Grammy Shakedown

I was so happy to see my girl Adele sweep the major categories and win six Grammys!  I appreciate that the Grammys are more variety concert than awards show though.  And here are my opinions on the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good
I mean, Bonnie Rait and Alicia Keyes singing Etta James and then giving an award to Adele- what a one, two, three, four punch of amazing female voices!  Bruno Mars impressed with an old school number and showed he really has moves.  Interesting duets are always a staple of the Grammys (with none perhaps more  memorable than Eminem and Elton John) and this year Rihanna and Coldplay had another interesting mix.  If there was a category in this phrase for "great" it would be Adele's performance, and in particular those first few a cappella notes.  I literally got goosebumps.  She is so amazing and her emotion and grace during her standing ovation - nothing but classy.

The Bad
Taylor Swift singing in the middle of an Amish diorama grinning like a bumpkin who never realized she was famous - not cute and not buying it.  Katy Perry is generally awesome, but she should probably stick to shooting fireworks/whipped cream out of her boobs and singing catchy pop hits and leave the more intense pop/rock ballads to Pink.  The Grammys are also a great place to learn about new talent, like The Civil Wars, who rocked an awesome folk intro.  But then there's those bands, like Bon Iver, who actually never wanted you to know about them in the first place, and accept Grammys with phrases like, this is hard to accept because I really just wanted to write music for the intrinsic rewards.  Honey, please.

The Ugly
But then, really, Chris Brown, really?  His agent must be amazing because he performed twice!  Have we all forgotten that picture of Rihanna's face?  It seems the arts community is always eager to elevate the art over the artist - I mean remember Roman Polanski?  And Brown's song had the repeating lyrics "look at me now;" it was, and truly no pun intended, a slap in the face.  There's also no category for just plain weird, but if there was I think I would put the religious/dramatic performance by Nicki Minaj here.

Madonna Rocks the Super Bowl Halftime Show

Lada Gaga, move over!  Madonna is unstoppable as the original wild child of pop music.  Katy Perry, Britney Spears, do you think any of them will be performing over 50?  Doubtful.  She manages to stay so current, but so iconic. 

The spectacle itself was of a similar magnitude to the Chinese Olympics opening ceremony.  She had an entire army of Roman soldiers, a cheerleading squad, and a full gospel choir.  She managed to do a montage of her greatest hits from decades ago and incorporate current artists like MIA, Nicki Minaj, LMFAO, and Cee Lo (in sequin preacher robes!) showing that Madonna still knows how to have a good time. 

And then to end the whole thing with no nip-slip and world peace?  Genius. 

American Idol Season 11: Phillip Phillips is the new Casey

In line with mid-season reality television premiers, American Idol already has me hooked.  I don't like the awkward moments with people who can't sing, but I love the sappy moments, the salvation stories, and the real musicians.  Like Phillip Phillips, whose father (also named Phillip Phillips) is so proud of his son he can't contain himself.  And Phillip himself who loves his music so much he can barely contain himself either.

But let's be real - why do I really love Phillip Phillips?  For the same reason that I loved Casey last season.  He's an adorable white boy with soul, people.  Flip flops and soul.

Pentatonix Wins the Sing Off

Thankfully for all the remaining groups the votes had all been cast by the time the live finale aired because I don't know if it was excitement or nerves, but everyone was pretty pitchy.

Each of the groups got to sing with one of the judges and I was so excited to see Ben Folds perform.  He's just so nerdy and AWESOME.

Although, like most results shows, it was mostly filler it was still a pretty entertaining episode and in the end my guys won!  The futuristic a capella fivesome will now be recording an album.  Here's one of my favorite performances of the season:

Oh and as a little side note, lead singer Scott of Pentatonix totally reminds me of my days crushing on Ashley Angel of O-Town.  Oh the 90's.

Honk! Festival of Activist Street Bands

Honk! is a festival that takes place every year in Davis Square, full of music, activism and general happy weirdness.  Bands from all over the country come to play one hours sets in locations around Davis and then do a march from Davis Square to Harvard Square.  We got a preview when Jake and I stumbled upon one of the bands on a Friday night out (see: A Little Night Music), and we just had to come back for more.  

The people at this festival - families, hippies, musicians, music lovers, old couples, activists, and weirdos of all sorts - had one thing in common: they really knew what was important in life.  There was music and dancing and just a generally joyful atmosphere.  It was a great reminder to live in the moment, have passion for life, and just smile.

Let Me Teach You How to Dougie

Yes, I have been known to bust out this dance move every once in a while, but I am far from a pro.  So who better to learn from than the experts, e.g. The Biebs, the cast of Glee, and the First Lady!?

And just for some extra fun...

A Little Night Music

Last Friday after work I walked to the T station through the Public Garden and the Commons as usual.  I love that walk for all the entertainment it provides: the two college guys playing Taio Cruz on their violins, the old man with his accordian, the guitar player complete with amps, and even the ipod from behind me playing "Empire State of Mind."  It seems Boston is full of music and I love it. 

 

At night, Jake and I went out to dinner in Davis Square and were met by more musical entertainment.  Two men took shifts on acoustic guitars in the center plaza, but the best show was hidden behind the subway station.  A 13 piece band, complete with tubas, an electric violin, percussion and an assortment of other brass and woodwinds played Justin Timberlake classics and klezmer tunes.  The band included everyone from the dirty hippy in Tevas, the older man with the Hulk Hogan 'stache, the renaissance chick with purple hair, a hipster holding a tuba that looked as though weighed as much as him, and plenty of NSO types (for those of you who didn't go to Vassar I have two words for you: Magic Cards).  Most of them didn't even have sheet music.  Let me tell you, that is some badass nerdery. 

 

They had the crowd going.  An old man in a camouflage kilt was slapping his thigh and bobbing his head and a little girl in Dorothy red slippers and a bicycle helmet skipped around with her dad.  It was one of those perfect September nights, with only the best of late summer breezes.  Everything was just right and the band played on. 

Greatest Music Ever Sold

In his movie, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (see post below), Morgan Spurlock interviews some really cool bands about integrating their music into advertising and even has OK Go write his film's theme song.  I've found that lately commercials are featuring more and more interesting music (even if it does tend to bend a little towards the hipster set) and I thought I'd share a few of my favorites.

Matt & Kim - Daylight

Fatty Gets a Stylist - Are You Ready?

Kid Cudi - Pursuit of Happiness

Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I Am

Amazing Animal Videos

I'm interrupting the summer TV series for these amazing YouTube videos.  You all know I don't even like animals so these videos must be pretty great for me to post them.  I just couldn't help myself. 

If only I had been at Mystic Aquarium on this day...

It's a bit of a wait for the good part, but it's pretty cute...

This might be my favorite, and I need to credit Anjali for introducing it to me...