The Grammys will celebrate their 60th anniversary this coming January in New York, and today they've released their list of nominees (full list
here). Once again I debated whether a post was warranted, and since you're reading this I decided it in fact was (see
my debate from last year). However this year I've decided to hold off on the predictions for now, and really just dig into the nominations themselves. Of course I'm not going to tackle all of the categories, just those I see pertinent to this blog.
Best Dance Recording
Firstly, I find it interesting that both
Gorillaz and
LCD Soundsytem's albums were nominated in the Alternative category, yet their tracks are classified as Dance. Let us however note that their is no Alternative Recording category. Also it might be pertinent that in 2003 this category fell under the Pop field before the creation of this Dance field. I feel this only further complicates Alternative productions being in a previously Pop field, but perhaps the Grammys feel that Dance is Alternative.
Regardless, both artists had big years, particularly in that they made massively anticipated returns, and therefore ought to warrant some kind of acknowledgement. I would however argue that neither of these are their best efforts. For my ears, "
Submission" and "
Other Voices" are the standout tracks from
Humanz and
American Dream, respectively.
Another artist who had a big year was
Bonobo. His album
Migration (also nominated below) garnered widespread support, and while I am more than fine with him receiving a nod here, I'd again suggest that this wasn't even the best track on the album. I'd submit "
No Reason" as the zenith, but picking just one cut from
Migration serves as a tough task, and I cannot be too critical here.
I'm glad the Grammys have nominated a house track, and I quite enjoy "
Cola." I am however curious where more widespread and progressive (not in sub-genre, but in scope) house tunes are, see
Tchami,
Kolsch or
Bicep. Regardless,
Camelphat and
Elderbrook have built an incredible track worthy of this honour.
Speaking of progressive, there aren't many as cutting edge as
Odesza. While most would point to
Flume and
Rustie as originators of future bass, you'd be remiss not to include
Odesza in that conversation. I would however argue that this particular brand of future bass, is quickly becoming stale and purely pop music. But this is the Grammys and it would be silly to expect them to be ahead of the curve.
Finally I wonder whether Dance is a cumbersome category name, isn't all music meant to make you move, and isn't moving to music dancing?
Best Dance/Electronic Album
You'll notice that both
Bonobo and
Odesza are holdovers from the Recording category, and as above both received widespread critical acclaim. While I was tough on "
Line Of Sight" I feel the rest of
Odesza's album makes up for the mainstream, pop feels of that particular track. Both
Migration and
A Moment Apart are strong albums, with incredible arcs, inciting waves of feels and emotions. Worthy nominees in my mind, especially in
A Moment Apart, as I get some distinct Pink Floyd vibes.
While there's no questioning
Kraftwerk's greatness, or legendary status, I find their album somewhat troublesome to include here. One it's live, two it's almost entirely made of their previous productions. This seems unfair, but it is what it is. Certainly not the first time the Grammys have thrown a wrench into this category. Regardless, it's an incredible piece of production, especially in the way it's mixed.
My love for
Mura Masa and his album will not be new to readers of this blog, so it's no surprise I agree with its inclusion. It's the perfect mixture of forward thinking club music and pop production abilities. The vocal features are fantastic and the whole thing just grooves through and through. On the opposite end of the scale is
Sylvan Esso, who I've not heard of until today. Not surprising though, cause as I say, this seems to happen every year in this category. I will say that after listening to
What Now I can kind of understand why it would be nominated: it's an eclectic mix of all kinds of electronic. It is well done, and will certainly have me keeping my eyes/ears on them in the future.
Best Remixed Recording
The first time in three years that both
RAC and
Kaskade are not in this category, so it's good to see some fresh faces. It's also a great mix, there's old school electronic dance via
Louie Vega and
SMLE, a big time banger from
Adventure Club, an epic piece of electronica courtesy
Four Tet, and some dirty house from
Latroit. I really like this category, although I do wonder about
SMLE's inclusion, as I cannot find any instance (spotify, soundcloud, youtube etc) that shows it as having garnered much attention. I know it's not a popularity contest (and this has happened before, see Paul McCartney in
last year's nominees), but you'd think with the number of worthy remixes out there, they'd be able to find one with both a wide reach and strong musical depth. While categories cannot be perfect, and I don't claim this one to be, I feel this is the best we could expect, and perhaps the best since
2013.
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That's it for me for now, I'll be back with a predictions post, with my usual write in nominees later.
