Guide to the 52nd Grammys' Best Alternative Album Nominees

Are the Grammy Award nominees —in all categories, at all times— anything less than baffling? And, like, especially in the 'Best Alternative Music Album' ghetto? With past winners including Coldplay, Green Day, Gnarls Barkley, the Beastie Boys, and U2, the category is direly lacking for definition. Not to mention utterly aching for inspiration. Fittingly, the 2009 nominees (awarded in a ceremony that takes place in 2010; yes, it's confusing) seem completely uninspired. The five records that supposedly defined alt-music in 2009 fall into two simple camps: bands bankrolled by the big four, and old people.

David Byrne & Brian Eno 'Everything That Happens Will Happen Today'

Todo Mundo

37 years ago —which is, if we're to take their fondness for Steely Dan into account, where plenty of Grammy voters seem to wish they still were— David Byrne was in Talking Heads and Brian Eno was in Roxy Music. 30 years ago, they worked together on Talking Heads' classic Remain in Light LP. 29 years ago, they made an early case for sampling-as-art on their first co-billed collaboration, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. These historical facts —not to mention Eno having produced seven U2 albums— are the reasons Everything That Happens Will Happen Today has its Grammy nomination, and not any of the actual songs on the second Byrne/Eno collaboration; a years-on follow-up that has none of the daring of its recently-reembraced predecessor.

Death Cab for Cutie 'The Open Door' EP

Atlantic

Wait, are you serious? A five-song EP? Isn't this category called Best Alernative Music Album? Clearly clinging desperately to the warm familiarity of a thrice-nominated, Warner-bankrolled alt-rock behemoth, the Grammy voters/panel/committee/whoever nominated The Open Door, some throwaway, between-LP filler (a demo version of an album track!) from our old pals Death Cab for Cutie. No one's denying that Death Cab had a big 2009: they toured with Andrew Bird and Ra Ra Riot, and scored top-billing on the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack. Hell, frontman Ben Gibbard even got hitched to She & Him cutiepie Zooey Deschanel, earning the admiration/condemnation of chaps everywhere. But, come on. This is a glorified B-sides collection. Five songs long.

Depeche Mode 'Sounds of the Universe'

Mute

Wait, Depeche Mode? Really? Is Dave Gahan's eyeliner that commanding? I know Sounds of the Universe landed at #3 on the Billboard charts, and that the band scored top-billing on Friday night at Lollapalooza, but isn't any part of good old Field 5: Category 22 about artistic worth? Depeche Mode's 12th LP was mediocre even by their long-mediocre standards; a dated collection of over-produced synth-rock whose 60 minutes felt both bloated and empty; way too long yet featuring few moments of actual inspiration. Their nomination here is a reward for record sales, sure, but also a tribute to their longevity. When the band began in 1980, Dirty Projectors' 27-year-old leader Dave Longstreth, for example, was not even a twinkle in his pappy's eye.

Phoenix 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix'

Louyaté

All things considered, a nomination none too shabby; Phoenix being French, on an independent(-ish) label, and actually credible, three things Grammy nominees routinely are not. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix isn't Phoenix's finest hour —it pales in comparison to its predecessor, 2006's It's Never Been Like That— but, hey, it is Phoenix's best-selling hour, which is what's really important. You get a sense of the worldview of industry minions if you read Billboard's potential-Grammy-noms preview. Phoenix, it says, "aren't eligible for Best new Artist this year because the band's breakthrough album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, is actually its fourth." Wow! Next thing you'll tell me Merriweather Post Pavilion is actually Animal Collective's ninth...

Yeah Yeah Yeahs 'It's Blitz!'

Interscope

The least surprising of the five, Yeah Yeah Yeahs' nomination for It's Blitz! follows their nomination for Show Your Bones in 2006, which followed their nomination for Fever to Tell in 2003. The trio have been one of the more consistently acclaimed and continually interesting bands to toil for major-label beancounters this decade, and It's Blitz! is, in the Grammy realm, aided by the fact that it's easily Yeah Yeah Yeahs' most commercially-accessible LP. Having been twice the bridesmaids, perhaps 2010 —well, I mean, 2009, technically— will be the year Yeah Yeah Yeahs finally take home their first golden Gramophone... Oh, who're we kidding! Given the Grammys' long-standing history of idiocy, the winner can only be the EP, right?

And the winner is...

Glassnote

Phoenix! Surprisingly, the Grammy was handed out to the least established name on the list. Which is to say more of the company than Phoenix themselves; both in this category and in the entire field. In an interview with Pitchfork the day after the ceremony, Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars confirmed that winning a Grammy was hardly a moment of glory. "It's very nice, but you feel some sadness to it, too," he said, of collecting a statue that usually elicits talk of "God" and "blessing" in embarrassing measures. "It's hard to enjoy the moment." And, of suffering through the seven-hour ceremony itself, he politely smiled: "I wish there were more bands that I like." Which is exactly how it feels, every year, to look at the Grammy nominations.

Interpol: New Album Looming, Touring with U2, Bidding Adieu to Carlos D

On April 28, moody New Yorker dudes Interpol broke several years of silence to pronounce: "We're stirring." The stirring involved the unveiling of a brand new jam, "Lights," and promises of a forthcoming fourth LP.

Since then, Team Interpol has been a hive of activity. They've bid adieu to bassist/style icon Carlos Dengler (with an announcement whose hyperbole suggests frontman Paul 'Julian Plenti' Banks wrote it: "we will remain, as always, deeply respectful fans of this blazingly talented individual"), announced a run of shows supporting stadium-rock institution U2, and, now, released summer tour dates of their own.

Though they've promised "exciting recruits" to fill in on bass in the absence of Dengler, no announcements have been made as to who exactly those shall be. Nor have official details of that fourth LP been unleashed. But stirring they are:

Turn On the Bright Lights:
June 21: Rochester, NY - Water Street Music Hall
June 22: Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
June 23: Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Small's Theatre
June 25: Allentown, PA - Crocodile Rock Café
June 27: Minneapolis, MN - TCF Bank Stadium *
June 28: Des Moines, IA - People's Court
June 30: East Lansing, MI - Spartan Stadium *
July 1: Cincinnati, OH - Bogart's
July 2: Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
July 3: Toronto, ON - Rogers Centre *
July 5: Columbia, MO - Blue Note
July 6: Chicago, IL - Soldier Field *
July 8: Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
July 9: Miami, FL - Land Shark Stadium *
July 10: Charleston, SC - The Music Farm
July 12: Philadelphia, PA - Lincoln Financial Field *
July 14: Baltimore, MD - Ram's Head Live
July 16: Montréal, QC - Montreal Hippodrome *
July 17: Montréal, QC - Montreal Hippodrome *
July 19: New York, NY - New Meadowlands Stadium *
July 20: Providence, RI - Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel
July 21: New Haven, CT - Toad's Place
July 23: Clifton Park, NY - Northern Lights
July 24: Lancaster, PA - Chameleon
September 18: Paris, France - Stade De France *
September 22: Brussels, Belgium - Stade Roi Boudoin *
September 23: Brussels, Belgium - Stade Roi Boudoin *
September 26: San Sebastian, Spain - Anoeta Stadium *
September 29: Seville, Spain - Olympic Stadium *
October 2: Coimbra, Portugal - Estadio Cidade Coimbra *
October 3: Coimbra, Portugal - Estadio Cidade Coimbra *
October 8: Rome, Italy - Olympic Stadium *
* supporting U2

The History of Punk Rock

The Foundations of Punk Rock

The beginnings of punk rock are often furiously debated. This is partially because everyone has different definition of punk rock, and partially because its foundation stones are found in several places.

"Punk Rock" was originally used to describe the garage musicians of the '60's. Bands like the Sonics were starting up and playing out with no musical or vocal instruction, and often limited skill. Because they didn't know the rules of music, they were able to break the rules.

The mid to late '60s saw the appearance of the Stooges and the MC5 in Detroit. They were raw, crude and often political. Their concerts were often violent affairs, and they were opening the eyes of the music world.

The Velvet Underground is the next piece in the puzzle. The Velvet Underground, managed by Andy Warhol, were producing music that often bordered on noise. They were expanding the definitions of music without even realizing it.

The final primary influence is found in the foundations of Glam Rock. Artists like David Bowie and the New York Dolls were dressing outrageously, living extravagantly and producing loud trashy rock and roll. Glam would end up splitting up its influence, doling out portions to hard rock, "hair metal" and punk rock.

New York: The First Punk Rock Scene

The first concrete punk rock scene appeared in the mid '70s in New York. Bands like The Ramones, Wayne County, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, Blondie and the Talking Heads were playing regularly in the Bowery District, most notably at CBGB.

The bands were unified by their location, camaraderie, and shared musical influences. They would all go on to develop their own styles and many would shift away from punk rock.

While the New York scene was reaching its heyday, punk was undergoing a separate creation story in London.

Meanwhile, Across the Pond

England's punk scene had political and economic roots. The economy in the United Kingdom was in poor shape, and unemployment rates were at an all-time high. England's youth were angry, rebellious and out of work. They had strong opinions and a lot of free time.

This is where the beginnings of punk fashion as we know it emerged, and they centered out of one shop. The shop was simply called SEX, and it was owned by Malcolm McClaren.

Malcolm McClaren had recently returned to London from the U.S., where he had unsuccessfully tried to reinvent the New York Dolls to sell his clothing. He was determined to do it again, but this time looked to the youths who worked and hung out in his shop to be his next project. This project would become the Sex Pistols, and they would develop a large following very quickly.

Enter The Bromley Contingent

Among the fans of the Sex Pistols was an outrageous bunch of young punks known as the Bromley Contingent. Named after the neighborhood they all came from, they were at the first Sex Pistols shows, and quickly realized they could do it themselves.

Within a year, the Bromleys had formed a large portion of the London Punk scene, including The Clash, The Slits, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Generation X (fronted by a young Billy Idol) and X-Ray Spex. The British punk scene was now in full swing.

The Punk Rock Explosion

By the late '70s, punk had finished its beginning and had emerged as a solid musical force. With its rise in popularity, punk began to split into numerous sub-genres. New musicians embraced the DIY movement and began to create their own individual scenes with specific sounds.

In order to better see the evolution of punk, check out all of the subgenres that punk split off into. It's a list that's constantly evolving, and it's only a matter of time before more categories appear.