Blog Posts by Caryn Ganz and Daniel Kreps

Everyone loves to grouse about awards shows being disappointing, but last night's MTV Video Music Awards were stunningly bad and -- even worse -- criminally boring. Lady Gaga was supposed to "make history!" Britney Spears was supposed to get a tribute befitting a 29-year-old pop star receiving some sort of lifetime achievement trophy! Amy Winehouse was supposed to be honored by friends and fans! Somebody -- anybody! -- was supposed to do something. But the biggest news to come out of the network's 28th annual awards show was Beyoncé's pregnancy. We're happy for B and Jay-Z, but sad for the millions of people who tuned in to the big show last night hoping to be entertained (UPDATE: according to MTV, a record-shattering 12.4 million!). Here's why:

Lady Gaga fell on her rear.
Everything about Lady Gaga at the VMAs last night just didn't work. She started the show with a rambling several-minute monologue dressed up as her male alter ego Jo Calderone that had the audience straight-up

Arcade Fire! Win! Album! Of! The! Year!
Let's face it -- 2010 was an awful year for rock in the music biz. So like a lot of folks, The Amp didn't think Arcade Fire could pull in enough votes to topple megastars like Eminem, Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry for the biggest prize, Album of the Year. But they did it! Right after a very strobe-light-heavy performance of "Month of May" featuring BMX bikers, and before a performance of "Ready to Start" featuring the biggest grin we'd ever seen cross frontman Win Butler's face.

Cee Lo. Gwyneth. Puppets.
One of the night's most mind-blowing moments came from Cee Lo Green -- dressed as a colorfully strange hybrid of Stevie Wonder, Elton John, and a giant peacock -- who performed "(The Song Otherwise Known as 'Forget You')" as the Grammys kept referring to it. He got a little second-verse help from Gwyneth Paltrow, who didn't sound out of place in the least on Music's Biggest Night -- yes, she really likes to mention that she sings,

Active Child
Los Angeles singer/songwriter/harpist Pat Grossi's "When Your Love is Safe" made The Amp's Best Music You Didn't Hear in 2010 list, but his entire EP "Curtis Lane," featuring Grossi's near-angelic vocals, was a refreshing and engrossing entrant into the synth movement sweeping the indie rock nation. We can't wait for his debut full-length.

Best Coast
Bethany Cosentino's Cali trio blend lazy surf tunes with the swing of '60s girl group pop and the gritty wooze of the '90s best lo-fi rock bands. Bonus: she maintains a Twitter for her lovable cat, Snacks.

Drake
A veteran of Canada's long-running "Degrassi" series, this Toronto MC became the biggest new rapper in years thanks to his ability to balance clever rhymes with soulful singing. There wasn't a big name in the game who didn't scramble to be on his much-anticipated Young Money debut "Thank Me Later." Luckily for Drake, the album surpassed the hype.

Flying Lotus
After gaining acclaim as the beatmaker for Cartoon Network's

Underrated or just under-the-radar, here are 10 songs and albums you might have missed -- but shouldn't have! -- in the past 12 months (in alphabetical order):

Active Child - "When Your Love Is Safe"
It's possible no singer has used his voice as an instrument this successfully since Thom Yorke. The highlight of Los Angeles songwriter Pat Grossi a.k.a. Active Child's "Curtis Lane EP," this transcendent synth-driven track climbs heavenward for the first three minutes before finally reaching it in the final 90 seconds.

Autolux - "Transit Transit" LP
Critics were underwhelmed when this Los Angeles band returned from their six-year hiatus since 2004's shoegazey "Future Perfect" with a more restrained and low-key collection of tracks, but for us, it was well worth the long wait.
Listen: "Supertoys"

Dam-Funk - "Hood Pass Intact"
The Amp's summer jam: Los Angeles' premiere funk-a-teer added vocals to this "Toeachizown" standout from his "Hood Pass Intact" 12", recruiting Compton's Most Wanted

10. M.I.A. - "XXXO" (Jay-Z remix)
Maya Arulpragasam's "/\/\/\Y/\" is such a schizophrenic mix of brutal fuzz ("Born Free") and bizarro bangers ("Steppin' Up"), her poppiest song almost gets lost in the fray. But Jay-Z hops on the new wavy tune without his "politically correct flow" and gives it some extra love.

9. The Black Keys - "Tighten Up"
Danger Mouse coaxes out Dan Auerbach's best anguish yelps as the Ohio two-piece remind the White Stripes a blues duo is still a force to be reckoned with.

8. Rihanna - "Only Girl (in the World)"
With the darkness of "Rated R" behind her, RiRi returns with a fist pumper that holds on to the perky Eurodisco spirit of 2010 tracks by Enrique Iglesias, Taio Cruz, and Usher, without slathering on the Velveeta.

7. Arcade Fire - "Ready to Start"
"The Suburbs" is packed with youth-in-revolt anthems, but none scream louder than this propulsive rallying cry that finds Win Butler wrestling with manhood and fame: "If the businessmen drink my blood, like

10. Superchunk - "Majesty Shredding"
Miss the '90s? Superchunk do, too -- they waited almost an entire decade to drop their ninth studio disc (seven of them came out between '90 and '99), a glorious explosion of crunchy pop-punk that's perfectly aged, but never dated. (Listen: "Digging for Something")

9. Titus Andronicus - "The Monitor"
Not many fuzzy garage albums can be described as "so New Jersey," "about the Civil War," and "done by a band named after a Shakespeare tragedy." (Listen: "A More Perfect Union")

8. Arcade Fire - "The Suburbs"
Win Butler and Co. walk the thin lines between nostalgia and wistfulness, yearning and fearing on their third LP, channeling all their youthful jitters into a thoughtfully mature meditation on potential, settling, and aging that sounds as weathered and classic as its topic. (Listen: "Ready to Start")

7. Gorillaz - "Plastic Beach"
Damon Albarn's side gig has become an international phenomenon with good reason: The cartoon band's third LP, a