The Recording Academy clearly has a problem with how to acknowledge diversity. Tons of pundits are now claiming that Beck and Beyoncé’s albums are so different from each other and that to lump them together is not fair to either of them. But what about albums (all 2015 Grammy winners) that are even more different than either of those…
What would have happened if those albums were allowed to compete in the “Record of the Year” category? Would Kanye West have attempted to bum rush the show if Hilary Hahn or JLA got the nod? (That’s something that would have increased everyone’s awareness of those two extraordinary albums, and I say this as someone who is a huge fan of both Beck and Kanye.)
via Can’t See the Trees for the Forest at the 2015 Grammys | NewMusicBox.
I finally listened to John Luther Adams’ “Become Ocean” yesterday (the winner for Best Contemporary Classical Composition), and it’s extraordinary. Beck’s “Morning Phase” might still have won with more variety in the album of the year category (I do like Beck quite a bit). As it is, it does appear there’s a tacit disregard for anything truly outside of the popular music machine.
