The Campaign to Save Paste Magazine Gets Musician Support; Give Yours and Get Great Music

Paste Magazine has for years been a favorite source of new music and stories about the people who make it. But now Paste is facing hard times because of the economic downturn, and some top musicians are offering their tunes in order to help keep the magazine afloat.

More than 100 artists have agreed to contribute rare tunes to people who donate to the campaign to save Paste, including The Decemberists, Neko Case, She & Him, Cowboy Junkies, the Jayhawks, The Hives, Matthew Sweet, The Avett Brothers, Joe Henry, John Roderick of The Long Winters, Over the Rhine, Bob Mould, and many more. (If additional songs are added, contributors will get those, too.)

Paste is an every-other-month printed magazine that comes with a CD sampler (though many subscribers now get the sampler tunes via digital download).

Paste says that its current financial problems are caused by a drop in advertisers, and they expect it to be just a short-term problem. "We just need a little cash infusion to make up for running at a loss for a while" they write. "We’re excited about finally getting to a sustainable level that puts us in a great position when the economy comes back—whenever that is."

You can get all the answers at the Save Paste FAQ.

You can also follow news from Paste at its Twitter page, www.twitter.com/pastemagazine.

Tom Moon's 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die

The end of the year is always a time for best-of lists, but here's a look at something with a slightly different twist. A few months ago music critic Tom Moon came out with a book called 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. Though Moon is mostly a rock and pop critic, his book includes genres such as blues, classical, hip-hop, and even Latin dance music. The book is nearly 900 pages, and Moon includes explanations of why each selection made the list.

Moon discussed the book on NPR's All Songs Considered podcast (Moon is a music reviewer for the program, as well as a former music critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer), along with some selections that didn't make the book. Moon also discusses the recordings at his site (above), where he has a blog on which he conducts an ongoing discussion about the 1,000 recordings as well as current music.

So while most radio stations and critics are examining the best and worst of 2008, it's interesting to consider the all-time best recordings, and what selections should or shouldn't be on that list.