Audiofile's new tune

It's with a heavy heart that Salon says goodbye to the great Thomas Bartlett, who has been spinning tunes for us in Audiofile (and before that, in his Wednesday Morning Download feature) for three years. In picking out the best free music available online, Thomas has built a large, trusting audience that I know will be as broken up as we are to bid him adieu. But his music career will not be stopped (if you've never heard his band Doveman, we strongly encourage you to give it a listen) and we look forward eagerly to what he does next.

The good news is that we've tapped David Marchese, a frequent contributor to Salon, to take the Audiofile helm -- and more. In addition to singling out the best free music on the Web and bringing exclusive downloads to Salon readers, David will file reports on the week's big releases on Tuesdays, continue to conduct a variety of interviews with the most interesting music figures, and put a spotlight on the best unsigned musical acts that deserve to break big. So don't worry; we're hoping to bring you even bigger things out of Audiofile in 2007. Stay tuned.

-- Kerry Lauerman