via//chicago

So there were some Grammys, or something, last night...

I've had a couple people ask me today what I thought about last night's Grammy Awards. I had to be honest and tell them that I didn't watch a single second of the ceremony and that seemed to surprise them, I guess people figure that since I love music so much I'd dedicate three precious hours of my Sunday evening to watching that soul-crushing, self-congratulatory sham of an award show. But I don't. I gave that up completely a couple years ago, I got sick of sitting through horrible performances by whatever "dream duet" or two decades past their prime old fogey they trotted out in front of us only to froth at the mouth when the "winners" were announced. I suppose it goes back to the Metallica/Jethro Tull debacle, but really almost every year becomes a complete joke. In case you haven't noticed by now, the NARAS people love to celebrate the work of venerated artists and/or living legends. Which would be great, you know, if they were actually awarding them for work that deserved to be recognized! Take Steely Dan in 2001 and their win for Best Album over Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP. There is no single alternate reality in existence in which Two Against Nature is ever better than Eminem's magnum opus. The voters just realized that they never recognized The Dan during their prime, so they decided to toss them a long overdue bone and screw over much more worthwhile, timely music. For other examples of this horrifying tendency see Ray Charles in 2005, Tony Bennett in 1995, and apparently Herbie Hancock in 2008. Don't get me wrong, each of those artists produced some wonderful, meaningful work in their time - but certainly not in the years they were showered with praise by the Grammy voters! It's frustrating, to say the least. And really, don't even get me started on how horrifying the nominations generally are.

So, no, I didn't watch the ceremony last night. But I did watch Kanye West's electrifying performance with Daft Punk on YouTube this morning, just about all the Grammy material I could stand. It was what Kanye really needed to do - just shut the fuck up and perform one of his best songs in front of a huge audience, I think he pulled it off fairly well. His "Hey Mama" tribute wasn't too bad either. The man, despite his incredibly large ego and tendency to shoot his mouth off at all the wrong times, is still a thrilling entertainer and a (fine, I'll say it) pop visionary. That Daft Punk sample may not seem all that brilliant to those of us who have been listening to the French duo for the past decade, but pulling it off as well as he did goes to show just how much skill the guy has. I think a performance of "Stronger" at the Super Bowl would have killed!

Looking over the list of last night's winners, a few things that jump out at me:
- "Rehab" and Amy Winehouse got a lot of love, the Grammy people are enablers.
- "Umbrella" deserved at least one of the two big song/record of the year awards, "Stronger" the other. They deserve better than just winning the rap categories.
- I love, love, that Paramore was nominated for Best New Artist.
- JTim's win for "What Goes Around", I can't argue that.
- Daughtry was nominated for a Grammy? what. the. fuck.
- Oh shit! The Beastie Boys won a Grammy! But if was for a sucky instrumental album.
- "D.A.N.C.E." and Sound of Silver got screwed in the dance categories.
- Rock winners - Bruce Springsteen (thrice), Foo Fighters (thrice), White Stripes - oh Grammies, could you be any more, I don't know, safe?
- Scratch that, Slayer won a Grammy! Probably because it was the only name the voters recognized in the Metal category.
- Actually, seeing the complete list, I think the rap category is the only one in which the voters nailed all of 'em, that's a surprise.