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| From | cpeel@killertracks.com |
| Subject | Re: Grammy Thoughts |
| Date | Mon, 24 Feb 2003 20:53:46 -0500 |
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Highlights.
1) London Calling. I never expected that. It was a great surreal shot in the
arm seeing how the Clash couldn't be more antithetical to the Grammies in
general. Plus it's a great song (finally a song on the Grammies I wanted to
hear).
2) Maurice Gibb's family (including Robin and Barry). I agree Nsync was
weird. It's as if they've acquired some deserved legitimacy. It felt like
marketing to me. The rest of that whole thing though was refreshingly human.
It was very touching.
3) Norah Jones winning so much, even though she BORES ME TO TEARS. But at
least Snorah Jones is not Britney or Shakira; she has the appearance of
being human and having actual talent. That said, I've only heard a couple of
songs of hers and I do really like her voice, but somehow I just can't get
into it. It reminds me of the Cranberries craze of a few years ago where
EVERYone has the album and they play it at their yuppie-christening dinner
parties as a sign of sophistication, but it just seems like boring 70s
background music (which is fine for certain things, but
record/song/album/everything of the year?). And yet, I was happy when she
won because she's different and seemed completely humble and normal.
4) Jesse Harris. As someone who routes for the screenwriters at the Academy
Awards, and especially the writers of the books the films were adapted from
(I loved the Hours, and feel the director et. al., had better acknowledge
the beautiful book that Michael Cunningham wrote -- He turned what sounds
like, and could have been a very academic homage to Virginia Woolf and made
it so beautiful it inspired an actual good movie instead of a dissertation)
I dug that Jesse Harris got his props for Norah's song and that the
difference between singer (performer) and songwriter creator) was made
apparent to the many viewers.
5) The Roots. I like Eminem okay (was pleasantly surprised by the 8 Mile
movie). I think he's got a good voice and sense of rhythm and language for
the work he does, but the Roots were the best sounding band of the night by
far.
6) On the untelevised portion, Kevin Reagan, who designed Squish's "Fig. 1"
album art (my old band), won a Grammy for his design of the Dixie Chicks
record. And the Dixie Chicks were one of the better performers, at least
they sang on pitch and sounded like professionals (see below).
Lowlights.
1) Most of the performances. While I acknowledge most of them aren't my cup
of tea in general so I may be biased, too many were just downright BAD.
Nelly, Ashanti, Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow? These are people who sing for a
living, are out doing it every day, but can't even sing on pitch during
their biggest hits. It's amazing. Maybe it's just Grammy nerves. Sometimes
it takes a couple songs into a set before I stop sucking, but these people
are at a whole other multi-million selling, daily concert and performances
level than I am aren't they? Are Nelly and Vanessa Carlton supposed to have
great voices? And I'll agree with most here and say that I don't know much
of John Mayer, but his performance left no impression. Snorah Jones was
exciting compared to him.
2)The show in general. It felt more like an advertising platform (the
commercials were better than the show) than an awards show. At least with
the old format you could wager or build your own private sense of drama over
who might win best rock vocal or producer. I'd rather have that than a Nelly
performance.
And was it Nelly or someone else who descended onto the stage ala Fartman?
The Grammies that mean something are
production/classical/jazz/bluegrass/polka/historical Grammies that aren't
televised. A Grammy is sometimes the only props those guys get in the
mainstream world. It'd be much more interesting to see/hear/be turned on to
some of the lesser categories then get a rehash of the American Music
Awards. Does Faith Hill need the exposure?
I guessed every one of the awards that were televised except for the comdy
one. How did I do it, my girlfriend asked me. It was simple, I just thought
about which nominee was the biggest crossover. Norah Jones won so much
because she's so crossover safe.
And yet I watch, knowing it's going to be just as bad as last year.
But the commercials, at least, were creative.
Carl
np - Ryan Adams, Demolition
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