THE CHAMP IS HERE! Notch another one in the win column this year for me against Adam in Grammy Bowl IV. My official record improves to 2-1-1 against my surely depressed opponent. It all came down to Album of the Year at the end of the night. I was shaking in my underwear as I sat on the couch waiting for the name to be called. And as Taylor Swift was called, you would have thought it was me accepting the Grammy. The final tally is below 11-10.
Record of the Year- Kings of Leon "Use Somebody" Album of the Year- Taylor Swift "Fearless"
Song of the Year- Beyonce "Single Ladies" Best New Artist- Zac Brown Band Female Pop Vocal- Beyonce "Halo"
Male Pop Vocal- Jason Mraz "Make It Mine" Pop Performance Duo/Group- Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling" Solo Rock Vocal Performance- Bruce Springsteen "Working on a Dream" Rock Performance Duo/Group- Kings of Leon "Use Somebody"
Hard Rock Performance- AC/DC "War Machine"
Best Rock Song- Kings of Leon "Use Somebody" Best Rock Album- Green Day "21st Century Breakdown" Best Alternative Music Album- Phoenix "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix"
Best R&B Song- Beyonce "Single Ladies" Contemporary R&B Album- Beyonce "I Am...Sasha Fierce"
Rap Solo Performance- Jay-Z "D.O.A." Best Rap Song- Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kanye West "Run This Town"
Best Rap Album- Eminem "Relapse"
Best Country Song- Taylor Swift "White Horse"
Best Country Album- Taylor Swift "Fearless"
Song Written for a Motion Picture- A.R. Rahman "Jai Ho"
Best Short Form Music Video- Black Eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow"
No doubt these four will be performing the remix to "Forever". I didn't even like this song until I saw Barker get on the drums for the remix. The original sounded like every artist was in a different corner of the country, wrote down some random verse on a ketchup-stained napkin, and mailed it to the producer, who mashed everything together and threw it out to the world.
Look at Barker go to town on those drums. It's like Keith Moon came back to life for a one-off remix spot. Can we just agree that Travis Barker is the best drummer of our generation? Talk about passion and enthusiasm. Who compares? Honestly give me one name.
The Black Eyed Peas are being sued for plagiarism again! A copyright infrigement lawsuit has been filed by Ebony Latrice Batts aka Phoenix Phenom and Manfred Mohr against each of the Peas individually and collectively.
Phoenix and Manfred claim that their song "Boom Dynamite" is incredibly similar to BEP's "Boom Boom Pow." Their attorney states:
“My clients submitted their copyrighted song “Boom Dynamite” to Interscope Records after Interscope had shown interest in some of their music, and the Black Eyed Peas later copied the song when they wrote “Boom Boom Pow.” A simple listening of the two songs will tell you that the songs are substantially similar, and that the hooks of the two songs are virtually identical in rhythm and lyrics.”
Ummmm a little more than coincidence with this one. Does Will.i.am. consciously decided to say "fuck it, no one will ever know" when he "produces" music. This is like me copy and pasting Wikipedia articles into my college essays (which I still attest never happened) and passing them off to the professor as my own work.
Icing on the cake? Black Eyed Peas are nominated for Best Dance Recording for "Boom Boom Pow". I hope they win just for the unintentional comedy factor. Who do you thank, Milli Vanilli for showing you the way?
The Whipping Post- Once again, keeping things honest in a world full of Will.i.am's
With the Grammy's being held this Sunday, it only means it's that time of the year again....Grammy Bowl IV!!! Evey year my friend Adam and I have a contest and pick the categories. Basically it gives us a reason to watch 3 hours of horrible television, OK performances, and unworthy acceptance speeches. After a great first few years of picking, I was humbled with my disastrous picks of last year. It was like a good blackjack run in Vegas. You start to feel invincible, you can't lose, everything you pick is the right choice and them BAM. The dealer brings you right back down to the gutter by pulling a five-card 21, bursting those dreams of a comped suite to go along with that high class hooker on your arm. Things will get better. My picks below in bold, Adam's in blue. After 3 years of picking I'm 1-1-1.
Record of the Year
Beyonce- Halo
Black Eyed Peas- I got a feeling
Kings of leon- use somebody
Lady gaga- poker face
Taylor swift- you belong with me
Taylor vs. Beyonce round two. Taylor takes down the big awards.
Album of the Year
Beyonce- I am…sasha fierce
Black Eyed Peas- the e.n.d.
Lady gaga- the fame
DMB- big whiskey and the groogrux king
Taylor swift- fearless
Song of the Year
Lady gaga- poker face
Pretty wings- Maxwell
Beyonce- single ladies
Kings of leon- use somebody
Taylor swift- you belong with me
I've grown to absolutely despise this song. You couldn't go 10 minutes without hearing this sellout song on every radio station in the country. Sounds like a winner.
Best New Artist
Zac brown band
Keri hilson
Mgmt
Silversun pickups
Ting tings
Lady Gaga is up for album, song, and record of the year, but somehow she doesn't get a best new artist bid? I guess the grammy people are saving that for next year. I hate the people who pick these things. guaranteed she wins this category next year. And I'm picking mgmt this year for that same reason.
Best Female Pop Vocal
Adele- hometown glory
Beyonce- halo
Katy perry- hot n cold
Pink- sober
Taylor swift- you belong with me
Best Male Pop Vocal
John legend- this time
Maxwell- love you
Jason mraz- make it mine
Seal- if you don’t know me by now
Stevie wonder- all about the love again
Best Pop Performance duo/group
Black eyed peas- I gotta feeling
Bon jovi- we weren’t born to follow
The fray- never say never
Daryl hall and john oates- sara smile
Mgmt- kids
Solo Rock Vocal Performance
Bob Dylan- beyond here lies nothin’
John fogerty- change in the weather
Prince- dreamer
Bruce springsteen- working on a dream
Neil young- fork in the road
nobody votes against Springsteen in the Grammy's.
Rock Performance Duo/Group
Eric Clapton and steve winwood- cant find my way home
Coldplay- life in Technicolor II
Green day- 21 guns
Kings of leon- use somebody
U2- I’ll go crazy if I don’t go crazy tonight
This one will bite me in the ass. Never pick against Green Day or U2. Underachieving megabands who will inevitably get nominated and win every year.
Hard Rock Performance
Ac/dc- war machine
Alice in chains- check my brain
Linkin park- what I’ve done
Metallica- the unforgiven III
Nickelback- burn it to the ground
I really wanted to take Linkin Park here, but this is the year of the oldies. Bruce, U2, Metallica, Depeche Mode, Stevie Wonder....what year is this?
Best Rock Song
Pearl jam- the fixer
U2- I’ll go crazy if I don’t go crazy tonight
Green day- 21 guns
Kings of leon- use somebody
Bruce springsteen- working on a dream
Big battle of the night! Bruce vs. U2 vs. Green Day, none of whom should win. Three way toss up.
Best Rock Album
Ac/dc- black ice
Eric Clapton and steve winwood- live from MSG
Green day- 21st century breakdown
DMB- big whiskey and the groogrux king
U2- no line on the horizon
Best Alternative Music Album
David byrne and brian eno- everything that happens will happen today
Grab it before it disappears! Labels will surely get involved with this, just as they did with The Grey Album. The sampling is also a lot less straightforward on Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers. Some songs use multiple Beatles samples and obscure cover versions of songs, making it difficult to even recognize that you're even hearing The Beatles. It's much different than the 2 song, peanut butter and jelly mash-ups that you may be accustomed to. Very well done, and the results speak for themselves. The album even got the thumbs up from Raekwon. Here are a couple of my favorites:
Wu-Tang vs. The Beatles (yesterday)- "Criminology"
Wu-Tang vs. The Beatles (come together)- "Release Yo Self"
Download the entire album FO' FREE cuz that's how we dohere.
Elkhart, Indiana. Home to the nation's highest unemployment rate. Not exactly a hot spot for big hapnin's; but what could cheer up an unemployed, misery-fleeing, hopeless patron faster than a Monopoly Chance card with a $5,000 bank error in your favor? Music, obvs.
Elkhart's own, inbirdseye, have crafted a (rough) catchy little EP, titled Tres Songs. It's three songs long, in case you were wondering. "They Won't See" is by far my favorite and immediately reminds me of something Band of Horses or My Morning Jacket would create. Those soaring vocals are seriously impressive. Although all the songs are a little raw at this point, you can easily see the promise these four young guys can deliver. A follow up to Tres Songs is currently being worked on and will be titled Speak Easy. I'm excited for this follow up, the guys definitely have the potential to be something big.
inbirdseye- "They Won't See" from Tres Songs EP
inbirdseye- "Sorry, Deric" from the upcoming Speak Easy
Download the entire Tres Songs EP FO' FREEhere. And be sure to visit the band's Myspace for some more new tracks.
Catchy, clever, and LOUD, The Material is a 5-piece, female-fronted rock ensemble whose combination of alternative, post-punk and super poppy female vocals have thrust them toward the front of the California music scene.
Hailing from San Diego, CA, The Material released their latest EP, To Weather The Storm, in June 2009 and after one listen you can hear commercial success banging down their door. The band have had songs featured in the video game Rock Band, as well as television shows on WB and MTV2. But with all of their success, The Material remain unsigned. It's hard to believe no label offers have come their way. Or maybe they've decided to stay true to the DIY approach. Either way, you need to listen.
The Material- Unforgivable
Be sure to check out The Material on their Myspace for more great songs! Purchase To Weather the Storm on iTunes.
YouTube quietly launched a playlist creation tool called the YouTube Music Discovery Project, otherwise dubbed "Disco." It looks like a standard search tool, where users enter in the name of an artist they like and then click the "disco" button. The resulting page will give you a quick bio of that artist, stream a random music video by that artist, compile a playlist of all music on YouTube available from that artist and of videos from similar artists. Users can edit the playlist by adding or deleting songs, skip videos, and save and name their favorite playlists to a special playlist page, as well as share them via e-mail with others.
It seems like YouTube’s is responding to Pandora and Last.fm and is similar to the Genius option on iTunes, working off the slogan "Find > Mix > Watch."
For instance, a search for Pearl Jam results in a playlist stocked with Eddie Vedder & Co., plus videos by fellow Seattle grunge all-stars like Nirvana and Soundgarden and ’90s rockers like Smashing Pumpkins and Black Crowes. Not much for “discovery” as the vast majority of Pearl Jam fans are already well aware of these other bands, but the Pearl Jam list might introduce fans to the handful of obscure Screaming Trees music videos that YouTube suggests. Similarly, Disco search of Miike Snow will not only result in a list of the Swedish trio's work, but also give you videos of Lykke Li, Peter Bjorn and John, The Neptunes, and Gossip.
However, here’s a surefire sign Disco is still brand new, under construction, and working out the bugs: Search "Radiohead" and the other suggested artists are simply "head" bands like Diamond Head, Big Head Todd & the Monsters and Murray Head. Is Disco revolutionary? Probably not, but it’ll likely steal a few clicks from other music recommendation sites. Considering YouTube’s big push behind Vevo, it’s a little strange that this new music feature is launching via regular YouTube and not its new music site, which the record labels prefer you visit. At any rate, it's nice to have a "genius" list of videos prepared for you of your favorite artists. I even stumbled across a couple videos that I didn't even know existed from some of my favorite artists. Check it out and let me know what you think.
"This is a circus, we're all trying not to go home."
Another great U.K. band! Why are the best unsigned bands always from the U.K.? Anyway, Edinburgh boys Your Neighbour The Liar have been a band for only a couple months now (with only 3 shows under their belt, is this true?), but have put together a few great sounding demos.
The three song collection, titled The Michael Cera Type, include songs simply titled "Circus", "Snow", and "Birthday". All of these songs show great promise, and it's easy to see that with a little better production and help in the right direction, Your neighbor The Liar will without a doubt be one of the biggest buzz bands of 2010. I'll definitely be following these guys in the upcoming months. More songs NOW please!
The animated quartet's third studio album, Plastic Beach, has been confirmed to drop on March 9 -- but its lead single, "Stylo," featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack, just leaked online. "Stylo" finds Gorillaz in their signature dub and trip-rock sound, but now with more flowing soul grooves and vocals. The single will officially release online on January 26.
"Frontman" Murdoc has commented on "Stylo" hitting the internet via his Twitter account, writing: "A leak! A leak! 'Plastic Beach' has sprung a leak! One of those Russian pirates has put a bullet hole on my island! My single's leaked! 'STYLO'!"
The band released the full tracklisting and announced album contributors Lou Reed, Mos Def, Mark E Smith Snoop Dogg, Bobby Womack, De La Soul Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals), and the Clash duo of Mick Jones and Paul Simonon.
As with the band's previous releases, the album boasts a back story:
"the band have taken up residence, recording on a secret floating island deep in the South Pacific, a Plastic Beach HQ, made up of the detritus, debris and washed up remnants of humanity. This Plastic Beach is the furthest point from any landmass on Earth; the most deserted spot on the planet".
Take a listen to "Stylo" below...
Tracklist for Plastic Beach: 01 "Orchestral Intro" (featuring Sinfonia ViVA) 02 "Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach"(feat. Snoop Dogg & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble) 03 "White Flag" (feat. Kano, Bashy & The National Orchestra For Arabic Music) 04 "Rhinestone Eyes" 05 "Stylo" (feat. Bobby Womack & Mos Def) 06 "Superfast Jellyfish" (feat. Gruff Rhys & De La Soul) 07 "Empire Ants" (feat. Little Dragon) 08 "Glitter Freeze" (feat. Mark E Smith) 09 "Some Kind Of Nature" (feat. Lou Reed) 10 "On Melancholy Hill" 11 "Broken" 12 "Sweepstakes" (feat. Mos Def & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble) 13 "Plastic Beach" (feat. Mick Jones & Paul Simonon) 14 "To Binge" (feat. Little Dragon) 15 "Cloud Of Unknowing" (feat. Bobby Womack and Sinfonia ViVA) 16 "Pirate Jet
The U.K. band (and quickly becoming one of The Whipping Post's favorites) Two Door Cinema Club, have released a new non-album song for download. AND YOU KNOW IT'S FO' FREE! Just visit their website and have at it! At first listen, the new song "Costume Party" immediately reminds me of something Autovaughn would release. Soaring harmonies and a light and simple, yet incredibly catchy guitar riff. Feel good music at it's finest.
Two Door Cinema Club- "Costume Party"
Two Door Cinema Club will release their debut album March 2nd.
THE CHAMP IS HERE! Notch another one in the win column this year for me against Adam in Grammy Bowl IV. My official record improves to 2-1-1 against my surely depressed opponent. It all came down to Album of the Year at the end of the night. I was shaking in my underwear as I sat on the couch waiting for the name to be called. And as Taylor Swift was called, you would have thought it was me accepting the Grammy. The final tally is below 11-10.
