50 sure sounds young. I met White on a few occasions and he was very gracious and encouraging of our work …

Amazon.com is quite zealous about customer follow-up: Dear Amazon.com Customer, We’ve noticed that many of our customers who have purchased albums by Alison Krauss also enjoy the music of Various Artists. For this reason, you might like to know that Various Artists’s new album O Sister 2: The Women’s Bluegrass …

Gary Farber points us to the fascinating Infinite Matrix site, “a journal for people who love science fiction as a literature of ideas.” The site is having a “Fundraising Festival” right now, with some pretty amazing gifts for those who donate: Ursula K. Le Guin, Howard Waldrop, Vonda McIntyre, Leslie …

The Comics Journal site is running a series of audio interviews with Comics poobahs – the current feature is the final installment of a three-part interview with British comics writer Alan Moore by editor and publisher Gary Groth. Moore, fresh off of his success with Watchmen (and subsequent break with …

Cool Tunes is a radio show in a magazine format Saturday nights at 10pm ET on WAPS, “The Summit,” in Akron, Ohio. I play new music, reissues, and preview shows coming to town each week. Musically it is among the widest-ranging 2 hours in the country: modern rock, punk, electronica, …

Melinda Newman interviews Mick and Keith for Billboard: It’s a little hard to imagine, but Keith Richards says he fears that playing live with his Rolling Stones bandmates may one day feel like just another day at the office. He pauses, slides into a hard guffaw, and adds, “Not that …

From Billboard: The debut album release by “American Idol” winner Kelly Clarkson has been postponed until early 2003. Sources say that the RCA album — which originally had been due Nov. 26 — was pushed back due to Clarkson’s commitment to this fall’s “American Idol” tour. Clarkson’s debut single, “Before …

Electronic music, live bands, jazz, hip-hop, latin rock and funk in November: “Music para el pueblo, caridad para el mundo.” “Music for the people, charity for the world” – it is with great excitement that WSF Productions announces the 2002 ACA World Sound Festival, which will take place November 1-3, …