For the first time in what feels like many years, musical justice seems to have been done at the 56th annual Grammy Awards. While sceptics may dismiss the Academy’s selections as safe and unoriginal, it would be difficult to pick better winners in many of the key categories than 2014’s victors.
For much of the 2000s, the Grammys have been lambasted by the music world for their shameless commercialism and ham-fisted attempts to appease the masses. Unlike the Oscars, its cousin in the film world, the Grammys’ validity has frequently been called into question given some dubious decisions in recent years. While the Academy Awards can arguably receive praise for, more often than not, omitting the biggest blockbusters from the reckoning, there was a sense that the Grammys had begun an inexorable decline which sought only to pander to the lowest common denominator. The irony being that the more they tried to avoid controversy, the more they inflicted it upon themselves.
There were signs of recovery in 2013, although the Academy’s love-in with Skrillex, frequent target of hatred from electronic music fans everywhere, and the increasingly maligned Mumford & Sons irked music prigs around the world. But now, in 2014, only the snobbiest of music aficionados would argue against the night’s big winners Daft Punk and Lorde.
2013 was Daft Punk’s year – it was refreshing to see a song as ubiquitously mainstream as ‘Get Lucky’ so widely acclaimed and recognised by the usually holier-than-thou music press. Now, even the once notoriously inward-looking Academy has given its seal of approval. ‘Get Lucky’ is undoubtedly the record of the year. What’s more, Daft Punk’s astonishing album Random Access Memories, which has come near the top of most critics’ end-of-year lists, fended off competition from the bigger-selling Taylor Swift and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis to take home the coveted album of the year prize. And the bonus: they’re French. We should all be grateful that foreign love at the Grammys is on the rise, and that the Grammys are starting to overcome their American -focused outlook.
Elsewhere, Lorde’s ‘Royals’ took home song of the year. In a year of wrecking balls, roars and blurred lines, the seventeen year-old Kiwi’s minimalist, curveball anthem was the most refreshing of number-one singles, striking a chord with hipsters and clubbers alike. Five years ago, maybe Bruno Mars or Pink would’ve taken home tonight’s gong, so it’s great to see that the Academy isn’t afraid of upsetting chart heavyweights anymore – something that perhaps will bring a satisfied nod of approval from the music press.
That said, not everyone gets the hype around Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, who scooped four awards. But recognising the likes of Daft Punk and Lorde is a start, and you can find a lot worse than Macklemore in the charts these days.
All in all, it feels like the Grammys are, possibly, on their way to getting their mojo back. Sure, it would have been nice to see some more love for Arctic Monkeys, and maybe Disclosure deserved some more nominations, but then again, the Grammys are American awards. Kanye West’s Yeezus was surprisingly overlooked for album of the year. James Blake, Kendrick Lamar or Ed Sheeran aren’t really new artists. But these are all small gripes. We should be pleased with the progress of the Grammys and live in hope that they’ll get it all right eventually. In the digital age where everything seems to be going wrong in the industry, music, and good music at that, was the night’s biggest winner. How often is it these days that you can say that?