​New York nightlife impresario Jonathan Toubin spoke with Rolling Stone over the weekend, the horrifying accident in Portland where he was hit by a taxi while sleeping in his hotel room. In the chat, he talks about waking up in the hospital and being unaware of what year it was, his recovery process—which involves getting his hands working again, because the scar tissue from the lacerated tendons impedes their movement—and the intense outpouring of support from the music community around the world, and his plans for eventually returning to the DJing world and his hectic schedule.

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Eleanor Logan

Certainly you've heard that New York's very own soul-and-rock DJ Jonathan Toubin was injured in a freak accident where a taxi crashed into his Portland hotel room and landed on top of him while he slept. As the kind of guy who knows all his local bodega owners, DJs in four states in six days, and will let your dad judge one of his dance contests, people around the country have responded accordingly, starting a iheartjt web site and an events-benefit calendar; artists from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to Margaret Cho to Ariel Pink have pitched in to raise money. As Jonathan's friend and agent Michelle Cable says, "I've been joking about how the iheartjt movement is larger than Occupy Wall Street."

We've asked people who know him to share anecdotes illustrating why he's awesome and what he means to so many people. Unsurprisingly, they had a lot to say.

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Juggalo well-wishes for Scott Olsen

It's been less than a week that the world has known Scott Olsen, the 24-year-old US Marine and Iraq veteran critically injured during last Tuesday night's Occupy Oakland debacle. A peaceful protestor hit in the head by police-fired teargas canister, the young Midwesterner has quickly become a rallying point for the global Occupy movement--even cited as the movement's possible Kent State moment. Though Olsen isn't currently able to speak, he's expected to make a full recovery and did offer a thumbs-up to all the well-wishes he's received. Like support from polarizing filmmaker Michael Moore, former Black Panther Angela Davis, and ScottOlsen.org sign-holders. But another group of Scott Olsen supporters who hasn't gotten as much notice? Juggalos.

Olsen has two Insane Clown Posse tattoos on his upper arms, his roommate Keith Shannon told the Associated Press. The AP, in turn, used the detail to illustrate how Olsen wasn't politically minded before his Iraq tours:

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​Which is to say that the May 6th show, featuring Yo La Tengo, the Clean, Jeff Mangum, and a bunch of other people is way beyond sold out--even at $75 per ticket. The indie start-up for indie start-ups, Kickstarter, hosted the bidding, and you can still give money there--as little as a dollar--to support ailing Tall Dwarfs frontman and New Zealand rock godfather Chris Knox, who suffered a horrendous stroke last summer from which he's still recovering. It won't get you into the show, but it's a pretty easy way to give back to a guy who has already given a lot of people an awful lot. [Kickstarter]

Oh, and scalp at your peril, clowns--what up, Lee Shaker?

According to Questlove, anyway, who passes along the following statement from the ailing MC: "I am doing fine and I am recovering! I'm weak though. Solar is the only person who has the accurate info on my situation. Any info from anybody else is false! I appreciate your well wishes and all the love!" Solar, of course, being the producer Guru has worked with most since Gang Starr stopped releasing records. In fact, as Questlove goes on to point out, this may or may not be a hospital bed shot at DJ Premier, who has also been Twittering frequently--and concernedly--about the condition of his (former?) partner. It also might be merely a reaction to the Guru is dead! rumors that have repeatedly swamped Twitter--an understandable one at that. Anyway, the upshot is, dude is good. What's beef next to that?

According to his partner, DJ Premier, and to AllHipHop, who cite sources as saying "Guru is alive and recovering from his surgery. Doctors are expecting a full recovery luckily." It's probably too soon to start talking about silver linings but if you were so inclined, you might hope that the MC's brush with death will spark a resurgence of interest in the man and in his music. Lately his rep had been beat up a bit in favor of a history that rewrote Premier as the genius as the group--true, but Guru was no slouch either, and no amount of Jazzmatazz records can tarnish that fact. Get well, Keith.

​DJ Wonder went in on Angela Yee's show today, unleashing a half hour, 24 track tribute to Guru, the ailing Gang Starr MC and rap icon who is reportedly in a New York hospital today, undergoing surgery after a heart attack yesterday. It's great, but then, of course it is. There's a reason Gang Starr has spawned so many different best-of collections--the duo's discography is pretty much murder from front to back. Guru's monotone style is as singular in 2010 as it was in 1989, and when he falters, well, DJ Premier is an excellent guy to have your back, as far as music goes. For our money, Moment of Truth is the group's single best LP, but the two-disc Full Clip greatest hits record is probably the place to start. Mick Boogie just threw his favorite six album tracks up; you can also find tributes everywhere from Cocaine Blunts to Passion of the Weiss, with downloads to match. Then do yourself a favor and let Charles Aaron get the last word in: "No one ever rapped about 'cultural awareness' (as he did on 'The Place Where We Dwell') and sounded less like an herb." Now can we get some news on how dude is?

Word around the Internet is that Guru, one half of Gang Starr, one of the best rap groups to ever do it, suffered a heart attack yesterday and is now in a coma, pending surgery. According to AllHipHop, Guru--whose real name is Keith Elam--had the attack while in New York; his former partner, DJ Premier, apparently confirmed the news on Sirius Radio last night. He's 43. This is wretched news. [AHH/Questlove]

​The latest on Chris Knox, the New Zealand songwriter and Flying Nun affiliate who suffered a debilitating stroke in June: He's at home, as he has been for some time. It seems he's making music again, as Tall Dwarfs, though he's not yet speaking--"He wanted me to do an edit of a song loop down from 12 bars to 8 bars," wrote one of his bandmates on the CK blog: "not an easy thing to communicate without speech." But they figured it out. Stroke, the Knox tribute album hastily planned and executed by an incredibly long list of grateful friends--the Chills, the Mountain Goats, Will Oldham, Yo La Tengo, Stephin Merritt, Bill Callahan, etc.--is also coming along. The two-CD set is completed and ready to go, with a November 16 release date in New Zealand and one early next year (on Merge) here in the States. But you can hear a one-minute excerpt of every song on the record right now at Knox's site. As always, we recommend "Not Given Lightly," in any form. [Chris Knox, via Pitchfork]

​Per an update that just got sent around. He's chilling with the Dalai Lama:

hey all,

so i just got back from dharamsala, india. went over there to see some tibetan doctors, but as it worked out, the Dalai Lama was giving a 3 day teaching, so i was able to attend that as well.

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