awards awards awards

in case you didn't know, the grammy nominations were announced today. someone told me this is the first year the grammys have had the "best alternative music album" category, of which nominees include:
Fight Test
The Flaming Lips
[Warner Bros. Records]

Hail To The Thief
Radiohead
[Capitol Records]

Untitled
Sigur Rós
[Fat Cat/MCA Records]

Elephant
The White Stripes
[V2/ThirdMan Records]

Fever To Tell
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
[Interscope Records]

wow, can you believe the yeah yeah yeahs got a grammy nomination? that's a fucking huge step for indie kind. i don't really consider the other music "alternative." maybe sigur ros... out of those people though, i think the flaming lips have the tightest album. word!

i also attended the deems taylor awards yesterday. i thought it was pretty interesting. that spin editor, sia, was there. the deems taylor awards honor writers who cover music in journalism and books. i missed the first half of the awards ceremony, but i found that most of the awards went to blues and jazz genre writers. it was cool though that allmusic.com received an award. i never knew that the whole allmusic.com operation is based in michigan, though they have 600 writers who contribute. the a&e show "live by request," which was produced by tony bennett and his son, danny, also received an award. that's a show where the big names in music take requests from their fans via phone or email, and many times they actually interact with their listeners. people who have been on the show thus far include bowie, elton john, elvis costello, tony bennett (of course), gloria estefan, etc. sometimes, even other stars phone in, just to rag on the featured guest. i've never seen this show... but now i'm interested in seeing it.