The 2009 Grammy Awards nominations were announced last night during a live broadcast on CBS from L.A.’s Club Nokia. Beyonce leads the pack with 10 nominations, including Album of the Year. Also receiving nominations were Lady Gaga, Kings of Leon, Dave Matthews and the Black Eyed Peas. [Variety.com]...

I started with FEMA maps. “This is how they cost out earthquake damage.” I laid one on the drafting table so Jules could see. “Sometimes people call them Ground Failure Maps or Hazard Maps. They show you where the land is unstable and prone to liquefaction.” He leaned over. I traced a river gorge...

Today calls for drastic action, and when that particular call goes out, the Saints answer every time. “I’m Stranded” is the best song from the best punk rock record ever (I’m Stranded). It isn’t subtle and it isn’t pretty, but if it doesn’t make you feel alive, you might want to call for an...

“I entered into literature on my own, I live in it on my own and I shall depart from it on my own when the time comes” http://www.khazars.com/en/ Academician and author Milorad Pavić, professor of the Faculty of Philosophy of the Belgrade University, passed away yesterday of complications following...

DECEMBER 3 — ALLAN BÉRUBÉ Gay American historian, activist, independent scholar. “None of us can do our best work until we believe that the life of the mind really does belong to us.” DECEMBER 3, 2009 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS… China: FEAST OF LU-HSING, the Stellar God of Happiness. ALSO ON DECEMBER 3...

All: I hope SoundRoots' absence in recent days hasn't caused too much concern. I've been dealing with a computer problem that I hope to have resolved in the next few days. I'll post if I can before then, but my ability to access music and publish websites is hampered at present. The good news is that I have lots of interesting CDs and DVDs to tell you about, as well as a best of 2009 list to compile. I'm also thinking of putting together a best of 00's list of global music from the past decade. Nominations, comments, or suggestions are most welcome.

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SoundRoots

I began to sense the work going on beneath the seed-based cheeses and ‘zines. An undercurrent of excitement bearing no relationship to anything on the surface and which ran through the most trivial interactions. I recognized the feeling from my childhood, the excitement that was there when people...

Del-Fi label founder, record producer and “the world’s youngest bandleader” Bob Keane passed away on Saturday at age 87. By age 17, Keane was fronting his own big band and played with different bands, including Artie Shaw’s, throughout the ’40s. He started Del-Fi after co-founding and working as an...

SPECTRE joined Arthurmag’s ring of banner contributors two months ago, but I neglected to give them a proper introduction to our readers. Here’s one they penned…. Spectre Event Horizon Group http://spectregroup.org OPEN DATASHARE CULLED FROM PUBLIC INFORMATION SEARCHES; A COMMUNITY BACKUP OF DATA IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST —————————————– things to talk about at parties —————————————– XXXXX SPECTRE PRIORITY XXXXX Before we had a [...]