Village Voice Update: Cristqau Still In

Fired Village Voice music editor Chuck Eddy’s replacement will be Rob Harvilla of the East Bay Express. Gossip blog Gawker, however, admits that it was premature in announcing that famed and feared music critic Robert Christgau’s departure from the Voice. "No confirmation yet that he was axed, and, in fact, a source at the paper is under the impression that Xgau is still kicking — tho the source also acknowledges that no one quite knows what’s going on there anymore".

Read fired critic Eddy’s farewell letter below.

From: Eddy, Chuck
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 11:38 AM
Subject: Chuck Eddy is out of here

Dear Friends, Publicists, and Record Label Folks:

As many of you have probably heard through the grapevine, I am leaving the Village Voice tomorrow, after seven often wonderful years here as the music editor. To make it brief, I have been “terminated for reasons of taste”; if you’re wondering what that cryptic phrase means, my advice would be to look at just about any random music section in one of the many other New Times alternative weekly papers around the country, compare it to any random music section I’ve put together here at the Voice, subtract the difference, and draw your own conclusions. To also be brief, I need a new job now, so if you have any leads, don’t hesitate to say so.

My replacement, who begins Monday, is Rob Harvilla, formerly at the East Bay Express. (His email now is ‘xxxx@eastbayexpress.com’; I assume that, starting next week, he’ll be reachable at xxxx@villagevoice.com.)

As for me, I definitely plan to keep writing about music in some capacity or other — especially now that I’ll finally have time to actually write. So it would of course be great to keep getting unfathomable piles of promo CDs to listen to every day. Problem is, I can’t tell you yet where to send them; in my neighborhood in Queens, turns out there’s a 10-day waiting list for PO Boxes. As soon as I have one, I’ll be sending you another email, letting you know where to send the music you want me to hear. Meanwhile, if you have ideas about where I should go from here, or if you just want to drop me a note, I’ll be reachable at xxxx@yahoo.com, an account I just set up two days ago.

Whatever I do, it’s hard to imagine I’ll ever find another job half as fun and rewarding as this one was. I hope I did the job justice. Talk to you soon, good luck, and be good. — Chuck Eddy (via Gawker)