The Grammy's: Everything's not lost

I believe I am not alone in saying that most music awards shows traverse beyond the slightly irritable. Last fall's embarrassingly commercial and tragically unfunny MTV Music Awards, which is supposed to be progressive and youthful, comes to mind immediately. To be more pertinent, there is the upcoming 45th annual Grammy Awards, which seems to have all the allure and magnetism of a recurrent cold sore. Indeed, it is the Grammy Awards that often leaves a bad taste in my mouth, especially this year's nominations. According to its official website, the Recording Academy chooses its nominees based upon "artistic and technical achievement, not sales or chart positions." \nI find this jokingly implausible, unless one considers the lyrics "It's getting hot in here/So take off all your clothes" a shining artistic achievement. \nThe problems begin with the structure of the awards. The nearly indistinguishable categories of "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year" are supposed to be for the producers and songwriters, respectively. The fallacy behind this logic is that they are undermining the very essence of the record itself, which are the songs themselves and the artists who perform them. If the Grammy's wish to give producers and engineers the credit they deserve, what is restricting the awards committee from creating a significant technical awards category that highlights their achievements? \n"Record of the Year" is a misnomer in itself and has no business being a category or first tier award. Consider the nominees in this category such as Nelly, who once again proves that even though other hip-hop artists such as DJ Shadow can release worthy albums, scantily clad bimbo dancers and bandages worn as fashion accessories will ultimately prevail.\nAs per tradition, there are many other blemishes upon the face of this ceremony. Pink, nominated in Best Female Vocal Performance for her stale dance anthem, "Get The Party Started"? And I won't even dignify John Tesh's nomination in the Best Pop Instrumental category with comment. \nBut the saddest story of them all is the perennial list of deserving artists who got shunned. Ladies and gentlemen please note exhibit A: Wilco. Wilco released what was perhaps the greatest rock album of the year, the magnificently crafted Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and received zero nominations. Not only was Wilco's album a recurrent favorite among contemporary rock critics, its appeal ventured beyond the critical realm into the mainstream as a Billboard top twenty hit. Exhibit B: Beck, who received a paltry single nomination for the haunting yet gorgeous Sea Change. \nWilco and Beck top off a catalog of records that were commercially successful but failed to appeal to the Grammy voters, as were The Flaming Lips and the surprising Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon collaboration. The list of the faithfully unnoticed could go on and on. I'll try to refrain from ranting as much as possible because I realize that my musical tastes are quite eclectic in the face of the Grammy world in which we are bound to live.\nI could be dubbed a cynic at this point, which I will not dismiss as frighteningly accurate. Yet I've failed to mention that there are some positive aspects to many of the artists nominated, even the ones I hate. In fact, there are even some glimpses of hope within this cornucopia of mediocrity. Norah Jones received six nominations for her efforts. Now here is an artist that commands the respect and attention of an awards ceremony such as the Grammy's. Not only are her delicate vocals a fine compliment to her accessible jazz sound, but Jones' participation in last summer's biggest musical event, the Bonnaroo Music Festival, proves that her scope travels beyond the Top 40 audiences. To put it bluntly, the Grammy's could use about ten more Norah Jones' considering the state the show is in this year.\nSo should we picket the awards ceremony in New York on Feb. 23? I think I'll pass. The reality is that for the true lover of music, the Grammy's have been and always will be a foul misrepresentation of what is really out there. Its very existence is predicated upon the usual slew of artists, producers, music industry big shots and naive masses that keep the machine alive. We need that machine more than we realize. For without it, there would be no alternatives and we would be forced to like mediocre music for its own sake. Personally, I'm grateful that the Grammy's give me the motivation to seek out what isn't played on the radio ten thousand times a day and the will to find my own niche amongst the insipid ranks of today's popular music phenomena.