Fucking Grammy Bullshit
I don’t know why I’m surprised or even care, but the nominations were announced today, and the two best records of this year failed to even make the final five.
For the record, the two best Folk/Americana releases of the year are Kris Kristofferson’s “This Old Road” and Johnny Cash’s “100 Highways.”
In the category they would have been eligible for, Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album, the nominations were “Solo Acoustic Vol. 1” by Jackson Browne; “Black Cadillac” by Rosanne Cash; “Workbench Songs” by Guy Clark; “Modern Times” by Bob Dylan; and “All The Roadrunning” by Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris.
Jackson gets a nod because he’s a name the voting fogeys recognize from back when they were relevant in the music business, but his record – although very pleasant – is mostly a live greatest hits package. The records by Roseanne Cash and Guy Clark do not represent their best work; only the Dylan disc and the surprisingly effective pairing of Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris deserve their nods.
MY list would be:
“Modern Times” by Bob Dylan
“All The Roadrunning” by Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris
“100 Highways” by Johnny Cash and Rick Rubin
“This Old Road” by Kris Kristofferson
“Throw Down Your Arms” by Sinead O’Connor
And they need a separate category for Tom Waits – whose existence the Academy is apparently wholly unaware of – that he would win by default every year he puts out a new CD. Maybe his new set, “Orphans,” was released after the eligibility date, but judging by the Grammys crap track record, I’m not sure it would make a difference anyhow.
Seriously, Grammys – you didn’t have to work half this hard to prove your total abysmal fucking worthlessness. Heckofajob.
posted by Fang Bastardson at 10:17 AM
3 Comments:
Wow. For not caring, you've given The Grannys an awful lot of airtime.
I agree, re: Tom Waits. He was great on 'The Daily Show' - thanks for the head's up on that, btw.
11:30 AM
The year the soundtrack for The Bodyguard was nominated and you would hear "And Iiiiiiiii will always...", I made a vow right before they announced Best Album -- if the soundtrack wins, I am never watching the Grammys again.
I haven't watched it since and just shake my head each year the awards area announced.
It's becoming almost as bad as the American Music Awards.
11:37 AM
The Grammys are just part of the music machine, designed to keep the status quo. Maybe there's some obscure nomination rules that I don't understand, but the Grammys always seem to ignore the best and most innovative artists in favor or retreads of artists who did their best work years ago. I can't conceive how any list of great music of 2006 would not include Jenny Lewis, M. Ward and Regina Spektor. For a better list of top 2006 music, look at the 12-5 show (and additional critics links) here: http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/
And certainly worthy of honorable mentions would have to be Anjani Thomas, Antje Duvekot and Kris Delmhorst, all of whom released terrific, original and innovative work this year.
The Grammys are worthless as a barometer of good music. Music is not like movies - only a few folks/groups have the resources to construct movies that can reach a mass audience and truly move people. But there are many musicians who can get a record out that really has something to say. Perhaps too many for any award to make sense. But it seems shameful for the Grammys to pretend to nominate the best, when so many wonderful, creative musicians are overlooked every year.
Terry
1:48 PM
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