Grammys 2024 — the good, the bad and the ugly (part 1)

It’s time for another big award show to habitually disappoint me when its list of nominations comes out, and in the hotseat today is everyone’s favourite musical myopics, the Recording Academy. Second perhaps only to the Oscars in their infamous blindness, the Grammys earn my eternal ire on account of their extreme posturing and token breadth of scope. There are 94 categories, for goodness’ sake, and while not all of them are strictly musical the vast majority cater for music in some form or another.

Why, then, are there always so many blindspots? In part, due to the arbitrary nature of a set number of shortlisted nominees per category; in part, structural problems that one Medium article isn’t equipped to dismantle. But regardless, I’m always one to acknowledge the good alongside the bad, and so here may I present the first half of 10 good picks, 10 bad choices, and 10 ugly omissions from this year’s nominations.

N.B. My scope here will largely be on the less-obvious picks — of course ‘Anti-Hero’ would be up for song of the year, of course ‘What Was I Made For’ is going to sweep everything, of course Maverick City Music are always going to be in the Contemporary Christian category, they’re not INTERESTING to me by now, whether or not I think they’re good or bad or valiant or misjudged. Also, bear in mind, another 15 will be coming in a subsequent update, so stay tuned if your personal hot-take hasn’t made it in here!

A GOOD PICK: Mélusine (Cécile McLorin Salvant)

Perpetually one of jazz’s most intriguing and explorative artists, Cécile McLorin Salvant is no stranger to the Best Jazz Vocal Album category, being a five-time nominee and three-time winner — and despite her name perhaps feeling like a shoe-in at this point, it’s hard to argue against Mélusine’s inclusion in the field this year (though I was initially a tad worried after last year’s highly-acclaimed Ghost Song that Mélusine would be left in the dust). I’m maybe a little perplexed on ‘Fenestra’ being up for Best Arrangement, particularly when the vocal harmonies of ‘Petite musique terrienne’ were right there, but in the grand scheme of things this is a good pair of nominations for Salvant.

A BAD CHOICE: Barbie (Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt)

HOLD ON, hold on, I’m not talking about the ‘Barbie the Album’ album that’s up for Best Compilation Soundtrack — that’s a certified banger and a clear front-runner for that category (though check in next time for my thoughts on Song for Visual Media, which is goddamn OVERRUN by that album). I’m talking about the other Barbie soundtrack — the instrumental cues that are up for Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media. There is, to my ear, almost nothing noteworthy about the instrumental soundtrack to this film, except in how seamlessly it blends with the songs it takes its cues from. If you like synth chords that kind of just sit there and *just* enough disco to tap a toe to, maybe you’ll get more out of it than me — but otherwise, it doesn’t hold a candle to any of the other nominees.

AN UGLY OMISSION: Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2 (PinkPantheress, Ice Spice)

Arguably the most inescapable song in the first quarter of this year, this rework of PinkPantheress’ 2022 track Boy’s a Liar is both her and Ice Spice’s most streamed song by some margin — and it’s not difficult to see why, with its infectious video-game qualities, softly understated vocal deliveries and catchy chorus. Why it’s not anywhere to be found on the call-sheet for the Grammys, then, is beyond me — I could justify it being up for Record of the Year personally, but the song’s absence from even Pop Duo/Group Performance is glaring. Hoping that the RA will remember PinkPantheress’ debut album (which came out this week!) for next year’s consideration to make up for this oversight.

A GOOD PICK: Rush (Troye Sivan)

The Pop Dance Recording nommy is deserved all on its own, but there’s no denying the specific impact of the Gordon Von Steiner-directed visual that is nominated for Best Music Video. Indeed, all three of the album’s music videos have been nothing short of breathtaking — if there was a separate award for Music Video Campaign, Troye’s whole album would surely be a shoe-in. There of course are the comments on the lack of body diversity (remedied in ecstatic fashion in the follow-up, ‘Got Me Started’) that perhaps have slightly dampened the music video’s hold, but it remains a vibrant and gripping portrait of young queer libertinism that pairs brilliantly with the feisty, house-infused track.

A BAD CHOICE: Fast Car (Luke Combs)

Not many songs have been as abused over the past few years as Tracy Chapman’s iconic ode to escaping the clutches of poverty — first came the frankly unnecessary unworking at the hands of Jonas Blue, and now this tedious cover by 2023’s generic country man of the year, Luke Combs. It’s technically fine — the guitar playing is fine, the singing is fine, his enunciation is fine — but it ends up such a flat, uninspired rehashing that adds nothing to the original song and I don’t understand its nomination here. It seems to take away any of Chapman’s sincerity, replacing it with a phoned-in growl that starts to bore. (And that’s not to mention Combs’ history of problematic statements that further casts doubt onto the intentions of rerecording a black queer woman’s breakout hit — but that’s a rant for a different time.)

AN UGLY OMISSION: Being (Baaba Maal)

Baaba Maal is as close to music royalty as one can get, being one of the pioneers of the sprawling West African style commonly known as worldbeat and a major cultural ambassador for Pulaar-speaking and wider Fula communities. With five years having passed since his last album, Being was hotly anticipated and enthusiastically received, with many outlets (myself included) citing it as one of the best albums of the year so far. Given how Africa-heavy the RA’s gaze for ‘Best Global Music’ (ick) tends to be, I’m surprised and a little disheartened that this year didn’t see him bag his second-ever Grammy nomination.

A GOOD PICK: I Inside the Old Year Dying (PJ Harvey)

Alternative, like ‘Global Music’ (still ick), is a nebulous category at the Grammys — always has been, always will be — but the field this year at least is a uniformly strong one. boygenius, Lana, Arctic Monkeys and Gorillaz were all fairly expected nominees to my eyes in one genre or another, but I was thrilled to see PJ Harvey bag her fifth nomination in the category too — particularly as it felt like I Inside came and went with less fanfare than her output typically receives. Do I think it’s ridiculous that Lana del Ray, Gorillaz and PJ Harvey are counted as the same genre in the first place? Yes, yes I do, but that’s yet another rant for a different time.

A BAD CHOICE: — (Ed Sheeran)

Let’s start with the good news: Subtract is by far the best album Sheeran has put out in years. The production seems more put-together, the songwriting a little less obvious, and there are even a couple of genuinely rather brilliant tracks on there. But it’s still very much a 6/10 at best for me, and when paired with noticeable absences from the Pop Vocal Album category this year (cf. Caroline Polachek below as just one example), the fact that yet another Ed Sheeran release is taking up a nomination irks me some. (Not as egregious as Divide WINNING the category in 2018, though — but let’s see who wins in February and I’ll get back to you on how I feel.)

AN UGLY OMISSION: Past Lives (Christopher Bear, Daniel Rossen)

Perhaps I’m biased here, what with Past Lives comfortably my favourite film of the year so far, but where is its nomination for Best Score Soundtrack? Penned by Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossen of New York indie outfit Grizzly Bear, the soundtrack’s dreamy, droney atmosphere perfectly captures the melancholy laced drippingly throughout the movie — and yet it stands perfectly well as a soft, tender standalone project too. Perhaps it was just a little slow for the Recording Academy voters, which makes me worried for the soundtrack’s chances at the Oscars too, but a wonderful listen for the receptive.

A GOOD PICK: Hit-Boy

Jack Antonoff won Non-Classical Producer in 2022 and 2023, and he’s nominated again with three very strong albums to back him up (Taylor’s Midnights, Lana’s … Ocean Blvd and the 1975’s Being Funny in a Foreign Language), but he’ll find some stiff competition in Hit-Boy, whose credits list features (amongst many others) all three of Nas’s 2023 records. The most cited producer amongst this nominations alongside Metro Boomin, Hit-Boy’s steady rise to megastardom began all the way back in 2011, where he helped produce double-Grammy-winner ‘Ni**as in Paris’ for Kanye and Jay-Z, and yet his first Best Producer nomination at the Grammys only came two years ago — I’m hoping that the second time round he can bag the win.

A BAD CHOICE: Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (Austin Wintory, Tripod, Montaigne) (and not proofreading your announcements)

Stray Gods is a noble failure of a soundtrack album — or rather, four soundtrack albums that come in blueberry, strawberry, lime and grape. Four separate sets of songs to account for the game’s branching narrative pathways means a lot of music, and from the sounds of things not a lot of time to record it all. There’s promise in the concept, for sure, and the songs are fun, but with the pitchy vocals, uneven production and at times rickety instrumentals, this seems a nomination of acknowledgement more than a serious contender in the race. (Still doesn’t excuse the Recording Academy misspelling Montaigne’s name in their announcement, though — that’s Jess Cerro to you.)

AN UGLY OMISSION: Basically anything for Caroline Polachek

Desire, I Want to Turn Into You was Such a Moment™, and yet it is barely sensed in this year’s nominations. A whiff of it amidst Daniel Nigro’s production credits under his Best Producer nomination, and a nomination for Best Engineering, but nothing to say of the songs or the singer themselves? Four of the album’s singles were released within the eligibility period, but even if no individual track earned a nomination, SURELY the album itself would be up for Pop Vocal Album — least of all considering Polachek has some of the best vocal chops in the whole game? The mind boggles.

A GOOD PICK: The Art of Forgetting (Caroline Rose)

In one sense, a shame that this wonderful album only has one nomination, but truth be told I wasn’t really expecting it to break into the field at all — so I’m pleased to at least see the album’s spectacular art direction (helmed by Caroline Rose themselves) being recognised with a nomination for Best Recording Package. The album’s artwork and the various formats of the release paired with various colour pressings, lenticular covers — even a branded box of matches — all beautifully pair with the album’s sonic palette and help further its thematic threads.

A BAD CHOICE: Dante (Thomas Adès)

Bear in mind, I’m a huge Adès fanboy. HUGE. Acolytic, even. But Dante just isn’t connecting with me for some reason. Not that the recording itself is the issue — in fact, I understand both the nomination of the album’s producer, Dmitriy Lipay, for Producer, Classical (amongst many other stellar releases this year) and even, to a certain extent, Dudamel and the LA Phil’s nomination for Classical Performance. But it’s the shortlisting of the ballet score itself for Classical Composition of the Year which really frustrates me — a new Adès is typically fun and vibrant, but here he almost feels like a parody, both of himself and of contemporary ballet music at large. Would that any of the three Best Opera Recording compositions took its place.

AN UGLY OMISSION: Ella Baila Sola (Eslabon Armado, Peso Pluma)

This song has nearly a billion streams on Spotify. A BILLION, already, and from two of the most popular música mexicana artists working at the moment. With streaming figures like that and a catchy, tightly-performed song behind them, Song or Record of the Year should surely be on the cards, let alone nominations in the genre categories — and yet, ‘Ella Baila Sola’ (and the Eslabon Armado album it’s drawn from, DESVELADO) are nowhere to be found. Peso’s GÉNESIS finds a place on the list, thank goodness, so all hope is not lost, but ‘Ella Baila Sola’ still a very conspicuous absence given its widespread appeal this year. (Garbage cover art, though.)

Part 1 down, join me next time as I continue exploring the Grammys nominations in increasingly frustrated detail! (I’m fine, I swear, I’m fine.) Until then, forever begrinchingly,

AC.