Grammys Dispatch: Dance, Rock, Alternative
Part 2 of the Grammys Dispatch! "You smile and nod and afterward you curse her for doing this, all love, though."
Welcome to a new part of the Grammys Dispatch — a special Music Dispatch in which my friend Addy and I review every Grammy nominated album and song based on who should win, who will win, and who our pick is. Last time, Addy gave an amazing overview over the general four and the pop categories — this time, I will take over for the electronic/dance, rock, and alternative categories. In the third (likely final?) category, Addy will lead the R&B categories while I’ll look over the rap categories. Let’s get right into it!
Best Dance/Electronic Recording
Beyoncé - “Break My Soul”
Bonobo - “Rosewood”
David Guetta & Bebe Rexha - “I’m Good (Blue)”
Diplo & Miguel - “Don’t Forget My Love”
Kaytranada Featuring H.E.R. - “Intimidated”
Rüfüs Du Sol - “On My Knees”
Elif’s Pick: “Break My Soul”
To be clear: there’s two misfires in this category. “I’m Good (Blue)” is an insult of a song, taking a beloved dance hit and pairing its melancholy piano — much of what makes the song so enchanting — with lyrics about partying with vocals that are wildly anonymous. Its sole potential benefit is that by charting as high as #7 maybe the world is ready for late 90s dance music again, a genre I like a lot. But maybe it just means David Guetta is a radio airplay monster and will be on heavy rotation in Austria for the next ten years, which is terrible. The other misfire is “Rosewood” by Bonobo, which is dance music for people who put on music as a background distraction, pink noise disguised as genre music. Australian act Rüfüs Du Sol’s “On My Knees” is more interesting, opting for a dramatic, sweeping arc underneath the cold electronics. “Don’t Forget My Love” succeeds largely because of Miguel’s smooth vocals, but compared to “Intimidated” it pales on the production end of things. And then there’s the blockbuster “Break My Soul”, the best song on this list by most conceivable metrics. In my view, this boils down to Kaytranada and H.E.R — the former having won in this category before, the latter walking away with the Song of the Year Grammy last year — versus Beyoncé, who submits in the Dance category for the first time. I feel as though if Beyoncé doesn’t win Song/Record of the Year for whatever reasons, this is hers to take. If she does take the win in the general field, I expect this to go to Kaytranada and H.E.R.
Best Dance/Electronic Music Album
Beyoncé - Renaissance
Bonobo - Fragments
Diplo - Diplo
Odesza - The Last Goodbye
Rüfüs Du Sol - Surrender
Elif’s Pick: Renaissance
I’ll be honest and say that when I seek out dance and electronic music, it’s usually by women and/or — in the case of the ineffable Nicolas Jaar aka Against All Logic — outsider house. So this category befuddles me in that there’s no Kelly Lee Owens nor Octo Octa, both of whom have done more exciting music this year than four of these gentlemen here. Like the last category, here too is Beyoncé’s first nomination in this field. This is fully hers to lose, and if she does lose, it’s a pretty foul snub. Let’s briefly go through the list: Fragments plays out like a Youtube playlist meant to be put to the background; Diplo admitted that this album is dance music for people who aren’t into dance music, which explains its inclusion here but makes for algorithmic, faceless pop music; The Last Goodbye drones on in similar ways; and while Surrender is genuinely engaging… it isn’t Renaissance levels of liberatory, revelatory, and fun. No matter what happens in the big four categories, I can’t see Beyoncé not win this one.
Best Rock Performance
Beck - Old Man
The Black Keys - Wild Child
Brandi Carlile - Broken Horses
Bryan Adams - So Happy It Hurts
Idles - Crawl!
Ozzy Osbourne Featuring Jeff Beck - Patient Number 9
Turnstile - Holiday
Elif’s Pick: “Broken Horses”
As you’re about to see in the other nominations of this category, almost nothing on what’s happening in these lists reflects the general musical conversation. 2021 saw a surge in post-punk, especially from the UK — we don’t see this here at all, and “Crawl!”, the song nominated by British post-punk outfit Idles, is the most safe song on the corresponding album Crawler. In the US, post-hardcore has found a newfound surge — this is reflected on this list, but by the watered down attempt that is Turnstile’s “Holiday”. The rest? Rock’n’roll. Midtempo arena rock by people that are in the autobiography stages of their lives. I can see this go a lot of ways: this could go to an act that is in the midst of the conversation (and tellingly, Idles and Turnstile are first-time nominees as well), one of the legacy acts, or… Beck. Personally, though, I’ve taken a liking to “Broken Horses”, a moving, sweeping Americana song, and I’d like to see it go to a woman.
Best Metal Performance
Ghost - Call Me Little Sunshine
Megadeth - We’ll Be Back
Muse - Kill or Be Killed
Ozzy Osbourne Featuring Tony Iommi - Degradation Rules
Turnstile - Blackout
Elif’s Pick: “We’ll Be Back” / “Call Me Little Sunshine”
Now I can’t speak for the conversation in metal, but the fact that all these names are familiar to me probably means whatever exciting moment was going on in metal this year was ignored by the Grammys. It’s a solid collection of songs though. Don’t be fooled by Pitchfork and the like — it’s not Muse that is out of place here, but Turnstile, whose song “Blackout” sounds extremely weak compared to the rest, and that includes Muse’s radio-friendly synth-thrashing. Of these songs, I liked “We’ll Be Back” best and I would enjoy seeing Megadeth walk away with a win. However, it has come to my attention that the metal band Ghost has gone viral on Tiktok (although not for the song nominated here). How wonderful is that, a metal band with a decade under their belt (and one Grammy in this very category in 2016) and a cult following finding widespread attention? “Call Me Little Sunshine” moves towards the melodic side of metal, rusty and snowy with a strong hook to boot. If they were to win, it would squarely fit into the current zeitgeist, and I can’t imagine metal fans hating the result either.
Best Rock Song
Brandi Carlile - Broken Horses
Ozzy Osbourne Featuring Jeff Beck - Patient Number 9
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Black Summer
Turnstile - Blackout
The War on Drugs - Harmonia’s Dream
Elif’s Pick: “Harmonia’s Dream”
“Blackout” makes more sense here than it does in the metal category. On the flip side, “Patient Number 9” makes more sense in the metal category than it does in the rock category. Rock is a historically wide-reaching genre with many, many different stylistic leanings, which this list reflects, but once again I wonder if the people picking the nominations just don’t like how the current vanguard at rock are British people, women, and people of color. Anyways… of this list, I think The War On Drugs’ “Harmonia’s Dream” strikes the balance between the old and the new. The twinkling, melancholy song sounds like it was recorded in the 80s, a decade that is quite popular in our current time. And with The War On Drugs picking up a lot of critical goodwill last year, it’s a good a compromise as any.
Best Rock Album
The Black Keys - Dropout Boogie
Elvis Costello & The Imposters - The Boy Named If
Idles - Crawler
Machine Gun Kelly - Mainstream Sellout
Ozzy Osbourne - Patient Number 9
Spoon - Lucifer on the Sofa
Elif’s Pick: Lucifer on the Sofa
The Ozzy Osbourne record is fine, but wouldn’t get him new fans. The same problem haunts Elvis Costello, although that record tries something else and attempts hooks. Both sound like legacy acts and… well… are. The Black Keys have this issue as well, with the added burden of sounding automated at every turn and far too breezy to really make an impact. The record by Megan Fox’s boyfriend is produced by Travis Barker, who brings the most sanitized drumming and power chords to this record. I am not interested in Megan Fox’s boyfriend, and so I only listened to the Willow collaboration. If you manage to make Willow Smith sound bad and your lyrics reek of 00s pop punk misogyny, if you manage to sound bad on a genre historically very forgiving of people that can’t sing… “best” is not an adjective that should be attached to you in any way. Should Mainstream Sellout win, mark that as yet another “Grammys gotta Grammy” moment. It’s like if your aunt bought you something for your birthday and she tells you it’s going to be something you like, but it’s a hideous yellow scarf that makes no sense with your wardrobe in any way. You smile and nod and afterward you curse her for doing this, all love, though. The youngest band here is Idles, having debuted in 2012; Crawler is produced by Kenny Beats and makes Idles sound more Idles than they ever have, a big improvement from their breakthrough second record Joy as an Act of Resistance. Post punk is paired with extremely fun chants in the choruses, as well as Idles’ specific brand of satire saturating the lyrics. This is to say: awarding this album a win feels most in-tune to the zeitgeist overall. On the other hand, Spoon — a band around since 1993, with a lot of critical and commercial success under their belt — are nominated for the first time. Guess what sound they did, lol. But the songs on Lucifer On The Sofa sound smart and tight. Spoon is by no means a legacy act, either, and they sound effortlessly cool here. If the Grammys really want to award a rock’n’roll moment, at least give the win to the best album here.
Best Alternative Music Performance
Arctic Monkeys - There’d Better Be a Mirrorball
Big Thief - Certainty
Florence and the Machine - King
Wet Leg - Chaise Lounge
Yeah Yeah Yeahs featuring Perfume Genius - Spitting Off the Edge of the World
Elif’s Pick & Who Should Win: “Spitting Off the Edge of the World”
Who Will Win: “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball” or “Chaise Lounge”
On a first glance, this list is immediately more in-touch with the conversation than everything we’ve seen before. And whoever wins will be a first-time Grammy winner — except Jack Antonoff, the producer of Florence and the Machine’s powerful “King”. The list could be better, of course. It is painfully white except the ever-excellent Karen O, for one. For two, better have been released by others. But each nominee has had buzz by fans and critics this year, and the average age of the nominees isn’t like 55 (and four of five acts on here have women as lead vocals). That being said… four of five songs on this list are rock music. I do not know why they are in this category when honestly, stuff like “King” and “Chaise Lounge” have no stylistic difference to the nominees above. This isn’t “alternative” to anything — this is rock in 2022. Straight up. Okay, so of these songs, all of which are good, I would like to see it go to the grandiose, syrupy “Spitting Off the Edge of the World” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs featuring Perfume Genius. If you go through this list song by song as I have, it stands out the most, and awarding it would make a wonderful award for a band who has continuously evolved from the garage rock revival it was once associated with. The other garage rock revival act on this list has also evolved quite a bit since their debut — of course I am talking about Arctic Monkeys, whose lead single “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball” is melancholy, nostalgic and lush in the same way checking out of a hotel is. Though I think there is better on the corresponding album The Car (which missed Grammy deadlines) and even better on the singles rollout (the narratively strong “Body Paint”), I can see the Recording Academy award this group instead, for reasons that have to do with maturing and refining their sound and whatnot or even just the fact they’re all white guys, and I wouldn’t be particularly mad at it. The other possibility is that, if British post-punk fit Wet Leg were to lose their Best New Artist nomination, they’d pick up this win instead, in their genre, so to speak. Again, “Chaise Lounge” is not a bad choice to make; it’s got hooks, it’s charming, and is part of the post-punk movement that has gained steam in the UK. You can’t really go wrong awarding anyone in this category.
Best Alternative Music Album
Arcade Fire - WE
Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
Björk - Fossora
Wet Leg - Wet Leg
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cool It Down
Elif’s Pick: Fossora or Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
The wrongest thing the Grammys could do — wrongest, yes, written exactly like this — is to award it to Arcade Fire despite the sexual abuse allegations (and the absolutely horrendous way Win Butler and his wife Régine Chassagne responded to them still rises bile to my mouth). We’ve met three of these acts in the earlier category, so let’s briefly cover them here: Big Thief’s record is stunning, if a bit long; Wet Leg’s self titled debut is like trail mix the way some songs work and some don’t; Yeah Yeah Yeahs is a lot of fun, if a bit short. And then there’s Björk with Fossora, a strange, introverted, charming record — certainly not among her best, but not a misfire like Volta has been, either. I cannot believe Björk has never been awarded. Doesn’t the Recording Academy think it’s about time they award one of the most innovative, influential artists of our time? If they don’t, Big Thief’s newest is a solid second choice. But really… 15 nominations but no wins… for Björk. It does not look good for the Recording Academy, I fear. But it could look even uglier if it went to WE.