We've often said that a great music scene needs a great radio station to thrive. The same could be said for brick and mortar record stores. Our friends at Vintage Vinyl and Euclid Records prove that every day.

Album sales are down for 2012 but don't blame vinyl.

The versatile Joe South, one of the greatest of the American music greats, has died at the age of 72.

Everybody's favorite rock duo, the Black keys, took the stage to a storm of applause. Guitarist Dan Auerbach approached the mic and gave everyone a short and sweet apology for running late. Then Patrick Carney got right to the point and started wailing on his drums.

The year 2011 was a great one for music. My #1 was an album that I heard at the beginning of the year, but it was able to stay in my top spot, a rare occurrence for me.

The Black Keys
"El Camino"
Nonesuch

In a recent interview with Pitchfork, the Black Keys' drummer Patrick Carney pissed off half of Canada when he posited that while the band would most certainly want to be remembered as more "awesome" like Led Zeppelin, it was also possible that they were more "annoying" like Rush.

The first ever Kanrocksas brought a very impressive line-up of musical guests, in addition to performance painting, games, booze, a water slide, dancing, camping, food, and supportive fan bases from all over the country.

Cheap Trick narrowly escaped death -- literally -- as the band's stage collapsed at the Ottawa Bluesfest, while it was on it.