Guardian Music — A Facebook group for lovers of cured cucumbers has gained more fans the knuckle-dragging Canadian crew. It's like Rage Against the Machine and Joe McElderry all over againCanadian band Nickelback, the gravelly paragon of what's known as "modern rock"... more info

MTV.com News — Black Eyed Peas, Vampire Weekend and John Mayer also set to perform at Ireland's largest music festival.By Jayson Rodriguez Eminem and Jay-Z (file) Photo: Activision Eminem and Jay-Z will be among the marquee acts participating at the Oxeg... more info

My Old Kentucky — It's been a while since we trotted out Two For Flinching, largely because there have been so few flinch-worthy releases finding their way to my mailbox. Maybe it's holiday hangover, or the economy or the terrorists really have won. Whatever the reaso... more info

Guardian Music — If Darth Vader was in a band, then this would be his chosen instrumentWhat is it? In our previous column, we looked at synthesisers that pretend to be guitars. Now we take a look at the keytar's evil 1980s twin-synthesisers pretending to be guitars. ... more info

Big Apple Music Scene — For the first time since college (and that was quite some time ago…) I had a snow day yesterday! New York is absolutely covered with snow. It was beautiful yesterday, of course by now it’s a disgusting pool of black slush and mud. Yum. Anyway, to... more info

Guardian Music — As the tiny Wisconsin studio that recorded every major band of the grunge era prepares to shut up shop, its proprietor reminisces"Suddenly everybody wanted a remix with that edge, or Butch and/or Smart's name on it," says Steve Marker, ­talking ab... more info

Live Daily — In creating their latest album, "In This Light and on This Evening," the UK's Editors [ tickets ] walked the fine line of using synthetic instruments while maintaining a "human feel"--but, according to drummer Ed Lay, the use of keyboards and drum ma... more info

L.A. Times - Pop & Hiss — Jim Guerinot, the manager of No Doubt, Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails, the Band’s Robbie Robertson and the Offspring, was initially as skeptical as anyone in the concert business that the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger would clear the Justi... more info

Guardian Music — This anti-folk singer has been bigged up by Kanye West for her enchanting falsetto and sonically ambitious solo debutHometown: Brooklyn.The lineup: Holly Miranda (vocals, instruments).The background: We've been putting off writing about Holly Miranda... more info

MTV.com News — Lady Gaga, Goldfrapp, MGMT, Trent Reznor suspected as source of mysterious YouTube clips.By James Montgomery A scene from an "Iamamiwhoami" clip Photo: Youtube It all started in December, with a 55-second video clip that featured plenty of... more info