Albums In Rotation

It’s been a while since I did one of these types of posts.  Right before I jumped on a plane for a little trip to Jamaica, I loaded up my Ipod with a few new albums to be enjoyed while traveling and on the beach.  I really like having albums that remind me of my trips to different places.  I’ve already stated how Bon Iver’s self-titled album will always bring back memories of Italy for me.  Additionally, I listened to a ton of Star’s “Heart” album while traveling to and around Spain.  I wasn’t really sure what album would catch my attention on this particular trip; therefore, I decided I had to have a few just incase one of them wasn’t quite doing the trick.  In the end, although a few albums seemed to find their way to the forefront of the playlist, I think it was more about the entire rotation of this trip.  I didn’t find myself landing on one album or another too often.  I even had to throw on The Shin’s new one more than a few times as well.  Here are the albums that helped me chill out on the beach.

Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball – I’ve had a soft spot for The Boss for years now.  I grew up in NJ, but I didn’t grow up listening to his music.  In college, my friend and I started to hunt down different vinyl we thought we would enjoy.  It was at that time I ended up picking up a bunch of different classic Springsteen records and ultimately loving his stuff.  Therefore, when this one came out, I had to jump on it right away.  Bruce’s music always sounds like Bruce, but he manages to put a different spin on it in different ways.  I don’t know if he has ever had so many songs that have such an Irish country feel to it; however, I like it. His voice works really well with the style.  The title song, “Wrecking Ball”, is one of my favorite songs on the album.  It has some great NJ references to it that give me some pride that Jersey Shore took from me.  There are, unfortunately, a few songs I’m not really all that into.  ”Rocky Ground” is a somewhat boring song, and it has a little R&B breakdown in it that I find rather annoying as well.  Bruce needs to stick to what he’s good at.  Additionally, I can’t help but think “Swallowed Up (In The Belly of The Whale)” is too boring as well.  Thankfully there is enough good real Springsteen material for me to still enjoy this record on the whole.

Justin Townes Earle – Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now – This guy released an album a lot of people went crazy for a few years ago, and I just couldn’t get into it.  It was one of those albums I put on time and time again, but I could never find a love for it.  Thanks to the wonders of Spotify, I gave this new album a chance despite the fact I couldn’t get down with that album.  Thank goodness I did get this one.  This album has to be one of my top albums on my playlist right now.  Earle has a really bluesy and twangy quality to his sound.  A lot of the songs on the album are pretty quiet and easy listening, but they were giving me exactly what I needed for the beach.  His twangy quality only picks up even more on songs like “Memphis in the Rain”.  I think one of the things I like most about him is the Elvis Costello sound I hear in his voice and delivery.  ”Baby’s Got a Bad Idea” has a great Costello rock feel with a country twinge to it, and it’s one of the more up beat songs on the album which I appreciate.

Of Monsters and Men – My Head is an Animal – This band was discovered through quite a few different mediums.  Paste has been talking about them for months, then I caught the video randomly on TV a few times, and I finally saw a favorable review on another resource.  I figured I needed to give them a chance.  This band comes from Iceland who has also given us great acts like Bjork and Sigur Ros, so I was even more interested in them for that reason.  Good music seems to come out of this strange little country.  They provide a really big full sound on all of their songs, which I really like about what they do.  I also appreciate the fact that they have both a male and female lead for the band.  They tend to lean more on their female lead, but it gives them a lot of ability to harmonize on nearly every song.  Of course, every member seems to get in on the chants which they seem to include on a whole lot of songs.  I’m not sure how I feel about that, but I think it adds to that full sound.  ”Little Talks” is the lead single off the album, and it may be slightly misleading to someone new to the band how uptempo most of their material may actually be.  ”Little Talks” is definitely the fastest song on the entire album.  The other songs provide some really full, slightly ambient music with some great harmonized singing.  They kind of remind me of The Head and The Heart with less folk influence.

The Decemberists – We All Raise Our Voices to the Air – If you’ve been reading this little blog for the past year then you know I love this band.  Earlier this week I reviewed Colin Meloy’s book, I have reviewed their latest EP release on here too, and I named “The King is Dead” my favorite album of last year.  I guess I have a little crush.  This is a two disc live album from the act out of Portland.  Let’s face it, you don’t go get a live album unless you really like the band.  I wouldn’t go get a live album from a band I had never listened to before, and I won’t expect you to do that either.  I got this one because I do enjoy listening to the banter that goes on in-between songs, seeing how they change up material live, and I like to support the bands I enjoy the most.  I have The Foo Fighter’s live acoustic album too.  Most of the songs are performed fairly similar to how they were originally composed, but I’m alright with that for the most part.  Meloy opens the whole album by letting the crowd know they are in the wrong place if they are looking for Keith Urban.  It at least gets you laughing before they even play.  Another highlight for me is on a song titled “Dracula’s Daughter”.  Meloy declares that it’s the worst song he has ever written in his life.  He sings a song about the woes of being Dracula’s daughter before transitioning to “O Valencia!”  You’re not going to go get this one if you don’t like the band, but if you’re a Decemberists fan I think it’s worth checking it out.  If nothing else it ends up sounding like a greatest hits record performed live.

There were a few other albums I got for the trip, but I think these are the strongest out of all of them.  If you’re in the mood for some new music in your life, these are some good albums to check out.  While I have two new albums downloading as I type this out, I know these albums will stay in rotation for a while to come.

April 12, 2012
Categories: All Posts . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: 2 Comments

“Indie” Music: Is it really all that “Indie”?

The Shins play SNL

I don’t claim to be an elitist, but I do like the thought I happen to experience things now and then that not everyone is privy to.  Craft beers and indie music are great examples of this.  Yes people can find them readily available if they are looking, but most people really don’t go out there and look for themselves.  This weekend we saw one of the least stuck up holidays of the year in beer celebrated.  Any holiday that gets you to drink even more garbage beer by placing green dye in it really can’t be considered in any way stuck up or elitist.  Perhaps that is why I am not a fan of the holiday.  I know I just couldn’t have headed out and asked anyone to put some food coloring in a beer that I already dislike because it is cool that day.  Music is a similar way.  People like to grab what is readily available.  Of course there are those people out there that are trying to get new music on the radio and make it readily available to everyone else, but the majority of people don’t go out and search for something they have to work for.  They like things to come easy.

Now a days I think the line between these “indie” bands and your typical bands have started to blur.  There was a point in time, before the internet and even the big T.V. boom, where people needed to get out to shows to figure out who the new bands were.  People weren’t able to quickly figure out who was going to be an up and coming band via Facebook, MySpace, twitter, or Spotify.  They literally had to find their way to concerts, exchange tapes, or do some sort of physically involved search to find it.  Now you can type in a band, quickly find samples or complete songs from them, and even find bands that are associated or sound like them.  The search isn’t quite so hard anymore.  The internet has completely changed the way we get our music.  I’m not even all that old, and I can remember sending out order forms to different record labels when I was in middle and early high school.  I would pick up a music sampler from a company, figure out what I liked, order the albums, and I would wait 6-8 weeks for my music in the mail.  It’s like we went from hunting with rocks and spears to machine guns all of a sudden.

tUnE-yArDs on Jimmy Kimmel

T.V is also playing a huge role in the big boom in to the indie world of music as well.  If you are a sucker for a few different rather popular T.V. shows, you’ll end up watching an episode and realize you know the song playing in the background.  A lot of popular dramas are pulling in popular indie artists to highlight different moments of their shows.  Heck, half of She & Him is the lead in one of the more popular new comedies of this year.  Of course she started her career as an actor, but you can associate her with M.Ward who is far more “indie” overall.  Then it seems like half of the bands performing on late night television and SNL are bands I happen to love as well.  There were three weeks straight where I actually tapped SNL solely to see the musical guests.  I was actually won over on both tUnE – yArDs and Gotye by watching their performances on late night television.

This whole thought process for this post erupted from watching the half hour Woodie Awards presentation on MTV this weekend.  A couple of years in a row now I have happened to catch this particular award show.  Last year I was kind of psyched for it.   Both Matt & Kim and Das Racist were supposed to be performing on it.  Only one did, but I was interested to see what they did.  This year only further proved to me that the line between the underground scene and mainstream is blurring quickly.

This year they announced early on they were coming from South by Southwest festival.  A festival most would still associate

Is that Taylor Swift with the Civil Wars?

primarily with the underground music scene.  Then half of the host team was Pauly D from the Jersey Shore.  Perhaps the least underground individual person possible.  The big contrast between these two items immediately sent up red flags.  The awards they handed out were just as strange.  Best Coast won an award right along side Machine Gun Kelly and Mac Miller.  Meanwhile artists like M83, Gotye, The Black Keys, and Battles were all up for awards which they ended up losing.  Mac Miller, Santigold, and Steve Aoki (with Lil Jon) all performed at the event.  Ultimately it seemed like this year’s event was a lackluster presentation of somewhat little known performances.  I guess you can boil it down to really sad.  It seemed like MTV wanted everyone to remember that they still kind of know what music is hip.

As I get older I’m not really all that worried about losing the ability to know about bands that no one knows.  If you talked to me in high school and college I would have been screaming sell out all day.  Times are changing though. Bon Iver and Arcade Fire are big time award winners, the Civil Wars are performing songs with Taylor Swift, and Vampire Weekend have sold just about every one of their songs to one commercial or another.  I appreciate where my love for music has come from, but I can’t help but wonder if this new way of discovering music will ultimately change the perception and love for it as well.  I guess time will tell!

March 21, 2012
Categories: Life, Lyrics . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: 2 Comments

Bon Iver – “One Hit Wonder?”

If you haven’t already gotten sick of hearing about all of the Bon Iver backlash just yet, I have a few thoughts for you today.  Looking back at the individuals who have won Best New Artist over the past few years, it would seem most of them have become semi-successful in most of their careers.  I’m not really entirely certain if last years winner, Esperanza Spalding, is considered currently still successful or not; however, the Zac Brown Band, Adele, Amy Winehouse, Carrie Underwood, and Maroon 5 seem to still be enjoying the spotlight. Well maybe not Amy Winehouse.  Anyway, I was wondering if most normal people will consider Bon Iver a flash in the pan years down the road, or if he will find himself back at the Grammys sometime in the future.  Of course, some of us knew about Bon Iver before he created one of the funnier mass confusion moments at this year’s Grammys, but will he end up on a VH1 countdown with Right Said Fred?

For those of us who knew Bon Iver, i.e. Justin Vernon, before he made a “splash” at the Grammys, we found it funny that he was even up for an award declaring him best new artist.  Justin Vernon released his actual first album, “For Emma, Forever Ago”, back in 2008.  He also released an EP, “Blood Bank”, back in 2009.  So technically, he shouldn’t have even been eligible for this award.  But, a lot of people only just became exposed to his existence.  I did a little research, and Vernon experienced over a 100% increase in his sales following his win at the Grammys.  Therefore, it sounds like he could be experiencing a little bit more popularity.  Vernon even made it into a sketch on SNL this past week.  Justin Timberlake impersonates Vernon singing to Jay-z and Beyonce’s baby.  If you can manage to find the video, you definitely need to watch it.  Youtube isn’t giving me a good video of it to put up on here.

If you were paying attention to the various internet sites that would report on Bon Iver, you saw that he released a little 25 minute internet video last week.  In the video he performs with Sean Carey, supporting player in Bon Iver, some of the songs off “Blood Bank” and “Bon Iver” using only two grand pianos.  Having watched it all the way through, I really enjoy it a lot, but I’m not sure it will continue to win him any fans.  However, if you watched Vernon’s acceptance speech, I really doubt that’s why he put it out. He knows who helped put him on the map, and he knows who he makes music for.  Bon Iver may not make it back onto the Grammys ever again, but I think this video helps to show that he isn’t going to change.  He will continue to make music his way, and if the masses enjoy it, all the better.

February 21, 2012
Categories: Lyrics . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: Leave a Comment

A Few Thoughts on the Grammys

I know the Grammys occurred more than a couple of days ago; however, I work Sunday nights.  Therefore, we DVR most of these award shows since they seem to occur on Sunday nights.  I must, however, tell you the tremendous benefit to utilizing the DVR for these instances.  First of all, there are countless commercials that you can skip.  Secondly, they love to fill the event with as much fluff as possible.  Finally, you can skip all of the performances you could care less about.  Not that I don’t enjoy Nicki Minaj’s interpretation of Lady Gaga, but I …. oh wait yeah I hate her.  I know someone will tell me you end up finding out too much on Facebook and other media outlets before you get a chance to watch, but I know most of us figured Adele would clean up, and I also really don’t care all that much. On to my thoughts on the actual event.

The Performances: Why has it become popular to try to find every bizarre paring possible to make things seem like a Grammy moment.  I kept hearing LL throw the term “Grammy moment” around.

Where am I?

Can it still be a Grammy moment if you force the collaboration?  Things in music tend to happen organically.  Trying to make Maroon 5 and The Beach Boys work together looks forced and awkward.  I think Bon Iver got it right when he said F* you I’m not doing someone else’s music.  These artists get to the Grammys on their skills and talents.  Why make them do something that doesn’t really showcase this?  Some people can pull it off.  The Band Perry sounded really good with their tribute; however, I will keep coming back to the awkwardness that was The Beach Boys. Even the Foo Fighter’s with Deadmau5 was really awkward.  I thought individually they did fine, but the part that they combined for was strange and strained.  Individually, I thought there were some good performances.  I actually thought Taylor Swift sounded halfway decent, even though I wanted to hear more of The Civil Wars first.  I thought Foo Fighters did a good rendition of their song, and I actually felt the passion Adele had.  There were plenty I didn’t care for, but I think that is more just my bias.

The Awards: I thought most of the award winners weren’t too bad based on who was nominated for the awards.  After last years backlash after The Arcade Fire taking home album of the year, I wasn’t all that surprised to see Adele take home just about every award.  I’ll admit that I stop on her songs when I hear her on the radio, so I’m not a hater.  She did put out a really impressive record that a lot of people really enjoyed.  I can’t fault her there.  I was more than happy to see Bon Iver take home the best new artist.  I really didn’t want to see Nicki Minaj win that one.  His speech was pretty funny, but I think he did a good job as well.  I like how he hinted at the fact that there were tons of amazing artists who will never even reach the Grammys, but I was even more happy to see him be gracious after that.  I wasn’t surprised by the Foo Fighters, Chris Brown, or the duo from Watch the Throne winning awards.  I think Foo Fighters had the stiffest competition out of those categories, but they were well deserving.  Ultimately I wish they gave us a lot less filler at the Grammys and a few more awards.  There were so many awards that were handed out that weren’t even televised.  Foo Fighters took home 5 awards, but they were only recognized for one.  The Civil Wars won two awards, and they weren’t even given their time to thank anyone.  I don’t want it to become one of those award shows where every producer comes on stage, but I want to see a few more of the significant ones.   Skrillex fans got all mad that he didn’t win Best New Artist, but he did manage to take home a Grammy or two.  Nicki Minaj on the other hand got shut out.  Betty White and Louis C.K. even got one.  How did we skip those accomplishments?

I’m not really a fan of all the musicians or music that is celebrated at the Grammys; however, I do enjoy taking a look at who seems to be popular every year.  Plus, I love watching the completely self-absorbed crowd get their ego stroked a little every year.  That may be a little harsh but most of those outfits don’t say humble.  Anyway, they may not be the best representation of the music scene anymore, but I think they still have the pure entertainment value.  Just make sure you DVR it so you can skip all of the egos you hate.

February 15, 2012
Categories: Life, Lyrics . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: 2 Comments

Top 10 Albums in 2011

I feel the need to preface this post with telling everyone this is a personal list.  I have a feeling not everyone will agree with all of my picks, and it also really won’t match up with a lot of other lists that people have made this year.  I have a few favorites that were deemed great albums by other music sources, but I tried to base my picks on the albums I listed to the most this year.  These are albums I always went to when I didn’t know what to listen to, and therefore, they were my favorite albums of the year.  Really, what better way to judge if it was a good album or not.

10. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost 

This album was one I tossed around doing a review of for a few weeks.  I did really like this album this year, but I had a tough time gathering my thoughts on what I liked about it.  I think the first song on the album, “Honey Bunny”, really helps to embody what I like  most about what they do.  They have this surfer / Beach Boy feel to their music.  It is however, the Beach Boys brought into the 21st century.  You can picture listening to them at a little beach party.  These guys can still leave their beach loving sound and create some really well crafted deep songs as well.  ”Vomit”  shows them slow it down, but still have a real good break down in the middle as well.  Overall I think this is a great album that really shows off the bands abilities.

9. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient

I did actually review this album for the site already.  I figured that it was a B overall, which I guess doesn’t really scream one of my top 10 favorite albums, but I consistently came back to this album over and over after the review was complete.  I think that really helps to show an album is something I enjoy.  These guys play some good ambient rock and roll somewhat reflective of some of rock’s greats.  With a singer that sounds somewhat like Dylan or Petty, their slow-paced ambient songs keep you interested without relying on some of the loud overpowering qualities rock has come to have now a days.  Spinal Tap made it seem like you have to turn it up to 11, but these guys show you 11 isn’t necessary.

8. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong

I was a little surprised to not see this album on a few more lists.  I know it wouldn’t end up near the top of every list, but I really thought it would end up somewhere on the list.  I know their first album made a huge splash, and I actually like this album more than their previous album.  They have a really good dichotomy between their really soft sung lyrics, and their much louder fuzzy music.  I am sure that it isn’t for everyone, but really enjoy the sound that they manage to develop.  It personally reminds me of the first time I heard Morrissey.  He seems to sound a lot different and almost softer than the rest of the music, but somehow it all fit together.  This one will manage to keep your foot tapping even with the extremely softly sung lyrics.

7. Dale Earnhart Jr. Jr. – It’s a Corporate World

This is another album I reviewed at some point during the year.  I actually had to have a friend point out how good this album is to me.  I downloaded it, gave it one listen, and I never really put it back on again.  Thankfully, he told me to give it another try because it became one of my favorite albums of the year.  Much different from really any other album on this list, I enjoy the way in which these guys manage to incorporate so much electronics into their music.  Electronics are something that I’m never really a huge fan of in music.  These guys, however, manage to use it so subtly that it only enhances and doesn’t take over the rest of the music.  The singing helps to blend smoothly into the rest of the mix.  Really, none of the songs sound like the previous song, which I think helps to make this album really interesting.  You almost don’t know what each song will bring to the rest of the mix.

6. Destroyer – Kaputt

I thought most people had forgotten about this album, but then I started seeing it show up on other sites top lists of music for the year.  I guess I wasn’t the only one who had enjoyed this one this year.  I did actually end up reviewing this one; however, it was much earlier on in my time of having this blog, so I would probably redo that review now.  Either way, this is just a great overall album.  Dan Bejar creates an album that is soft, subtle, and danceable all in one.  The music is all reserved and low key.  It manages to hit a little bit of that 80′s feel now and then, but Bejar’s vocals come in with their Bowie-eque feel to really drive that point home as well.  Bejar’s breathy easy delivery at first is a little off putting, but as you listen, you really get taken in by the entire composition of the records.

5. The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow

I was a little mad to see this album left off some people’s favorites of the year; however, thanks to a fellow blogger, I was shown that it made other lists I had not checked out as of yet.  The Civil Wars have the perfect unity of male and female vocals, while producing music that is really beautiful as well.  The song “Barton Hollow”, however, allows the listener to see how they can make their sound grittier as well.  The tale of two people on the run from the law has to be my favorite song on the album.  The rest of the songs still manage to show the cohesive unit that these two have become.  Their voices blend beautifully together to create one of the best albums of the year, and with this style of music only becoming more popular, I’m fairly certain they are poised to only become more popular.

4. Bon Iver – Bon Iver

I can’t help but feel this comes across a little as a bandwagon pick, but I did really enjoy this album this year.  It won’t make it to the top of my list due to the fact that I also manage to find it rather boring at times, but it is definitely one of the best albums of this year.  Justin Vernon, the face behind the name, has one of the most interesting vocal deliveries in all of music.  I had one friend tell me how seeing him live is sort of strange.  You have a somewhat disheveled bearded man walk up on stage and play beautiful music while singing in falsetto.  Somehow it manages to work.  I really latched onto this album while traveling around Italy.  Every time we boarded a train, I put this record on, sat back, and watched the Italian countryside go by.  Vernon’s voice, fields of sunflowers, and old Italian architecture really made this album a favorite of mine.

3. The Head and the Heart – The Head and the Heart

From my bandwagon pick to my “seriously?!” pick.  I was happy to see this album come up on a few different lists, but I really didn’t expect to see it on very many.  As I said when I review this the first time, there is a stigma to a band that goes on tour with Dave Matthews Band.  Regardless of that fact, I still think this is a great album.  While they may be a little late arriving at the folk genre, I think they do a fine job of playing music that is not only catchy, but also really pretty good.  There are certain songs on the album where I had to check and make sure I was still listening to the same song.  They have the ability to take their songs in different directions in the middle of the song.  This helps to keep it interesting and show their song writing abilities as well.  Aside from a little misfire here and there, I think this is a great album that is flying under a few people radars.

2. Foo Fighters – Wasting Light

And now for something completely different.  I know this is radio rock and that fact manages to keep it off many people’s list.  I have been a Foo Fighters fan since their inception, and it’s that kind of loyalty that keeps me coming back to their albums.  I will admit to getting a little scared when they released a rather country sounding single to go with their greatest hits album, but they really managed to redeem themselves with this release.  Chockfull of hearty rock songs, this album is really driven forward by what Dave and the gang have done well for years.  However, this time, they really went back to their roots.  They created just good rock and roll.  There are a few of the slower Foo Fighter style songs as well, but “Walk” has been a fairly big hit this year, and they have a couple others on here that complement the record as well.  I personally think it’s their best album since “The Colour and the Shape”.

1. The Decemberists – The King is Dead

I was surprised to see this album so high on some people’s lists, and I was sad to see it omitted from others.  I, however, thought this was the best album of the year.  I won’t lie; I am a sucker for a record that I can almost completely sing a long to, and I have definitely done that with this one.  If you can’t get behind that harmonica introduction to the entire record, then I’m sure you won’t like the rest of the album either.  This has been my go-to album the entire year.  When I didn’t know what I wanted to listen to; I would pop this one on and give it a listen.  It never really disappointed me.  And, to be honest, I have never listened to a previous album from The Decemberists as much as I have with this one.  Meloy’s iconic voice carries most of the songs along, while there is some harmonizing that takes place as well.  The music is robust and keeps your foot tapping almost the entire time.  I know it may not be the most technically amazing album of the year, and perhaps this band doesn’t have as much indie/hipster cred as they once did.  None of that really matters to me.  I just want to listen to a record I think is fun.

December 21, 2011
Categories: Lyrics . Tags: , , , , , , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: 3 Comments

Bon Iver and the Grammy Awards

The Grammy nominees were announced today with Bon Iver picking up three different nominations in Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.  I would have to agree that Bon Iver created one of the best albums of the year; however, I find it rather interesting that a year after The Arcade Fire won a surprise victory for Album of the Year for “The Suburbs”, Bon Iver is now up for a rather large award himself.  How has the Grammy Awards become such an indie forward event?

Taking a look at each award, it will be interesting to see who comes away with the victory.

Record of the Year: Bon Iver – Holocene ; Adele – Rolling in the Deep ; Bruno Mars – Grenade ; Mumford and Sons – The Cave ; Katy Perry – Firework

I can see a few different people taking the award here.  If we are going off radio hits and singles, then Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, or Adele could take it.  If we are looking at a music integrity point of view, Bon Iver, Adele, or Mumford and Sons could take it.  I wish I could say that Bon Iver is a lock to win here; however, I would be more than happy to see Mumford take it home as well.  I can’t help but think that Katy Perry and Bruno Mars would be the prom king and queen vote.

Song of the Year: Kanye West (and supporting artists) – All of the Lights ; Bon Iver- Holocene ; Adele – Rolling in the Deep ; Mumford and Sons – The Cave ; Bruno Mars – Grenade

Aside from one artist, this category looks basically the same.  Somehow Kanye makes it in here.  Now I’m not really a big Kanye fan.  I enjoyed his early stuff, but I really begin to dislike people the bigger their head gets.  I have a feeling a lot the same theory will apply in this category from the last one.  As far as songs go, I feel like most of these could win this category.  I have a feeling this one could be even harder for Bon Iver to win.  He doesn’t get really any radio play, and I can’t help but think this would work against him.  Like last time, I would still be happy to see Mumford win this one too.

Artist of the Year: The Band Perry ; Bon Iver ; Skrillex ; Niki Minaj ; J. Cole

I feel like with Niki Minaj in this category there is very little chance that Bon comes out with a win here.  I personally can’t stand Niki.  I  feel like she would fit nicely into the most overrated category; however, I watched the American Music Awards the other week and she pretty much cleaned up.  For me, the real two contenders should be The Band Perry and Bon Iver.  I think Perry has a much more legit sound, and they are actually somewhat enjoyable to me.  Therefore, I would be kind of okay to see them win.  I have to be honest that I have no idea what Skrillex or J.Cole sound like.

In the end, I would love to see Bon Iver walk out with something.  Personally, I doubt he walks out with three awards, but I think he has a much better chance to walk away with at least one.  If The Arcade Fire can pull off Album of the Year, then I definitely think Bon needs at least one awards. There are some other good nominees in other categories, such as The Decemberists, The Black Keys, and Foo Fighters nominated for various awards.  I’ll definitely be watching, so look out for a little follow up review of the awards in February.

 

December 1, 2011
Categories: Life, Lyrics . Tags: , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: Leave a Comment

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