John Laird runs Side One Track One from my favorite city, Austin, Texas. It’s my old stomping grounds having lived in San Antonio for seven years…I played shows there, dropped a small fortune in music and media there, and shot part of my as-of-yet-unfinished documentary on America and the Iraq war there. So I gotta give John Laird props if for no other reason than he’s music blogging in one of the greatest places in the world to run a music blog from. In case you have been living under a rock, Austin is the live music capital of the world and it’s fertile territory to be a creative type in.

Side One Track One doesn’t seem to be exclusively about vinyl, but I was sucked in by the cool turntable graphic and the content of the posts themselves. I’ve been kicking about off and on at this great music blog, and I’m happy to recommend this one.

Too bad John didn’t start this one back when I was playing gigs with Pink Filth, Crevice and with my solo project Paisley Babylon in Austin…but alas SOTO was started in 2006, a few years too late for me to hobnob with SOTO at the late, great 33 Degrees, Hole in the Wall, Sound Exchange or any of the other fun Austin places that have slipped into history. Check out this great Austin-based blog, if for no other reason than the fact that he rails against Pitchfork. I was an instant fan after reading that…