Dropping Links

Cleveland was a blast! Thanks and congratulations to Kevin and Erin on theirlovely wedding; photos and a more thoughtful commentary will come later in the month (promise).

Only rock-crit geeks will care, but Chuck Eddy was relieved last week of his duties as music editor of the Village Voice. I never had the chance to write for him, but he was kind enough to accept and thumb through my clips and later respond cordially to my pitches and failed on-spec attempts. He ran a diverse section/stable for seven years – every week there were a couple of reviews/features/blogs worth spending time with – and will be missed, at least until he finds gainful employment elsewhere (and he will, believe it). Some conversation about that can be found here.

Amal’s wedding photos can be viewed here, though like me, you may not recognize her at first (i.e. she’s wearing serious makeup and no blue clothing whatsoever).

Hooray for captivating noise: the Yellow Swans, Fat Worm of Error, and Panther Skull are brightening my year right now. Islands are on an altogether different trip, but are equally deserving of everyone’s limited time and resources. Played to death but fathomlessly enjoyable, “You’re Beautiful” is definitely this year’s “You’re Gorgeous.” Played to death but fathomlessly enjoyable but dripping with sap: “Had a Bad Day.”