MTV Hive (and Pitchfork) writer Martin Douglas has posted an excellent essay on what it's like growing up young, black and poor - and loving punk and indie rock.

"When I listened to rock music as a kid, it often felt like I was sneaking past the guards of racial barriers and into a cool party I wasn't invited to," Douglas writes in "The Only Black Guy at the Indie Rock Show." "But I didn't want to feel that way."

• mtvhive.com
• Douglas and his dad

All the chatter about the coming apocalypse has us humming R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It," Public Enemy's "Countdown to Armageddon" and The Doors' "The End." But there are more interesting (and less obvious) choices for an "End of Days" soundtrack. So before you head down to your fallout shelter, remember us here at Creative Loafing by dropping this handy playlist into your iPod.

1. "The Man Comes Around," Johnny Cash. In case you need to get right.

2. "Waiting for the End of the World," Elvis Costello. With your two-toned Bible and your funny cigarettes.

The Interwebs are abuzz today with word of a possible project involving the sons of the Beatles. Before I go any further, let me say, "Please. Don't."

The Beatles were one of, if not THE, greatest rock group in history. Just as you can't reunite without a band member who is deceased - see Led Zeppelin - you can't use offspring to form the next best thing. Therein lies the problem.

You could take those four young blokes, put them in a room and tell them not to create anything that even remotely resembles the Beatles and, regardless of what they come up with, they'd fail miserably with the general public. A) They will never be the Beatles. B) Anything they do will be compared to the Beatles.

The BBC even suggested they call themselves, "The Beatles - The Next Generation." Seriously?

We love public radio here at CL and we understand and support the pledge drives that stations like WFAE in Charlotte do each year. In fact, we encourage any public radio listener to pledge and pledge liberally.

However, some of the promos that public radio airs during pledge week make us cringe.

To wit: This morning, a smart-sounding public radio voice asked WFAE listeners, "Would you rather hear this (cue in a few metal guitar riffs) or this (cue in yawn-inducing music followed by Garrison Keillor welcoming folks to Lake Wobegon)?" The subtext for anyone under 50 is, "Would you rather hear energy on your radio station or the latest ambient collection Music for Geriatric Units?

The result was something of a split decision. Pistol Annies, Lambert's trio with Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley, won the Album of the Year voting with their debut effort, Hell on Heels, which established a comfortable lead over Lambert's No. 2 album, Four the Record. The title track from the Pistol Annies' album was voted the No. 2 single — edging Lambert's No. 3 "Baggage Claim" but falling short of Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter's No. 1 "You and Tequila." Pistol Annies were voted the Best Group or Duo and the Best New Artist, but Lambert was named the Best Female Vocalist, Best Songwriter and Artist of the Year.

Music journalist Geoffrey Himes' annual list has become country music's version of legendary rock crit Robert Christgau's influential Village Voice "Pazz and Jop" poll, which has run in some form since the early '70s and focuses on pop and rock.

The Scene's results include the top 30 albums, top 20 singles, top 10 reissues, top 10 male and female vocalists, top 10 live acts, top 10 songwriters, top 10 duos or groups, top 5 new artists and the 10 artists of the year. You can read more about their decisions here and find the results here.

• Ed Berman
• Duane Allman at the Fillmore East in NYC, 1971

There’s an advantage to being a baby boomer from the South. Namely, I was lucky enough to see the original Allman Brothers Band, with Duane Allman, seven times before he died at age 24 from a motorcycle crash in Macon, Ga. One of those seven shows took place in a club in Spartanburg, S.C., called The Sitar, just after the August 1970 release of the band’s second album, Idlewild South.

Some friends and I were seated about eight feet from the low stage, with Duane right in front of me. At one point I was nearly hypnotized, focusing on Duane’s hands as he smoothly wove his way in and out and through a series of complicated slide guitar lines. I suddenly looked up from his hands, and was dumbfounded to realize that while he was producing those intricate, speed-of-sound licks, Duane had been leaning over, having a casual conversation with bass player Berry Oakley — as if his mind-blowing guitar breaks were effortless.

I saw the band three more times after that, including the two legendary Love Valley Pop Festival shows, but that one moment is what I first think of whenever Duane’s name is brought up. The original Alllman Brothers Band lineup is generally recognized as one of the finest, and most finely honed, touring bands of all time. I imagine that’s true; all I can tell you is that the times I saw them, they were never less than fantastic, every single time.

Check out the excerpt below of Duane and the boys in 1970 playing one of their signature songs, “Whipping Post.”