Blog: arjanwrites music blog

pBy Jason Weintraubp The defintion of GRAMMY's Best New Artist award is pretty straight-forward. The official guidelines state any artist is eligible as long as they have released an album that helped "establish" their "public identity."pNote that this is not necessarily the first album released by an artist. The category has often created controversy and many times GRAMMY voters have given the award to a dark horse nominee. Take for example Lady Gaga's snub in this category a few years ago which led to an unprecedented change in GRAMMY rules, and last year The Academy created [...]

Instagram snap of Lana Del Rey and me at The GRAMMYs P&E Gala ( source ) My GRAMMY Week officially kicked off last night with The Recording Academy's private Producers & Engineers Wing celebration at the legendary Village Studios in Santa Monica. Special guest of the night was industry icon and Interscope founder/president Jimmy Iovine who received a special merit award for his achievements and contributions to the world of popular music. The Village Studios is a fantastic little studio complex where many hit records have been created. It's a [...]

Nothing can stop Erasure. After a trek around the planet and performing their greatest hits in front of their adoring fans late last year, the duo of Andy Bell and Vince Clarke continues to crank out great songs and videos. Case in point is this video for their new single "Fill Us With Fire" that is taken from the group's 2011 LP, "Tomorrow's World." Produced by the uber-talented Vince Frank, "Fill Us With Fire" proves once again why Erasure is one of the finest synth-pop group on the scene (and has been for over two decades). The track taps into [...]

pBy Steve Siegel The GRAMMY for Best Dance Recording is a relatively new category that was first created in 1998. GRAMMY momentum for dance music has been building over the past few years, and this year the nominees for the category reflect The GRAMMYs respect and support for the genre. Whereas before nominees for this category included Boy George, Lionel Richie and Cher, the lineup now includes pure dance music artists rather than just pop artists that made crossover-dance tracks. So let's have a look at this year Dance Recording nominees and our prediction of who will take [...]

I have no doubt that Kat Krazy will be rooting for Foster The People to pick up a few GRAMMYs on Sunday. The British remixer/producer is a huge fan of the group and jumped at the change when Columbia Records asked him to remix the trio's new single, "Don't Stop." "I'm a huge fan of the original," he writes me this morning. "I love how Foster the People achieve a timeless effect with their incredibly individual sound" He adds, "I was also very keen on the GRAMMY-nominated 'Pumped Up Kicks,' so it's a privilege to be working on [...]

pIs Lana Del Rey's Tour Canceled ? Maybe pMissy Elliott's 'Block Party' To Drop In June pNicki Minaj To Premiere New Single During The GRAMMYs pMadonna Announces The 'Madonna 2012′ World Tour pPaul McCartney Honored With 'Person Of The Year' MusiCares Award pLady Gaga Announces 'Born This Way' Ball Stage and 'Monster Pit' pWatch 'Glee' Cast Perform 'Sexy and I Know It' With Ricky Martin pBeyonce Makes First Post-Baby Appearance [...]

In anticipation of the 54th annual GRAMMY Awards on Sunday, I will be once again highlighting some of the major award categories together with contributors Jason Weintraub and Steve Siegel . They will be previewing nominees who are up for GRAMMY gold while I cover all of the GRAMMY Week events out in Los Angeles. In the first episode of this year's GRAMMY Guide, Jasonpdiscusses the GRAMMY nominees in the hotly-contested Best Pop/Duo Group Performance category. pTony Bennett & Amy Winehouse [...]

The unstoppable party rockers of LMFAO give Madonna's new single "Give Me All Your Luvin'" a little bit of extra pep on their brand-new remix of the song that hit the web on Monday. With a chuncky new synth track, splashy drops and a bass-happy new dance groove, RedFoo and SkyBlupturn Madonna into the ultimate party rocker on their propulsive re-interpretation of the song. The duo even adds a new rap to the track, encouranging the Queen of Pop to continue doing what she does best. "Come on baby girl, this is your moment," RedFoo raves, while Skyblupadds, "knock it [...]

pDia Frampton From 'The Voice' Covers Lana Del Rey's "Video Games" pAnalysis: Madonna Adds Gay Factor To Super Bowl pGivenchy Releases Sketches Of Madonna's Regal Super Bowl Costumes pGet a Preview of Nicki Minaj's New "Marilyn Monroe"p pNick Jonas Featured in New 'Smash' Promop pBeyonce Offered 100 Million Dollars To Join X Factor pIf You're Happy and You Know it:p Lollipop Lady Arlene Cameronp pThe GRAMMY Awards Have A Comedic Legacy [...]

GRAMMY Week is finally upon us! For the fourth consecutive year, I will be roaming around all major GRAMMY Week events and cover the annual GRAMMY Awards as an official Community Blogger for GRAMMY.com .pIt's shaping up to be a fantastic week of music that will come to its grand finale on Sunday evening when the 54th annual GRAMMY Awards airs at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. Performances by Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, The Band Perry and many others have been confirmed, and expect more performers to be added this week. On ArjanWrites.com, Twitter [...]

It's been a hot minute since we last heard from Ladyhawke, but boy, her excellent new single "Black White & Blue" reminds us how much we have missed her. Staying true to her brand of retro-styled, quirky synth pop, the Kiwi singer serves up similar ingredients on this new track while also evolving her signature sound. The song is ruled by a mighty splashy chorus, distorted synths and a flower power instrumental break that is oh-so very delicious pFilmed in Auckland in late 2011, the video for "Black White & Blue" was directed by Tabitha Denholm who is mostly known [...]

Adam Lambert will be the first to tell you that he's not perfect. Some choose to hide their flaws and not-so flattering moments, but the singer has the confidence to face his imperfections andpturn them into a strength. Lambert fully embraces his humanity in his music and performance, and the excellent newpvideo for his current hit single "Better Than I Know Myself" is a perfect example of that. "Better Than I Know Myself" is a gritty and gut-wrenching pop ballad that was produced by Dr Luke and co-written by Claude Kelly. The song taps into the frenzy of [...]

pMary J. Blige Performs "Mr. Wrong" On 'Wendy Williams' pVictoria Beckham Covers 'i-D' Magazine pInterview: Madonna Enters The (Mostly) Gay Room pMadonna's 'M.D.N.A.' Already a Worldwide Hit pThe Wanted Praise America for White Teeth and Bud Lightp pTrey Songz Strips Down For VMAN Magazinep pAlicia Keys Takes A Bath In Paradisep pPharrell Williams Catches Up With GQ for Interviewp pPostcards From Sunny Los Angelesp [...]

Sam Sparro serves up some stirring disco-soul on "The Shallow Ground," the very first track unveiled from his much-anticipated new album, "Return To Paradise." The song was produced by Jesse Rogg and Greg Kurstin, and is "about life in Los Angeles," Sparro writes on his web site. Set to a mighty infectious "woo-hoo," a bouncy bass, lots of cowbell and a sultry sax solo, Sparro explains in his warming timbre that Los Angeles is a city close to his heart. It's a place where you can live "a beautiful life" and if you can swim in "the shallow [...]

Madonna keeps it light and fluffy in the video for her new single "Give Me All Your Luvin'" that perfectly matches the fun and quirky qualities of the song. The Martin Solveig-produced single is not all that new to Madonna fans as an earlier version p leaked pa fewp months ago much to Madonna's dismay . The final cut of the song is pretty much the same track plus some polished raps of Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. who add some cross-over appeal to the song to conquer both pop and urban radio in the U.S.p [...]

pKaty Perry And Coldplay To Perform At Paul McCartney's MusiCares Benefit pLisa Marie Presley In Talks To Do An Elvis Film pKelly Clarkson Covers Sara Bareilles pBritney Spears Wants To Guest Star On 'Modern Family' pBruno Mars Featured In New GRAMMY Billboard (via @takeshiwan ) pRicky Martin's ' Sexy and I Know It' Glee Performance pOhLaLa Presents Dan By Paul Reitz pAzealia Banks Comes Out pLana Del [...]

The Recording Academy partnered with Pepsi and Pandora to release a short video compilation this morning that features quick Q&As with some of the Best New Artist Nominees for The 54th GRAMMYs. Representing a variety of genres, nominated artistspSkrillex, The Band Perry, Bon Iver and J Cole all talk about what it's like to be nominated this year. Nominee Nicki Minaj is not included in the video but she will appear and perform during the live show. I'd imagine that it's pretty darn exciting to be up for a GRAMMY, and even though [...]

After Gotye ruled the charts in Europe for weeks and weeks last year and racked up over 55 million views on YouTube, the Gotye crazy is heading stateside. The Brussels-born artist performed last night on Jimmy Kimmel's late night show and his breakout tune " Somebody That I Used To Know " (featuring Kimbra) is rocketing up the charts in North America. Moving an impressivep200k units in one month, the song has entered the Hot 100 chart, debuted on the Billboard 200, achieved status as the No. 1 Greatest Gainer at AAA, is already No. 9 on Alternative Mediabase and [...]

pAdam Lambert Drops By Berlin Radio Stationp pSingle Like Me? Here Are 11 Songs For Singles This Valentine's Day pWatch: Björk Pays A Visit To 'The Colbert Report' pGarbage Reveals Their New Album Logo & A New Snippet Of Music pMost Focused Ping Pong Spectator of All Time pWatch Adam Sean For Dolce & Gabbana Sport pLana Del Rey's ' Born to Die' Tops iTunes Chart pNicki Minaj Bats Her Mega [...]

It's a big day for pop singer Simon Curtis . Not only did he relaunch his web site today, but he also unveiled a brand-new Vincent Did It remix of "Flesh ," a track that first appeared on his most recent LP "R∆." But wait! There's more Curtis hotness finally being unleashed today that marks a Vincent Did It collaboration of a different kind. Check out an exclusive download of "Starlight," an unreleased track that the singer originally recorded during the "R∆" studio sessions. It's a soul-stirring piano ballad that was produced by Vincent [...]