The Grammies

[G-Man]

Did anyone watch them?

So Macklefuck and The Other Guy won all the hip hop categories. Vanilla Ice must be laughing in his grave. Anyway, Grammy awards are not really worth thinking about.

There was a great sequence of performances though. First, Stevie Wonder joined Daft Punk, Pharell and Nile Rogers for "Get Lucky".

Then Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard and Blake Shelton did a great (albeit croaky) medley of "The Highwaymen", "Okie From Muskogee" and "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys".

I shouted at that actor Renner's introduction which described Haggard as the original Okie from Muskogee. "He's from fucking Bakersfield," I informed my really very interested indeed wife. "His parents were from Oklahioma, but Haggard is from California." Strangely, my actually not really very interested indeed wife failed to register her outrage.

And then the always wonderful Carole King duetted with Sara Bareilles, of whom I'm not a huge fan, but whose music I've followed since her debut in 2005. So when Cyndi Lauper introduced Bareilles as a "new singer-songwriter" I did not give her the benefit of doubt that she might be comparing the lentgth of Bareilles' career with that of King's. It being the Grammies I simply presumed that she was joining the fiesta of rank ignorance which the show has pretty much made its trademark.

I might have enjoyed the Metallica bit, if I didn't despise those fuckers so much. And the mass wedding, presided over by fucking Madonna, was a bit tacky, I thought.

[Come along, Min]

The Grammies

Musically, the whole Macklemore phenomenon has sort of passed me by. Not sure if his grammy success is a white thing as much as because he's one of the first who made a point of being openly accepting of homosexuality, and that sort of thing appeals to liberal grammy voting types irrespective of quality of music. Maybe it's sales thing? he's sold quite a lot hasn't he?.

Cant say I have my finger on the rap pulse but I thought (along with Macklemore and every other sensible commentator it seems) Kendrick owned last year. Even Kanye seems a better choice and I didn't even like that LP.

[Felicity, I guess so]

The Grammies

Anyway, Grammy awards are not really worth thinking about.

As Chuck D put it: 'who gives a fuck about a goddamn grammy?'

[Borracho]

The Grammies

Pop music has gone right down the shitter, hasn't it?

[WOM]

The Grammies

No. You've just gotten old.

[Come along, Min]

The Grammies

WOM wrote: No. You've just gotten old.

If the point has not been reached when that maxim no longer holds any truth, it cant be too far off.

It had a extraordinary good run and there's still the odd one or two.

[WOM]

The Grammies

People who lament the state of pop music in any year should be made to go back to their idea of the supposed Golden Years and peruse the charts.

You'd be astounded to find out how much dreck has been mercifully filtered from our collective memory so that the remainder can shine like the diamonds we fondly recall.

Go buy Yeezus and Pure Heroine if you don't think there's some stellar music being made at opposite ends of the pop spectrum.

[linus]

The Grammies

It's been crap for decades.

[Incandenza]

The Grammies

Complaining about the state of pop music based upon who wins a Grammy is like complaining about the state of film because of an Oscar winner.

[Come along, Min]

The Grammies

WOM wrote:

Go buy Yeezus and Pure Heroine

thin gruel indeed

[San Bernardhinault]

The Grammies

I managed to watch the first couple of hours and came away with a couple of observations.

- I was pretty surprised to discover Macklemore is pronounced "Mac Lemoore" rather than to rhyme with "tackle more". Which seemed odd.

- Ringo is even less talented than I remembered.

- Paul looks like my mum, and might be even less rock'n'roll than my mum.

- Lots of people seemed to be going for a goth look. It kind of made sense on Lorde, but all of Imagine Dragons trying to look like Andrew Eldritch was a bit weird. Is this a new thing?

- If Pink wasn't lipsynching while doing her weird gymnastics act she has some astonishing core muscles and vocal skills.

- Robin Thicke and Chicago? What kind of deranged maniac managed to come up with that. No warm-balls when the Grammy programmers drew that combination out of the hat.

[WOM]

The Grammies

Luke R wrote:

Go buy Yeezus and Pure Heroine

thin gruel indeed

Meh.

Good point, well made, Inca.

[Incandenza]

The Grammies

La Lanterne Rouge wrote: - Ringo is even less talented than I remembered.

Oh yeah? You might change your mind when you see some of his recent artwork:







(I wish those were jokes, but they're not)

[Borracho]

The Grammies

Yeezus is fucking awful.

[WOM]

The Grammies

I'll say it again: Ringo Starr - luckiest man in music history.

Waylon Jennings is a close second.

[Incandenza]

The Grammies

AB2 wrote: Yeezus is fucking awful.

It is, but Bound 2 is great.

[WOM]

The Grammies

AB2 wrote: Yeezus is fucking awful.

It really isn't. It may not be your thing, but it really isn't.

But again, what generation loved the pop music of the generation that followed theirs?

[Borracho]

The Grammies

Incandenza wrote: Complaining about the state of pop music based upon who wins a Grammy is like complaining about the state of film because of an Oscar winner.

Well, yes. I just thought I might as well write it on a thread about the Grammys.

There are still decent-to-great records getting made and released, but there seem to be fewer and fewer of them than ever before -- and commercial pop music in particular is as withered as fuck. You can listen to the radio for three or four hours solid and not hear a single good tune, unless it's 15 years old or more.

I think 2002 was the precise point where it all started going to hell. Even in 2001 there was still a modicum of decent stuff in the charts. After that, hardly anything. No coincidence that 2002 was the year that the Cowellian talent shows began sprouting up.

[WOM]

The Grammies

Do you ever find yourself waving your cane at the radio, or shouting at the TV G-Man style? Those are signs.

[Come along, Min]

The Grammies

I'll admit Yeezus had some kind of popular impact. It wasn't run of the mill, it has that going for it. I still think Kanye missed the mark with this LP despite how many old rockers pronounce it as a work of genius. Going from his lyrical content he sounds brain damaged.

Just listened to Bound 2 again and I cant work out if he's taking the raving piss or serious. Gut wrenchingly awful.

[Borracho]

The Grammies

WOM wrote: Do you ever find yourself waving your cane at the radio, or shouting at the TV G-Man style? Those are signs.

I'm fairly sure I'm younger than you are.

What amused me about Yeezus was the fact that West publicly admitted he couldn't even be bothered finishing the thing. He dashed off to his private plane to go to a fashion show in Milan and left Rick Rubin to try and tidy up the mess. The end result reminded me of a load of Godflesh demos, though if only it had been as good as an actual Godflesh record.

The lyrics are a load of embarrassing misogynist wank as well.

[G-Man]

The Grammies

Hey! I was about to defend 2013's pop music. "Get Lucky", "Happy" and (if you can stomach the awful lyrics) "Blurred Lines" are a trio of fantastic songs. I like Bruno Mars, and I think Katy Perry's "Roar" is a very good song. I can see merit in Kendrick Lamar. That new country woman who got nominated so much, she's fine (though she's not the best country performer by a long shot).

My problem is not so much with pop music, even if I don't follow it as closely as I once did and even if I consider pop to be an even more corporate and calculated thing than it was back in the day. My particular problem is with the culture of smug shitness that the Grammy Awards are offering.

[WOM]

The Grammies

All I'm saying, really, is that you [not you, but one] sound old and grumpy when you start going on about pop music being shit 'nowadays'.

I mean, do you really not hear it when you say it? You sound like everyone's parents from Elvis Presley's time onward. "What is that racket?" "Turn it down." "You can't even make out what they're saying!" "Look at the hair! Is he a he or a she???"

[WOM]

The Grammies

G-Man wrote: My problem is not so much with pop music, even if I don't follow it as closely as I once did and even if I consider pop to be an even more corporate and calculated thing than it was back in the day.

Back when Stock, Aiken and Waterman sat up all night in unheated flats, pouring their heart and soul into every song? Or when Boyce and Hart wrote in blood, and then stopped when the well ran dry? Or when the Brill Building was....

[Borracho]

The Grammies

WOM wrote: All I'm saying, really, is that you [not you, but one] sound old and grumpy when you start going on about pop music being shit 'nowadays'.

I mean, do you really not hear it when you say it? You sound like everyone's parents from Elvis Presley's time onward. "What is that racket?" "Turn it down." "You can't even make out what they're saying!" "Look at the hair! Is he a he or a she???"

I'm not really bothered about how it sounds to other people, to be honest. The fact is that the standard of what's currently in the charts, by and large, is by any reasonable metric incredibly weak and lifeless compared to (just over) one decade ago, let alone two or three or four decades ago.

I'm all for new music, so long as it's good. Unfortunately, the amount of good new stuff around at the moment is very small, relative to times past. It does exist, but there's not that much of it and you have to hunt it down and seek it out far more ruthlessly than you did in times gone by.