Peace Out METAL EDGE!

I wonder if Zenbu Media (publisher of Relix and the recently defunct Metal Edge and Metal Maniacs) knows that it probably was not the fact that "the music industry sucks" - as he wrote in a blog post on FolioMag.com - for Metal Edge going under.

Sure, this is somewhat true, but there are also a number of additional reasons why it DID go under, many of which were probably caused by Metal Edge's Editor in Chief, Phil Freeman. Its unfortunate because Freeman is a good writer and I did enjoy a few of his features over his year and a half reign. I did not enjoy the way he treated people nor the way Metal Edge was slowly melding into Metal Maniacs.

I have seen and heard first hand many wrong doings on his part as an editor working with his staff, publicist, managers and record labels. With the terrible economy we're in I won't be as cold hearted as I'd like and shout him out in detail, as everyone is human and makes mistakes so I do hope he finds a job he is better suited for. It's a very big shame that one of the only magazines that young metal loving kids had to read is now over.

The below email from Freeman was sent to us by a few people late last week:

Subject: Goodbye METAL EDGE - Hello, Freelance

Hey...

As you've no doubt heard, Wednesday, February 11 will be my last day as Editor-in-Chief of METAL EDGE. I am going to continue writing for various freelance outlets, though. I'm currently publishing regularly in five Village Voice Media papers (the Village Voice, the Cleveland Free Times, the SF Weekly, Westword in Denver, and the St. Louis Riverfront Times) as well as Jazziz, Alternative Press, and the Wire. I plan to expand even further in 2009, too, so all of you receiving this email should keep me on your promo lists, as I will continue to cover metal, jazz and anything else that catches my ear, whether in
print or online. I'm also available for artist bios, liner notes for reissues and compilations, and other similar projects. And finally, I'm a certified audio engineer as well as a critic and journalist, so feel free to pass my info to bands you know or work with who might be looking for an in-studio consultant ("producer" would be a stretch) or someone to evaluate their work and help them improve.

Please use this email address (and the mailing address below) for anything and everything; I look forward to continuing to work with you.

Thanks!

Phil Freeman

And now, a look back at happier times:

Another One Bites the Dust

The closing of Virgin Megastore in Times Square brings me to bitch about the fact that I can't find a cheap old school metal or rock n roll t-shirt in NYC.

Love Saves the Day - a kick ass bric a brac shop in the East Village - is also closing this month. I'm way sadder about this psychadelic shop closing. Madonna shopped there in Desperately Seeking Susan. In 2003, it was because of Love Saves the Day that I was able to put together my "Vintage Dorothy" halloween costume. Hell, where are people going to go if they need a naughty Playboy magazine from 30yrs ago, dirt cheat t-shirts and other garments? Or perhaps one of the first Barbie dolls?





Not on St. Marks Place thats for damn sure. Andy's Cheapies, Search and Destroy and other shops on the now squeeky clean (ok, maybe not squeeky but still) street are a joke. Search and Destroy, a "thrift store" t-shirts now range from $35 - $400. Screw that. I actually found a GREAT place that sells tons of cheap (think $5) rock n roll shirts and other lovely vintage stuff in Murray Hill. Go figure.