"I like to think of you reading my verses (though it took you five years to find them out). When I wrote them I was a strange lonely boy, walking about by myself at night and thinking that some day a girl would love me. But I never could speak to the girls I used to meet at houses. Their false manners checked me at once. Then you came to me. You were not in a sense the girl for whom I had dreamed and written the verses you find now so enchanting. She was perhaps (as I saw her in my imagination) a girl fashioned into a curious grave beauty by the culture of generations before her, the woman for whom I wrote poems like ‘Gentle lady’ or ‘Thou leanest to the shell of night.' But then I saw that the beauty of your soul outshone that of my verses. There was something in you higher than anything I had put into them. And for this reason the book of verses is for you. It holds the desire of my youth and you, darling, were the fulfilment of that desire." READ MORE

Tucked on 7th Avenue, between 35th and 36th, sits the music store Rock and Soul, which has been providing the city's DJs with gear and vinyl since 1975. Over the decades, a number of influential DJs and musicians have made Rock and Soul their hub, among them Kid Capri, who deejayed for seven seasons of Def Comedy Jam and has produced tracks for Heavy D and Quincy Jones; DJ Funkmaster Flex, who played a pivotal role in introducing hip hop across the radio waves on NYC’s Hot 97; and legendary hip hop pioneer Kool Herc. READ MORE

I just don't know if I can commit to a new lady with a guitar again. I feel so burned, by the Tiffany Anders (she was going to save folk-pop!), the Gillian Welches, the Tara MacLeans, the Marit Peters... My God, Laura Veirs alone! Why did you leave me and go and put out a childrens' album, Laura Veirs? You used to write songs about heroin! So can I really do all this emotional work again, with Sharon Van Etten? Maybe, maybe not. I'll take a long look inside myself and see how strong I really am.

Natasha: Okay, what did you think of Techno Roman Madonna and her 13th legion last night? READ MORE

Never paint your idols' copyrighted lyrics for your gallery show, they'll always disappoint you (with a cease and desist letter). That's the sad story of Erik den Breejen, whose show just closed in NYC on a sour note, as Van Dyke Parks, lyricist for the Beach Boys' "Smile," took quite unhappily to reproduction of his words in paint. The biggest fault here is perhaps having so-so taste in music. Here we have reproduced a small version of one of den Breejen's paintings. HOW DOES IT FEEL. (Probably okay actually! Does it devalue the work? Unlikely.) Maybe it's the universe trying to teach him a harsh lesson: his wordless paintings are stronger anyway.

The greatest discovery thus far for me from Awl Music has been Australian band San Cisco's "Awkward," which, if you have not yet seen, I insist you go watch right now. Seriously, I'll wait. Okay, above is "Rocket Ship," their new single, which shares the insane catchiness of its predecessor while injecting a ton of childlike whimsy. It's a great song for a bright, sunny day which, coincidentally, we happen to have right now. So enjoy. [Via]

Imperial Teen – Runaway by MergeRecords READ MORE

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Even among music fans the name Ronnie Lane doesn't come up much. I'm not sure why. He was an original—"the East End urchin with the pastoral vision," as Mojo put it —and about as unlikely a rock figure as you're likely to find. The bassist and songwriter for British bands the Small Faces and the Faces, Lane gave it all up for a curious (to put it mildly) solo career: he ran away and formed a circus. But then he never had been a good fit for heady 1970s rock stardom: consider the fact that while the other members of the Faces were buying mansions and Rolls Royces, Lane remained in his £7 a week apartment in the uber-British-sounding town of Twickenham. And while the Faces toured America in private jets, Lane drove with his family from city to city in a Land Rover. READ MORE

18. Donny Osmond READ MORE