Anderson Cooper gets to know Gaga.

A lot of people try to understand Gaga and fail. It think Anderson Cooper however, has come the closest to obtaining a substantial amount of information about her - right from the source. In this 60 Minutes interview, Cooper unveils all of the mysterious layers of the monster herself to find the true meaning of her nonsense. Turns out, Gaga just wants everyone to be themselves.

Arcade Fire win the album of the year!

This post deserves an exclamation point. Last night, Arcade Fire won the album of the year Grammy for 2010's The Suburbs. It was a great day for Canadians and independent music. The band recevied the award right after an exhilarating performance of "Month of May." It was so uplifting to watch Win Butler accept the award then go right into performing "Ready to Start" and I felt giddy watching the uncanny glow on Win Butlers face as he panted through the events. Talk about a whirlwind!

While some people in the world still don't know who the f*** Arcade Fire is, others (like KANYE) were overjoyed by the occasion. Oh yeah, did I mention that Arcade Fire surpassed artists like Katy Perry, Eminem and Lady Gaga ? Congratulations Arcade Fire, you deserve it.

Genre-bending music.

ATIBA EVANS Panasonic GH2 Skate from skatefairy on Vimeo.

Last week, Tom and I played freak folk on our genre bender segment on our radio show. We played bands like Animal Collective and and artists like Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom.
Avey Tare, the founder of Animal Collective, has a project called Panda Bear and it fit more into our genre bender segment this week, chillwave. A blogger who goes by Carles coined the term on Hipster Runoff, to describe a genre filled with synthpop and lo-fi sounds that focuses on a looping effect.

This is a video for Panda Bear's "Atiba Song." Nothing like a bunch of skateboarders jamming to chillwave. Panda Bear's new album Tomboy will be released soon.

Crazy for the Packers.

It's official: the Packers won the Super Bowl XLV. In honor of the great state of Wisconsin, I have to share some videos that helped make it happen. Yes, the fans made it happen.

Prophetic, a rapper from Milwaukee, remastered Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow" with the oh so catchy "Green and Yellow," which was a smart move.

A couple kids from Madison also decided they would show their Packer pride by remaking the song "Like a G6" with the words "Like a Cheesehead." Pretty ridiculous, but entertaining nonetheless.

I want to be a "Photojournalist."

Small Black's "Photojournalist" is nothing new (off their 2010 album New Chain), but they just released this video. It's probably what you would expect from a lo-fi synthpop band from Brooklyn, but nonetheless, it's gorgeous.

Small Black - "Photojournalist" (Stereogum Premiere) from stereogum on Vimeo.

Nicki Minaj's "Moment 4 Life."

Nicki Minaj - New Music - More Music Videos

A lot of people ask me why I decided to dye a strand of my hair pink. I'm not rebelling against society, nor am I mad at my parents. It was an act of individuality that I decided to pursue over Christmas break - half due to boredom and half due to well, Nicki Minaj. Yes, I am 20 years old.

When her video for "Moment 4 Life" debuted this week I was enthralled. She's only had one album out, but to me, she is so already incredibly accomplished. She's signed on Lil Wayne's Young Money record label and has worked with Eminem, Drake and plenty others. Minaj is an ambitious female rapper with an incredible vocal spectrum. She sometimes raps about her wild alter ego, Roman, but in this case, we see a softer side of Minaj that wants to be a princess for a night. She's so bold and willing to be vulnerable at the same time, and I think we can all relate to that. Minaj also made an appearance this week on SNL!

Totally unrelated to Miss Minaj: I wrote a blog post for Radio Milwaukee this week about the Smith Westerns new album, which is phenomenal.

Everyone needs to get on a sailboat.

Recently I was introduced to the band Tennis. The timing is very important because the winter has gotten the best of me and they remind me that there are four seasons. Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore spent a great deal of time traveling through the country on a sailboat, and if that's what it takes to make this kind of music, I'd recommend every musician check it out. Their music is in sync - so it makes sense that they're married. Plus, the New York Times likes them.