Composer, conductor, and impresario, Hector Berlioz was one of the most gifted artists of the Romantic generation, and his music is some of the greatest of the 19th century. Blair Sanderson presents another side of Berlioz that makes him even more appealing to a modern audience -- the raconteur and humorist whose music criticism is some of the funniest you'll ever read.

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With the deluxe edition of Exile on Main Street hitting stores on Monday, Keith Richards has announced release details for a different kind of project. The guitarist's autobiography -- a project three years in the making -- will arrive in October under the title Life. This isn't Richards' first foray into the book world; What Would Keith Richards Do? : Daily Affirmations from a Rock 'n' Roll Survivor, a collection of his famous quotations, was released last year by Bloomsbury. [NME.com]

Say hello to Tired Pony, a new supergroup featuring Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, Belle and Sebastian drummer Richard Colburn, and Young Fresh Fellows/Minus Five/R.E.M. utility member Scott McCaughey. The group will debut in June with the release of The Place We Ran From, which features cameos by Zooey Deschanel, M. Ward, and the Editors' Tom Smith. For a taste of the group's country-influenced music, check out the video on Tired Pony's website. [Pitchfork.com]

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"Don't Knock the Rock." Rock & roll was everywhere in 1956 -- eight of the Top Ten singles on the pop charts by October -- but, then again, so was criticism of it. The hybrid of rhythm, blues, and country had been a fixture on black radio for years, but the ascension of Elvis Presley early in the year with "Heartbreak Hotel," his first single for RCA Victor, focused mainstream attention and quickly made rock & roll Public Enemy Number One. One columnist called rock & rollers "unspeakably untalented and vulgar," while a psychiatrist opined that rock & roll was "a communicable disease with music appealing to adolescent insecurity and driving teen-agers to do outlandish things."

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