Rolling Stone — There are no hits on Bar Band Americanus: The Best of Charlie Pickett And (Bloodshot), but the title of this anthology of Eighties hard labor and country-garage gunfire by singer-guitarist Charlie Pickett is no lie. Pickett forged his brawling-roots ... more info

Pop Matters — Looking a bit like Lou Reed's more sober brother, Paul Simon delivers a short, fairly laid-back set of hit songs and some newer material. more info

Pop Matters — Susanna Wallumrod, a young Norwegian singer with a penchant for melancholy, returns with an album of covers from diverse artists like Lou Reed and Black Sabbath. more info

Undercover, Australia — Lou Reed has formed a trio called Best Seat In The House. more info

Rolling Stone — Photo: Nicholas Roberts In yet another week of amusing pairings, Lou Reed smooched Rufus Wainwright at the latter’s Christmas show at Carnegie Hall, Mickey Rourke chilled with 50 Cent and Dr. Drew spent some QT with Scott Weiland. Plus the Killers ... more info

My Old Kentucky — Two much respected institutions of Athens, Georgia indie music teamed up this year to put out a pretty great album. Vic Chesnutt and Elf Power released Dark Developments through Orange Twin Records. On February 2nd, My Old Kentucky Blog and our fri... more info

Totally Fuzzy — Edfray said... An hour with Bettie Page. http://notveryprettymusic.blogspot.com Oh, robot said... Reigning Sound - radio spot Early Lou Reed ep. (really good!) Get yer jollies out with... [Visit the blog for the full post] more info

Spinner.com — Filed under: News, ExclusiveSpinner.com: Christmas is a time for family togetherness. No one need tell the Wainwrights that. To that end, the whole clan will host a family gathering at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday night, with guests like Lou Reed, Lau... more info

Rolling Stone — Photo: Walker/Getty If you dread spending Christmas with your family, consider kicking it with the McGarrigle Sisters this year. The folk duo’s not-quite-annual “McGarrigle Christmas Hour” variety show lands at New York’s Carnegie Hall on Dec... more info

Pitchfork — Photo by Shannon McClean Spending the holidays with your family can be a bit trying-- to say the least-- if you'd rather not revisit a treasure trove of bad memories. But if your flock consisted of a bunch of Canadian folkie legends, some cool young ... more info