I've never been terribly tempted to go to the big desert festival named Coachella, if only because the travel and the heat and the crowds tend to negate the appeal of however many A-list indie rockers they have on tap. HOWEVER, the thought of seeing Leonard Cohen, Morrissey, and Paul McCartney in one place on one day (Friday) might prove irresistible. Plus My Bloody Valentine on Sunday! Plus ALL THESE OTHER REMARKABLE BANDS (...and three ugly ones). Well done, sirs and madams.

I almost never watch the Grammy Awards broadcast unless I'm being paid to do so, because there is precious little pleasure in watching something I care about get eviscerated by the pros. (I confess that I always poke around the web to see who won, though; I may be a crank but I'm not a zombie, or a mummy... or a yeti!) This year will be different, however. This year, Paul McCartney will be playing with Dave Grohl on drums (please, please, please don't do "The Long and Winding Road"). Oh yeah, and the best live band in the world, right there on regular TV: RADIOHEAD! February 8th, here I come. (PS MSN Music will have exhaustive—in every sense of the word—coverage of the Grammy experience. Check it.)

From no less an authority Entertainment Weekly:

I did not personally select the latest round of performers for the Grammys telecast, but I might as well have, since the Recording Academy seems to have done this using a rough "Simon's favorite artists" rule: Radiohead, Paul McCartney (backed by Dave Grohl on drums), Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, T.I., and Kanye West will all be playing at the Feb. 8 ceremony in L.A. A Radiohead performance equals automatic must-see TV for me, of course. But I'd probably tune in to see each of the rest of those artists alone, too -- something I couldn't say for the previously announced performers, who were mostly overexposed folks like Katy Perry, the Jonas Brothers, blah, blah. Anyone else suddenly feeling a lot more likely to watch the Grammys next month?

Just when you thought you couldn't be more excited about President Obama than you already are, comes this story from Rolling Stone.com, detailing the pristine vinyl record collection that the new first family has access to in the White House basement. (I wonder what else is down there...) It's one thing to love his oratory and be inspired by his determination, but it's quite a whole 'nother thing to imagine him (or his wife! Or his daughters!) chilling out while Nevermind the Bollocks... Here's the Sex Pistols spins on the turntable. Play on, Mr. President.

When Barack Obama moved into the White House on January 20th, he gained access to five chefs, a private bowling alley — and a killer collection of classic LPs. Stored in the basement of the executive mansion is the official White House Record Library: several hundred LPs that include landmark albums in rock (Led Zeppelin IV, the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed), punk (the Ramones' Rocket to Russia, the Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols), cult classics (Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica, the Flying Burrito Brothers' The Gilded Palace of Sin) and disco. Not to mention records by Santana, Neil Young, Talking Heads, Isaac Hayes, Elton John, the Cars and Barry Manilow.

Can't really picture him listening to Barry, I must admit.

If you are a Beatles nerd like I am a Beatles nerd, a list like this one, in which one man ranks all 189 Beatles album/single tracks in actual qualitative order, is the kind of thing that both delights and enrages you, even as you begin to compose your response list. I'll give him his #1 ("A Day in the Life") and even his #189 ("Revolution 9"), but just about everything else is ripe for contention. Have at it, fellow maniacs.

The list for this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees was released yesterday, and it's not, like, massively impressive: Metallica, Run-DMC, Bobby Womack, Jeff Beck, Little Anthony and the Imperials. I mean, they're all good, but only Run-DMC feels properly legendary, and even though they're the kings of rock, they're not even a rock band. Ah, well... Read more, if you care to.

According to a voluminous post on his actual blog, prolific nu country rocker guy Ryan Adams is angry, sad, sick, and tired and is hanging up his guitar in favor of a pen, among other things. Also, he quit smoking! Excerpted below, in case he takes it down:

me- 34-a non smoker and happy, for the first time in my life.. i am excited to finish this wonderful time i have had with the cardinals and whatever new adventures may come after march. atlanta will be my last venture with the band and i am grateful for the time we have had and maybe someday we will have more stories to tell together. i am however ready for quieter times as i think it is very evident i am struggling with some balance and hearing issues.

also, no drama or anything but i am okay to step back from all of this right now and i think i did enough manic blogging when i felt alone and isolated during the last few years of travel. these last few years were the hardest i can remember and the most rewarding but i have loved ones to care for now and i am lucky i have been given a chance to turn around and see just what i am capable of as a friend and as someone who is not gone forever every year- it rendered me incapable of things i needed to be to myself and others- and my schedule sometimes never ended when the shows did- and some of that was my doing. and i lost someone i loved, and i lost myself.

that changed. i got to know just who i am in this little spell of time here recently. and change is the nature of the world and i naturally embrace that.

i won’t be blogging here anymore either- but not for effect- it just is not being kind to myself- i need a life that is mine- i need to grow up and grow in to who i have subtly been working back towards since i stopped all that nonsense and i know also no matter what i choose to do in the music world, because i chose to do things my way and never lie i will always be viewed as an “asshole” ( i hear and have seen things in the past) and i am not, and i know the truth and i know who i am.

It should go without saying with Adams, but there is lots more.

The BBC has, without apparent irony, blamed the worldwide economic crisis on the obvious culprit: David Bowie. Rolling Stone explains why they're serious and why they're wrong.

David Bowie is to blame for the recession and the current credit crunch, the U.K. press reports today. According to a BBC Today host, it was the Thin White Duke, Ziggy Stardust himself, who opened the flood gates for the current economic problems, all thanks to his “Bowie Bonds.” Back in 1997, Bowie issued “Bowie Bonds” as a way of getting his royalty money up front. He sold bonds of his future royalties to his fans for an immediate sum of money, figuring they’d be more patient about waiting for the royalties, plus it’d give them a stake in Bowie’s catalog.

Economically, the term for this action is “securitization.” The article speculates that banks were inspired by Bowie’s foresight and started to do the same thing, except with mortgages instead of Hunky Dory. The plan was so successful for banks that they lowered the bar on who got loans, figuring a deadbeat would be the problem of whoever scooped up the security, or the bundle of mortgages. Repeat this and multiply it by several thousand and you’re faced with one of the main reasons for the current recession.

More about The Man Who Broke the Bank.

I said I had heard he was one of Miles Davis’s biggest influences.

Little pithy replies:

“I don’t usually hang with men who wear earrings.”

“Miles Davis never wasted a note, kid — or a word on a fool.”

“Jazz is about the moment you’re in. Being modern’s not about the future, it’s about the present.”

I think about this now, in this new year. The Big Bang of pop music telling me it’s all about the moment, a fresh canvas and never overworking the paint. I wonder what he would have thought of the time it’s taken me and my bandmates to finish albums, he with his famous impatience for directors, producers — anyone, really — fussing about. I’m sure he’s right. Fully inhabiting the moment during that tiny dot of time after you’ve pressed “record” is what makes it eternal. If, like Frank, you sing it like you’ll never sing it again. If, like Frank, you sing it like you never have before.

If.

•

If you want to hear the least sentimental voice in the history of pop music finally crack, though — shhhh — find the version of Frank’s ode to insomnia, “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road),” hidden on “Duets.” Listen through to the end and you will hear the great man break as he truly sobs on the line, “It’s a long, long, long road.” I kid you not.

Like Bob Dylan’s, Nina Simone’s, Pavarotti’s, Sinatra’s voice is improved by age, by years spent fermenting in cracked and whiskeyed oak barrels. As a communicator, hitting the notes is only part of the story, of course.

Singers, more than other musicians, depend on what they know — as opposed to what they don’t want to know about the world. While there is a danger in this — the loss of naïveté, for instance, which holds its own certain power — interpretive skills generally gain in the course of a life well abused.

Want an example? Here’s an example. Take two of the versions of Sinatra singing “My Way.”

"SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" WELCOMES ROSARIO DAWSON AND MUSICAL GUEST FLEET FOXES ON JANUARY 17.

New York, NY - January 9, 2009 - "Saturday Night Live" launches into 2009 with its second show of the month, featuring one of today's hottest film actresses, Rosario Dawson, along with musical guest Fleet Foxes, making their "SNL" debuts on NBC January 17 at 11:30 p.m. ET.

[blah blah blah Rosario Dawson...]

Joining Dawson is the five-piece Seattle based Indie rock band Fleet Foxes, whose self-titled debut album ranked first on Billboard's (Critics' Choice) top albums of 2008. Billboard described it as a "shockingly gorgeous debut ... unlocked a subconscious desire in us for more vocal harmonies." The album also landed among the top five in Spin's year end rankings and finished 11th on Rolling Stones annual list. Spin declared that "on this haunting debut, Seattle's Fleet Foxes distinguish themselves from the vintage-vinyl crowd by infusing their rootsy retro-pop moves with a sense of mystery that no one's really summoned since Oh, Inverted World changed Natalie Portman's life. Like the Shins' James Mercer, frontman Robin Pecknold is more mood man than storyteller. But his eye for detail can devastate." Internationally, Fleet Foxes have beaten off competition from the likes of Radiohead and Elbow to be awarded the first-ever "UNCUT MUSIC AWARD". The band's eponymous debut album was unanimously hailed by a panel of industry judges as the most inspiring and richly rewarding album of the last 12 months. In early 2008, Fleet Foxes released the five-song EP, "Sun Giant" and followed in June with their critically acclaimed, self-titled debut full-length album.

From NME:

Led Zeppelin 'will tour and record album with new singer'

Jimmy Page's manager confirms that the band are keen to get things rolling

Jimmy Page's manager today confirmed that Led Zeppelin are planning to tour and record a new album with a replacement singer for Robert Plant.

Plant confirmed in December that he wasn't interested in a full Led Zeppelin reunion, despite still remaining on good terms with his former bandmates.

In October, Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones hinted that the band were willing to continue with or without Plant.

Speaking about Led Zeppelin's future plans, Page's manager Peter Mensch confirmed that the band would indeed carry on - if they can find the right singer.

"Jimmy Page has been playing guitar professionally since he was 16 years old. Jimmy Page likes being a musician. That's what he does! He doesn't want to be a race car driver or a solicitor," Mensch told 6Music.

"So they [Page, Jones and drummer Jason Bonham] did the show [at London's O2 Arena in 2007] with Robert Plant; they had a really good time rehearsing, the three of them, before Robert showed up.

"And they decided that if they could find a singer that they thought would fit their bill – whatever their bill was at this stage in their career – that they'd make a record and go on tour.

Mensch said that he supported the trio's decision to carry on playing together, although he refused to comment on who Plant's replacement might be.

"John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page enjoy playing with each other, Jason Bonham is a really good drummer so why not? We just need to find a singer," he said.

While rumours of who Plant's replacement will be have included Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Mensch remained tight-lipped on the issue.

"It's gonna be a long and difficult process," he said. "And we're not soliciting people! So don't call me about it!"

"It's a tragedy that the Israelis - a people who must understand better than almost anybody the horrors of oppression - are now acting as oppressors. As the great Jewish writer Primo Levi once remarked "Everybody has their Jews, and for the Israelis it's the Palestinians". By creating a middle Eastern version of the Warsaw ghetto they are recapitulating their own history as though they've forgotten it. And by trying to paint an equivalence between the Palestinians - with their homemade rockets and stone-throwing teenagers - and themselves - with one of the most sophisticated military machines in the world - they sacrifice all credibility.

"The Israelis are a gifted and resourceful people who fully deserve the right to live in peace, but who seem intent on squandering every chance to allow that to happen. It's difficult to avoid the conclusion that this conflict serves the political and economic purposes of Israel so well that they have every interest in maintaining it. While there is fighting they can continue to build illegal settlements. While there is fighting they continue to receive huge quantities of military aid from the United States. And while there is fighting they can avoid looking candidly at themselves and the ruthlessness into which they are descending."

Libyan strongman Moammar Khadafy's son Saif insists on the best. We hear Saif paid Mariah Carey a small fortune to perform at his New Year's Eve party on St. Bart's. One spy says Carey's three or four songs at the Nikki Beach Club set Saif back about $1 million. Moammar's second son is used to writing big checks. Having criticized his father's regime in 2006, he has been involved in Libya's compensation of victims of past acts of terrorism.

Carey's rep said she didn't know whether Khadafy paid Carey. But the "Glitter" star who gave bigtime to charity this Christmas, seemed to be having fun with hubby Nick Cannon. Continuing to contradict pregnancy rumors, Carey wore a tight dress that didn't give a hint of a bulge. She also downed one glass after another of Champagne, having gobbled a dozen raw oysters - a prenatal no-no - a few days earlier.

After counting down the seconds to midnight, Carey turned over the mike to Timbaland, who did some impromptu rapping with party guest Jay-Z, there with the lovely Beyoncé. "I've never seen Jay and Beyoncé having such a good time," says a spy. "They were hugging and waving their arms. It was out of control." (Beyoncé, too, was drinking Champagne, tummy-watchers.)