The 51st Annual Grammy Awards

Thankfully, I was able to watch the entire Grammys telecast from beginning to end without getting kicked out of a room so that one of my cousins could watch something terrible on TV like Desperate Housewives (I'm talking to you Adhalia). Like a lot of my other twitter friends, I posted updates all show long. Sasha Frere-Jones' were the best hands down! ("So You Think You Can Dance? Season 5 winner, Thomas Yorke"). But before I give my recap, I've gotta say, WHAT THE EFF CHRIS BROWN!

Chris Brown and Rihanna were both scheduled to appear at the awards show last night but cancelled last minute. It seems as though the two were in some sort of altercation early Sunday morning which lead to Chris turning himself into the LAPD. He's out on $50,000 bail. Now, we shouldn't make any assumptions until we know all the facts but it's not looking good. If he physically hurt her, it's gonna leave a huge black cloud over the rest of his career. That's a shame since he's still so young. People will forgive but they never forget.

This whole situation seems to be constantly evolving so I'm sure we'll get more info as the days go on. You can read more about the incident here, here, here and here.

Ok, now on to happier things. Lil Wayne, Coldplay, and Alison Krauss and Robert Plant were the big winners last night. They only handed out a few awards during the 3.5 hour telecast but that's totally ok. The Grammys are all about the performances that you talk about the next day around the watercooler.

Mostly all the performances were good. I really enjoyed Jennifer Hudson and Radiohead (with the USC Marching Band -- Bring on your Fleetwood Mac/Tusk jokes).

Even though I'm not a big country fan, Carrie Underwood can sing the hell out of practically any song and she was amazing. It was fun singing along with Neil Diamond (SO GOOD SO GOOD!) as he did "Sweet Caroline" and Whitney Houston even made an appearence (she looked gorgeous and apparently blew everyone away at Clive Davis' party the night before).

I was SOOO happy to see super preggers M.I.A. out on stage doing a wee bit of "Paper Planes" (would've been so epic if she had won) and then "Swagger Like Us" with Jay Z, Lil Wayne, Kanye and TI. Her outfit was classic Maya and being 9 months preggers and about to pop didn't stop her from jumping around on stage. She is gangsta.

Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift are apparently BFF now, thanks to the fact that they've each dated a Jonas (Miley with Nick (the cute one) and Taylor with Joe (the hot one)). They performed a song called "Fifteen" together. Have only heard a little Taylor Swift, but she's totally adorbs. And she can actually write a song.

Adele won for "Best New Artist" and she was so cute! Genuinely surprised and grateful to win. Her album, 19, was defintiely one of my favorites from last year. Think she'll definitely sell a few more copies of that now that she's a Grammy winner. And I'm pretty sure it won't be the kiss of death for her.

Had never listened to Sugarland but my country music loving cousin Jeazette tells me that they're so hot right now. I'm from Atlanta and for the first 13 years of my life, my father rarely changed the car radio dial from Kicks 101.5. So I heard a lot of country growing up. Sugarland seems to be one of the good ones. Their performance was awesome and what was even more awesome is when Adele performed "Chasing Pavement" right after them.

Sir Paul McCartney performed the Beatles classic, "I Saw Her Standing There," with Dave Grohl on drums. Any time a Beatle does anything, it's awesome. And his new girlfriend is super hot!

Ya'll know how I feel about TI. I hope they don't send him to jail :( Anywho, here's him and his BFF JT

View the full list of Grammy winners here. There are videos all over the internet with every performance you could possibly want to see. Happy hunting!

If I could lend you this feeling I would

I got my ticket for The Duke Spirit at MHOW. Where's yours?

Maxwell's tickets

MHOW tickets

Bob Marley would've been 64 yesterday. Happy Birthday Robert.

I wish I'd stayed asleep today

Lady Sovereign has a new song called "I'm So Human" which samples "Close to Me" by my besties The Cure. I'm not sure how I feel about it. What do you think?

Ok. So. I'm trying not to freak out but the Mercury Lounge building is up for sale. The venue is safe for now (their lease runs through 2018) but if they sell it so that they can turn it into something lame (and something lame would be anything other than what it already is) I will cry a thousands tears. The Mercury Lounge is my ABSOLUTE favorite venue in all of NYC. I've been to more shows there than any other venue in New York. So keep your fingers crossed that nothing happens to it. And I mean EVER.

Someone in a google group I'm apart of was looking for a contact for The Murder City Devils this morning. I first thought, "Derek Fudesco's Murder City Devils?" (as if there was another). And then I thought, "But didn't they break up?" Well, turns out they are doing a short tour of the west coast this month. Their old label, Sup Pop, is going to reissue their three albums. Pretty rad huh? If you live on the west coast, check out tour dates here. Derek Fudesco was a member of one of my all time favorite bands Pretty Girls Make Graves. They broke up in 07. Don't talk about it. I'm still in mourning.

Mike pointed out that while Glastonbury has sold out (even though the lineup has yet to be confirmed), The Langerado Festival (which was was to take place March 6-8 in Miami) was cancelled due to poor ticket sales. I've been to a few festivals and usually I have a miserable time because there are too many people, the weather is wretched and there are lines everywhere. What magical enchantment happens at Glastonbury that makes people pull out their wellies and trek out into a swamp to camp out for three days?

M.I.A. is totally performing at the Grammys this Sunday, even though she might pop the baby out on stage. No one on the corner has swagger like Maya. Speaking of the Grammys, this will be the first year in like 3 that I'm actually going to be able to watch the entire thing. They usually happen on the same night we go out to eat for my Uncle's birthday. Well we had his birthday dinner last Sunday so my Grammy viewing is safe this time around.

I'm going to see the incomparable Steven Patrick Morrissey at Carnegie Hall in March. I've seen Morrissey twice, the last time being in October of 2007 at Hammerstein. He puts on a FANTASTIC show and I can't wait to see him! He's sure to play this song.

They couldn't think of something to say the day you burst

As promised, photos from Wednesday night's show at Bowery.






More photos here.

It's about time

The man who killed Gits lead singer Mia Zapata in 1993 has been sentenced to 37 years for her murder. Jesus Mezquia was actually arrested over 6 years ago after DNA evidence connected him to Mia's rape and murder. I remember seeing a profile of this case ages ago on Unsolved Mysteries and being so annoyed that they hadn't found her killer yet. I'm so glad that they caught him and that he's paying for his crime.

I first heard The Gits in college when I found one of their CDs in the back room of WUOG's music library. I vaguely remembered watching that episode of Unsolved Mysteries and went online to read more about the band. It's so sad when someone who is so talented is taken away in such a senseless and awful way, especially when they haven't even reached their highest potential. Hoepfully, Mia's family, friends and fans can find some sort of peace knowing that he killer will no longer get away with what he's done.

Can you hear my hert beat like a hammer?

The new Metric album, Fantasies, comes out in April. Watch the video below to hear a little of "Help I'm Alive." Seriously, Emily has one of the most beautiful voices ever.

PP was awesome last night. I took a few pictures which I'll probably get around to posting tomorrow. I had an awesome time singing with my girls down in front. Highlights were "Better Things" and "Sleepyhead" of course. Check out some photos and video from last night here, here and here.

Like dirt bikes going on stage

If you're not at this show tonight consider yourself having the worst Wednesday ever. Don't worry. The rest of us will be dancing our asses off in your absence.

Is this real life?

I ask myself that sometimes too, David.

I've watched this video like 10 times today. It's HILARIOUS!

Irish Blood, English Heart

Happy Monday everyone! I hope your weekends went by slowly and you had loads and loads of fun. But chances are that didn't happen. Chances are you got little sleep, didn't finish everything you needed to do and were stuck in line for ages at Stop & Shop with the morons who waited last minute to go shopping for their Superbowl parties (maybe you should go without the Spinach dip this year if it's already 5 o'clock? I dunno, just saying). Anywho, if your weekend was a little drab, here's something to to give you a jolt. Naked Morrissey? Yes please!


The above photo has been floating around the internet over the last couple of days. It's the inside sleeve of Morrissey's new single, "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris." Moz is in the middle. I hope that whoever I end up with when I'm settled down looks that good when he's 49! Morrissey's right hand man Boz Boorer is shown the second from the right. Why is he hiding?

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that Morrissey is playing the first night of Coachella this year. He goes on right before Paul McCartney who is headlining Friday night. The Cure headlines Sunday night and The Killers on Saturday. Other acts include Amy Winehouse (assuming she doesn't OD first), No Age, Jenny Lewis, A Place to Bury Strangers, Leonard Cohen, White Lies, TV on The Radio, The Fleet Foxes and basically everyone else who had a big year last year/will have a big year this year/you want to hear a new album from. Coachella happens April 17th-19th in Indio California. Tickets are $300 which is pretty effing pricey. But there's a payment plan available if you can't afford to shell out all the dough at once. Buy your tickets here. And if you feel inclined to buy one for me as well, I won't object.

Speaking of the maybe soon to be ex Mrs. Fielder-Civil, she has decided to put Mitch and Janis in charge of her $21 million dollar fortune. Good idea. It'll be like getting an allowance all over again!

Pitchfork's site was acting all whacky last week so they've posted links to all the stories we may have missed.

TV on the Radio is playing SNL this weekend. I'd love it if they played "DLZ" but that probably won't happen.

OMG. LSF at Brooklyn Masonic Temple March 13th. If you know me, you know why this is major. Tickets on sale tomorrow.

White Lies is playing Bowery March 26 and 27th with Friendly Fires and the Soft Pack. Check them out if haven't heard them. They're awesome.

The News of the World must have spies EVERYWHERE because anytime a celebrity does something naughty, they always manage to get a picture of it. This time, Michael Phelps got caught getting high. A lot of people smoke pot and it's not really a big deal. But he's on the cover of a freaking Corn Flakes box. I bet Wheaties is happy that he turned them down. Now we'll have to wait to see if he loses sponsorships and the halo that's been hanging over his head.

Brooklyn Vegan posted pictures from the Thermals show. I've had a total girl crush on Kathy Foster for like 6 years. She's awesome. I keep hoping that she'll go on tour with her other band, All Girl Summer Fun Band, soon. I heart them.

Photographer Natalie Curtis has posted her November photos on her website. My favorite is the one of the random dude.

I don't care about football so I didn't watch the Superbowl (who won anyway?) I didn't even watch the half time show. But I heard good things about Jennifer Hudson's performance of the Star-Spangled Banner. I didn't even think she was going to make a public performance until the Grammys. Below is her amazing performance of the national anthem. Not an easy song to sing.

In other news, a little PP at Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday night. It's going to be EPIC!