55th Grammy's Playlist

In honor of the 55th Grammy celebration this evening I have pulled together 12 picks I think deserve a little metal gramophone. Check 'em out.



1. Album of the Year: Great competition for this one, but I expect Frank Ocean will win this one easily for Channel Orange. Check out 'Thinking About You' in our playlist.

2. Record of the Year: Ocean will likely win this one too, but I love 'Lonely Boy' by the Black Keys. The video is amazing. It's like my wife choreographed the whole thing with her amazing 'go-to' moves...

3. Best New Artist: Frank Ocean should and will win this award. My vote for 2nd place is for the Alabama Shakes, hands down. Seriously awesome old school rock/blues greatness from Athens, Alabama. You probably have all heard 'Hold On', but if not check out the bad-ass Brittany Howard on vocals and guitar.

4. Song of the Year: Miguel. "Adorn You". The other songs infuriate me.

5. Best Dance Recording: Avicii's, "Levels" makes me jump up and down uncontrollably. And the desk humping office dude in the video is a amazing. Enjoy.

6. Best Rock Song: 'Lonely Boy' will probably win this, but just for sake of variation, my 2nd place vote is for Muse's 'Madness'.

7. Best Rock Album: Again, it will be hard to top The Black Keys, but if anyone is gonna do it, I hope it is Jack White, for his album Blunderbuss. Here you will see 'I'm Shakin', my favorites song from that album.

8. Best Blues Album: Joan Osborne is a baller. Her album, Bring it on Home is my pick for this category, especially due to the song 'Shake Your Hips'.

9. Best Rap Song: 'N--ars in Paris' is Shannon's current pump-up tune. It really is a pretty awesome song for just before any recreational athletic activity. It gets the people goin!

10. Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: Okay, this is a lame category, but I just realized that Nas put out a song featuring Amy Winehouse! Whaaa? I am annoyed I just heard about this. 'Cherry Wine' is a really chilled out something special. I miss Amy Winehouse.

11. Best Rap Album: Undun by the Roots is a masterpiece. If you don't have it you should put it on your 'must have' list. Check out the track 'Make My' feat. Big KRIT.

12. Best Traditional R&B Performance: I can't believe people were actually talking shit about Beyonce's talent after she sang along with a pre-recorded track at the inauguration. I mean seriously. What was that about? Watch a live version of "Love on Top" here. She is like Michael Jackson and Diana Ross in one package. Talent.Out.The.Ears.

3 Reasons the Grammy's Should be Worth Watching (Jan. 12th)

1. The award for "Best Dance Recording"
Nominees: Raise Your Weapon -Deadmau5 & Greta Svabo Bech; Barbara Streisand - Duck Sauce; Sunshine - David Guetta & Avicii;Call Your Girlfriend - Robyn; Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites - Skrillex; Save The World - Swedish House Mafia

It has been a particularly awesome year for dance music. The Grammy's seem to have noticed, and are responding with a performance mash-up of David Guetta, Deadmau5, Lil' Wayne, & Chris Brown in a tribute to the genre. I have serious doubts about this particular line-up. I understand the reasoning behind it, but I'm predicting a train wreck.

What is actually awesome is the field for the award for "Best Dance Recording". The competition in this category is fierce! Yes, dance-pop is a simple and indulgent approach to music. And I certainly question my new-found love for it, as I am a grown-ass man and all. But I'll be damned if this electricity-fueled-dance-meth doesn't get asses out on the dance floor. All the nominees are pretty great songs, but all my money is on Robyn. She is the sauce. Three of the nominees have absolutely awesome videos that you should check out below.

You gotta see the heroic pooches of Save the World by Swedish House Mafia.



Duck Sauce's video for Barbra Streisand, an unabashed love-letter to New York, is also fun.
You can see it here

And of course Robyn's original Call Your Girlfriend I posted about earlier. Here is a hilarious rendition by Taran Killam of SNL, caught behind the scenes at 4:00 a.m. the week Robyn was the musical guest.



2. Adele is scheduled to perform
This is, for me, the most anticipated moment of the coming show. At first look, 2011 certainly seemed like the year of Adele. She followed the huge breakout success of her first album with a strong sophemore effort, "21". The album earned her six Grammy nominations, her music is played on all kinds of radio stations, and is topping charts across the world. And then came the news that she ruptured a vocal cord. Think of that. Seriously. Ruptured vocal cord. She underwent serious throat surgery, and the future of her singing career has been in doubt ever since. The Grammy appearance marks her first public performance since surgery and 8 weeks of doctor-ordered silence. Here is to hoping her recovery allows her to still sing like this.



3. Grammy Drama: Cutting the Awards Categories

There is usually a juicy story or two attached to the Grammy's. This year one of the most interesting things about the Grammy's is something that may not even get mentioned in the show itself. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences who run the event streamlined the award categories, cutting the number to 78 from 109. The once male/female categories in Pop, Rock, R&B, and Rap are no longer separated by gender. A bunch of categories were eliminated all together, including Latin jazz, zydeco, traditional blues, American Indian and gospel music. These changes have a lot of artists and fans pissed off, with the argument being that these moves further degenerate an awards event already overly-focused on popularity and record sales versus quality music. The anger around this has sparked enough frustration that there is going to be a protest against the alterations outside the Staples Center, followed by a concert called, "The Not Those Awards All-Star Latin Jazz Jam". I doubt any of this will get airtime, but I am curious to see if any award winners take a minute onstage to call out the controversial changes.