Currently listening to Jedi Mind Tricks “Deadly Melodies.”
It’s awards season. This means that everyone who was on their A-game during the regular year gets put through a “fine microscope” and basically makes a career right on the spot. Granted, if you’re a nouveau pop-sensation or married to a hip-hop heavyweight, this shouldn’t be a problem. For the rest of the really great artists, it’s a chance to schmooze and rub elbows and hopefully, just hopefully, catch someone’s attention for longer than 5 seconds to perhaps make it to a party to play some of your shit.
Tonight is/was the night of the 52nd Grammy Awards. From all over the music industry, 109 nominations spread over something like 20 different genres and numerous technical and lifetime achievements are going to be awarded. The ones I care about? Song of the year, best new artist, best metal performance, best hard rock performance, and best rock album. Let’s take a look at some of those…
Best New Artist: MGMT gets my vote. A performance at SxSW 2008 and Austin City Limits is nothing to sneeze at, let alone the first day of Bonnaroo AND, not to mention supporting acts like Radiohead on a world tour are a sure sign that you’re doing something right. Oh, and they opened for this new chap from Liverpool who played with some dude name Lennon and wrote some acoustic tune called ‘Blackbird.’
Song Of The Year: I’m a fan of anything with distorted guitars and a good, solid drummer but, I’m not a Kings of Leon fan. Anthony Caleb sings like he’s picking up a 250 lb. weight and I just can’t get behind “Use Somebody.” Is it a ballad? Self-loathing poetry set to music? I don’t know but personally, I’m kind of pulling for Taylor Swift on this one. After all, can Kanye West fuck up a Grammy awards speech? Only if he wants Jermaine Dupree or something kicking him in the spine down an elevator shaft.
Best Rock Album: I actually have a problem with the nominees for Best Rock Album. In my humble opinion, only 3 of the 5 nominees are consistent rock acts. Don’t get me wrong, Dave Matthews writes some damn fine music and Eric Clapton is a fucking legend but, they are more alternative and blues musicians, respectively. AC/DC? Angus Young has recorded the same record over and over again 19 times over the past 34 years. Not saying it’s bad music but holy hell man. How about something new? Don’t even get me started on the Green Day bullshit. You don’t approve of the government that lets you write/record/perform whatever you want? Fuck off and go somewhere else. Of all the nominees in the category, I’m going to bite my lip and say U2 for the win.
Best Metal Performance: Judas Priest? When the fuck did Judas Priest record a new album? I mean, with the evolution of the guitar form the late 70s combined with the evolution of heavy metal music, this Grammy, without a doubt in my mind, should have gone to Lamb of God for their track “Set To Fail” off the album ‘Wrath.’ This one just has me pissed off.
Oh, and Michael Jackson got a tribute for his contribution to pop music. I guess of Eddie Van Halen plays a guitar solo on one of my tracks, I get one too?
Stay cool folks…