# 2010 Grammy notes



## Mastermeister (Feb 23, 2008)

Written a couple months ago, I revisit...

I spent half a day waiting for a doctor to call back, so whilst waiting, I logged onto the Grammy member page and suffered through dozens of full album tracks from the nominated listings in the Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist categories. I am compelled now, to shower.

This is so bloody awful, that the responsible morons at NARAS who simply list the nominees based on record sales figures alone,* totally heedless and regardless of a recording's content of craft or quality, should all be fired and replaced with people who have at least SOME musical sensibility, instead of NONE AT ALL. Their listening and musical judgment skills of those extant would be more appropriately applied shoveling spilled iron slag in an anvil foundry.

It's far past time when sales should be the sole criterion for an award that isn't simply labeled "Best-Selling Record Of The year," "Best-Selling Album Of The Year," "Best-Selling Song." "Best-Selling New Artist," etc. Let's at least be clear so the disingenuous of -mongering isn't compounded by lying about the 's suitability to be labeled "Best" --of anything.

One can understand the Grammy Academy's unwillingness or refusal to consider good music as viable despite sales, because it might require they'd actually have to listen--maybe even go out to hear musical artists whose records are not located at the front of the stacks at Wal-Mart, by huge amounts of "placement promotion money."

The present Grammy-nominated tracks and albums, and the singers who make them are the clearest example yet of what happens when over-caffeinated karaoke singers are hired by cynical promotion companies, sent to a Guitar Center store to buy ProTools, AUTOTUNE, dozens of distortion plug-ins and (the exact same) bad drum samples, and are then left to see how stupid they can get on pot, coke, ecstasy and booze. These people are totally unqualified to dabble in either music or engineering, and thus the noise pollution formed by the confluence of misunderstood and misapplied engineering tools by totally talentless music hacks and pretenders, is mind-numbingly criminal in its emotional effect on anyone with enough music experience to whistle.

I shall not renew my NARAS membership; there is no point. Music has been killed, dead, by cynical lawyers and MBAs, engineers and other non-musicians who've been empowered to put noises on shiny plastic disks and iPods, and by cynical, greedy and short-sighted software engineering and marketing firms bent on profits no matter what the terrible consequences.

I may never listen to the radio again for fear of being assaulted by:

1. Tracks that are ALL LOUD, ALL THE TIME.

2. The daily stampede of singers with "Mariah Carey Disease." (melismatically mangled melody)

3. AUTOTUNED vocals that obscure any trace of possible craft.

4. Vulgar language liberally substituted for vocabulary in everyday song lyrics.

5. The despicable stupidity and cynicism of music marketers.

6. The astonishing lack of originality of ALL promoted "music" acts.

If not for my wonderful recording and mastering clients, I would take up forestry tomorrow.

Mark my words, big business is evil.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I see a lot of merit to your concerns and many of the reasons I refuse to watch these awards shows. It has gotten extremely political... truly a shame.

I did edit a bit of your post due to forum rules... :whistling:


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Artists that you should listen to instead:

The Mountain Goats (here's your great lyrics)
Elvis Costello
Rilo Kiley
Gillian Welch/Dave Rawlings
The Pocket Dwellers
Dar Williams
Greg Brown
Ani Difranco
Mike Doughty
Lyle Lovett
Frank Black
Eels
Metric
Neko Case
Nine Inch Nails (Download "Another Version of the Truth")
Old Crow Medicine Show


Please add your own.


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## Mastermeister (Feb 23, 2008)

Know and love many of the artists on your list. No problem. I record and master jazz, bluegrass, country-rock, folk, acoustic blues, classical quartets, orchestra, etc., and have two Grammy best recording nominations and a French Jazz Academy Winner myself, so I know what real music can sound like. It's NARAS I think has dropped the ball and lost sight of it.

How do we get NARAS to be more than a reflection of sales? For all its resources, which are considerable, their service to the music community they claim to celebrate, is a disingenuous fawning to corporate garbage music mills and not to the artists who can't afford million dollar a week production budgets and costume and make-up entourages, who deserve acclaim.


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## Ryan Anderson (Jul 20, 2009)

Pink! amazing performance...


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