Recently we paid homage to our own very Who's Next brain trust for having the incredible foresight to feature three of the five acts up for the best new artist Grammy. Making it all a bit sweeter is the fact that those acts--Duffy, Adele, and Jazmine Sullivan--are up for several other awards.

Since that entry was so successful, we've dug deeper into the Grammy nominations list, way past category 4 -- the aforementioned best new artist -- and discovered that there are several other Who's Next acts up for Grammys on Sunday (February 8). Two of those acts include one-time indie-rockers Death Cab For Cutie and white-boy-soul popsters OneRepublic. Although the two acts aren't nominated in the same category, we just love the concept of bands battling each other in some unnamed competition. Besides, "Death Cab Vs. OneRepublic" sounds vaguely Star Wars-like.

Chrisette Michele and J. Holiday aren't nominated in the same categories either, but heck, they're both nominated for Grammys and

This blog is about Duffy battling Adele and Jazmine Sullivan for the best new artist Grammy. We received so many comments on our similarly themed "Katy Perry Vs. Lady GaGa" entry, we thought, "Why mess with success?" and went with the eye-grabbing headline above. Yet Adele and Duffy are quite different than Perry and GaGa. How, you ask? Well, for one thing, they're not American. And to make things even more confusing, Sullivan is!!!

Actually, we're going to put the spotlight on all three of the Who's Next artists who are up for a best new artist Grammy. Why, you ask? Well, for one, we want a chance to pat ourselves on the back and show you our incredible foresight to pick future potential award-winners. Also, we have all this wonderful video content that you may have missed or might enjoy a second or third time, so read on and watch the videos.

But before you do that, consider this. Just imagine if Adele, Duffy, and Sullivan, wearing the skimpiest of outfits, were wrestling in a

Landing a slot as a support act for a hot artist can be a huge deal for a new-and-developing act, but it's not always a pleasurable experience. Sure you get a chance to expose your act to a potentially large crowd of music lovers, but there's no guarantee that they'll give you the time or day. Sometimes they can even get hostile. If you thought former President George W. Bush received a bad reception during his last visit to Iraq when an Iraqi journalist chucked his shoes at him, you definitely didn't want to be in Prince's high-heeled boots when he opened for the Rolling Stones at the Los Angeles Coliseum way back in 1981. The future Purple One had cans and other projectiles thrown his general direction before he was unceremoniously booed off the stage. Apparently Stones fans didn't dig his outfit--bikini briefs, leg warmers, high-heeled boots and a trench coat.

The Los Angeles-based trio known as the Daylights didn't have any such an experience on Saturday night when it opened Katy

It started even before 2008 ended. As music fans everywhere pondered and debated all the 2008 best-of lists, some started tipping Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion as the best album of 2009.

Don't get me wrong. I think it's great that people are enthused about new music, but that kind of prognostication reeks of premature critical gushing. Maybe Merriweather Post Pavilion, named for the famed outdoor venue in Columbia, Maryland, is the album of the month of January 2009, but before we start with this album-of-the-year business, let's at least get a few months into 2009.

The fervor over Animal Collective hasn't subsided. If anything, it's gotten more intense. It seemingly reached a fever pitch last week just before the band was set to play sold-out shows at the Music Box @ the Fonda and the Troubadour in the Los Angeles area. (Those shows, by the way, ended up cancelled due to an illness in the band, but Animal Collective has scheduled a May 29 date at the larger Wiltern).

In response to the very first Who's Next blog, the inaugural edition featuring Eric Hutchinson, a Yahoo! user by the name of "danmajchrzak" posted the following comment:

"Uhh, am I the only one who sees the irony in this artist's hit song title and the actual song? I think Rosen should have talked about where rock and roll actually is in this music scene. it ain't hiding in plain sight."

Well, danmajchrzak, if I understand what you are trying to convey, you are correct. Eric Hutchinson's song "Rock & Roll" doesn't really rock, that's why I compared him to other non-rockers like Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz. And I suppose there is some irony in the fact that the song "Rock & Roll" doesn't rock, but if you do want to rock, and I mean raaaaawk, I've got something especially for you. Dear danmajchrzak, allow me to introduce you to the Bronx.

Some of you smart guys, possibly even danmajchrzak, might be saying about now, "What? The Bronx aren't new, you dope." Correctomundo. According to the

In the inaugural Who's Next blog I joked that the fact I own multiple copies of the Who's acclaimed 1971 album, Who's Next, makes me qualified to write this very Who's Next blog. You probably thought that was just some lame joke — and you were right — but believe it or not, there is a connection between a hot new act and the Who. The hot new act I write of is She & Him.

Who are they, you ask? She & Him is a duo consisting of actress/singer Zooey Deschanel and indie alt-country/folk artist M. Ward. And how are She & Him related to the Who, you ask? Well, late last year I had the pleasure of attending a date at the legendary Troubadour in West Hollywood, Calif., billed as Rachel Fuller In The Attic With Pete Townshend And Friends. As some of you may know, Townshend is the guitarist and chief songwriter in the Who. Fuller is his girlfriend, partner, and artist in her own right. The so-called "Friends" that night included Deschanel and Ward, who performed as She & Him, and even did a Who

First, let me just say that I thought Joaquin Phoenix was brilliant as Johnny Cash in Walk The Line. Phoenix's portrayal of the "Man in Black" reminded me how great Cash was and sent me back into my collection to give his incredible body of work another spin. Check out Phoenix's fine performance as Cash in the clip below.

Sad to say, I'm not sure what's up with Phoenix now. Apparently, he's decided to retire from acting to become a rapper and will reportedly be produced by none other than P. Diddy. While this could be a ruse for some sort of a mockumentary, judging by the footage that has surfaced, it's not funny, just sad. Phoenix is no Sacha Baron Cohen, whose Ali G character gets my utmost respect. In the clips below Phoenix looks like some sort of a non-Jew Matisyahu sporting the Fleet Foxes "hobo look" with no rhythm, flow, or coordination. In the second clip, he falls off the stage.

When I first came across the clips, I shared them with my colleague, Hip Hop Media Training

The hysteria over teen-vampire flick Twilight has subsided a bit since the movie first hit theaters and spawned a chart-topping soundtrack, but that soundtrack continues to shift units largely based on the success of Paramore's gone-Evanescence modern rock hit "Decode."

Love or hate the film, you have to admit, the soundtrack features some pretty cool tunes, including contributions from Muse, Mute Math, Perry Farrell and Iron & Wine. But the track I'm most jazzed about is "Full Moon" by the Black Ghosts, mostly because of the fact I hadn't heard the band prior to its inclusion in film and on the soundtrack. It's a haunting track with a '60s psych-folk vibe that belies the band's electronic roots, save for a trip-hop flavored backbeat.

So far, the track is merely bubbling under. It was receiving airplay on the late great KDLD-KDLE (Indie 103.1) in Los Angeles before that station's recent flip to Spanish and was also heard on a dozen other alternative and college radio stations last