Greil Marcus

Viv Albertine of The Slits new memoir, ’To Throw Away Unopened,' is out May 1

So how does a music recording label from Wisconsin who -- paraphrasing the words of renowned musicologist Greil Marcus -- used materials from dirt and recorded what they thought was dirt, end up with one of the great catalogs in the history of the American songbook...

Paramount Records was founded on a modest proposition: produce records as cheaply as possible, recording whatever talent was available. Over its lifetime, the label would become a "race records" powerhouse, its sound and fortunes directly linked to the Great Migration...

Bob Dylan by Greil Marcus: Writings 1968-2010 was recently released, just in time for the holidays..."The book begins in Berkeley in 1968, and ends with a piece on Dylan's show at the University of Minnesota--his very first appearance at his alma mater--on election night 2008...

On Wednesday, December 2nd (tonight), Pere Ubu's David Thomas will be appearing at at New School's Alvin Johnson/J. M. Kaplan Hall (66 West 12th St, room 510; 6:30-8pm)...

The Hold Steady @ Rothbury Festival in July (more by Graeme Flegenheimer)

Craig Finn and Tad Kubler of The Hold Steady, along with author Chuck Klosterman, will be the featured guests at this month's Radio Happy Hour at (Le) Poisson Rouge on Saturday, November 14th (2pm)...