Independent music gets a lot more respect today than it has in past decades. Not too long ago it was extremely expensive and difficult for an artist to release an album. The recording, mixing, mastering, distribution and marketing were high hurdles to clear for unsigned acts.  Today, with some relatively inexpensive computer software and an Internet connection, even artists on a shoestring budget can record, mix, master, distribute and market their own music. Businesses like Topspin Media  even offer independent musicians a complete direct-to-fan platform that can completely eliminate the dependence on middle men who take the lion's share. Yes, independent music has certainly come a long way in a short amount of time. And it's not just DIY punk rock and alternative college bands doing the indie thing. Everyday, established artists are kicking record company dinosaurs to the curb as contracts expire. After all, it never really made sense that an artist should take a minor royalty for

The legend of the zombie emerged from Haitian and African voodoo folklore, but has since grown to epic proportions. Zombie films like The Night Of The Living Dead have become cult classics, and have helped create subcultures of zombie-loving goths across the globe. A "zombie" in the popular culture is an undead human, or in other words, an animated dead person. They have a taste for human brains, and those unfortunate enough to be infected also become zombies. This means that zombies can multiply fast, and can overtake whole towns relatively quickly. Luckily, zombies are slow.

You can find thousands of books, video games and movies that focus on the zombie, and it's not too hard to find songs inspired by these undead abominations. This playlist includes 20 zombie-inspired tracks.

What would you add?

Zombie Songs

1. Living Dead Girl - Rob Zombie

2. Zombies Ate Her Brain - The Creepshow

3. They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhhh! -

One of the great things about our new socially-connected world is that fans and artists can safely learn more about each other. Artists want to know about their fans from a safe distance, and fans want to know everything about their favorite artists.  Twitter lets artists reveal more about themselves if they wish, and also let's them in on what the world is saying about them. I thought mining Twitter data would be a great way to create playlists, and this is an example. If you follow @BoyGeorge on Twitter you'll learn some interesting tidbits about him. He's wickedly witty when it comes to deflecting haters, he's friends with Morrissey, he likes to use exclamation marks a lot, but tastefully so -- never more than one in a single sentence, he's a vegetarian and a fan of the raw food movement. Raw foodism is a diet that consists mostly of non-processed, uncooked and usually organic food. Much has been written about raw foodism, but at the most basic level, it's a way to ensure you're

The Occupy Wall Street protest is winding down its third week, with no signs of slowing.  But even as the published demands are absolutely daffy (i.e.: Guaranteed living wage income regardless of employment, One trillion dollars in ecological restoration, One trillion dollars in infrastructure, Outlaw all credit reporting agencies, etc.) they have succeeded in setting the national conversation. And in that, they can already claim a victory. People are talking about how we can make the country a better place, and that's always a good thing. Although I disagree with most of their tenets, I will defend their right to protest to the death. I believe wholeheartedly that the act of speaking up is an act of patriotism. I'm just not sure they have a grasp of how an economy of our scale works, and that the majority of Wall Street employees are not child-eating devil worshipers.

As Wall Street remains a site of protests, and a new symbol of our failing economy, I thought it was time for a