Corrí a la computadora para buscar ese disco que  ganó cinco premios Grammy. Me refiero al álbum ‘Raising Sand’, de Robert Plant y Alison Krauss. Deseo compartirlo con las almas vagabundas que pasen por este espacio.

A continuación, el video de la canción ‘Please read the letter’ (nótese en los comentarios que a mucha gente en verdad le disgusta el tema).

Y como ‘bonus’, un corto documental acerca de la colboración entre estos dos grandes artistas:

Fiquei curioso ao saber que Robert Plant (ex-vocalista do Led Zeppelin) gravou o álbum “Raising Sand”, com a cantora country Alison Krauss, o resultado foi uma surpresa muito agradável!! A prova da qualidade musical do CD está nas 5 estatuetas que a dupla faturou no Grammy 2009:

Melhor álbum do ano: “Raising Sand”
Gravação do ano: “Please Read the Letter”
Melhor colaboração country com vocais: “Killing the Blues”
Melhor colaboração pop com vocais: “Rich Woman”
Melhor álbum de música Folk: “Raising Sand”.

Dimana Chris Brown dan Rihanna?
Sehari sebelum acara Grammy berlangsung, ternyata Chris Brown harus berurusan dengan polisi atas tuduhan pemukulan yang dilakukannya terhadap seorang wanita. Dan tahukah kamu siapa wanita itu, yup Rihanna. Menurut beberapa sumber ternyata Rihanna babak belur dipukuli oleh kekasihnya itu. Bener-bener ga nyangka seorang Chris Brown berbuat seperti itu. Akhirnya mereka digantikan oleh Justin Timeberlake dan TI. Ada-ada saja ya. Hm… dan akhirnya konser Rihanna batal lagi di Indonesia!

No Mraz, No Leona, No Gaga, ugh!
Well, masih agak kecewa sebagai penggemar berat Coldplay, tidak membawa pulang Record of the Year dan juga Album of the Year, padahal banyak yang memprediksi, Coldplay bakal membawa pulang anugerah tertinggi ini. Semakin lengkap dengan kekalahan beberapa jagoan-jagoan yang aku favoritin juga. No Jason Mraz, No Leona Lewis, No Lady Gaga, No Jordin Sparks, ugh sucks….

Ya udah, sekarang kita bahas penampilan terbaik malam itu. I just can say, it was Jennifer Hudson night. Dengan berlianangan air mata meraih Best R&B Album plus menyanyi dengan berlinang air mata lengkap dengan standing applause para audience. You got the night, Hudson!

Duet dari Miley Cyrus dan Taylor Swift seharusnya menjadi yang paling ditunggu-tunggu, scara kedua-duanya idola remaja Amerika saat ini. Tapi, ini jeleknya selalu ada tapi, suaranya Miley kok kebanyakan fals ya. Duh, dari dulu selalu coba untuk suka sama remaja terkaya di Amrik ini, tapi tidak pernah ada factor x yang bikin aku suka sama aksi panggung atau cara menyanyi cewek ini. Sorry Miley, no offense for her fans, just my personal taste. Taylor Swift, mungkin tahun depan akan menjadi saingan berat Carrie Underwood, karena bagiku dia punya aura yang bagus jadi idola musik country, apalagi setelah didenger berkali-kali single Love Story-nya asik juga tuh.

Radiohead spektakuler! Yup, keren banget aransemen musiknya ditambah sama marching band yang terdengar sangat megah. Jadi, pengen nonton aksi panggungnya lagi nih. Coldplay yang juga mengejutkan dengan penampilan Jay-Z, bikin merinding, apalagi sewaktu Chris Martin main piano, sementara Jay-Z ngerap, gila bikin merinding. Duet dua generasi antara Stevie Wonder dan Jonas Brothers juga keren.

Overall, kalau kita liat jawara utamanya yaitu, Robert Plant and Allison Krauss yang membopong Album of the Year plus Record of the Year (duh kasian banget tepuk tangan audiensnya kayaknya maksa banget, hehehe), semakin mengukuhkan legitimasi Grammy sebagai ajang musik yang tidak mengagungkan komersialitas, tapi kualitas. Nah, sekarang dimana letak kualitas Please Read The Letter dibandingkan keempat nominasi lainnya. Secara personal, kalau aku denger lagu ini, pengen tidur, serasa tua banget, plus obviously not kind of my music taste. Dan mungkin saking karena musik di Grammy dinilai oleh para pakar musik yang nampaknya sudah berumur, lantas pilihannya jatuh ke tangan musik tua juga? Hm…. Bukan sebuah penarikan kesimpulan yang bisa dibuktikan, karena faktanya keempat lagu lainnya di kategori Record of the Year jauh dari terkesan tua. Ok, kejutan terjadi lagi, seperti kekalahan Emancipation of Mimi beberapa tahun lalu, atau kemenangan Dixie Chicks yang sepi penjualan tapi jadi laris setelah Grammy membuktikannya sebagai yang terbaik.
Jujur saja, sulit menebak selera Grammy, karena garis besarnya mungkin musik country dan rock lebih sering meraih tropi utama. Tapi kadangkala Grammy selalu keukeuh dengan pilihannya, seperti Amy Winehouse yang kontroversial, namun tetap diapresiasi luar biasa oleh Grammy, meski kenyataannya Amy sendiri dilarang mendatangi acara tersebut karena tidak memiliki ijin penerbangan. Well, enough for Grammy this year, we’ll see for next year, who’ll be the next big winner…. Just a little predictions, Beyonce with “I Am Sasha Fierce” maybe the good choice for next year, prove it!
Dan untuk best new artist, akankah dua jebolan American Idol, David Cook dan David Archuleta masuk nominasi? David Cook rasa-rasanya lebih memiliki peluang untuk masuk. Hehehe…
See you on next year Grammy!

List lengkap peraih grammy klik di sini

Here’s a real treat for you.

See, I’m in this Services Marketing class on Monday nights from 6 to 9 and right now I’m in a “mandatory” 35 minute break because we have to wait for the last person to finish the test. How is it that there is always one person who takes an additional 25 minutes after everyone else? Is there some unspoken code that I’m not aware of?

So, because I’ve basically got 25 minutes to murder and no cell phone or anything else, since it’s in the classroom. Well, that leaves me email (PBBBFFT! wetly while extending both thumbs down) [I think there might also be a Pthpth in there too or something.] and blogs.

So, one of the blogs that I’m liking these days is Consumer Reports. Hey, don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it. A lot of their information is informative and up to the minute. However, some of it is really, questionable…..

Like this: Three Safety Tips for Infant Car Seats

Since no one ever actually goes through my links, here are the Big Three: Have your baby ride rear facing; Never Place an infant seat on an elevated surface like a table or countertop; And the third one is never place an infant seat on a bed, sofa or other soft surface (Side Note: That reminds me of a funny joke that I heard the other day but it’s too complicated to explain because it’s actually a cartoon that I saw in the paper and 90% of the time now one understands why I’m laughing at them anyway. And by no one, I mean Delton. He doesn’t understand The Funnies At All.)

Now, my first reaction to all of those was to make a hilarious joke about how obvious they are. You know, like this:

Dear Consumer Reports,

Thanks for everything.

Love,

Captain Obvious.

However, upon further review, I have decided that it’s a good thing for this information to be included on here because until I had a child of my own and without the loving education of my spouse, I wouldn’t have known any of that stuff. So, I’m sure that there are thousands of people out there who could benefit from that information. But it does leave me asking….Do any of those people know how to find that information on the internet?

And now for some prostute observations about the Grammy’s. (That’s a smashup of profound and astute for those who missed last week’s lesson)

#1 – I like Neil Diamond but someone needs to hold him accountable for the fact that he really doesn’t sing anymore. However, it won’t be me because I learned today that he donated ALL the proceeds from ticket sales and merchandise sales on his most recent tour from something like 25 concerts to Hurricane Ike Relief. That would be something like blasphad to those who live down here in Quasi-Mexico like I do. (Note: That’s a prostute smashup of blasphemy and jihad, although in retrospect that’s also taking a word that mostly used in Christian circles and combining it with something that’s primarily used in Islamic circles. You know, Muslianity!)

#2 – I always forget how enjoyable the Motown sound is. When Uncle Gene got married last November, he had a band that mostly played Motown cover songs and I remember thinking to myself that I didn’t think I would enjoy such a band as much as I did. However, it was fun. And what was almost as enjoyable was the “Four Tops” combination of Smoky Robinson, Ne-Yo, Jamie Fox (is it one “X” or two? I think it’s one and Redd Foxx is two) and Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the original Four Top and last surviving member. If the 4 of them put out an album, I would absolutely purchase it. I’m talking hands down no holds barred  it’s in the hole from half court walk off golden goal touchdown. It would be that good.

#3- Call me whatever name you want, I like Justin Timberlake.

#4 – Radiohead should have won. That’s a lot coming from me because I happen to like Allison Krauss a lot. And it goes without saying that Plant and Zep are in the Top 5. And no, I’m not talking about Dread Zeppelin. But Radiohead’s contribution to the foundering music industry really should have been recognized with an album of the year grammy. I like for Plant/Krauss to have won it and I really have no problem with it. But Radiohead got hosed, no doubt about it.

#5 – Kid Rock is and always will be…terrible. I mean “Bawitdaba” was okay when it came out in 2000 but I have just had enough. And it really irritates me that he mashed up two classics in Sweet Home Alabama and Werewolves of London and made his “own” song out of it and people think it’s art. You’re killing me.

So, you see, I can bang out almost 1000 words in less than 30 minutes and it also serves as an email to over 50 people. Talk about your greatest multitasks!!

O duo bem se pode alegrar por ter entrado na brincadeira de regravar uma música escrita por Plant e Page há muitos anos. Ao receber o Grammy de Melhor Gravação por “Please Read The Letter”, Robert Plant lembrou isso mesmo. “Aceitámos fazer isto, para ver no que dava. Se não gostássemos do resultado podiamos sempre desistir.”

Refuses to play aggressive music anymore.   I’ve read that’s why he’s not reuniting with Zep.  But I am admittedly really warming to his and Allison Krauss’ adult contemporary bullseye, Raising Sand.

Just sounds like Asussomething and E on acoustic for this track “Please Read The Letter”, but it does it to me every time.  E major on a guitar is panacea.  The production on this record is truly great.  Worth a once through for that at least.

I got an email from a friend of mine who frequents this blog. He wanted me to note that Robert Plant & Alison Krauss were nominated for a Grammy for Best Album, a top honor. Yeah, I heard. And there it was, in B&W, on the Grammy site:

Please Read The Letter
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
T Bone Burnett, producer; Mike Piersante, engineer/mixer

He knows how I feel about this. Good for Robert Plant. But now he’ll NEVER reunite and reform Led Zeppelin. His head is in the Krauss creative game now. That part bums me (and many other fans) out.

The best thing I found about the Grammy nominations were the following:

• Best Long Form Music Video
(For video album packages consisting of more than one song or track. Award to the Artist and to the Video Director/Producer of at least 51% of the total playing time.)

• Amazing Journey: The Story Of The Who
  The Who
  Paul Crowder & Murray Lerner, video directors; Murray Lerner, Robert Rosenberg & Nigel Sinclair, video producers
  [Universal Home Entertainment]

• Best Rock Album
(Vocal or Instrumental. Includes Hard Rock and Metal)

• Death Magnetic
  Metallica
  [Warner Bros.

• Best Metal Performance
(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)

• Nostradamus
  Judas Priest
  Track from: Nostradamus
  [Epic]

• Best Hard Rock Performance
(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)

• Visions
  Judas Priest
  Track from: Nostradamus
  [Epic]

The thing I don’t understand is how Judas Priest got voted for both Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. I never understood the categorization process with the Grammys. One time Jethro Tull had Best Metal Performance.

AC/DC was also recognized for (possibly) the weakest (but most commercial) song on Black Ice: “Rock N Roll Train.” And there are at least three or four better songs on Metallica’s Death Magnetic than “My Apocalypse” forBest Metal Performance.

But, as always, I’ll watch the show. I just hope Kanye’s not there. He never mixes well with Award shows.

Yes, some encouraging news came out of Wednesday night’s hourlong Grammy nominations shindig on television.

I mean, aside from the fact that two of the year’s most impressive releases — Radiohead’s superb In Rainbows, and Raising Sand, the intriguing Robert Plant/Alison Krauss collaboration — were actually nominated for Album of the Year honors (along with a pretty good Coldplay CD and hyped releases by New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne and R&B artist Ne-Yo).

Krauss and Plant also picked up a Record of the Year nom, for “Please Read the Letter,” and three other noms. Radiohead nabbed five noms, too.

According to the Los Angeles Times, there’s a possibility that presentations of jazz and classical awards, typically given short shrift during the Grammy show, will be recorded, packaged with performances and offered to public television and cable outlets.

About time.

Quite a few first-rate musicians were nominated in the jazz categories. The “contemporary jazz” category, thankfully, includes several artists – Randy Brecker and John McLaughlin, in particular – whose music has little in common with the bland wallpaper sounds associated with “contemporary jazz” radio.

Here’s the jazz list, courtesy of Grammy.com:

Best Contemporary Jazz Album

• Randy In Brasil
  Randy Brecker
  [MAMA Records]
• Floating Point
  John McLaughlin
  [Abstract Logix]
• Cannon Re-Loaded: All-Star Celebration Of Cannonball Adderley
  (Various Artists)
  Gregg Field & Tom Scott, producers
  [Concord Jazz]
• Miles From India
  (Various Artists)
  Bob Belden, producer
  [4Q/Times Square Records]
• Lifecycle
  Yellowjackets Featuring Mike Stern
  [Heads Up International]
  
  

Best Jazz Vocal Album

·
Imagina: Songs Of Brasil
Karrin Allyson
[Concord Jazz]

• Breakfast On The Morning Tram
  Stacey Kent
  [Blue Note]
• If Less Is More…Nothing Is Everything
  Kate McGarry
  [Palmetto Records]
• Loverly
  Cassandra Wilson
  [Blue Note]
• Distances
  Norma Winstone (Glauco Venier & Klaus Gesing)
  [ECM]
  
  

Best Jazz Instrumental Solo

· Be-Bop
Terence Blanchard, soloist
Track from: Live At The 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary All-Stars)
[Monterey Jazz Festival Records]

• Seven Steps To Heaven
  Till Brönner, soloist
  Track from: The Standard (Take 6)
  [Heads Up International]
• Waltz For Debby
  Gary Burton & Chick Corea, soloists
  Track from: The New Crystal Silence
  [Concord Records]
• Son Of Thirteen
  Pat Metheny, soloist
  Track from: Day Trip
  [Nonesuch Records]
• Be-Bop
  James Moody, soloist
  Track from: Live At The 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary All-Stars)
  [Monterey Jazz Festival Records]
  
  

Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group

• The New Crystal Silence
  Chick Corea & Gary Burton
  [Concord Records]
• History, Mystery
  Bill Frisell
  [Nonesuch Records]
• Brad Mehldau Trio: Live
  Brad Mehldau Trio
  [Nonesuch Records]
• Day Trip
  Pat Metheny With Christian McBride & Antonio Sanchez
  [Nonesuch Records]
• Standards
  Alan Pasqua, Dave Carpenter & Peter Erskine Trio
  [Fuzzy Music]
  
  

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

• Appearing Nightly
  Carla Bley And Her Remarkable Big Band
  [WATT]
• Act Your Age
  Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band
  [Immergent]
• Symphonica
  Joe Lovano With WDR Big Band & Rundfunk Orchestra
  [Blue Note]
• Blauklang
  Vince Mendoza
  [Act Music and Vision (AMV)]
• Monday Night Live At The Village Vanguard
  The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
  [Planet Arts Recordings]
  
  

Best Latin Jazz Album

• Afro Bop Alliance
  Caribbean Jazz Project
  [Heads Up International]
• The Latin Side Of Wayne Shorter
  Conrad Herwig & The Latin Side Band
  [Half Note Records]
• Song For Chico
  Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra
  [Zoho]
• Nouveau Latino
  Nestor Torres
  [Diamond Light Records]
• Marooned/Aislado
  Papo Vázquez The Mighty Pirates
  [Picaro Records]

its crazy how it all turned out

we needed so much more

***

this matches the mug i found when i was out doll shopping the other day. quick trip for lighter fluid. sex pots. homemade rootbeer. tacos and guacamole. tecate. postcard notebook was born inspired by tiait.

While Robert Plant is doing a world tour and releasing videos (click to watch the new Please Read the Letter video) with Alison Krauss, the chance of a Led Zeppelin reunion tour dies slowly each day.

I still hold out hope, no matter how many times Robert is rumored to say no to a Zep tour. I hope Jimmy Page is bugging the hell out of him. As a Led Zeppelin fan I’m pissed off at Plant’s stubbornness. Can’t help it. I’m sure a lot of other fans are too.

There’s a fine line between doing what you want artistically and having a responsibility to your fans.

Robert. Do one more tour for the fans.

Härom dagen släpptes videon till “Please Read the Letter” från duons hyllade album “Raising Sand”.

Man ska ju göra musikvideor om man ska vara något att räkna med. Men någon strålande insats framför kameran kan man inte beskylla Krauss & Plant för. Men om man blundar blir det riktigt vackert.

Här finns videon.