So-called "supergroups" have long been a sort of double-edged sword for the music industry. For every Cream, CSNY or Traveling Wilburys, there have been a dozen flameouts and false starts. A supergroup generally takes the most creative, volatile personalities from several different bands and puts them in the same room together. Considering how often bands experience infighting over "creative differences," it's no surprise that supergroups never last too long.

Still, the idea of several amazing artists coming together tends to make music fans salivate. Jimi Hendrix was rumored to have been planning recording sessions with Miles Davis before his death. Wouldn't that have been cool? Led Zeppelin was even originally planned to be a supergroup, a collaboration between ex-Yardbirds guitarist Jimmy Page, The Who members Keith Moon and John Entwistle, and vocalists Donovan, Steve Winwood and Steve Mariott.

Anyway, there's a new so-called supergroup with an album in the works. Featuring members of Gomez, Phantom Planet and Maroon 5, Operation Aloha doesn't sound quite as super as the aforementioned groups. Even so, they spent a month recording in Hawaii, possibly choosing the relaxing climate in order to defuse any possible ego clashing. The album drops May 12. I don't know if I can wait that long. I'm thinking about cryogenically freezing myself until May .

- Andy

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, who's been all about artistic integrity and complaining about how music fans don't listen to entire albums, has written a song exclusively for a Hyundai commercial to be aired during the Super Bowl. Spin thinks it's great. I'm not convinced. Think I'll stick with Springsteen's halftime performance.

- Andy

If all of you indie fans out there haven't yet heard about it, I am proud to be the first to announce to you the formation of one of the cutest unions within the genre to date. My gushing is in reference the engagement of Ben Gibbard, guitarist and lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie, and Zooey Deschanel, who along with dressing like an elf and frequenting bad horror movies, is also one half of the duo She & Him.

Now, I take it upon myself as the only female music reporter to inform Collegian readers about such happenings, and from these female instincts also come forth a few welling questions. Will Deschanel be following her chubby, goofy rocker fiancé on his newly announced spring tour set to hit Japan, Australia, and the U.S.? Will Gibbard "possess her heart" long enough to see this engagement out to the altar of indie bliss? Anyone who wants to know the answers as much as I do will consider heading out to the Philly suburb of Upper Darby to seek out Deschanel in the crowd at Death Cab's only tour stop in PA at the Tower Theatre on April 7th.Even if you're still not sure of your position on the mixed reviews of Narrow Stairs, which the band will undoubtedly be promoting, let the opening acts of the Cold War Kids and Ra Ra Riot be another incentive to head to the show.

-- Beth Ann

Scientists have discovered that babies can follow a rhythm. According to the study, rocking out is innate and unique to humans, with music being closely related to how young children learn about the world. I guess it's only a matter of time until infant rock bands start popping up.

I'd also wager that there are at least a few babies on the planet who are better at the guitar than Lil' Wayne, who now fancies himself a rock star. The first track from his foray into rap-rock ("Prom Queen") leaked last weekend, and it's worse than it sounds. The guitar parts on the studio version were obviously not recorded by Weezy himself -- he's hard-pressed to even hold a guitar properly -- though ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland or someone with equally mundane axe chops could easily have contributed the track's hackneyed riffing. Wayne adds some Auto-Tuned moaning and the recipe for an awful song is complete.

The whole "either this is a joke, or he's completely lost his marbles" thing seems to be en vogue these days, too. It was big news when Joaquin Phoenix, formerly known for his superb acting in movies like Walk the Line, decided to leave Hollywood to pursue a music career. Now, he appears to be trying to fill the void Lil' Wayne intends to leave in the hip-hop world. As Rolling Stone notes, he looks more like Jim Morrison than a rapper. Here's hoping for Phoenix's sake, and the world's, that he's just kidding.

- Andy

Last fall, Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National assembled quite the roster of artists to come together and lay down exclusive tracks for a benefit compilation titled Dark Was The Night: Yo La Tengo, David Byrne, Grizzly Bear, The Arcade Fire, Kevin Drew, Sufjan Stevens, The National itself, and a whole slew of others.

Profits go towards the Red Hot Organization, a charity aimed at AIDS relief and awareness, so even though the two-disc album can be found online in the usual places, try to order it when it comes out on Feb. 17, or at least donate a bit. Since it's all obviously for a good cause, I won't flat-out pan any of the contributions, but here's a bit of a run-through the track list so you know which songs to hunt down and which to leave be.

-"Cello Song," a Nick Drake song performed by The Books and Jose Gonzalez, is easily one of the top three on here, and probably still would be on concept alone.

-Contrary to previous predictions of mine, it seems as if Bon Iver has broadened his musical palette quite a bit on "Brackett, WI." I'm not nearly as crazy about For Emma, Forever Ago as many folks I know, but this song at least locked me into giving his next album a good listen.

-Boy, I forgot how much I love The National. "So Far Around The Bend" might be the catchiest song they've put out yet. The backwards guitars, strings, and horns layered throughout have me counting down the days to some sort of album announcement from these guys. Unfortunately, I've been hearing 2010.

-I don't know what Sufjan Stevens has been smoking, but I still haven't figured out his aim in recording "You Are The Blood." It's bizarre as hell, even for him. (That 50 states idea is starting to sound pretty hilarious in hindsight.)

-Spoon and The Arcade Fire kick off the second disc, and they both blow it. It sounds like only half of the members of each band could be assembled to re-record an outtake from their previous albums. The latter group's track, "Lenin," is borderline unlistenable.

-Yo La Tengo's "Gentle Hour" is probably the second disc's highlight, and serves as a sweet reminder that the Hoboken trio still sounds better than most of the rookies working here.

-A Cat Power rendition of "Amazing Grace" wasn't really necessary, but I guess it's nice. Same goes for the Conor Oberst/Gillian Welch collaboration on the previously released "Lua".

Tracks by Grizzly Bear, Riceboy Sleeps, Dave Sitek and Kevin Drew are also worth tracking down, though nothing too groundbreaking. Full information can be found here: http://www.4ad.com/news/dark-was-the-ni/

-Kyle

To save you the time it would take to search for excellent things on youtube:

-Jill

Rolling Stone gave Bruce Springsteen's new album, Working on a Dream, a five star review. I know he's The Boss and all, but I listened to the album and I'm not convinced it's quite that good, considering how few perfect scores the magazine has doled out over the past decade (approximately 15). Rolling Stone also gave 5 stars to Springsteen's 2002 release, The Rising, so maybe RS reviewers have a soft spot in their hearts for Bruce. Check the Arts in Review section on Friday for the Collegian review of the album, which may or may not be as kind. Also, NPR is streaming the entire album for free, so you can decide for yourself.

- Andy

I feel the need comment on how appropriate the occasion of Aretha Franklin performing at the inauguration of President Obama truly was. He is the first African American to be sworn into the oval office, she is the first women to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was elected as the best man to lead us out of nation crisis, she was voted the best singer of all time by Rolling Stone. And even though the 66-year-old's voice wavered slightly on notes that she could once sing with ease, she still let freedom ring with her rendition of "My Country Tis of Thee." There was no better way to mark such a historic occasion than with the performance of this epic songstress.

-- Beth Ann

When he takes the stage at the Beacon Theater in New York City on Feb. 19, it will be Canadian songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen's first show on American soil in 15 years.

This absence is unfortunate, but what is profoundly more unfortunate is the 74-year-old's relative obscurity among the younger, college-age crowd. It wouldn't be too much of a leap to say that the only song they know of Cohen's is "Hallelujah," which was popularized in a breathtaking extended take by Jeff Buckley on 1994 album Grace and later by Rufus Wainwright, Damien Rice and a whole slew of others.

Beyond that, some older music fans would probably be familiar with "Suzanne," "Bird on a Wire," and "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" (concerning a sexual rendezvous with Janis Joplin), but even these songs were popularized by artists like Judy Collins, Tori Amos and Joe Cocker. He has never had "hit singles," his voice is unremarkable, and he considers himself more of a poet than musician.

That said, he currently sits atop my list of favorite artists. In the years he has left, he will likely never gain the recognition and appreciation that has been heaped upon Bob Dylan, Neil Young, etc., but the least I can do for now is recommend a fraction of his work to you.

Choosing an album to start out with is tricky, but your best bet would be to start from the beginning, 1967's Songs of Leonard Cohen, which features unbelievably well-written songs like "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye" and "Suzanne." As someone who dabbles in poetry and lyric-writing every now and then, verses like the second one in "Suzanne" never cease to blow my mind:

"And Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water,
And he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower,
And when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him,
He said all men will be sailors then until the sea shall free them.
But he himself was broken long before the sky would open,
Forsaken, almost human, he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone.
And you want to travel with him,and you want to travel blind,
And you think maybe you'll trust him, for hes touched your perfect body with his mind."

From there, a personal favorite of mine is the darker Songs of Love and Hate from 1971. Themes of suicide and marital affairs are wrapped in dense string arrangements and Cohen's unique style of acoustic finger-picking. "Famous Blue Raincoat" and "Dress Rehearsal Rag" would be the ones
to preview this masterpiece.

I could ramble on and on about every line from every verse of every album, but I'll provide with you several more songs absolutely worth tracking down for the picky listeners: "Tonight Will Be Fine," "Take This Longing," "Hotel Chelsea No. 2," "You Know Who I Am," "So Long Marianne," and "Memories." The latter is featured on 1977's Death of a Ladies' Man, an album concerning sex and excess with production that sounds like both; Phil Spector's grating "wall-of-sound" horns, strings and overproduced rhythm sections compliment Cohen's tales oddly. Not really an easy listen, but it has aged better than most thought it would.

Though some of today's bands (The Walkmen, The National, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Antony, etc.) have either covered Cohen's songs or have shown obvious signs of his influence, his music needs to be shared to the fullest extent. Some sort of full US tour is expected from Cohen, so keep your eyes open for dates and on-sale times if you're a fan, new or old.

-Kyle

Quick observations about the pre-inauguration festivities in D.C. Bruce Springsteen played "The Rising" with a full chorus behind him, and it sounded a little ragged. He looked like he was freezing up there. Even so, gotta hand it to him for being able to even move his fingers, let alone play the guitar.

The event featured a lot of collaborations. Bettye LaVette and Jon Bon Jovi dueted on Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come," and James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Jennifer Nettles all took the stage together. Taylor was playing a Line 6 Variax, an electric guitar that can sound like an acoustic guitar, which is pretty awesome.

- Andy

So, earlier this morning, according to the AP, Boy George was sentenced to 15 months in jail.

ca of altpress.com

Now, not that I was ever a big Boy George fan, cause I was not, but I still think it's a tad sad when old stars get themselves into trouble.

George has been sentenced after being convicted of falsely imprisoning a male escort by handcuffing him to a wall, according to the AP. George's lawyer said both involved were acting like "drug-crazed idiots" according to the AP's article.

I don't know, all this screams to me is DRUGS ARE BAD!

*It also makes me think of the line in Love Actually when Bill Nighy says, "Don't do drugs, kids -- become a pop star and they give them to you for free."

-Jill

I suppose it would be appropriate to have the first music blog entry of 2009 be about what is, might be and will be in store for music fans this year.

Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion, will be officially released this coming Inauguration Day, likely causing indie-rock nerds who rode the Obama train hard last year to declare Tuesday the pinnacle of their lives thus far. Since it has already been declared the best piece of art since the Mona Lisa by many Internetists, and my upcoming review of it in Friday's Collegian insists that they aren't hyperbolizing as much as one would think, for now I will just say you should obtain it however you can.

Likely overlooked because of the massive shadow cast by Pavilion, Andrew Bird's Noble Beast is solid but not extraordinary. Considering the immense size of Bird's talent in singing, whistling, songwriting, and playing guitar and violin, I had been hoping that he would take more than baby steps while growing between albums, but his newfound appreciation for country/folk is more than welcome in these ears.

Iran (featuring TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone) and Phosphorescent also have very listenable 2009 albums on the way that will also get overlooked, with the latter being a set of obscure Willie Nelson covers. My rather unhealthy obsession with Pride aside, I'm expecting Phosphorescent to blow up by the time the proper follow-up is released, hopefully by year's end. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and The Bird and The Bee, despite the pains of having rotten band names, are also two you'll be hearing more about this year.

Wilco has a new album scheduled for sometime in the spring, and while Sky Blue Sky was pleasant enough, I hope they're over the 70s dad-rock thing. Don't get me wrong, I love The Band, Neil Young and sometimes even Steely Dan, but putting out this type of music with masters like guitarist Nels Cline and drummer Glenn Kotche in stow is like hiring Paul Krugman to teach supply and demand to high schoolers. Supposedly the band is back to exploring the studio space more, which, coupled with matured songwriting, should only mean good things.

The long-awaited third, and presumably final, album by Dr. Dre, Detox, has been promised for years now. I've been embarrassing myself rapping every word of "Forgot About Dre" and "The Next Episode" at parties from middle school to the present day, so I'd say he's about due. The untimely recent death of his 20-year-old son has probably pushed it back even more, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this ever comes out at all.

Magnolia Electric Co., St. Vincent, Midlake, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and Swan Lake will all be putting out albums as well. I'm expecting big things out of St. Vincent's follow-up to Marry Me, and expecting the rest to be good enough without being noteworthy.

There's a chance Radiohead, The National, The Kinks, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Yo La Tengo, Leonard Cohen and Sonic Youth will all be putting music in some form in 2009, but I'll say four out of six will actually happen and three of those will be worth mentioning come Deccember.

I'm sure that Ryan Adams and The Hold Steady will put out something because they always do. I don't really want to talk about new releases by Dave Matthews Band, U2, The Decemberists and Guster, but my money is on each band overstating how much they've changed since their last album and each will feature at least one awkward reference to politics or current events.

I'm sure my radar is different than many, as I have glazed over some big releases on the horizon, but there's something to chew on for the time being. Maybe it'll give you something to get your hopes up about.

- Kyle