Last night were the 2010 MTV VMA's hosted by the always hilarious Chelsea Handler. Being the first female host in 16 years Chelsea handled herself well especially with her opening skit featuring Lindsay Lohan as well as her monologue. The rest of the night….was a bit underwhelming. Bieber lip-synced, who apparently gets his poor skills from Usher, and Gaga dominated the night, not letting any of the other artists stand a change. The Monster's multiple outfits features a dress made out of meat, resembling her Vogue cover and the reference to a raw meat bikini in a Key of Awesome parody of Bad Romance. If you haven't seen it yet, it made Ke$ha's trash bag dress look like Chanel. Eminem  was one of the big male winners of the night, but after his performance he jetted on a flight to NYC. If you're the most nominated male artist of the night, you'd think he'd stick around.

Gaga won 8 out of her 13 nominations which after the third award became very tedious. In most cases when there are multiple winners, they will do a montage and announce everything the artist won at once. Why they didn't do this last night I'll never know, it got old very quickly.

Of course there was tremendous hype surrounding Kanye West and Taylor Swift, who were both performing. Taylor's well-written song was overshadowed by her being off-key. Kanye on the other hand gave a great performance but I am agitated they made everyone wait for him til the end. 

The only award I was really happy with was 30 Seconds To Mars winning best rock video, and Jared Leto was looking more than spiffy, he is still a top trending Twitter topic as I type.

Although I watched the full ceremony and will more than likely watch the awards next year, I was extremely underwhelmed and was reminded the whole night of why I don't listen to most of that stuff. 

List of winners.

Best Dance Video: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Best Collaboration Video: Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé, "Telephone"

 Best Female Video: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Best Rock Video: 30 Seconds to Mars, "Kings and Queens"

Best Male Video: Eminem, "Not Afraid"

Best Pop Video: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Best Cinematography: Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, "Empire State of Mind"

Best Direction: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Best Choreography: Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance"

Best Editing: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Best Special Effects: Muse, "Uprising"

Best Art Director: Florence + the Machine, "Dog Days Are Over"

Breakthrough Video: Black Keys, "Tighten Up"

Best Hip-Hop Video: Eminem, "Not Afraid"

Best New Artist: Justing Bieber, "Baby"

Video of The Year: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

 

 

Boys Like Girls on The Bamboozle Roadshow on June 25th

www.myspace.com/boyslikegirls

Today instead of a normal musical related post, we thought it would be best to not post today and instead ask you to remember those lost in the attack of 9/11. We will still have a photo of the day and normal posting will resume either tonight or tomorrow, but for now we just want you to take a moment and pay respects to all of those affected in the attack, and the events that have followed in the nine following years.

Hey Monday on The Vans Warped Tour on July 20th

www.myspace.com/heymonday

It's the rocker chick everyone is confused about. How is little Jenny Humphrey from Gossip Girl wearing a leather jacket and going everywhere without pants? If you've been out of the loop Taylor Momsen has taken on a new darker image since starting her band The Pretty Reckless, who has released a self titled EP and now an album titled Light Me Up. Being an avid Gossip Girl fan along with a Pretty Reckless fan I couldn't pass up reviewing this ten song album.

My Medicine-To people who only know Taylor Momsen for her acting roles, you may be a bit surprised when listening to this song and the rest of the album. To be perfectly honest it doesn't even matter what this song is about, it could be about unicorns and I'd enjoy it because of how strong her voice is on this track. Also, if this song is familiar it's because it's one of the four tracks off of the self-titled EP.

Since You're Gone- Does anyone else notice that Taylor sounds like she's 30 when she sings, but in a good way? Even if she is faking this whole image, she really is working it. Compliments to the producers of this album as well and of course to Taylor's band, they really did put together something nice.

Make Me Wanna Die-Probably my favorite because it is in fact the single and has had the most effort put into it. The only problem I have with this song, and the album in general, is that it makes me wonder where all this raw angst is coming from. I obviously don't know Taylor personally but from what I do know I never would of expected to to have any of these feelings. This whole dark image she's had seems to have formed as a result of her character turning darker on her show. Either way the song is enjoyable, but maybe she's trying too hard?

Light Me Up- Although I do like this album I have to say that this is also one of my favorites along with make Me Wanna Die.  It's catchy, has a great tune, and it really shows off Taylor's vocals as well as the band. 

Just Tonight- In proper album etiquette there should be a slower song half way to 3/4 way through the album, The Pretty Reckless followed this rule. This song is also shortest in the entire album, which is interesting because the slow/acoustic songs are usually longer. Either way it's a strong song and it's another winner in my book.

 Miss Nothing- I'm trying to avoid being repetitive when writing this but I can't help but say that this song is another strong track with great vocals and a equally great backing band. Miss Nothing goes up there with my favorites because of how fast paced it is and is a style that I really like in a song.

Goin' Down-"I'm just 16 if you know what I mean do you mind if I take off my dress?" Oh my. Taylor, please keep your clothes on. This is the most upbeat tracks on the album and I'm sure it's one that gets a crowd jumping instead of just banging their heads around.  

Nothing Left To Lose- I doubt Taylor had a relationship with a 29 year old man when she was 19….considering she's 17 right now. The song is cute though….if you count out the underage, smoking, drinking, and sex. 

Factory Girl- One of the only songs I can recall on this album that actually got my foot tapping with the opening. The chorus is something I can see easily on MTV, The CW and teen movies on TV and in theaters. I wonder if Taylor has actually seen the movie Factory Girl about Edie Sedgwick or if she just took the title for the song to be ediger than her normal image of girl-who-wears-fishnets-instead-of-pants.

You- In comparison to the other songs this one is particularly slow with it's acoustic guitar and violins. I don't know if it really fits in the album and maybe it should be a bonus track substituted with Zombie from the first EP. The song is good, but in terms of being cohesive I just don't think it's right. 

 

All Time Low on the Bamboozle Roadshow in Columbia, MD

www.myspace.com/alltimelow

http://twitter.com/christoferdrew

http://www.tweetforatrack.com/christoferdrew

Always creating something new Christofer Drew put out a sweet deal to his 156,336 Twitter followers where in exchange for one promotional tweet you can get the demo of a new song. The track is called nopainnogain, it seems even as Chris grows musically he still avoids using the space bar whatever possible. The song is completely free and make sure to follow him on Twitter if you want exclusive demos and updates in the future.

Runner Runner at The Recher Theatre on August 4th

http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/the-maine-concert/20031387-51556.html

One band that has been having a superb year is pop/alternative band The Maine. After releasing their successful second album Black & White and announcing their fall tour with Never Shout Never the band is thanking their fans by releasing a FREE live EP through Daytrotter. There is a short info from lead singer John O'Callaghan followed by the four live tracks. I've had the pleasure to see The Maine twice live already and will be seeing them again in November, they are a truly wonderful act when performing live so this EP is a real treat. It's like going to a mini Maine concert, and it's all for free.

White Tie Affair at The Recher on August 4th

www.myspace.com/whitetieaffair