The big show goes down February 8, 2009 at Los Angeles’ Staples Center and will be telecast live on CBS. Here’s how the major categories break down:

Album of the Year
Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Ne-Yo - Year Of The Gentleman
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
Radiohead - In Rainbows

Record of the Year
Adele - “Chasing Pavements”
Coldplay - “Viva La Vida”
Leona Lewis - “Bleeding Love”
M.I.A. - “Paper Planes”
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - “Please Read The Letter”

Best New Artist
Adele
Duffy
Jonas Brothers
Lady Antebellum
Jazmine Sullivan

Song of the Year
“American Boy” - William Adams, Keith Harris, Josh Lopez, Caleb Speir, John Stephens, Estelle Swaray & Kanye West, songwriters (Estelle Featuring Kanye West)
“Chasing Pavements” - Adele Adkins & Eg White, songwriters (Adele)
“I’m Yours” - Jason Mraz, songwriter (Jason Mraz)
“Love Song” - Sara Bareilles, songwriter (Sara Bareilles)
“Viva La Vida” - Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, & Chris Martin, songwriters (Coldplay)

Best Rock Album
Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Kid Rock - Rock N Roll Jesus
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
Metallica - Death Magnetic
The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely

Best Rock Song
Bruce Springsteen - “Girls In Their Summer Clothes”
Radiohead - “House Of Cards”
Death Cab for Cutie - “I Will Possess Your Heart ”
Kings of Leon - “Sex On Fire”
Coldplay - “Violet Hill”

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals
AC/DC - “Rock ‘N Roll Train”
Coldplay - “Violet Hill”
Eagles - “Long Road Out Of Eden”
Kings of Leon - “Sex On Fire”
Radiohead - “House Of Cards”

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance
John Mayer - “Gravity” from Where The Light Is — Live In Los Angeles
Paul McCartney - “I Saw Her Standing There” from Amoeba’s Secret
Bruce Springsteen - “Girls In Their Summer Clothes” from Magic
Eddie Vedder - “Rise”
Neil Young - “No Hidden Path” from Chrome Dreams II

Best Pop Vocal Album
Sheryl Crow - Detours
Duffy - Rockferry
Eagles - Long Road Out Of Eden
Leona Lewis - Spirit
James Taylor - Covers

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals
Alicia Keys & John Mayer - “Lesson Learned” ”
Madonna, Justin Timberlake & Timbaland - “4 Minutes”
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - “Rich Woman”
Rihanna & Maroon 5 - “If I Never See Your Face Again”
Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown - “No Air”

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals
Coldplay - “Viva La Vida”
Eagles - “Waiting In The Weeds”
Gnarls Barkley - “Going On”
Maroon 5 - “Won’t Go Home Without You”
OneRepublic - “Apologize”

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Adele - “Chasing Pavements”
Sara Bareilles - “Love Song”
Duffy - “Mercy”
Leona Lewis - “Bleeding Love”
Katy Perry- “I Kissed A Girl”
Pink - “So What”

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
Kid Rock - “All Summer Long”
John Mayer - “Say”
Paul McCartney - “That Was Me”
Jason Mraz - “I’m Yours”
Ne-Yo “Closer”
James Taylor - “Wichita Lineman”

Best Rap Album
Jay-z - American Gangster
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Lupe Fiasco - The Cool
Nas - Nas
T.I. - Paper Trail

Best Rap Song
“Lollipop” - D. Carter, S. Garrett, D.Harrison, J. Scheffer & R. Zamor, songwriters (Lil Wayne Featuring Static Major) “Low” - T. Dillard, M. Humphrey & T-Pain, songwriters (Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain)
“Sexual Eruption” - Calvin Broadus, S. Lovejoy & D. Stewart, songwriters (Snoop Dogg)
“Superstar” - Lupe Fiasco & Soundtrakk, songwriter (Lupe Fiasco Featuring Matthew Santos)
“Swagga Like Us” - D. Carter, S. Carter, Clifford Harris, & Kanye West, songwriters (M. Arulpragasam, N. Headon, M. Jones, J. Mellor, T. Pentz, P. Simonon, songwriters) (Jay-Z & T.I. Featuring Kanye West & Lil Wayne)

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
Estelle Featuring Kanye West - “American Boy”
Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain - “Low”
John Legend & Andre 3000 - “Green Light”
Lil Wayne Featuring T-Pain - “Got Money”
Lupe Fiasco Featuring Matthew Santos - “Superstar”

Best Alternative Music Album
Beck - Modern Guilt
Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
Radiohead - In Rainbows

Best R&B Album
Eric Benet - Love & Life
Boyz II Men - Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
Al Green - Lay It Down
Jennifer Hudson - Jennifer Hudson
Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It

Best Electronic/Dance Album
Brazilian Girls - New York City
Daft Punk - Alive 2007
Cyndi Lauper - Bring Ya To The Brink
Kylie Minogue - X
Moby - Last Night
Robyn - Robyn

Best Hard Rock Performance
Disturbed - “Inside The Fire”
Judas Priest - “Visions”
The Mars Volta - “Wax Simulacra”
Mötley Crüe - “Saints Of Los Angeles”
Rob Zombie - “Lords Of Salem”

Best Metal Performance
DragonForce - “Heroes Of Our Time”
Judas Priest - “Nostradamus”
Metallica - “My Apocalypse”
Ministry - “Under My Thumb”
Slipknot - “Psychosocial”

The 2009 Grammy Award nominations were unveiled during a live concert special featuring Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, and a host of other musical performers on Wednesday night.

Two of the biggest selling albums of the year — Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III and Coldplay’s Viva La Vida were nominated for the Album of the Year statue.

Here is the official list of the 2009 Grammy Award nominees:
Record Of The Year
(Award to the Artist and to the Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s) and/or Mixer(s), if other than the artist.)
Chasing Pavements Adele
Viva La Vida Coldplay
Bleeding Love Leona Lewis
Paper Planes M.I.A
Please Read The Letter Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Best Country Album:
That Lonesome Song - Jamey Johnson
Sleepless Nights - Patty Loveless
Troubador - George Strait
Around The Bend - Randy Travis
Heaven, Heartache And the Power Of Love - Trisha Yearwood

Last month, Gnarls Barkley released an EP celebrating “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul,” one of the most striking and soulful tunes song from their last LP "The Odd Couple." The EP release includes four different versions of “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul," including the original demo recording, the album version, an instrumental version, and the stripped-down live version from the band’s MTV 52 Bands appearance. The EP also features the new song “Mystery Man" and a live version of "Neighbors" recorded at the famous 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA.

Atlantic Records and ArjanWrites.com have teamed up for a very, very special contest. I will be giving away 10 limited edition EPs and 4 signed limited edition EPs autographed by maestros Cee-lo and Danger Mouse. Fill out your contact information after the jump to have a chance to win. But hurry! Contest closes on December 8.

“The first time you hear ‘Who’s Gonna Save My Soul’,” said a spokesperson for the band in a press release, “it alters your chemistry. It’s a vulnerable song for tough times. So far, it’s been a cult hit. When people hear it, and they’ve got some grief in their lives, they adore it.”  The song’s official video, from acclaimed director Chris Milk, has drawn controversy for its dark humor and violent imagery. I just think it is pretty smart and clever.

My inbox was loaded with goodies this morning (sorry, I had too much tryptophan this weekend to keep up with it), one of my favorites being this new track from Common’s upcoming album, Universal Mind Control. The track features Cee-Lo (Gnarls Barkley) on the chorus, which, huh, should be about all you need to know. From what I’ve heard of this record so far, it feels a bit scatter-brained, but maybe I’ll feel differently when I hear all of the songs in the context of the album. “Make My Day” is streaming below…

Universal Mind Control is due December 9 on G.O.O.D.

read more

My parents bought us Beatles, Green Day & Smashing Pumpkins Rock-a-bye! Baby discs that until he reached 3 weeks old, seemed to satisfy but then - 

 - Enter The Chieftains 1 - An Comhra Donn / Murphy's Hornpipe

(This is the song, not the performance. Sorry, I couldn't find.)

I must've bounced him on my knee to it a few times before and soon after he started dancing to it on a regular basis. This became his favorite song (stop crying when played).

And then Joel Veitch soundtracked our playtime.

From there (probably 2 mo.), he was off. Dancing all the way.

Digging this.

Then this.

and the list goes on (below), but a certain nickelodeon kids show got his attention quick and soon we were all instant fans of and obsessed with this.

Mates of State on Yo Gabba Gabba

Cornelius on Yo Gabba Gabba

To even my amazement, one of the dance shows used The Beautiful People and Cian smiled and laughed along to the dark, heavy and once seemingly terrifying riffs.

Not forcing anything on him - I won't do that, plus when he doesn't like something, he makes it known.

He's rocked out and been rocked asleep to just about everything and now he's really digging hip-hop and Bobby Darin.

Enjoying watching his musical journey. 

Here's Cian's heavy rotation:

Vampire Weekend – A - Punk

Blondie – One Way or Another

Yo Gabba Gabba – Corneilus, Shins, Mates of State

7 Seconds of Love – Ninja

Spiritualized – Shine a Light

Social Distortion - Ring of Fire

Gnarls Barkley - Run

Beatles via Across the Universe – Blackbird, I’ve just seen a face

The Chieftains – Murphy’s Hornpipe

Gaelic Storm – Stain the Grout

Marilyn Manson - The Beautiful People 

The La’s – There She Goes

Phantom Planet – Do the Panic!

Talking Heads – Wild, Wild Life

Gloria Estefan – Rhythm is Gonna Get You

Radiohead - House of Cards

The Ruby Suns – Tane Mahuta