Daft Punk, which I had never heard of, was the big winner, both album of the year and song of the year for this: Get Lucky.
Now, it's not the absolute WORST song of the year (my vote: Katy Perry's Roar), but I can think of dozens (maybe hundreds) that were better. No wonder I long ago stopped giving this stuff any credibility.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NMPUcMeyvo
It's kind of funny at first, but once you get past that, it's bad in just about every way a song can be bad :)
OK, here's an example of a song that I think EVERYONE would agree is bad. All of you are invited to listen, if you dare :)
Smell Yo Dick, by Riskay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgWgEoaAYDY
That's like trying to say porn, even though we may enjoy it, is good cinema.
I'm not liberal enough to say that everything is just a matter of opinion. Even when it comes to something as subjective as music, there are some basic standards.
And BTW, older people saying young people's stuff is no good and only old stuff matters isn't a new thing. I imagine it's been that way for as long as there has been music :)
I like a lot of young artists and new music. But not very much that's really popular.
There was a time when different stuff also could be very popular. Remember, "White Rabbit" was a big hit in the 1960s :)
If you guys like electronic, have you gone and checked out some of the original artists, like Kraftwerk, Tomita and Brian Oldfield? Yes, I actually did used to listen to and like some of that.
So, I'll have to say it was probably an OK choice as top album. But that doesn't change my opinion of "Get Lucky" :)
Also, Bearlyy, I only agree with you to a point on saying that there is no such thing as bad music, only whether you like it or not. There is some stuff that is obscene, violent, racist, misogynist, etc., etc., that is just BAD by any reasonable standard.
Complaining about awards shows is an American tradition:) It's just a talking point more than anything. We'll probably be complaining about the Oscars, too.
As for current pop music, I hear a lot of it, but more often than not, I may not be aware of the artist who does a hit song. I had heard "Get Lucky" many times, but was not aware Daft Punk did it. I imagine I've heard much more of the nominated stuff than I recognize just by reading a title and unfamiliar name on a list.
I don't dislike *all* dance/hip-hip. Some of it's clever and catchy. But lyrics are also an important part of songwriting, and I don't care how fun or popular a song is, if it's lyrics are basically "I'm horny and want to hump," it's not a *great* song.
We just noted the passing of Pete Seeger. Compare the timeless greatness of "If I Had a Hammer" and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" to "Get Lucky" and "Blurred Lines." Great music should also be thought-provoking and inspirational, not just get you to get up off your booty and shake it.
One of the problems with music for the past 25 years or so is that it has become so specialized and fragmented. Back in the 1960s, on a single radio station you might hear artists as diverse as the Jackson 5, the Supremes, the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Chicago, Glen Campbell and the Archies! So people were exposed to a wide variety of stuff. Not anymore.
These days, I almost wonder if the top Grammy winners aren't predetermined in a way: i.e., last year a roots album won (Mumford & Sons' "Babel"), so this year we have to go dance/hip-hop. It sure seems like it.
The state of current commercial country music is pretty poor, too -- it's extremely formula-driven and narrowly targeted at an audience of 35-year-old white women.
There is a tremendous amount of good work being done by young artists today in fields other than pop and Nashville country. I'm afraid many young people have been limited to think that for music to be good, you have to be able to dance to it. The vast majority of current pop is either dance/hip-hop or American Idol-ized pop with girl singers with booming voices oversinging and overselling everything. The popular stuff today is no better than disco back in the 1970s or bubble gum in the 1960s. It might be popular and fun, but it's not enduring.
I've had a number of people tell me Daft Punk is pretty innovative besides the younger folks on here. I'll have to give some of their other stuff a listen.
BTW, most young people today *hate* stuff that I play by, for example, Emerson, Lake & Palmer -- stuff that is designed for listening, not dancing.
And cubby, I don't know that I'd read that much into that one particular stupid song, but a lot of rap/hip-hop is misogynistic and/or homophobic. Hard to take a form too seriously when it's overtly sociopathic, as too much of it is.
Kinda rams the point home hard when actual rape victims talk about it.
http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/09/17/f … life-rape/
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/28/showbiz/pete-seeger … ?hpt=hp_t3
Here are the nominees in the two categories that Daft Punk won in. (BTW, I can't stand dance music, which is why I'm less than thrilled by DP.)
In the song category, I'd say if they just wanted a cute, danceable song with a catchy beat, they just as easily could have picked "Blurred Lines." Pretty much the same thing.
Album of the Year
Sara Bareilles – The Blessed Unrest
Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – The Heist
Taylor Swift – Red
Record of the Year
Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams – "Get Lucky"
Imagine Dragons – "Radioactive"
Lorde – "Royals"
Bruno Mars – "Locked Out of Heaven"
Robin Thicke feat. Pharrell Williams & T.I. – "Blurred Lines"
I'm not a fan of the CMAs either, Jacker. Any country award that lavishes praise and trophies on Taylor Swift can't be taken seriously! The Americana awards are more my speed :)
BTW Bear on youtube there was a suggestion to the side of Cows Around. Cattle Call by Leann Rimes and Eddie Arnold, they used to play it when an old gal came for the day shift. Pissed her off. lol. Man, if I could only yodel like that.
"Cows Around" by Corb Lund
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKoYT4febHM
"Broken Window Serenade" by Whiskey Myers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOeSwMKYQH4