Can the Grammys get indie? Plus, Eddie Vedder news

Tonight, the Recording Academy will pat itself on the back by airing "My Night at the Grammys." The CBS special will run down the top 25 moments in Grammy history, at least according to the fans who voted online.

An earlier post had a little fun with the Grammy special. This will be a little (emphasis on little) more serious.

When the Grammys air in February, the Recording Academy will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the awards gala. The big five-o will certainly be the excuse for a large marketing campaign, of which tonight's special will be just the beginning.

But here's hoping it also marks the end of an era.

Just as the Internet + file-sharing + iTunes + the decline in CD sales + CD burning have all served to make record labels look behind-the-times (and this must-read Wired interview with UMG CEO Doug Morris doesn't provide convincing evidence that the record labels have caught up), the Grammys face the risk of quickly becoming out-of-date/irrelevant. Though the Grammys have moderately improved in recent years, they''re still a reflection of sales + record label marketing campaigns.

Look at last year's album of the year contenders: the Dixie Chicks' "Taking the Long Way," Justin Timberlake's "FutureSex/LoveSounds," Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Stadium Arcadium," John Mayer's "Continuum" and Gnarls Barkley's "St. Elsewhere."

With the exception of Gnarls Barkley, who ended up with the surprise single of the year in "Crazy," there wasn't an already proven superstar in the bunch. Timberlake created a fine pop album, but it was more  flavor of the moment than an album of the year, and the Dixie Chicks didn't have a song as good as their back story. Mayer is little more than an adult pop trifle -- this generation's Sting -- and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' bid for seriousness only created a bloated album.

Two of the five albums were in the top 20 on Idolator's year-end critic's poll (Gnarls Barkley and Timberlake), and only one (Gnarls) made the top 20 on the Village Voice poll.

There's a disconnect between what's nominated and the music that's making an impact, and it's only going to get wider as album sales continue to decline. No longer are lesser-known artists confined solely to the world of music geekdom.

Independent artists who would have never had been able to make the top 10 of the U.S. pop charts 10 years ago are now regularly appearing in the upper echelon of the tally, be it the Shins (pictured) or the Arcade Fire or Bright Eyes. 

Those albums don't deserve to be nominated on the account of them being independent -- although I'd argue the Shins' "Wincing the Night Away" is worthy of some consideration. But the Grammys will only look like a relic from another era if they continue to deny that independent artists are making a bigger impact on the marketplace.

It's not asking for too much. Music fans simply deserve an awards show that takes some risks.

After all, why should the Oscars be edgier than one focused on rock 'n' roll? Independent films have practically dominated the best picture field (see "Little Miss Sunshine," "The Queen," "Brokeback Mountain" and "Crash," among others) the past two years.

By venturing just a bit outside the mainstream, and by having the guts to honor films that aren't blockbusters, the Academy Awards have had a much greater potential of turning fans onto films that they wouldn't normally have checked out.

The Grammys, however, are still sticking to conservative (top-selling) choices. But as today's superstar artists sell less and less, Grammy omissions will only become more glaring.

RANDOM:

Look for Eddie Vedder's video for "Guaranteed" from the "Into the Wild" soundtrack to debut in the next week or two.

Randy Spendlove, Paramount's president of music, says the clip is being edited this week. "We shot it on film with [Vedder] on a stool," Spendlove said. "There are images of the film that come in and out. It's a real moment to take you back to the movie. It's being cut right now."

Just in time to give the cut an even heavier Oscar-season push.

(Photo courtesy Sub Pop)
 

Grammy special vs. 'FNL': Alicia Keys, Faith Hill face-off with NBC drama

Country star Faith Hill, R&B singer Alicia Keys and singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge have been tapped to host Friday night's CBS special "My Grammy Moment." For those debating whether or not to watch, CBS has created a handy little website with previews of nearly every clip that could be featured on the show.

There's 50 clips to choose from -- Bob Dylan's 1998 take on "Love Sick" is absent -- and the top 25 will get the run-down on the air. This best-of awards show will surely capture all that's entertaining and puzzling about the Grammys, as a torturous medley or two is sure to make the cut (Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl paying tribute to the Clash remains a hilarious head-scratcher).

But even in these strike-afflicted times, the Grammy special will go up against a new episode of "Friday Night Lights."

So before precious DVR space is used, here's a brief compare and contrast:

Some of the artists that may be seen on the Grammy special (based on the clips on the CBS site):

- Prince & Beyonce medley
- Barbra Streisand & Neil Diamond duet
- Eric Clapton & Babyface duet
- John Mayer, Corinne Bailey Rae & John Legend medley
- Dylan
- Alan Jackson
- U2
- Aerosmith (covering the Beatles' "Come Together")
- Paul McCartney, Jay-Z, Linkin Park medley

Some of the artists that have been featured on "FNL" (off the top of this writer's head):

- Spoon
- Drive-By Truckers
- The Bravery
- The Ponys
- Wilco
- Audioslave

Winner: "FNL."

OK, so they're not all winners on "FNL." Audioslave never lived up to the super-group promise, and the Bravery are already more or less forgotten, but the teen drama > the Grammy special here.

Come on, there's some inspired, unexpected choices in there (Matador act the Ponys on TV!), and, more important, zero chance of a medley. Also, it's unlikely you'll hear a heritage act covering someone else. Granted, no idea as to what music may be featured on this week's episode, but the unknown is more exciting in this case.

Drama factor on the Grammy special:

What clips did America vote for?

Drama factor on this week's "FNL":

High school football star Smash gets heavy into the college recruitment game, and QB Matt Saracen is looking beyond his relationship with his new cheerleader girlfriend.

Winner: "FNL"

When America votes on music, America is not to be trusted.

What happened the last time we allowed America to vote on an award show? The American Music Awards turned into the "American Idol" Music Awards.

Take a dude dumping a cheerleader and the high-stakes game of college recruitment -- one not shown on TV/film/anything enough -- over that any day.

(Photo courtesy Stefano Paltera /For the Times)

Flaming Lips: Great song, bad movie

The Oscar predicting/campaigning/guessing has been underway for weeks, and it's easy to get jaded, especially when it comes to the race for Best Original Song.

The award goes to ... can we please just pick a song from "Once" and be done with it?

Never mind the movie, the soundtrack is one of the stronger albums of the year and yet talk persists -- perhaps something from "Into the Wild," or a tune from "Enchanted," and don't forget "Hairspray" or "Walk Hard."

Each of them has tunes of varying quality, and some I've already expressed an appreciation for. Yet I can't help but find it all tiring, as the Flaming Lips recorded a song better than anything in the aforementioned films -- excluding "Once," of course -- but it won't be nominated.

Unfortunately, "I Was Zapped By the Super Lucky Rainbow" is featured in the critical punching bag that is "Good Luck Chuck," a film that fell sub-"August Rush" on the Metacritic scorecard.

But listen, and tell me this song isn't pure joy. Guitars shoot across the melody and keyboards fire off cartoon-like laser sounds, all while Wayne Coyne sings some hokey, brilliant nonsense about falling in love and rainbows.

It's unabashedly upbeat -- the Flamings Lips' take on something like the Herman's Hermits "I'm Into Something Good," complete with storm noises, hand-claps and a squeaky, Muppet-like background singer shouting expletives.

It's almost enough to make one ready to dive back into Oscar season talk -- almost. 

Photo courtesy Associated Press

Charting Kate Bush's 'Compass' tune

A late and unexpected entry in the race for the Best Original Song Oscar comes from New Line Cinema's "The Golden Compass," which ends with a new tune from esteemed British singer Kate Bush.

The Chris Weitz-directed fantasy film opens Dec. 7 and stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. Yet the centerpiece of the film is Dakota Blue Richards, who plays Lyra, a young academic rebel-type who's about to discover she's been chosen to fulfill a prophecy.

And unlike Luke and Frodo, Lyra gets a Kate Bush song in her name.

"Lyra" is an odd, sparse little number, putting the emphasis almost entirely on Bush's vocals. It's not all that out of step with some of the quieter, voice-and-piano songs of her 2005 effort "Aerial," and Bush is certainly an appropriate choice for a fantasy film with some abstract -- perhaps theological -- concerns, since there are plenty of examples of her lyrics tending toward the mystical.

If there's any noticeable effect used in the song, it's primarily the sound of wind, which adds a coldness to Bush's usually warm vocal styling. Indeed, it serves to bring a sort of distance between Bush and the soft hymn provided by the Magdalen College Choir of Oxford, England, making Bush feel a little more like an orator than a singer. 

Lyrically, Bush sticks pretty close to the source material, which is the song's main weakness. Not only named after the main character in the film, "Lyra" recounts the mystery that surrounds the heroine of the trilogy-to-be. By so literally interpreting the film, the song likely won't have much of a life outside the movie.

Yet Bush loyalists will surely appreciate new music from the idiosyncratic artist. While not her among her strongest work, "Lyra" still shows Bush is a vocalist like few others. For instance, she's able to gently unfurl the song's main lyrical refrain -- "And her soul walks beside / an army stands behind her" -- a weighty, "Dungeons & Dragons"-like line that a lesser lyricist would trip over.

The song's course mirrors the film, which is designed to be the first of three. Rather than provide answers, Bush offers a question: "Who knows what's in the future?"

Ultimately, however, this makes the song (like the film, perhaps) feel a bit unfinished. It's a small, brief choral prelude to something more bombastic to come. Whether you're along for the ride will likely depend on your previous affection for Bush.

Photo courtesy www.katebush.co.uk

Akon, Taylor Swift, Linkin Park in line for Grammy nods?

The first major clue as to who will be receiving some Grammy nominations was announced today by the Recording Academy. Akon, Taylor Swift (pictured) and Linkin Park will attend the Dec. 6 unveiling of nominations for the 50th annual Grammy Awards, to be held Feb. 10 in Los Angeles.

It's a safe bet that the artists reading the nominations are usually good for a nomination or two.

Rapper Akon released his debut album, "Konvicted," at the end of 2007, missing Grammy eligibility last year. He should do well in the rap fields this year.

Word is he was lobbied heavily to the Recording Academy for consideration in the Best New Artist field this year. But since he received a nomination for the single "Smack That" (featuring Eminem) for the 49th annual awards, it will be a surprise to see him as Best New Artist this year.

Teenage country star Swift did well at this month's Country Music Assn. Awards, winning the Horizon Award, which is given to up-and-coming artists. After the awards, her self-titled debut jumped back into the Top 10 on the U.S. pop charts and has sold more than 1.4 million copies in the U.S. to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Her album came out during last year's eligibility period, but she could snare a Best New Artist nod, as it truly took off in 2007.

Veteran rockers Linkin Park released one of the bestselling rock albums of 2007 with "Minutes to Midnight." It was produced by Grammy favorite Rick Rubin, and it's a lock to generate multiple nods in the rock fields. It received mixed-to-positive reviews, but saw the band bringing in some more topical songwriting.

Though "Minutes to Midnight" wouldn't make this writer's Top 100 (yes, hundred) albums of 2007, there were few rock releases this year with the same combination of commercial and critical success, meaning it could be in line for an Album of the Year nod. Also, don't discount the Rubin factor, as the man had a hand in three of five Album of the Year nominations last year.

Those who announced the Grammy nominations in 2006 were all treated nicely once nominations were unveiled. Mary J. Blige, KT Tunstall, James Blunt, Justin Timberlake and Rascal Flatts attended last year's press conference, and none left without a Grammy nod.

Quincy Jones will also be attending this year and is recognized by the Recording Academy as the 50th Celebration Ambassador. More artists will likely be announced for the Dec. 6 event.

Photo: Associated Press

AMAs, CMAs score for ABC

ABC is doing well with its music-award programming this year.

Preliminary Nielsen research has this year's American Music Awards broadcast slightly improving upon last year's numbers, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The fan-voted awards averaged 11.8 million viewers, the show's strongest numbers since 1994.

ABC still lost to Fox for the evening, which had new eps of "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy."

Earlier this month, ABC scored big with the Country Music Assn. Awards. The CMAs, in fact, bested the AMAs, raking in an average of 15.9 million viewers.

But one gripe in the network's post-awards coverage for both:

Neither the CMA nor the AMA websites are showcasing any of the shows' performances. That means if you missed Alicia Keys attempting a live remix of her single "No One" on the AMAs, or Miranda Lambert delivering a scorching take on "Gunpowder and Lead," you missed it.

You can try YouTube for some of the CMA clips, but most of those from the AMAs have been "removed due to a copyright claim for Dick Clark productions." It's a shame, then, there's not more post-show content online, at least not yet.

Check this poll from the CMAs website, in which nearly 30% of voters claim they didn't get a chance to watch the show. That's certainly significant, since those users are actively seeking out more info on the awards after the telecast, and are being left without the best thing the shows have to offer -- live music.

(Photo courtesy www.cmaawards.com)

AMAs: live bloggin'

Closing thoughts: Kimmel was disinterested, and that set the tone for most of the show, which opened with a tepid attempt to infuse some life into will.i.am's flopping album, and ended with Fergie stressing her producer's importance.

In between the will.i.am cheerleading, Daughtry seemed to be onstage once every 25 minutes or so, as was Carrie Underwood, reminding us all that people like "American Idol." Performance-wise, Alicia Keys gave everyone a reason to disregard her new album, Beyonce tried to get her groove on with Sugarland, Chris Brown went all sci-fi, and the middle-of-the-road trio of Maroon 5, Daughtry and Rascal Flatts failed to bring any excitement to the show.

The AMAs don't really foretell the Grammys, but it will be interesting to see if Daughtry's big night here translates into a slew of nominations.

7:58: And we're out. It's moments like this we're all glad to live in the West Coast. Now we can turn off the company satellite and re-watch the taped delay edition.

7:54: Gene Simmons (shocking he wasn't too busy to come tonight), introducing favorite female pop/rock artist. Fergie wins. She's the first artist to seem genuinely appreciative and shocked to win.

7:49: Kimmel's back! He can barely talk, stumbling over his words. He introduces Daughtry to perform what Kimmel says is a special acoustic version of "Home," meaning it will be extra extra melodramatic. Time to get a soda. Oh, the acoustic version has strings to boot!

7:44: Kimmel is pretty much MIA for this whole show. He's sort of non-hosting hosting. It's oddly fascinating -- I don't believe I've ever seen a host care less about something.

7:35: Ed's mom: The AMAs are now in their 35th year, I believe, and are a product of Dick Clark Productions. Nominations are based on sales and radio data, so it's a popularity contest, not so much an awards show, and a chance to hype some records. Winners are voted on by the public, further heightening the popularity contest aspect of it.

If your mother doesn't like it, perhaps she can get a bumper sticker that says, 'AMAs: Not my awards -- I didn't vote.'

We typed that while Queen Latifah sang a perfectly inoffensive song in the background.

7:32: Kid Rock, asking people to stop and applaud for the U.S. armed forces. And then back to the awards.

7:30: Mary J. Blige performing "Just Fine." She's borrowing some of Chris Brown's "Tron" toys for her set.

7:20: Ack! Technical difficulties. The last 20 minutes of the blog were deleted. They will be re-posted momentarily.

OK, so they won't be restored. Bottom line: Duran Duran performed boring new single "Falling Down," which was produced by Justin Timberlake. Sadly, Timberlake did not appear with the band via satellite from Australia to pretend he cares, as he has each time he won an award.

Then Duran Duran played "Hungry Like the Wolf," which was voted on by fans via the Web. Singer Simon Le Bon reminded fans that this was the song America voted upon, i.e., 'this is the song we had to sing to plug our new album.'

OK, that's not exactly what was live-blogged 20 minutes ago, but it's close.

7:18: Before Usher gives some sort of lifetime achievement award thing to Beyonce, he's introduced by the AMA voiceover guy as having "conquered the fragrance world." Take that, P. Diddy! Bring on your little perfume thing, pal!

6:59: Alicia Keys. Performing "No One." No wait, she scrapped that. Now what, Junior Reid is on stage? Now she's doing reggae. Wait, now will.i.am is back on stage? She's kind of throwing her hand up in the air doing some sort of shaking thing. I have no idea what's going on anymore. Anyone? Help. What just happened? What happened to Alicia Keys' new single? Where did it go? I lost track. The badness/weirdness of that performance just momentarily zapped my brain of any and all thought. 

6:58: Daughtry just won favorite pop/rock album. See 6:22 p.m.

6:54: Kimmel, introducing Ashley Tisdale and Vanessa Hudgens, telling us his son just said he would like to lose his virginity to one of them. Anyone else have the feeling that Kimmel's son said no such thing?

6:48: Favorite aritst of the year, introduced by Miley Cyrus. This award comes with its very own cellphone sponsor.

Carrie Underwood wins again, giving her two book-ends for the evening. Her speech consists largely of this one completely unenthusiastic sentence: "Holy cow. That's all I have to say."

6:44: And there we have "Dancing With the Stars," introducing us to the self-proclaimed "prince of R&B" Chris Brown. Wonder if he's going to win the American Music Award for most overtly lip-synced performance of the evening.

6:40: Justin Timberlake won favorite soul/R&B album. So perhaps Kanye West was right. Before Timberlake won the award, we were given a rundown of past winners of the award. Come on, fellas, if "Dancing With the Stars" can go on without writers, you can come up with better award intros than that.

6:39: Starting to get the feeling the only folks watching this thing are those forced to live-blog it.

6:34: Lenny Kravitz. Dude still thinks rock stars are supposed to wear Ray-Bans indoors.

6:29: Further proving their relevancy and/or hipness, the AMAs bring out future of music Celine Dion. Maybe this is her electronic/atmospheric record, the one where Dion opens up, showing us the inner madness of having to play for rich tourists in Las Vegas. Or perhaps it's just some more background music for Kohl's, complete with some trademark over-singing. Yep, that's what it is. She does kind of a weird vampy, wannabe-sexy dance, and she clearly ripped off Underwood's dress.

6:27: OK, that was kind of funny, Kimmel. He said he's been waiting for something crazy to happen -- someone to get drunk, take a handful of pills -- go nuts. And that man is ... Josh Groban. Although I kinda feel bad for Groban. He probably went with his extra-crazy, utlra curly haircut today to prepare.

6:22: Daughtry wins again, adult contemporary artist. So this is the first year that Americans were able to vote for the AMAs online, and what did we learn? They simply revote for who they already voted for on "American Idol."

6:17: Sugarland covering Beyonce's "Irreplaceable," taking all the soul out of it. No sign of Beyonce yet. But she's coming, for sure. This must be that ultra-surprise Beyonce performance that ABC has been teasing as a really big ultra-secret surprise for the past two weeks. Yep, there she is. Remember when Jamie Foxx gave an awkward performance with Rascal Flatts at the CMAs earlier this month? This is kind of like that. Beyonce is trying to dance with Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles, but Nettles isn't really dancing to any sort of beat.

6:13: Underwood wins, favorite female artist/country. Proving she did indeed make a deal with the "American Idol" devil, she's sure to thank CAA and Simon Fuller -- "all my people who are in my entourage."

From the comment board: JSP writes, I love the Soulja Boy, or Superman, dance!  I wanna see Mr. Martens do it!

Thanks Mr./Miss JSP, but you definitely don't want to see that. I can't do it, I promise you.

6:02: Taye Diggs. Introducing Rihanna and Ne-Yo, explaining that Rihanna is not only known for her music, but her "classic beauty." Well, not going to argue with him, but yes, it sounded as odd as it looks in print.

Before Rihanna and Ne-Yo get on with "Hate That I Love You," she gives us a few bars of "Umbrella," making this the second medley of the night. Cuz if people aren't buying albums, they presumably can't take full songs.

Rihanna is wearing a drape from the apartment my grandmother lived in during the 1980s, and trying not to look awkward as she and Ne-Yo do a little acting with the singing.

6:00: Favorite soundtrack award given to "High School Musical 2." One bonus of having a writer strike: no annoying banter before the awards.

5:57 [Ed. Note: Carrie Underwood, Carrie Underwood, Carrie Underwood, Carrie Underwood. Carry on.]

5:55 Justin Timberlake won for male artist, but he's in Australia, and accepts the award in what looked to be a taped segment. He tries to poke fun at himself, by declaring that the requirements are one must be male and an artist to win, but the comment instead just kind of dismisses the AMAs. Cut to Kimmel, who's stumbling over his words and practically slurring his speech. He teases the Jonas Brothers for slipping around the stage, clearly giving up on any hope of being funny tonight.

5:51: The Jonas Brothers, singing "SOS." They imported a bunch of kids from the Radio Disney offices to dance around. Two got on stage and had to be walked off by a security guy.

5:50: Kimmel may in fact be drunk. He says he's been practicing the Soulja Boy dance for "like two weeks." I wish I was a striking writer and could spend two weeks failing to master a dance. 

5:44: Akon, winning soul/R&B male. He says T-Pain deserves the award instead, and brings him up on stage. T-Pain jokes that he's going to take the award home and looks about to say something else, but he's cut off by the music. No! The AMAs shall not stand for something unpredictable. He must not speak. Or maybe it's the WGA Brass Band working the pit, and they got word T-Pain's speech for non-winning was scripted.

5:42: Ryan Seacrest, Host Master, is here to introduce Maroon 5. He must've been repulsed by Kimmel's "Soulja Dance" as well, and is going to take control of the show from Kimmel. Or he's just going to spew some PR-speak about Maroon 5 being one of the blandest biggest bands on the planet. Yep, that's what he did.

5:34: Rascal Flatts just finished performing "Take Me There." Never quite realized how much that song kinda sounds like an Eagles/Bon Jovi hybrid till now.

5:32: Cutting back a few minutes ago. So who introduced Avril Lavigne? OneRepublic? Right. OK. Sure. That clears that up. But they did plug their debut album, clearly having read their record label one-sheet over a teleprompter. 

5:30: Avril performs the first full song of the night, and the first sans will.i.am. But she barely looked like she cared, not even breaking a sweat, she gave a few little half-hops. That's certainly not going to help sell tickets to her upcoming 2008 tour. But at least she didn't do the Soulja Boy dance.

5:24: Christina Applegate and James Blunt, bringing us favorite country band/duo. The award goes to Rascal Flatts. Member Jay DeMarcus had on a silver sportcoat, taking fashion tips from will.i.am perhaps. Two minutes and we're into Avril Lavigne singing "Hot." She's got what looks to be a pinkish, Fisher Price ' My First Microphone.' It matches her hair.

5:19: Breakthrough artist, Daughtry. Sigh. His bandmate has a mini-mohawk. It's small to denote the lack of rockin'.

5:15: He brings up Kellie Pickler and Jordin Sparks to do the "Soulja Boy" dance. "See, we don't need writers!" Maybe not, but how about some improv classes then?

5:13: Jimmy Kimmel, fourth time hosting, said it's the first time he's hosted drunk. He gives a shout-out to the striking WGA members by declaring, "I was not allowed to write any jokes for tonight's event," telling us we will sit through "made-up crap."

5:10: Nicole Scherzinger, singing "Baby Love," her bad R&B song with will.i.am. MTV put its faith in Timbaland to add some life to its show, and it looks like the AMAs put its money behind will.i.am., who dominated the first 12 minutes.

5:09: Oh, will.i.am is back! Singing "Heartbreaker." Eight minutes in, and it's all Black Eyed Peas members so far. Fergie is the better singer. Now if only we could have a Pussycat Doll ....

5:03: Fergie, sans will, singing "Girl Can't Help It." Or a few seconds of it. Now she's onto a different song -- "Big Girls Don't Cry."

5:00: will.i.am opening the awards with Fergie, singing "Fergalicious." Two minutes in and will.i.am. is gone -- just like his new album from the charts.

4:55 p.m.: Five minutes to go, and a chance to vote for one more award. Head here to cast your vote for the AMA "artist of the year." And here's the good news: you can vote as often as you want, so when you accidentally click on Daughtry (why else would you click on him?), you can go back and click on Akon 15 times to make up for it.

4:51 p.m.: The American Music Awards are less than 10 minutes away. Check this picture of R&B singer Chris Brown from rehearsals. He's gone "Tron" on us.

Photo credits: Daughtry, Getty Images; Beyonce, Associated Press; Underwood, AP; Brown, Getty Images

'Walk Hard' music goes down easy ... listen here

This has been a tremendous year for music-related movies. From "Once" to "Control" to "Across the Universe," it seems as if there has been a steady release of tunefully-inclined films.

Yet the most honest rock 'n' roll picture I've seen this year is one that's meant to skewer them.

"Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," which opens Dec. 21, is primarily a spoof on the Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line," but it uses that storyline as a jumping-off point, providing a sort of Cliff's Notes edition of rock 'n' roll history.

Written by Judd Apatow ("Knocked Up") with director Jake Kasdan, "Walk Hard" plays with rock myths through the decades. But rather than drench them with nostalgia, a la "Walk the Line" or "Almost Famous," "Walk Hard" gets its laughs by showing the so-called legendary moments in rock history as little more than the accidentally absurd instances that they likely were.

Actor John C. Reilly plays the musician Cox as a sort of fortuitous genius, stumbling into Elvis Presley and the Beatles along the way. But, as seen in the trailer, "Walk Hard" isn't glorifying anyone, and instead plays up the buffoonery or absurdity that prevails in rock 'n' roll.

Indeed, "Walk Hard" succeeds because everyone is largely playing it straight, and that's precisely why the music, even when it's at its most silly, is actually pretty enjoyable. The soundtrack will be released Dec. 4 via Columbia Records.

The song "Let's Duet" is mostly a joke -- a playful, sexual-innuendo-laden tune meant to invoke memories of Johnny and June Carter Cash. But while the teasing nature of the song is played for laughs, it manages to create some tension by dancing around the issue, and it's not hard to imagine a good-humored country crooner such as a Robbie Fulks penning a similar number.

And that's not even mentioning the sublime vocals given by L.A.-based singer/songwriter Angel Correa, providing the voice for Jenna Fischer in the film. The song was written by singer/songwriters Charlie Wadhams and Benji Hughes. Listen to the track below:

Click here to listen to "Let's Duet" (Quicktime)

Click here to listen to "Let's Duet" (Windows Media)

The title track is all over the trailer and the Web, and more a straightforward nod to Cash. Written by Kasdan, Apatow and Reilly, with power-pop wiz Marshal Crenshaw, "Walk Hard" is probably a little catchier than "Let's Duet," thanks to some bolder guitar parts with the arrangement.

It gets a bit over-the-top toward the end, but it does a fine job of parodying and marrying lyrical cliches with an early rock 'n' roll attitude.

Listen to the track below:

Click here to listen to the title track, "Walk Hard" (Quicktime)

Click here to listen to the title track, "Walk Hard" (Windows Media)

Sadly, I don't yet have a sample of the strongest song in the film, the closer "Beautiful Ride." It's probably the best shot "Walk Hard" has at scoring an Oscar nomination, as it does a fine job of capturing a rock 'n' roll maturity.

"Beautiful Ride" was cowritten by Mike Viola, leader of power-pop act the Candy Butchers and a contributor on the Oscar-nominated title-song from "That Thing You Do!"

Sharing a writing credit with Viola is singer/songwriter Dan Bern, and those with Google can easily find a clip of Bern singing the song.

(Photo credit: Columbia Records)

AMA blogging to be had here . . .

The American Music Awards are set for this Sunday night in Los Angeles, and this blog will be giving you live, minute-by-minute updates.

In much the same way the Country Music Assn. Awards were handled, the live blogging will begin when the show starts, meaning everyone can easily follow along -- except for those in the Western states, where the AMAs will air via a tape delay.

The fun starts at 5 p.m., and the AMAs will be broadcast live on ABC.

In the meantime, catch up on some pre-AMA coverage. Click here for an interview with producer Larry Klein, and click here for some info on performers and, lastly, click over here to read a little about what the AMAs may tell us about the Grammys.

Arcade Fire, Spoon, Battles get indie award noms

Take your music cues from the Grammys, and you miss out on a whole world of underground and experimental music. That's where the Plug Independent Music Awards come in.

The Plug's technically began in 2001, but it wasn't until 2004 when the awards, which are driven by management/marketing firm/label World's Fair, started to become a serious player. You probably won't see many of this year's nominees for Album of the Year represented in the same category at the Grammys, but there's plenty here worth hearing.

Among the albums recognized are Battles' captivating electronic/prog effort "Mirrored," the National's tension-filled adult rock of "Boxer" and Justice's playfully dance-y "+," among others. Those lesser-known titles will battle indie-heroes such as the Arcade Fire and Spoon in the field.

There's 12 Album of the Year nominees in all (whew), and it's worth playing around on the Plug Web site, as there are music samples from each nominated artist, a useful tool that the Grammys, AMAs and CMAs should all steal.

Other categories include New Artist of the Year -- listen to spacey hard rock of Deerhunter, if you haven't already -- Female and Male Artist of the Year, Indie Album of the Year and then a host of genre categories (hip-hop, metal, electronic, etc.). It's a good way to get quickly familiar with a lot of what wowed the indie set this year.

In fact, as much as the Plug's are a much-needed complement to the Grammys, I sometimes worry they're too indie for their own good. While they split genres up into punk and metal, it's all more or less indie rock.

One of the most interesting punk albums released in 2007 was Tiger Army's "Music From the Regions Beyond," but the Warped Tour vets tread toward the more mainstream section of the punk community, and won't be getting a Plug Award. The album experiments with melody in way they've never done before, and furiously races through styles, but wasn't embraced by the indie rock set in the same way the Black Lips were, an absolutely blah band that's aping a style rather than creating its own identity.

In that sense, the Plug's are essentially preaching to the choir, informing the readers of indie-focused Web zine Pitchforkmedia that yes, their music choices have been validated.

Hey, I love metal labels Hydra Head and Relapse as much as the next music snob, but really, did 7 of the genre's 12 must-hear albums in 2007 come from only two labels?

But when all is said and done, if the Plug's inspire some folks to check out some new bands -- and again, kudos to them for giving us audio clips -- then they will have done a good thing.

Start with El-P's trippy "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead," a ferocious psychedelic hip-hop record.

Online voting for the Plug's is happening now, and winners will be announced March 6, 2008, at an event in New York.

(EL-P photo courtesy Timothy Saccenti)