[Watch] Arctic Monkeys Perform At London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony

Last night the eyes of the world were on London for the opening ceremony of the Olympics and the creation of Oscar-winning film maker, Danny Boyle. I must say I was pretty impressed by the whole thing. What really got our excitement going was the use of music in the show. Emeli Sandé made an appearance before Dizzee Rascal appeared from a home in the middle of the arena. Two Door Cinema Club and Paul McCartney also made an appearance. A highlight for me was Arctic Monkeys who performed their ever popular debut single "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" (via) before taking on a cover of The Beatles' "Come Together". See the rip roaring performance of "Dancefloor" at the top with the Beatles' cover after the jump. I am a proud Brit right now, or as Kibbe calls me, her Britch.

[Listen] Paul Weller - "Birthday" (The Beatles Cover)

Yesterday marked the 70th Birthday of Paul McCartney, you know that guy from The Beatles who still looks younger than many 50 year olds and plays shows with more energy than some young bands starting out. Seriously, I wish him many more happy years to come. What a guy. To mark the occasion, Paul Weller offered up a cover of Teh Beatles' track "Birthday" along with offering up some wise words regarding his love for Paul ove on RollingStone.com. Head over there to give th etrack a listen too.

[Download] Benjamin Francis Leftwich - "Ticket To Ride" (The Beatles Cover)

It's quite likely that every Beatles song ever has been covered in one way or another but that doesn't mean there are all that many good ones out in the world. Step forward Benjamin Francis Leftwich who to celebrate his US tour kicking off, has covered the Liverpudlians classic, "Ticket To Ride". Give the brilliant sounding cover a spin below. I love how Ben always puts his own twist on songs, remember the Covers EP he gave us last year. Brilliant. Peep his upcoming US tour dates after the jump and if you are stateside in the coming weeks, check this guy out.

US TOUR:

10/05 -  New York, Bowery Ballroom
13/05- Philadelphia, Johnny Brendas
14/05 - Washington, DC
16/05 - Boston, Brighton Music Hall
17/05 - Montreal, Divan Orange
18/05 - Toronto, Mod Club
20/05 - Chicago, Lincoln Hall
21/05 - Minneapolis, Triple Rock
23/05 Winnipeg, West End Cult Centre
24/05 Saskatchewan, Amigo’s
26/05 Edmonton, Pawn Shop
27/05 Calgary, SAIT
28/05 Nelson, The Royal
30/05 Whistler, Lucky
01/05 Vancouver, Biltmore Cabaret
03/05 Seattle, Crocodile
04/05 Portland, Mississippi
08/05 San Francisco, Independent
11/05 Los Angeles, Troubadour
05/05 San Diego, Casbah

[Recap] The 54th Annual Grammy Awards: Pleasantly Boring

Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles TimesLast night we witnessed a very safe ceremony for the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. The fact that I'm not as outraged about the performances and the results as I normally am has had me stewing on this all night and all morning. I'm always the one in my circle that cheers on The Recording Academy to make better decisions so they can be both relevant while not getting too caught up in The Long Tail looking for the year's very best, so why can't I feel better about last night's ceremony?  I want to say they're finally coming around, but why did the whole ordeal make me feel so "meh" afterwards?

The only two real "shockers" of the night in terms of awards were Skrillex and Bon Iver. Yes, Skrillex took home three awards for Best Dance/Electronic Album, Best Dance Recording and Best Remix during the pre-show so haters can put a Grammy in it for now. At least he didn't win Best New Artist so the rest of the world could start cracking Bonny Bear jokes after Bon Iver's second win of the night (the other was Best Alternative Music Album). Also, "Thanks for the sweet hookup", Justin Vernon? Really? Glad we know you didn't come with a prepared speech. Oh, and I don't understand how Bon Iver is a "New Artist" either. Supposedly if they've never won a Grammy before then technically they're still "new"? Okay....

The big winners of the night were Adele with six awards and Foo Fighters with five. Both also killed it during their perfromances. Anyone who wants to question how Adele managed to snatch up so many awards just needs to watch her as she destroyed "Rolling In The Deep" for the zillionth time. As for Foos, they rocked "Walk" most excellently. I could have done without the deadmau5 live remix thing they failed to pull off though. Probably one of my favorite quotes from the night was from Davie Grohl after Foos won Best Rock Album:

"To me this award means a lot because it shows that the human element of making music is what's most important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning your craft , that's the most important thing for people to do. It's not about being perfect, it's not about sounding absolutely correct, it's not about what goes on in a computer. It's about what goes on in here *points to heart* and it's about what goes on in here *points to head*".

Most of the other performances were pretty solid, minus maybe whatever the heck Nicki Minaj was trying to prove to everyone during her new single, "Roman Holiday". I think someone may be butthurt that she can't come off as cracked out as Lady Gaga. Either way, I wasn't a fan before last night and she certainly did not win me over after the short film and all the "Look at me! I'm so crazy!" The Beach Boys gave me "Good Vibrations". Paul McCartney gave The Recording Academy some Kisses On The Bottom so he got to perform twice, only to find out that America's youth doesn't know who the heck he is (yes, seriously). Jennifer Hudson's tribute to Whitney Houston made me hate her less for being in all those Weight Watchers commericals in addition to it finally sinking in that Whitney is really gone.

Also, can we talk for a second about Chris Brown? I can try to get over (and fail miserably) that even though he beat the snot out of Rihanna that he still got to perform and that he also won a Grammy last night. What I can't get over, is the outcry from #TeamBreezy that stupidly announced that they would let Brown "beat on them anytime". SERIOUSLY? Is this what we've become, the internet? Face. Palm.

At any rate, The Recording Academy must have done something right, considering last night's show ranked at #2 in all-time ratings with 39 million viewers. What did you think of last night's show?

In case you missed out, The Audio Perv has all the performances for you to check out. You can also check out a full listing of last night's winners over on The Grammy's website.

[Watch] The Flaming Lips - "I Am the Walrus" (Beatles Cover)

Seriously can you imagine what Christmas in the Coyne household must be like? Damn these guys look like they know how to have fun. Psych Explorations of the Future Heart points out that The Flaming Lips recently laid down a cover of The Beatles classic, "I Am the Walrus" at Oklahoma City’s Pink Floor Studio. Fitting seeing as the band are to play some shows with Yoko, Plastic Ono Band at the fifth annual New Year’s Freakout in Oklahoma City.

The video sees the band perform whilst higher than the stars with Steven wrapped in a foil cover, similar to those you get after running a marathon whilst Wayne shouts lyrics through a pink plastic circle of sorts. Apparently he likes the taste of it too as he goes on to lick the crap out of it. Snosberries? The cover itself is pretty solid even though it's missing a little depth from the guitar/bass side of things. See what you make of it at the top and peep the track they did with Yoko from earlier in the month over here. Thanks to CoS for the heads up on this piece of gold.

[Watch] St. Vincent - "Dig a Pony" (Beatles Cover)

Pigeons and Planes points towards this great sounding cover from St. Vincent. It's of The Beatles' Let It Be track, "Dig a Pony". Apparently it's not uncommon for Annie Clark to perform this and has done so for a few years but that doesn't make it any less beautiful to hear. See what you make of it up at the top and enjoy the fret skills of one talented lady!

[Watch] Kasabian Cover The Beatles "I'm So Tired" On Triple J's Like A Version

Well this cover comes naturally I'm sure. Kasabian wore their love for the Beatles firmly on their sleeves with the release of their new album Velociraptor! Fittingly, today, courtesy of the good folk at Triple J we get to hear the love for the Liverpudlians fully come to a head in this short but sweet session. Serge and Tom take on the White Album's "I'm So Tired" accompanied by a few acoustic guitars and some tired looking eyes.  The boys do a more than nice job though so check it out at the top. 

In case you missed it earlier in the week too Kasabian covered Lana Del Rey's "Video Games" on Radio One. That was pretty dope too. Two for two from the Leicester boys.

[Watch] Portugal. The Man - "Helter Skelter" (Live Cover of The Beatles)

Portugal. The Man seem to be going from strength to strength and with the release of their highly recommendable album In the Mountain in the Cloud they welcomed themselves into the homes of many more fans. Tours followed and recently when playing the House of Blues in San Diego they played a little gem of a cover. Surprising the audience with a great performance of The Beatles' "Helter Skelter". Cool huh? They were playing their track "The Devil" Before they wandered into the 60's vibe of The Beatles. Check out the stream below via Prefix/You Ain't No Picasso