​The 54th annual Grammy Awards are gearing up to take place at the Staples Center on February 12th, and when they do, they will be much slimmer than previous ceremonies. The Recording Academy has slashed the number of categories down from 109 to just 78. The consolidation, suspension and elimination of awards has rankled prominent musicians and activists alike.

Carlos Santana, Ruben Blades, Bonnie Raitt, Cornel West, Herbie Hancock, Paul Simon and Bobby Sanabria have all spoken out against the changes saying they deliver a blow to diversity and people of color musicians. Grammy President and Chief Executive Neil Portnow justified them in April of last year describing the previous categorizations as having become "a collage without consistency." Those remarks prompted a coalition of artists to form and issue a letter to the Recording Academy Board of Trustees.

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​What is this? Young people have no respect, and I can't believe any of this is condoned by Lady Gaga. But The Lady Gaga Project (Where Little Monsters come together to help Mother Monster with her music and causes) will pay 5 to 10 cents per page hit to disparage Madonna's latest set, MDNA, on different web sites after they post reviews. (Huffington Post especially.) What are they looking for? "People to make negative and cruel insults on different websites...long, negative comments on any Google News approved site...that cover one of the following topics:

1. Madonna's new single is flopping. It's getting bad reviews.
2. Madonna is a has-been. Lady Gaga is more current.
3. "WE" is getting really bad reviews.
4. Madonna is a copycat, not Lady Gaga.
5. Madonna's Super Bowl show was awful.
6. Madonna's body parts (mostly her grotesque arms)."

At press time the site had more than 30 people on board. If this site is in keeping with Lady Gaga's message of "Be yourself and love who you are and be proud because you were born this way," then we say more power to both Lady Gaga and her fans.  More >>

​Sweet! Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band added another show to their LA stop. Now they're also performing on Friday, April 27 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The tour supports Springsteen's 17th studio album, Wrecking Ball, out on March 6, and tickets go on sale at all Ticketmaster today at 1 p.m.

To whet your appetite, Springsteen and the E Street Band are also set to performa at the 54th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 12.
(Springsteen, FYI, has 20 Grammys in his name.)


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Beat Blvd. is Heard Mentality's weekly review of local releases. If you're an OC musician or band with something new to offer--vinyl single, full-length album, CD, cassette--we want to hear from you! Send copies, along with any photos and PR material, to Beat Blvd., c/o OC Weekly, 2975 Red Hill Ave., Ste. 150, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. You can also e-mail us digital downloads at lbose@ocweekly.com.​RoosterheadThe Lab in this case being the studio setup that Huntington Beach's favorite Midwest transplants recorded this at--but they really should do a show at the Lab in Costa Mesa one day, it'd be a blast. In any event, Roosterhead recorded this free half-hour effort in front of a crowd of fans as a live-in-studio effort in the vein of The Beach Boys Party!, and if they had thrown in a cover of "Barbara Ann" it would have only been appropriate. (Though drummer Luke Johnson's brief story about how a previous live album attempt inadvertantly ended up like the end of the Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" adds another angle.)More >>

Matt Oliver/OC Weekly

Kristina Sky

John O'Callaghan with Kristina Sky
Yost Theater, Santa Ana
Feb. 2, 2012
Ireland's No. 1 DJ John O'Callaghan headlined the Yost Theater on Thursday night, but LA's own Kristina Sky stole the show. Giant's house DJ, Daniel Minaya opened the night with his share of old school progressive house.More >>

Derek Waltz

​GotyeMore >>

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LA Weekly

​LA Philharmonic's dashing music director Gustavo Dudamel is guesting on PBS' Sesame Street on Monday, Feb. 6 for the first time ever. Dudamel and Elmo are going to play together by "conducting a sheep playing a violin, an octopus playing the drums and a chorus of penguins singing opera."

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​Vans Warped Tour is doing OC locals a favor this year; it's making a stop at Irvin on June 21, a day before its Pomona show. Unlike previous years, they're lumping all the SoCal dates together instead of looping around and coming back towards the end of the tour; the tour's Ventura date is on June 24; San Diego is on June 27. You can sign up and register for presale tickets that will be sold on March 30. The lineup--consisting of 44 bands so far--is listed after the jump.

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Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly

​Dave Grohl is reportedly executive producing a sitcom about a rock band in crisis. According to NME, the Foo Fighters founder is working with comedian Dana Gould on the project for FX.

Gould will write and star in the project, which will "focus on a band on the verge of megastardom who fall out, and in a last ditch attempt to stay together, seek professional therapy. Unfortunately they end up with a misanthropic couples counsellor who is on the brink of divorce."

How funny would a Dave Grohl-produced sitcom be? We've put together the funniest Grohl bits on the Interwebz--you be the judge.More >>