Brother Sport: In advance of Animal Collective's show at Merriweather this Saturday, Brightest Young Things quizzes Geologist (Brian Weitz) on hockey. He does pretty well, except he doesn't know how to pronounce "Dmitri Kvartalnov." Shocking and disappointing. In another interview with the Baltimore Sun, the band says it won't play much material from Merriweather Post Pavilion at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Expect to hear mostly new songs.

Garter Alert: The Post may have hated Beyonce's newest album, 4, but the video for her single "Best Thing I Never Had" compensates with lingerie.

Yesterday on Arts Desk: Henry Rollins produces "bad Kerouac"; Amanda Abrams chats with choreographer Liz Lerman, who recently left her company the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange; and there's more Wugazi.

Live in Japan 2011 might be significant for another reason. I'm fairly sure it marks the first official preservation of a longstanding Dismemberment Plan live ritual: embedding a pop cover in the song "OK Jokes Over." The cover, in this case, is Beyoncé's "Single Ladies."

As I wrote following the Plan's January shows in D.C., one thing that makes the group special is its omnivorousness: In its hands, indie rock is a filter for anything and everything. Hence the band's molasses-slow cover of "Crush" by Jennifer Paige from a 2001 EP. And hence the "OK Jokes Over" tradition.

A lot of recent considerations of The Dismemberment Plan have hinged on very personal explanations, which, clearly, is one reason the band still matters; people take them personally. Influence-wise, I don't think you hear much of The Dismemberment Plan in contemporary indie rock, but judging from the band's recent shows, their songs sit pretty nicely with the modern pop charts.

The band has played 15 shows this year, with presumably as many versions of "OK Jokes Over." I always assumed the band played a different pop cover every show, but after consulting YouTube clips, folks who went to shows in other cities, and the very handy website setlists.fm, that's evidently not the case. Still! It's a pretty nicely curated selection of 21st century pop music. I'm still not sure what the band played at its first two Japan shows, nor is the band's publicist. He passed on my query to D-Plan bassist Eric Axelson, who couldn't vouch for his own memory, but suggested I listen to audio recordings made by fans throughout the tour (there are a bunch here). Anyway, here's what I got, with video clips where available. The Das Racist cover from the Boston show is fucking epic:

• Jan. 15, Galaxy Hut, Arlington: Robyn, "Fembot"
• Jan. 21, Black Cat: Robyn, "Fembot"
• Jan. 22, 9:30 Club: Far East Movement, "Like a G6"
• Jan. 23, 9:30 Club: Beyoncé, "Single Ladies"
• Jan. 27, Starlight Ballroom, Philadelphia: Willow Smith, "Whip My Hair"
• Jan. 28, Paradise Rock Club, Boston: Das Racist, "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell"
• Jan. 29, Webster Hall, New York City: Willow Smith: "Whip My Hair"
• Jan. 30, Webster Hall, New York City: Far East Movement, "Like a G6"/The National, "Afraid of Everyone"
• Feb. 7, Taku-Taku, Kyoto, Japan: ??
• Feb. 8, Apollo Theater, Nagoya, Japan: ??
• Feb. 9, Shibuya O-West, Tokyo, Japan: Beyoncé, "Single Ladies"
• Feb. 13, Shibuya O-West, Tokyo, Japan: Kanye West, "Gold Digger"
• Feb. 19, Metro, Chicago: Beyoncé, "Single Ladies"
• Feb. 20, Metro, Chicago: Willow Smith, "Whip My Hair"
• March 12, The Showbox SoDo, Seattle: Robyn, "None of Dem"

The Plan still has more shows this summer—at The Roots Picnic in Philly and the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. The festival format means shorter sets, so I wouldn't be surprised if "OK Jokes Over," deep cut that it is, gets omitted.

If not, there's not much to love on Billboard's singles chart these days. The Plan should probably just go with Lady Gaga's "Judas."

Hate Me Now: Perhaps taking a cue from her indie-wise sister, beloved pop star Beyonce releases "Run the World (Girls)," which samples Major Lazer's "Pon De Floor." Fans loathe it; the single is smashed to particles on Twitter. But the pop&B singer can always release another "Single Ladies" and be forgiven. Banned-from-Cannes director Lars von Trier, however, is another story.

Swamp Song: TBD's Maura Judkis and photographer Joshua Yopsyn take a closer look inside the historic Uline Arena in Northeast D.C., where the Irish-American theater group Solas Nua is staging "Swampoodle." Playwright Tom Swift says, "I just want to reassure potential audiences that [the arena] doesn't smell."

Think Fast: Violinist Gil Shaham will perform very briefly at the Hirshhorn this afternoon. NPR Music is presenting the 15 minute concert, which will take place inside the Grazia Toderi exhibit at 3 p.m.

Yesterday on Arts Desk: Jonathan L. Fischer reports on the latest fundraising attempt by Latristic (formerly Casper Bangs); Marcus Kyd's theater company Taffety Punk debuts new tracks from Kyd's brother, Ryan Nelson.

Good morning! Last night: the Grammy Awards! I probably should've watched the show, seeing as last year's was the most enjoyable Grammy ceremony since, well, ever. Instead, I'll be Tweet-sourcing today's roundup, courtesy of @citypapermusic. A few highlights:

• Lady Gaga AND Elton John? Be still, my beating heart. #grammys
• And the winner of Song of the Year goes to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies." They liked it so they put... an award on it. Ba-zing.#grammys
• Beyoncé covering mid-angsty, pre-nude Alanis Morissette? I'm so happy. #grammys
• This year is apparently big for masks, weird make-up, and epaulets. #grammys
• STEVIE NICKS. And Taylor Swift. But STEVIE NICKS. #grammys
• Love MJ as much as the next person, but 3-D glasses seems kinda weird. #grammys
• And there comes the emotional sucker-punch from the kids. DAMN YOU. #grammys
• I feel cooler just for watching Drake, Lil' Wayne and Eminem perform. It makes me want to slip into skinny jeans and a white tee.#grammys
• Taylor Swift just won "Album of the Year." That was perhaps the most genuine look of surprise I've ever seen on a winner's face.#grammys

Also: David Malitz on Taylor Swift's offkey Grammy performance. Cosign!

- Nick Nichols, the booker and co-owner of Metro Cafe, died recently. The Blisspop blog has a short tribute:

Nick gave countless DC DJs our first gig and believed in DC music. Metro Cafe was an incubator for the DC indie dance scene, the first venue to host Mousetrap, BLISS, Panic, and countless other events. RIP Nick. Thank you for believing in us. I hope you’re at peace.

Nick gave countless DC DJs our first gig and believed in DC music. Metro Cafe was an incubator for the DC indie dance scene, the first venue to host Mousetrap, BLISS, Panic, and countless other events. RIP Nick. Thank you for believing in us. I hope you’re at peace.

- The Arlington-based theater company Firebelly Productions has closed, DC Theatre Scene reports. It had not staged a play since its production of Hamlet last summer.

- This year's RealScreen Summit, an industry event for documentary filmmakers, has essentially barred the press from covering it, WaPo reports. The event, held at the Renaissance Washington Hotel, begins today.

- Bill Watterson, the J.D. Salinger of the comics pages, gave the Cleveland Plain-Dealer his first interview in 20 years. I can't find a link to the interview that works, so here's what WaPo's Comic Riffs blog has to say. Rhode, what do you think? UPDATE: Here's the Watterson interview.

- An endorsement! I saw Exit Clov and True Womanhood play at the inaugural concert of the Mansion at Strathmore's Friday Night Eclectic series, and it was pretty great time. (Full disclosure: I'm friends with the latter band.) For starters, the space is intimate yet august—so, not the first place you'd normally go for forward-thinking indie rock. There was art to browse and artists with whom to chat, an indoor fountain (note to Velvet Lounge: get one), and really, really cheap alcohol. The massive PBR banner would've felt out-of-place, but it basically completed the evening's highbrow-lowbrow vibe. The series continues every Friday through April 2. This week's show features the culture-hopping Latin septet Gato & the Palenke Music Co. Other shows feature hip-hop (Incwell), go-go (Mambo Sauce), folk rock (Justin Trawick), and more. So, erm: eclectic indeed.

*Despite George Clooney's appearance on every awards show and television commercial lately (we get it, Up in the Air, you're a new cinema classic), Entertainment Weekly PopWatch's Harris Poll only ranks the superstar at number six in their favorite movie star sampling. Clint Eastwood came in at number one, with regular favorites Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep and Morgan Freeman ranking fifth, eighth and ninth respectively. (Eastwood was also named the top favorite among Republicans, while that honor went to Denzel Washington among the lefties.)

*Reports from Sundance suggest that audiences are "disgusted" by The Killer Inside Me, according to Jezebel. The film, based on a 1950s novel of the same name, apparently shows brutally graphic beatings of both Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson, causing viewers at the screening to leave. This may be the first time audiences at an Alba or Hudson film have walked out on one of their movies based on actual disgust rather than just generally bad plots. (It also goes to show that people don't read books anymore — if the novel has extreme violence, generally so will the film adapation.)

*Timbaland says he loves Nickelback. He's the only one.

*The Wall Street Journal reports that Martha Stewart is moving The Martha Stewart Show to the Hallmark channel. No rallies are being held ... yet.

*Tonight in City Lights: George Jenne's "Don't Look Now" at Civilian Art Projects, an exhibit inspired by horror films — just as disturbing as it sounds.

We at Arts Desk have mentioned before that the DMV's own Wale is maybe probably kind of dating Beyonce's little sister Solange. Now, the gossip site Mediatakeout.com, (say what you want about 'em, but they very often get these things right) is reporting that Solange and Wale are house-hunting in Brooklyn. Or at least that Solange is house-hunting and Wale is tagging along. Or he's been spotted in the general area of her house hunt or something. Whatever—the couple has been seen together in Brooklyn and apparently some kind of real estate is involved, and it sounds like things between them are getting serious.

This is a very troubling turn of events.

Solange is a nice enough woman, and we're sure Wale would feel at home in Brooklyn, a borough awash in tight jeans and nerd raps. But as he gets closer to Solange, it's almost inevitable that he'll become chummy with Jay-Z and, as many young rappers on the cusp of stardom know, that is not the move.

So, Wale, if you're reading this, here are a few reasons why you should stay far, far away from one Shawn Carter. (Hanging out with Bun B is still perfectly acceptable, though).

• You don't want to become the next Memph Bleek

Yes, your album Attention Deficit is finally coming out on Nov. 10 and everyone is very excited about it! Right now. But we were also excited about Memphis Bleek's debut album Coming of Age. For some reason, being associated with Jay-Z is deadly for up-and-coming rappers.  So much as brush up against Jay at a club and you can kiss your rap aspirations goodbye.  And it's even worse if Jay actually decides to have a hand in your career development. Remember Diamonds in Da Rough? Peedi Peedi? Amil? Yeah, neither do we.

• He will outshine you

You could go from D.C.'s  "hip-hop break-out star" to "brother-in-law of Jay-Z and Beyonce" in the blink of an eye, and no one wants that to happen. No matter how dope you are or how great your debut album turns out to be (fingers-crossed), Jay-Z's star power will extinguish yours. If you befriend him, you are totally on your way to being listed as an "unidentified friend of Jay-Z" in some candid picture in Us Weekly.

• If you mess over Solange, you could be the next victim on that Summer Jam stage

Jay-Z is known for calling people out during Hot 97's annual Summer Jam concert, and if you don't treat his wife's sister right, I imagine he'd make it his business to similarly humiliate you. If there are any unflattering pictures from your past, hide them NOW.

• He's going to make you an outlet for his umlaut fetish

Jay-Z loves a good piece of unnecessary punctuation—see the umlauts over the "y" in his name on the cover of the CD single for "Dead Presidents." Wale, you have managed to teach an entire nation—an entire planet!—of hip-hop lovers to pronounce your name without resorting to so much as an accent, but there's a chance Jay-Z could convince you to use one. Don't do it.

Alicia Keys would have been the better choice. I just have this feeling–correct me if I'm wrong here–but the next four, five days are going to be a huge bland sandwich only with massive crowds, security zones, and huge traffic congestion. Safe acts (Sting, Sheryl Crow) meeting up with the usual Hollywood cameos (Kate Walsh?). It's telethon-level talent. But what are they singing for? Obama? The fact that we're done with Bush?

I can't help but be disappointed. Again. Where's Wilco? For my money the best show in town is going to be the Big Shoulders Ball at the Black Cat featuring folks like Ted Leo, Ken Vandermark, Tortoise, etc. I'm going to that show. I promise to post pictures and maybe a little video.