I watched some of the Grammies last night, but I think I repressed everything that happened after the Eagles tribute. So it comes as an unpleasant shock to hear from Amanda that "My Humps" won an award last night. I can't say that I ever expected to feel indignant sympathy for the Pussycast Dolls, but there it is.

I know, I know. It's the Grammies. It's supposed to be arbitrary and stupid. Still, there's something that's off-putting about an entity of pure evil receiving official recognition, no matter how dubious the honor. What if Mein Kampf was selected for Oprah's Book Club? That wouldn't sit right with you, would it?

And so it is with "My Humps". I'm trying to think of what sort of song I would have preferred to see the Best Pop Song Grammy go to instead, and I'm having a hard time coming up with one that doesn't qualify. Maybe an hours-long recording of a girl scout troop's pathetic sobs as its members are forced to euthanize hundreds of baby animals with rubber mallets? It's hard to say. Are we talking about farm animals or pet animals? I guess that's where the line falls for me.

On to Arcade Fire-related matters. TUL is, as usual, on top of the concert situation in DC (as is Charles, from whom I first heard this rumor last night). But the news he brings is not good: word is that The Arcade Fire are coming to town, but they'll be setting up shop in DAR.

I really hope this is wrong. DAR is for old people. There are seats and risers and carpeted floors. I'm sure it'd be a lovely spot for Glenn Miller show, but it's a miserable venue for a rock concert. I realize that two nights at 9:30 is a lot to ask from a band that's as hot a ticket as TAF, but I'd honestly rather have the band play out at George Mason than at DAR.

Oh well. At least the album is good. I was prepared to be disappointed after hearing the three leaked tracks that I grabbed before a friend sent me the full thing. "Black Mirror", "Black Wave" and "Intervention" were all okay, but they didn't affect me in the way that Funeral did. Fortunately, the second half of the album seems much, much better to me. "Ocean of Noise", "The Well and the Lighthouse", "(Antichrist Television Blues)", "Windowsill" and "No Cars Go" comprise a solid block of music that I can't stop listening to.

"No Cars Go" is a particularly pleasant surprise — I hadn't paid attention to the Neon Bible tracklists, so the inclusion of the track caught me off-guard. They've been playing the song for a long time (it was on their first album) but until now I haven't been able to find a good recording. The first studio version wasn't performed or produced very well, and a series of muddy live recordings didn't satisfy, either.

But now we've got a real version, and it's unbelievably huge, overwhelming and, frankly, kind of exhausting to listen to. But it's still great, because it reminds you that during the live show it'll be even bigger. It'll be the biggest thing you've ever heard.

UPDATE: Yup, DAR. Hell. Well, maybe I can catch the Philly show.