Meaningless Grammy Awards

I'm unlikely to be very fond of the music that wins the Grammy, but I don't quite see what the beef is. I always liked award shows though. Its all part of showbiz innit?

I don't know how to measure integrity but telling people to stick something up their ass probably wouldn't be it.

Maybe you are right that the most brilliant records of the year are unknown - we'd probably disagree which ones... next you'll be suggesting the music business isn't a meritocracy.

Oh and Ned, not sure I follow your equation, one is a tautology and the other an oxymoron no?

They can work around this if they want to, though. Kid A and Paul Simon's 2000 album were both released after the deadline in 2000, and both were up for Best Album last year.

Or did I miss something again?

I like the Oscars (identically pointless, exactlly as flawed etc etc) much better though. I think most folks do, the Oscars are a big deal and the Grammys are a small deal and the smaller music awards (Brits, Mobos, etc) are even less of a deal.

Its not that I disagree with any of the absurdities posted above either, its just, I feel kinda... um, well... I mean obviously an award ceremony is a lot of bollocks, lets make it entertaining and fun and learn to live with the inherent problems.

(i realise that P.BOULEZ is here for conducting not composing, but i'd say he on his OWN matches and trumps yr triumphant jeer of RYAN ADAMS and STING)

Grammys trimming more than 30 categories.

Meghan Trainor is this year's best new artist
i love that literally no one cares; no grammy thread this year at all!

My twitter feed is full of people watching the Grammies, tho, some of them ILXors! Who knew?

the awards show is bad

I take it from the Twitter yelling that Taylor just beat Kendrick for AOTY?

I know ILM is probably going to pounce on the word "challenging" if ILM has any teeth left, but has a "challenging" record ever won the AOY grammy?

This year's Grammy winners: Ed Sheeran, Jimmy Carter, Lin Manuel Miranda, Antonio Sanchez, Arturo O'Farrill, Louis CK, Abby Washburn, Mavis Staples, The Fairfield Four, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Little Big Town, D'Angelo, Kendrick, Taylor, Ghost, Chris Stapleton, Lalah Hathaway, The Weeknd, Muse, Alabama Shakes, Snarky Puppy, Skrillex, Mark Ronson.

Natalia Lafourcade and Pitbull tied somehow, can you do that?

Joni Mitchell beating out four scholars for best liner notes; always an annoying category to see dilettantes score.

Meet your grammy winning remix of the year, spoiler it is not very good /spoiler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWkwufz_L2M

kendrick wins every rap category he was nominated for and loses everything else
d'angelo wins every r&b category he was nominated for and loses everything else
we have an excellent pigeonhole for you right over here gentlemen

wanna say again now and forever: FUCK UPTOWN FUNK

I'm honestly a bit surprised that 1989 won. Usually the Grammy's are pretty allergic to any pop album with any sort of a pulse or synthesizers. Of course next year they'll probably give it to Adele.

This year's Grammy winners: Ed Sheeran

Why I pay no attention to this shit.

Was looking for Grammy thread earlier, wanted to confirm that it was Nathan East on bass during Lionel RIchie segment.

Was happy to see Clark Terry during the In Memoriam bit.

I know ILM is probably going to pounce on the word "challenging" if ILM has any teeth left, but has a "challenging" record ever won the AOY grammy?

As in, more challenging than Herbie Hancock's River? Probably not but I haven't heard all of the s/t Blood, Sweat, and Tears.

Is the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill considered challenging? It did manage to beat Madonna, Sheryl Crow, and Shania Twain that year, which I find rather surprising.

I had forgotten that, but maybe that was one time the grammys got it right.

I guess there are a few more good records on this list than I remembered, but there are still so many bad or forgettable ones:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Album_of_the_Year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf9V0hwJ6qk

I have two grammy nominations that my father got rid of. I keep the plaque in the bathroom and i have no idea where the medallion is

the winners seem less random than usual. popular stuff that critics are ok with. ed sheeran excepted.

skrillex is still around?

Yeah, I mean, there are always the questions of "challenging to whom?", "challenging how?", etc. Sgt Pepper probably challenged many listeners in 1967/68 (although it was hugely popular)? Also, I put on the BST while going to sleep last night. There's some cool stuff on it.

Is the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill considered challenging?

No.

lol just remembered that one time Arcade Fire won AOTY

Was happy to see Clark Terry during the In Memoriam bit.

― Have I The Right Profile? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, February 16, 2016 12:05 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Fell asleep before this; glad to hear Terry got a mention.

Also, I put on the BST while going to sleep last night. There's some cool stuff on it.

Two fun facts about BS&T I recently learned:

- drummer Bobby Colomby produced the Jacksons' Destiny

- before settling on David Clatyton-Thomas as their singer, BS&T briefly considered Alex Chilton.

I don't usually pay attention to the Grammys but even I had to raise an eyebrow over Meghan Trainor winning Best New Artist.

Yeah, I mean, there are always the questions of "challenging to whom?", "challenging how?", etc. Sgt Pepper probably challenged many listeners in 1967/68 (although it was hugely popular)? Also, I put on the BST while going to sleep last night. There's some cool stuff on it.

― Hi! I'm twice-coloured! (Sund4r), Tuesday, 16 February 2016 11:03 (3 hours ago) Permalink

Yeah I only meant relatively to the pool of albums that could be considered, not talking about Metal Machine Music or anything. It seems like it's rare that they even pick the most interesting of the nominees, and often the result is annointing an album that is destined to be forgotten and irrelevant in a decade.

the miguel bit with michael jackson's face above was bewildering.

I read that Taylor Swift is not the first woman to win Album of Year award twice. Lauryn Hill got a second one as producer of Supernatural as well.

the miguel bit with michael jackson's face above was bewildering.

great, here comes the new "ok groomer"

Ok, demon

— Antisocial Heffer 💭 (@Flipflopcroc) February 6, 2023

questlove did some 'splainin' about the hip-hop 50 performance:

general ?s answered about last night: (some are asking if we are playing erasure games so uh....yeah I don't play that so---in answering the questions of "why wasn't dada there?)

1. already booked
2. declined our offer straight up
3. or a third option im not gonna get into

— Dr. Love (@questlove) February 6, 2023

I just watched the first half of that performance on YouTube and was amazed by how emotionally affected I was by it. I felt like one of those old people you see sitting immobile and silent in the nursing home, and then someone puts on music from when they were a teenager and they start shaking and weeping in their wheelchair. I mean, I listened to so much rap between ~1983 and ~1994 that it was a kind of sensory overload, sucking me straight back to my teenage years in a time tunnel.

Edgar Winter received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album after releasing Brother Johnny in 2022. Why is one nomination such an interesting story leading up to the award show on Sunday, Feb. 5?

It’s because Winter hasn’t been nominated in half of a century, and the album that got him back in the conversation is a heartfelt tribute to his late brother.

https://wmgk.com/2023/01/12/emotional-story-edgar-winter-grammy-nomination/

He's 76.

Edgar Winter won that Grammy

I really enjoyed the hip-hop tribute — snippets of so many bangers, and it was fun to see everybody. I also liked Jay-Z's long-ass verse on "God Did" even though DJ Khaled's virtues continue to elude me.

you must be new here, he the best, man

I hear that a lot, from him mostly.

hip-hop medley was well done, and better than i would've expected. i was impressed by how many people they *got* as opposed to bummed about omissions. i figured there were good reason for the obvious ones. it's not like Quest is booking Rakim but passing on Eric B.

what do we think the #3 is in his tweet up there? beefs or something?

for those who didn't click thru, Questlove explains a lot more and answers questions in that thread. stuff like acting kept a lot of people away, two rappers bailed at the last second, hard to do duos because you only get so many bars, etc. interesting stuff.

I guess the hip hop medley isn't up on Youtube for real yet? I only happened on it right before Queen Latifah came out, the only YT version I can find sounds like it was recorded off a TV through a tin can.

The most glaring absence to me was KRS-One. Who knows what happened there.

xp See Josh's tweet embed above. that's the cleanest I've come across. The sound of the entire broadcast was absolutely terrible fwiw!

Quest in that thread is talking about some "2 hour August taping". Looking forward to that.

All awards shows these days seem to have awful, hollow-sounding audio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg_Ql89fWy4

This was the best version I heard and it still sounds like shit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OS3n8w8dGI

classic legacy media stupidity - the one buzzworthy moment from the telecast is now impossible to find anywhere

for those who didn't click thru, Questlove explains a lot more and answers questions in that thread. stuff like acting kept a lot of people away, two rappers bailed at the last second, hard to do duos because you only get so many bars, etc. interesting stuff.

― alpine static, Monday, February 6, 2023 10:53 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

This article mentions Will Smith:

Smith — who has hardly appeared onstage, let alone on live TV, since slapping Chris Rock at the Academy Awards — had planned to be there, too. “Will Smith was all of 99.4 percent in,” Questlove said, but the actor was due on set for “Bad Boys 4.” The drummer had suggested that Smith take it all the way back to DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s “Brand New Funk.”

Also says a bit more about the August show Questlove references:

On the telecast, LL Cool J got ahead of those criticisms from the outset. “We wish we could have included every single hip-hop artist from 1973 to 2023 — I know, I know, I know,” he cautioned. (Harvey Mason Jr., the chief executive of the Recording Academy, said in an interview that a “full two-hour celebration” of hip-hop, hosted by the Grammys, was being planned for August.)

why not make it six hours

every Wu-Tang member gets his own bit

Managed to watch the hip-hop tribute with my son (who absolutely loved it!) via a decent video last night, but went to watch it again with my wife and it has been pulled. Baffling that they are going to such lengths to keep it from going viral.

30 minute segment devoted to Hyphy

Just noticed Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot actually won two Grammys for best historical album and best liner notes with Tweedy being one of three recipients of the former, the others being the reissue producer Cheryl Pawelski and the mastering engineer Bob Ludwig. I actually remember when Chicago area critics/writers grumbled when the album didn't get any nominations (and IIRC Tweedy even addressed it at his next show when he named several nominees in "Heavy Metal Drummer," adding "I'm not bitter!") so it's kind of a nice consolation to get one twenty years later.

And that liner notes Grammy is Bob Mehr's second - he won one for the Dead Man's Pop but he accepted it via Zoom due to the pandemic. Nice to see him on the red carpet than going up on stage to accept his award.

the transition from scarface (so glad to see him up and about!) to ice-t in the break room to Latifah doing UNITY was genuinely thrilling

I actually remember when Chicago area critics/writers grumbled when the album didn't get any nominations so it's kind of a nice consolation stupid and very Grammy like to get one twenty years later

LOL yeah, par for the course I guess.

I'm not even the biggest Yankee Hotel Foxtrot fan on ILX (not a high bar) but here's what they nominated for album of the year that year, as a reminder:

Come Away with Me - Norah Jones
The Eminem Show - Eminem
Home - Dixie Chicks
Nellyville - Nelly
The Rising - Bruce Springsteen

Eminem's has a few great cuts and Springsteen's is half good, but pretty disappointing. It wasn't a bad year either, there's a lot I still listen to from 2002 - The Roots, Missy Elliott, Spoon, Sleater-Kinney, Sonic Youth, Drive-By Truckers, the Mekons, the Flaming Lips, Beck, Wilco, etc.

lol I just realized that Donda was nominated for aoty last year

Official video for the hip-hop anniversary segment is up:

https://www.grammy.com/videos/ll-cool-j-run-dmc-chuck-d-flavor-flav-dj-jazzy-jeff-grandmaster-flash-2023-grammys-65th-grammy-awards-watch-hip-hop-50-tribute-performance-live

2025 Grammy Awards start at 8 pm US eastern time on tv network CBS. There will likely be much to complain about. I haven't even looked at who was nominated, and who wasn't ; or what categories they got rid of recently

Congrats to the Beatles on their big win

plucky underdogs from liverpool

I'm completely detached from Grammys like I never am with Oscars.

a vulture.com writer back in November grumbled about some nominations and omissions--

Jacob Collier is back, baby.
Of the bizarre 2021 Grammys slate, Jacob Collier’s AOTY nom for Djesse Vol. 3 seemed like the most shocking: Collier’s project had never even charted on the “Billboard 200.” Turns out, it wasn’t a fluke. Collier is up for the same award, with Djesse Vol. 4, the final installment in his cerebral series. He also earned a nod in the arrangement categories for the sixth straight year. Call him your favorite musician’s favorite musician.

...Andre 3000 jazz flute album got an album of the year nomination plus a few more

Shaboozey’s runaway hit, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” was somehow snubbed in Record of the Year, usually the category that most reflects the charts. Yet the track still got some general-category love in Song of the Year,

Exactly zero of the acts up for Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, or Best Rock Album are first-time nominees. Yet again, rock voters are sticking to what they’re familiar with: Pearl Jam, Green Day, the Black Keys, St. Vincent, and, of course, the Beatles and the Stones. Congrats to the Black Crowes on their first nomination since 1991, I guess?

https://www.vulture.com/article/grammy-nominations-2025-snubs-and-surprises.html

Nick Cave and Kim Gordon got their first ever nominations -both in Best Alternative Music Performance and Album

Were the Grammys on?

also discussion here

rock performance: the beatles
rock album: the rolling stones

Performances in general have been good, inventive arrangements and productions. Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, Chappell Roan all very good. Roan won best new artist as she should have (as opposed to Carpenter, who was somehow nominated for it for her sixth album — but Carpenter won pop vocal album, so she's still happy). It will be kinda funny if Beyonce gets blanked for album of the year again while winning country album.

lol "Not Like Us" winning Record of the Year, quite a journey for that song.

very funny to hear the "A minor" line in the background as Kendrick stepped up to the stage

And a week from now I assume we'll hear at least some of it in the halftime show.

Just walked in to see Not Like Us win, having not known any nominations — also v amused at him timing the walk to get “A minorrrr” as fanfare

I guess Drake has to sue the Grammys now too.

Most Grammy voters are bots

It gets Song of the Year too. Plus the hip-hop awards it won earlier.

Jay-Z's shaming the Grammys about never giving Beyonce album of the year worked!

glad she can finally put that nightmare behind her

Rare W for the super-rich.

I got pulled away.

ranked performances:

1. Doechii "Catfish" "Denial Is a River"
2. Chappell Roan "Pink Pony Club"
3. Sabrina Carpenter "Espresso" "Please Please Please"
4. Charli XCX "Von Dutch" "Guess"
5. The Weeknd Playboi Carti "Cry for Me" "Timeless"

Worst had to be Chris Martin and who are Khruangbin?

I like Khruangbin who have recently started reaching a larger audience after lots of touring. Yes to Doechi, NPR's Ann Powers is hailing Doechi and Sabrina as" the dynamism of Gen Z."

https://www.npr.org/2025/02/03/nx-s1-5285269/gen-z-stars-conquer-grammys-sabrina-carpenter-chappell-roan