Frank Ocean performing at 2013 Grammys

The 2013 Grammys went down last night (2/10), and here's a quick recap of some of the winners and videos of performances.

The big ones: Gotye took home Record of the Year for "Somebody That I Used To Know" (beating The Black Keys, Kelly Clarkson, fun., Frank Ocean, and Taylor Swift), Mumford & Sons won Album of the Year (beating The Black Keys, fun., Frank Ocean, and Jack White), and fun. took Song of the Year and Best New Artist (totally robbing Miguel's "Adorn" and "Call Me Maybe," and Frank Ocean (!), respectively). Other wins included Skrillex for Best Dance Recording (sorry Al Walser), The Black Keys for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song and Best Rock Album, Gotye for Best Alternative Music Album (beating Fiona Apple, Bjork, M83, and Tom Waits), Usher's "Climax" for Best R&B Performance, Beyonce's "Love On Top" for Best Traditional R&B Performance, Miguel's "Adorn" for Best R&B Song, Frank Ocean for Best Urban Contemporary Album, Robert Glasper Experiment for Best R&B Album, Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Niggas In Paris" for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and their song, "No Church In The Wild" (feat. Frank Ocean and The-Dream) for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, Drake's Take Care for Best Rap Album, Dr. John's Dan Auerbach-produced Locked Down for Best Blues Album, Jimmy Cliff's Tim Armstrong-produced Rebirth for Best Reggae Album, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross' The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo score for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, Bjork's Biophilia for Best Recording Package, The Beach Boys' long-awaited The Smile Sessions for Best Historical Album, Black Keys singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, and Mumford and Sons' "Big Easy Express" for Best Long Form Music Video. There were many other categories too and you can check out the full list of winners HERE.

And of course, during the Awards Ceremony a number of artists gave performances, which you can watch videos of below. You can see Miguel and Wiz Khalifa doing "Adorn," Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z doing "Suit and Tie" and then JT doing "Pusher Love Girl," The Black Keys, Dr. John, and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band doing "Lonely Boy," Jack White doing "Freedom At 21" with his all-guy band (he also played "Love Interruption" with his all-girl band but no video of that at the moment), Frank Ocean doing "Forrest Gump" with a thematically appropriate visual backdrop, a big tribute to Levon Helm with Elton John, Mavis Staples, members of Mumford and Sons, Alabama Shakes, and others, and finally, LL Cool J, Chuck D, Z-Trip, Tom Morello, and Travis Barker doing "Whaddup" with a small piece of Beastie Boys' "No Sleep Til Brooklyn."

Continue reading "Frank Ocean, Miguel, Bjork, Mumford, Black Keys, Jack White & more win & perform at Grammys (videos)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

" The band has a treasure trove of outright classics, and they performed what felt like all of them during their Sunday afternoon set. "Surfer Girl," "Barbara Ann," "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "Sloop John B," "Surfin' Safari," even "Kokomo" -- you name it, they probably played it. While that wasn't inherently surprising, what came as a bit of a shock was how fresh the band sounded -- even if its elder members didn't look the part -- both on their classics and on tunes from their recently released reunion LP, "That's Why God Made the Radio." Brian Wilson's presence is what makes this reunion so successful, but onstage he looked like the Queen of England, sitting idly behind a grand piano and taking the occasional vocal lead; Mike Love, meanwhile, seemed to be the main Beach Boy behind the wheel. Taken together with the afternoon's balmy weather and the day-in-the-park vibe of festivalgoers knocking around beach balls and splaying out on towels, the group's sublime set was just the thing for a lazy, hungover Sunday." [Rolling Stone / CNN]

The reunited Beach Boys (Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks), on a tour that also brought them to Chicago and NYC's Beeacon Theater recently, played Bonnaroo on Sunday (6/10). Our pictures from their 3pm Tennesee set are in this post (with the rest of our Sunday Bonnaroo pics coming shortly. Saturday can be seen HERE.)

If you're curious what the band sound like live, listen to some tour highlights at NPR. If you're curious what their new album cover looks like, head to their Facebook where you can also change the colors if they're not to your liking. If you're curious what the new album sounds like, you can listen to the whole thing below.

If you're in NYC and can't wait to see the band live at PNC Bank Arts Center or Jones Beach, don't forget you can catch them EARLY FRIDAY MORNING in Central Park courtesy of Good Morning America (free and also being televised).

More pictures from Bonnaroo, their 31 song setlist, and the new album stream, below...

Continue reading "The Beach Boys played Bonnaroo (pics & setlist), play Central Park Friday morning, streaming new album now"

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who introduced transcendental meditation to the West and gained fame in the 1960s as the spiritual guru to the Beatles, died Tuesday at his home and headquarters in Vlodrop, the Netherlands. He is believed to have been in his 90s. Steven Yellin, a spokesman for the organization, confirmed the Maharishi's death but did not give a cause....

....The visibility and popularity of the organization can largely be attributed to the Beatles. In 1968, the band, with great publicity, began studying with the Maharishi at his Himalayan retreat, or ashram, in Rishikesh, in northern India. They went with their wives, the folk singer Donovan, the singer Mike Love, of the Beach Boys, the actress Mia Farrow and Ms. Farrow's sister Prudence....

...In the last years of his life he rarely met with anyone, even his ministers, face-to-face, preferring to speak with followers almost exclusively by closed-circuit television.

The Beatles/Maharishi thing was recently spoofed in the movie Walk Hard. Actual video footage below...

Continue reading "Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, RIP"

DOWNLOAD: Brian Wilson - Heroes and Villains (MP3)

Fleisher, Scorcese, Diana Ross, Brian Wilson, Steve Martin & Bushs

Tickets go on sale this morning for the new Van Halen shows. A second Aretha Franklin show at Radio City goes on sale today too. Natalie Merchant is playing five nights at Hiro Ballroom.

Brian Wilson, Steven Martin, Martin Scorcese & George Bush? Weird, but true. Berkeley Place lists the top 10 political songs of 2007.