Grammys vs. critics

Music blog Idolator released its critics poll today (Jan. 16), which culled year-end lists from 451 writers and bloggers the world over, including this one. Released a few weeks before the Grammys, which are scheduled for Feb. 10, the list provides an opportunity to see whether the best music of the year, in the minds of music writers, is in line with the best music of the year, in the minds of Recording Academy voters.

So how do they stack up? Of the top 20 albums on Idolator's poll, which was topped by "Sound of Silver" from disco-rockers LCD Soundsystem, 10 received Grammy nominations. Two of the top-20 artists -- Kanye West and Amy Winehouse -- also received album of the year nods, but the rest, such as the Arcade Fire, Lily Allen, Miranda Lambert and Feist, are confined to the genre categories.

Critics were high on the worldly political hip-hop of M.I.A., who finished second on Idolator's poll, but she received nary a Grammy nod. Radiohead came in at No. 3, but its album, released to the Web on Oct. 10, was not even eligible for a Grammy as it was released after the Sept. 30 deadline.

Other top 20 finishers on Idolator who went ignored by Recording Academy voters were soulful indie-rockers Spoon, the tense, adult rock of the National, the digital prog of Battles and the psychedelic folk-rock of Animal Collective.

Granted, year-end critics polls and major televised awards will probably never completely be in sync, but what's most distressing about where Idolator and the Grammys are out of step is in the type of artists Grammy voters ignored. Excluding Radiohead, which did not release during the eligibility period, eight of the nine other artists released their albums on independent labels (former indie artist M.I.A. is the exception). Of the 10 artists Idolator and the Grammys agreed upon in the top-20, only one, the Arcade Fire, put out its album via an indie.

And critics also weren't too fond of the artists who were recognized for the Grammy album of the year. Aside from West and Winehouse, none of the other album of the year nominees finished in this year's top 200 albums on Idolator. Foo Fighters fared the worst, with Dave Grohl & Co. seeing their "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" rank No. 618 on Idolator.

Herbie Hancock had better results. His album of the year nominee "River: The Joni Letters" finished at No. 257. As for country star Vince Gill, his nominated four-CD set "These Days" fared pretty well -- last year. The 2006 album was No. 168 on Idolator's 2006 critics poll.

(LCD Soundsystem photo courtesy Los Angeles Times)

Comments

[DLM]

I'm hardly an expert in music, and goodness knows the Grammys are too fond of mainstream commercial hits, but when Britney Spears finishes ahead of Patty Griffin in a critics poll (in the top 40 no less!), those critics need to have their heads examined. I had to go back to the list to make sure I read that right. What a crock!

[-Todd Martens]

Hi DLM,

"Blackout" didn't make my top-20, nor would it have made my top-40, but it's a pretty well-produced album -- one of the better produced albums I heard last year -- so I can see some critics ranking it high.

[LoveZilla]

No Spoon.
No Justice.
NO WAIVER!

[Frankie R.]

Critics' polls and the Grammys have never really agreed throughout the years. Critics tend to lean towards non-mainstream, indie, alternative fare while the Grammys since their inception have always awarded mainstream (sometimes cringe-inducing) recordings, top 10 best-sellers and popular artists. Although, NARAS has come a long way for the past 20-25 years now and have thought out of the box and are now including more non-mainstream artists and adding categories to cover the entire musical landscape. They now need to revamp its rules on the category Best Rock Vocal Female Performance. Can't believe they couldn't muster up 10 candidates to include the category in the running when I can name more than 10 female artists who would have qualified. The problem lies with record executives who can't distinguish a Rock song from a Pop song...what a shame not being able to see possible artists like Patti Smith, Bjork, Rickie Lee Jones, Pink, Ann Wilson, etc. cheated out of such an honor.