2008 Woodie Awards
Grammy Awards appendix
John Bovay
Issue date: 2/14/07 Section: Opinion
The Grammy Awards were Sunday night. Here's my appendix on some categories that should have been:
Best song: Grizzly Bear, Don't Ask. It's a hauntingly quiet song, and I don't really remember any of the lyrics besides "Don't Ask" but somehow the acoustic guitar, whispered song and minor key piano flourishes are unlike anything I've ever heard, and always make me immediately ask myself what this song is. Even though the rest of the band's work I could throw aside and unsuitable for parties or even radio, this particular song is nearly perfect.
Most controversial: Joanna Newsom, Ys. I love this harpist with an unusual voice--my sister says it sounds like a bad musical, and I say that the musical would be set in Middle-Earth. Alienates most people, but without a doubt, at five songs and 55 minutes, the most ambitious album of the year.
Best album named for a Radiohead lyric: Band of Horses, Everything All the Time.
Best French-language album: Malajube, Trompe-L'oeil; the album artwork is a trick of the eye, and the Montreal band reflects the sounds of Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, and Unicorns. Check out Montreal -40C.
Best rap album, duo: Clipse, Hell Hath No Fury. Norfolk-based crack-hopper brothers, check them out. Also, most unexpected rap lyric of the year: "And one day, they may even catch up with me man / But til then, I'm Leonardo, Catch Me If You Can"
Best album with incomprehensible lyrics: Destroyer, Destroyer's Rubies. Dan Bejar speaks clearly, but makes no sense. Exquisitely produced, but his song structures stretch listeners' patience.
Best cover song: Jenny Lewis feat. Ben Gibbard, M. Ward, Conor Oberst: Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care."
Best experimental blues album: Califone, Roots & Crowns. Roots is right: Chicago post-rock band evokes the sparseness of early blues, despite the strangest acoustic insrumentation I've ever heard. Sounds as if Jeff Tweedy and Thom Yorke teamed up on the blues project, and then Thom started believing he was visited frequently by a Druidic god (as Califone's lead singer does.)
Best electro-pop album: Junior Boys, So This is Goodbye. Imagine the Postal Service recast without rock aspirations.
Best reissue EVER: Pavement, Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition. 2 full discs showcase the 1995 album's B-sides, outtakes, alternate versions, and live performances. Why EVER? Because this is the perfect way to understand the most varied album ever recorded, with its songs ranging from alt-country ("Extradition") to noisy early-90s parody ("Serpentine Pad").
Best song: Grizzly Bear, Don't Ask. It's a hauntingly quiet song, and I don't really remember any of the lyrics besides "Don't Ask" but somehow the acoustic guitar, whispered song and minor key piano flourishes are unlike anything I've ever heard, and always make me immediately ask myself what this song is. Even though the rest of the band's work I could throw aside and unsuitable for parties or even radio, this particular song is nearly perfect.
Most controversial: Joanna Newsom, Ys. I love this harpist with an unusual voice--my sister says it sounds like a bad musical, and I say that the musical would be set in Middle-Earth. Alienates most people, but without a doubt, at five songs and 55 minutes, the most ambitious album of the year.
Best album named for a Radiohead lyric: Band of Horses, Everything All the Time.
Best French-language album: Malajube, Trompe-L'oeil; the album artwork is a trick of the eye, and the Montreal band reflects the sounds of Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, and Unicorns. Check out Montreal -40C.
Best rap album, duo: Clipse, Hell Hath No Fury. Norfolk-based crack-hopper brothers, check them out. Also, most unexpected rap lyric of the year: "And one day, they may even catch up with me man / But til then, I'm Leonardo, Catch Me If You Can"
Best album with incomprehensible lyrics: Destroyer, Destroyer's Rubies. Dan Bejar speaks clearly, but makes no sense. Exquisitely produced, but his song structures stretch listeners' patience.
Best cover song: Jenny Lewis feat. Ben Gibbard, M. Ward, Conor Oberst: Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care."
Best experimental blues album: Califone, Roots & Crowns. Roots is right: Chicago post-rock band evokes the sparseness of early blues, despite the strangest acoustic insrumentation I've ever heard. Sounds as if Jeff Tweedy and Thom Yorke teamed up on the blues project, and then Thom started believing he was visited frequently by a Druidic god (as Califone's lead singer does.)
Best electro-pop album: Junior Boys, So This is Goodbye. Imagine the Postal Service recast without rock aspirations.
Best reissue EVER: Pavement, Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition. 2 full discs showcase the 1995 album's B-sides, outtakes, alternate versions, and live performances. Why EVER? Because this is the perfect way to understand the most varied album ever recorded, with its songs ranging from alt-country ("Extradition") to noisy early-90s parody ("Serpentine Pad").
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