Just in case it wasn’t obvious, now is probably not a good time to be working for a record company. Geffen and Interscope gave 15 employees quite the holiday present when they were unceremoniously laid off yesterday, following similar cuts by Def Jam and Sony BMG earlier this month.

The major labels aren’t going to recover anytime soon unless they change their business models. Each year the number of people buying CDs decreases, yet the majors still focus on physical distribution of music. If Apple never sold the majors on iTunes would we even be able to download most albums? These companies are going down the tube, and they have no one to blame but themselves.

Now I’m gonna hop off my soap box, and share some pre-weekend linkage:

• Chicago’s legendary Thrill Jockey record label turns 15
• Flight of the Conchords’ first full length album will hit stores on April 22nd
• NYC Fire officials delayed entry into Wednesday night’s Neil Young concert
• Stephen Malkmus shoots the shit with Pitchfork about his new album
• Check out these extremely NSFW Spank Rock videos
• Yonder Mountain String Band performs at KBCO’s Studio C on Sunday
• Neddy catches the Ribot/Krantz/Frisell trifecta in NYC
• Rumor has it Jimmy Page will produce Paolo Nutini’s new album
• We never imagined we’d be linking to a report of a crowd revolt at a Hall & Oates concert…but, hey, here we are
  

And finally in a sign of the coming apocalypse, a lock of John Lennon’s hair sold for $48,000. You don’t even wanna know what his merkin is going for…

Les Claypool and his Fancy Band are embarking on a major tour beginning in May and wrapping up in July. Up-and-coming rock duo Two Gallants will open most of the shows. The members of the Fancy Band haven’t been announced, but a good guess would be Skerik, Mike Dillon, Gabby La La, and Paulo Baldi. What else?

• The Vapour Brothers website features a video of Radiohead in the studio
• Greyboy Allstars, Lotus, and Galactic are among the bands that have been added to the Trancegression lineup
• Jethro Tull is hitting the states for some dates in the fall
• 17 Dots lists the 20 best Pavement songs
• Soulive has signed with the revived Stax label
• Chris Rockswell of Spank Rock talks with Pitchfork about new projects
• Former Grateful Dead handler, Rock Scully, has produced a one-hour oral history of the Summer of Love
• Little Stevie is getting the vibe that Bruce Springsteen is writing new material for a potential E Street Band album
• Lollapalooza tickets won’t have additional service charges
• Nine music videos featuring animals
• The Beach Boys lost a $60 million intellectual property lawsuit
• Polka Floyd presents an interesting twist on the music of Pink Floyd
• Phanfest 3.0 will be held at Mariaville, NY’s Indian Lookout Country Club
• Gothamist covers Iggy Pop and the Stooges at the United Palace
• Own a piece of the soon-closing Tonic, like an Espresso Machine
• The complete idiot’s guide to John Hiatt
• Check out this hilarious gossip item on The Police’s new album
• Robert Randolph & FB announced some spring and summer tourdates
• Less untz per capita: Disco Biscuits’ Barber goes solo on 4/26

Comprehensive, but let us know if we missed anything in this link dump…