Backstage Pass

So will "Ain't I" be on "Blueprint 3"? Will "Blueprint 3" be on Def Jam or the "secret label" the blogosphere insists President Carter (can we still call him that?) is starting with Steve Jobs? Hard to say.

One thing for sure, though: The energy Jay picked up working on "American Gangster" continues.

Alicia Keys, Brad Paisley and Feist are the latest performers to confirm their appearance at the Grammy awards on Feb. 10, the show's organizers announced this morning.

The first presenters to be confirmed include Natalie Cole, Juanes, Bette Midler, Bonnie Raitt and Cyndi Lauper. The Grammys also announced a special Beatles-themed segment starring the casts of Cirque du Soleil's "Love" and the Julie Taymor film "Across The Universe." The albums of those productions are both nominated for Grammys.

The confirmations come on the heels of the striking Writers Guild of America's waiver to the Grammy broadcast and a promise not to picket the show. Among the other stars already announced are Beyoncé, Foo Fighters, Mary J. Blige and Carrie Underwood.

With Robert Plant touring alongside Allison Krauss through September, and the rest of the Led Zeppelin crew still feeling the buzz from their recent reunion at London's O2 arena, the legendary rock group has no plans to tour this summer, according to guitarist Jimmy Page.

"The amount of work we put into the O2, both for ourselves rehearsing and also for the staging of it, was probably what you'd put into a world tour anyway," Page said in Tokyo on Monday, according to Billboard.biz.

Speaking to promote the band's new two-disc compilation "Mothership" in Japan, Page claimed to be dissatisfied with the release. "The overall packaging just did not have the quality of what we expect from Led Zeppelin and what I think everyone else expects from Led Zeppelin."

His advice: "Please don't buy it -- I don't want you to buy it."

PHOTO: Led Zeppelin at London's O2 Arena, Dec. 10, from www.thesun.co.uk.

Paul Simon will play a series of 16 concerts in three differently-themed installments at the Brooklyn Academy of Music starting April 1.

"Love in Hard Times: The Music of Paul Simon" will include a wide range of guest artists, including David Byrne, Hugh Masekela, Olu Dara, the indie-rock band Grizzly Bear, folk legends The Roches, The Spanish Harlem Orchestra and Little Anthony and The Imperials, among others.

The breakdown:

"Songs From 'The Capeman,'" featuring selections from Simon's Broadway show, runs Apr. 1-6, with tickets ranging from $30 to $65.

"Under African Skies," which explores Simon's forays into South African music and includes Byrne, the Brazilian singer Luciana Souza and several members of the original "Graceland" band, runs Apr. 10-13, with tickets ranging from $45 to $95. (An Apr. 9 concert will be part of the BAM Spring Gala.)

"American Tunes," described as "a revisit to the quiet railway stations, urban sounds, and immigrant dreams covering a wide range of songs throughout Paul Simon’s brilliant career," features Grizzly Bear and other artists to be announced. The show runs from Apr. 23-27, with tickets ranging from $45 to $95.

Tickets go on sale Feb. 4. Call 718.636.4100 or go to www.BAM.org.

PHOTO: Robert Clark 

The New York Giants will certainly have the edge during the pre-Super Bowl performances, with "American Idol" Jordin Sparks, daughter of former Giants cornerback Phillippi Sparks, singing the National Anthem, and Hell's Kitchen native Alicia Keys playing a few of her hits.

The NFL didn't reveal what Keys would be singing on Sunday, but we can guess she'd be dedicating "Fallin'" to Tom Brady and that she'd be hoping the Giants are thinking of Super Bowl rings as she belts out, "No one can get in the way of what I feel for you."

PHOTO: Jordin Sparks for Jive Records. 

Times New Viking's new single "(My Head)" (Matador) is loud, sloppy and thoroughly enjoyable, a catchy blast of indie-rock that serves as a raucous introduction to the Columbus, Ohio, band's updating of Guided by Voices' minor four-track fuzzy-guitar masterpieces. "(My Head)," like the rest of the new album "Rip It Off," bucks all the conventions of what today's rock should sound like. That makes Times New Viking maddening or thrilling. Or both.

Download "(My Head)" here

PHOTO: Times New Viking (their odd crop, not ours, btw) for Matador Records. 

R.E.M. is the first act set for this summer’s Nikon at Jones Beach Theater concert season, hitting the amphitheater on June 14, as part of its tour to support the forthcoming “Accelerate” (Warner Bros.) album due on April 1.

A New York show is planned for June 19, though a location hasn’t been set. Modest Mouse and The National are set to open. No ticket sale info yet.

To prepare for the new album and tour, R.E.M. launched the Ninetynights website, which features a new video clip of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers performing something every day. The one below is – I think – their take on Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.”

An eclectic group of musicians will rally at "Barack Rock," a concert supporting Sen. Barack Obama, whose presidential campaign is giving the once-clear front-runner, Hillary Clinton, more than a bit of trouble.

The concert, Feb. 4 at Bowery Ballroom, features treadmill-acrobats OK Go and a crew of mostly ultra-alternative rockers such as Craig Werden and Nathan Larson of Shudder to Think; the cult band Joan as Police Woman, whose leader, Joan Wasser, has often played with Antony Hegarty; and an all-girl band called The Birds featuring Nina Persson of The Cardigans, the downtown singer-songwriter Amy Miles and Karen Elson, the model-turned-rocker who also happens to be Mrs. Jack White.

"College-aged Americans are, historically, a lazy voting block," according to the show's promoters, www.GetUpAndVote.com. "But they are also huge in number, and could turn the tide of the 2008 elections if they show up at the polls and vote on primary day, as well as in November for the national elections."

Go to www.getupandvote.com or www.boweryballroom.com for more information.

PHOTO: Karen Elson, from AskMen.com. 

No American dates have been set, but wouldn't they be a great addition to the All Points West Music & Arts Festival at Liberty Park in August? Just wishing out loud...

Yaz, "Don't Go"

The Arcade Fire last night put up a Website for its extravagant black-and-white video for the song "Black Mirror," from its critically-acclaimed album "Neon Bible."

Check it out at www.rorrimkcalb.com, and be prepared to wait a minute -- or even two -- for the site to load.

PHOTO: Stills from the making of "Black Mirror." Pitchfork.com. 

Nightmare of You has announced a headlining show Mar. 13 at The Crazy Donkey in Farmingdale.

Also on the all-local lineup (though there's still one slot left to fill) are Camera-Head Shark, Aeroplane Pageant and Heavy Rescue.

For information on tickets, check out Nightmare's page on MySpace here.

Carrie Underwood, Rihanna, Mary J. Blige, Aretha Franklin and a reunited The Time will perform at this year's Grammy awards ceremony, organizers announced today.

The appearances come on the heels of an announcement by the Writers Guild of America that it will not picket the awards show, which will be broadcast Feb. 10 from Los Angeles on CBS.

Franklin is this year's recipient of the MusiCares Person of the Year award and will be featured in a special segment.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival announced that Billy Joel will be a headlining act for the first time in the event's history. This year's seven-day stretch lasts from Apr. 25-27 and from May 1-4.

Joel will play Saturday, Apr. 26.

Reflecting the festival's increasingly eclectic mix, other first-time performers include Stevie Wonder, Tim McGraw, Sheryl Crow and Keyshia Cole. Also on the bill: The Raconteurs, Jimmy Buffett, Santana, Diana Krall and Robert Plant and Allison Krauss.

For the complete schedule and tickets, go to www.nojazzfest.com.

PHOTO: BillyJoel.com 

Foxboro Hot Tubs, the alleged but unconfirmed pseudonym of Green Day, has scored a minor hit. Its garage-rock single "Mother Mary," from the not-available-in-stores EP "Stop Drop and Roll!!!" debuted at No. 30 on the Modern Rock Chart today, according to Billboard.biz.

"Mother Mary" and two other songs from the six-song album -- which was available for free at www.foxborohottubs.com until news about Green Day's involvement leaked -- can be heard at the "group's" MySpace page here.

In other Green Day news, Billie Joe Armstrong will play two shows in the Los Angeles area on Feb. 3 and 4 with his "other band," Pinhead Gunpowder, according to the Green Day website. Check out that band here.

With the release of the Village Voice's Pazz and Jop Poll today, there is even consensus among the consensus-builders. Like the Idolator Poll released last week, album of the year honors went to LCD Soundsystem's "Sound of Silver." (Now wouldn't that have been a much more fitting choice for Album of the Year Grammy than Herbie Hancock? Just a thought.)

Single of the year honors went to Amy Winehouse's "Rehab," edging out Idolator winner Rihanna's "Umbrella." My ballot is here and Newsday contributor J. Edward Keyes' ballot is here.

Complete list of albums winners [Village Voice]

Complete list of singles winners [Village Voice]

PHOTO: LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy by Jake Walters for Capitol Records. 

Like The Rolling Stones, Radiohead and Madonna before her, Lil' Kim has left her label, according to Billboard.biz.

Kim, whose last album for Atlantic Records was 2005's "The Naked Truth," said she will now release her music independently, though there are rumors she may join Capitol's indie imprint Imperial Records.

Her next disc, originally scheduled for release next month, has been pushed back to April or May.

PHOTO: Wallpaperbase.com 

In addition to announcing the lineup for their festival this year, Coachella organizers also confirmed yesterday that they are planning a new three-day festival for the East Coast, at Liberty State Park in New Jersey.

The All Points West Music & Arts Festival, named for the phrase train conductors would use for passengers boarding at the park's terminal, is set for Aug. 8, 9 and 10 at the park. The lineup will be announced in the coming weeks, with rumors already swirling that Radiohead, who has already played the park in 2001, will headline at least one day. (Though really why wouldn't they just play there on their own?) The Highline Ballroom, along with Coachella's organizers AEG and Goldenvoice, will handle booking the show.

 As far as Coachella, the headliners are: April 25, Jack Johnson, The Verve and The Raconteurs; April 26, Portishead, Kraftwerk and Death Cab for Cutie; April 27, Roger Waters, Love and Rockets and My Morning Jacket. Tickets for Coachella are $90 a day or $269 for the entire run and go on sale at 1 p.m. Friday through Ticketmaster.

PHOTO: The reunited Verve for Verve.co.uk 

    Seal is set to headline the 4th annual fundraiser for Musicians on Call, the Manhattan-based charity that brings live music to area hospitals, at the Hard Rock Café on Jan. 29.
    However, as in past years, a big part of the event will also be the auction of superstar items and experiences. This year, the auction is also online, with bidding starting today at the Musicians on Call charity site. Items up for bid this year include: a 1952 reissued Telecaster signed by Bruce Springsteen, a Fender bass from Sting, an acoustic guitar from Bon Jovi, a piano lesson from Gavin DeGraw, and chances to meet Daughtry, Carrie Underwood and Steven Van Zandt.
    Tickets for the Seal concert range from $150 to $1,500 and are on sale through the group’s site.

In the meantime, maybe his new video will make you feel better.

Bruce Springsteen, "Girls in Their Summer Clothes"

Nightmare of You have put their distinctive spin on Cheap Trick's little-known 1978 nugget "On Top of the World," and it's a winner -- part Smithsy swooner, part London Suede vamp-up. Check it out at the band's MySpace page here. The Nightmares also announced recently that they're planning a Northeast tour in late February and early March, with dates and cities yet to be announced.

Fred Mascherino's The Color Fred will warm up for the coming Angels and Airwaves tour with a string of headlining shows, including an appearance tonight at Looney Tunes in West Babylon.

You need a wristband to attend (info here) but there will be a performance and autograph signing starting at 6:30 p.m. Long Island up-and-comer Striving in Greater Hopes will open.

The Color Fred returns to the area with Angels and Airwaves on Feb. 15 at Roseland Ballroom, with Meg and Dia and Ace Enders. 

As the writer's strike continues, Grammy organizers yesterday promised the show will go on, releasing a short -- very short -- list of those who have pledged to attend.

They are Beyonce; her father, Mathew Knowles of Music World Entertainment; two other Knowles-related acts, Trinitee 5:7 and Solange; John Silva of SAM Music Management; and Foo Fighters, who had previously promised to attend and will be part of a "My Grammy Moment" segment that will give unknown musicians a chance to perform with the band.

John Legend, who is scheduled to perform a promotional concert on a Grammy-branded jet plane on Feb. 7, a few days before the Feb. 10 Grammy broadcast, was not on the list.

Though it's been in radio limbo for a few weeks, the "World famous" WLIR won't be coming back to 107.1 FM and its groundbreaking new wave/alternative format is, unfortunately, a goner too. Starting Monday, 1050 ESPN New York will take over the 107. 1 FM frequency.

Off-and-on for 26 years or so, WLIR developed a format that focused on new music, introducing countless bands to Long Island long before they made their way to other stations. Its cultural power grew so wide that it has even become part of memoirs and novels. The station also took great pride in supporting the Long Island music scene, playing local bands in regular rotation, alongside the biggest stars of the day to show that there was little if any drop off in quality in music produced here and produced elsewhere.

In recent years, though, WLIR, which moved from its powerful 92.7 FM frequency in 2004 to the new frequency that served only Suffolk County, has struggled to maintain a large enough forward-thinking audience. Like many younger-skewing rock stations around the country, its listeners have moved away from radio to iPods and the Internet to find new music. Though the switch was likely inevitable, it doesn't make WLIR's passing any less sad.

PHOTO: WLIR fave Depeche Mode. Did any other station in America play them as much for as long?

Despite the ongoing writers' strike, the Grammys are still moving forward with promotional stunts in the run-up to the Feb. 10 broadcast on CBS from Los Angeles. The latest: a sweepstakes that starts today in which fans can enter for a chance to fly from New York to L.A. on a Grammy-branded Boeing 757 jet -- courtesy of Delta -- while enjoying an in-flight concert from John Legend.

You knew this quote from Legend was coming: "Let's get lifted!"

To enter, go to the CBS television website here.

PHOTO: Getty Images 

Hot on the heels of EMI's announcement that it was cutting up to a third of its workforce as wall as its promotion budgets, the Rolling Stones plan to take their next album from EMI to Universal.

It could also be a sign that the legendary act may have already recorded its final album for the company. "Shine a Light," the soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese documentary filmed at the Beacon Theter in Manhattan in 2006, will be released on Universal in March. (The movie is set for release on April 4.)

The Rolling Stones' contract with EMI ends next month and will be able to negotiate with other companies (or go out on their own) after that. Now, the Stones really haven't been a big seller of recorded music in years and EMI could argue this album won't be a major shift of the company's fortunes in either direction. However, because the band owns its own back catalog, wherever it goes all its previous big hits go with it -- and that could be a big problem for EMI.

Stones sign one-album record deal [BBC] 

 PHOTO: Rollingstones.com

In what should be seen as a frighteningly slow week, Alicia Keys returns to the  top of the Billboard album charts with "As I Am" (J) though sales dropped 38 percent to 70,000 copies.  Keys edged out Radiohead's "In Rainbows" (TBD/ATO), which sold 69,000 copies last week and the soundtrack to "Juno" (Rhino), which sold 68,000, and Mary J. Blige's "Growing Pains" (Geffen) with 64,000. Taylor Swift rounds out the Top 5, as her eponymous Big Machine album moved 35,000 copies.

 PHOTO: Alicia Keys for J Records.

Amid rumors of rancor within the Chris Brown/Bow Wow tour, the two hip-hop heartthrobs are calling off their Jan. 23 show at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.

The date, announced in mid-December, was originally scheduled for Jan. 21, then quickly moved to Jan. 23. The cancellation was announced this afternoon.

Bow Wow recently laughed off reports of mid-tour rivalry that recalled the famous split between Jay-Z and R. Kelly. Various blogs and Websites alleged that Bow Wow spit on Brown following technical difficulties at a Dallas concert, but Bow Wow yesterday told MTV. com: "I just got off the phone with Chris. My mom called me and told me about the rumor. I called him and told him, and he started laughing."

So what's the problem? Perhaps Brown and Bow Wow oversaturated the market? Brown and Bow Wow already played Madison Square Garden on Dec. 21 and are due to play there again tomorrow. That show is still scheduled as planned, according to concert promoter Live Nation.

PHOTO: Getty Images/MTV.com

File this one under "For Die-Hard Fans."

Spice Girl Melanie C will play a special acoustic show Saturday, Feb. 9 at Manhattan Center's Grand Ballroom, an intimate venue in the same building as the Hammerstein. Mel C, aka Melanie Chisholm, aka Sporty Spice, will play with a full band, demonstrating her solo material. The show falls between her six New York-area dates with The Spice Girls.

 It's consensus time! A few times a year, music critics, like Democrats worried that their bickering has gone too far, can reach something approaching agreement about what music was good. The Idolator poll, which tallied the votes of 451 critics this year, is out today and its voters awarded  best album to LCD Soundsystem's "Sound of Silver," best single to Rihanna's "Umbrella," and artist of the year to Radiohead. (My ballot is here, Backstage Pass pal and Newsday contributor J. Edward Keyes has his here. And you can check out the Backstage Pass 2007 recap here.)

PHOTO: LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy by Jake Walters for Capitol Records. 

What was that grandiose rock song that burst out in the middle of ESPN 's "Images of 2007" segment recently? It was "This Could Be The Year," a new track by Ryan Star. It comes about two minutes into the video and then plays for the duration. Star, back in Los Angeles wrapping up his new disc for Atlantic Records, is all about stealth marketing: Another track, "Last Train Home," is being featured in the Hilary Swank movie "P.S. I Love You."

Backstage Pass pal J. Freedom du Lac was the first to write about the switcheroo in the Washington Post spawning loads of YouTube videos chronicling the moment. Last week, Cyrus' publicist issued a statement to MTV News confirming the use of the body double, saying it helps "speed the transition from Hannah to Miley." "Other than during this very brief transitional moment in the show, Miley performs live during the entirety of both the Hannah and Miley segments of the concert," the publicist says.

Is anyone shocked by this? Of course not. We have reached the point in pop music where the singer, who many fans paid hundreds of dollars to see, doesn't even have to perform for all her songs any more. And forget about the singer actually, you know, singing them.

PHOTO: AP