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• "OMG this scene used to be sooooooo much better"

Sitting around and watching the annual shitstorm that the Grammys have devolved to last weekend, I was reminded that it’s almost time for the CU Local Music Awards — which got me to wondering: Will there be a lot of controversy and the withdrawal of names from consideration? Will certain people try too hard to get their friends to vote multiple times and other people try too hard to act like they don’t care at all? Will there be nominations of campus bands that townies have never heard of and townie bands that students have never heard of (and this point just solidifies the fact that there is too much division amongst the “communities” within our “community”)? Well, yeah, probably. But if a Jonas Brothers/Stevie Wonder mash-up does anything past making me want to slaughter the kid who couldn’t even get the lyrics right, it makes me think back to that first year of the LMAs. Sure, there was much less bitching, but there was also a bit more to the special feelings of the night, thanks to some inspired performances. Lorenzo Goetz covering Absinthe Blind’s “The Break” with Seth Fein on drums and Jesse Greenlee belting out Erin Fein’s part? How about Terminus Victor pulling out the early ’90s Ward jam “Boom” with Ward Gollings himself on the mic? So since my long-standing suggestion of doing away with the standard “best of” awards in favor of something a little more lighthearted and celebratory hasn’t taken root yet, my hopes for this year’s awards show lie mainly on a revival of the collaborative nature of the performances seen that first year.

As we roll into some of the live shows at your fingertips this week, I do want to touch on a point that ties into last week a bit. This scene, in all of its different subsets, really does have a lot of great acts currently playing shows. As much as some people like to spin up the Wayback Machine and tell the tales of a time when Champaign-Urbana was one of the musical hotbeds of the country, the main difference between then and now is the mp3 revolution and a major loss in attention span. But if you wouldn’t mind putting down the iPod for a few hours and checking out a local show, I certainly would enjoy not having to hear comments like “such-and-such town is like Champaign used to be.” I realize that it is a lot to ask, especially from the group of you who listen 20 times a day to whatever “hot” song is buzzing around the frat/sorority house this week, even getting upset when you don’t hear it blaring at Joe’s or wherever, but give it a go. Not sure where to find show info? Well, apart from the venue Web sites, you can use resources like http://www.overuc.com, http://www.smilepolitely.com, http://www.openingbands.com and http://www.the217.com for schedules and show previews.

My highest recommendation for the week would have to be for the Courtyard Cafe’s Friday the 13th show with headliner Smoking Popes. The Chicagoland band was part of the early/mid-’90s alt-rock heyday, and as such, they’ve gone through the requisite break-up and reformation with a healthy slice of Jesus finding. If you’re currently in college, you might be trying to figure out why the name sounds familiar. Well, you’d have to dust off that copy of the Clueless soundtrack that you stole from your older sister so you could listen to that “Supermodel” song in order to find their track “Need You Around.” Another bonus with this show is the fact that two incredibly solid openers will be in tow. DeKalb indie outfit Light Pollution, who have often shared the stage with CU bands such as Headlights and Elsinore, are set for the middle slot. Bob Nanna, the man, the myth, the mystery behind bands like Braid, Hey Mercedes and the City on Film, will play a solo set. All of this is available to you for $7 (or $5 with your UIUC student ID). Showtime is 9 p.m.

If your tastes don’t lie so much with a band from the Clueless soundtrack, that’s OK ‘cause Friday can also offer you everything from loud, scream-y rock and fuzzed out indie gems (on the same show) or a “worlds collide” moment featuring young campus bands and longtime CU scene players. The former can be found at Cowboy Monkey, where lots of genres could be dropped describing all that will unfold: Robots Counterfeiting Money, Golden Quality, Alpha Mile and the Chemicals (9 p.m., cover TBA). The Canopy Club is hosting Jack Pine Savage, Underpaid Packy, the Delta Kings and Bluefish Fellows (10 p.m., $7).

If you’re not being dragged to one of the millions of weddings planned for Valentine’s Day or are alone and miserable or a part of a cool couple who don’t have to pretend to give a shit about this ridiculous day, you could occupy yourself at a cornucopia of shows. The Red Herring is hosting Organic Flow and Zmick (8 p.m., cover TBA); the Iron Post will have Run for Cover (9:30 p.m., $5); Cowboy Monkey has Neoga Blacksmith with Zach May and the Maps (10 p.m., $5), and Canopy has Zoso (9 p.m., $8).

Mike Ingram can be reached at forgottenwords@gmail.com.