Fancy that!

One of the pleasures of watching the Grammys is that you will inevitably groan at the conservative choices it makes for its main prizes. However, the Academy of Recording Sciences actually went a little to the left field this year and came up with some refreshing choices. Here’s what they chose.

The Chemical Brothers
We Are the Night (Dance Album of the Year)

This was a tough choice for sure, considering that among the other nominations was LCD Soundsystem’s brilliant Sound of Silver. The Chemical Brothers are definitely not the pioneers when it comes to edgy dance music. When they first stormed the citadels in the mid-nineties with peerless tracks like Setting Sun (influenced heavily by The Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows) and Block Rocking Beats, The Brothers were making dance tracks inspired by such underground giants as The Aphex Twin and Orb. What set The Brothers apart was their genuinely fresh use of psychedelia and the baggy, dippy sounds of the Madchester scene of the early nineties.

This and the heart-stopping thump of their beats propelled them to a level of stardom that geeks with computer consoles can only dream of. But here they are, more than a decade later, and they have a lot to be worried about. The Nu-Rave of such young whippersnappers as The Klaxons have all but taken over the clubs. This album proves that Tim Rowland and Ed Simons can change with the times while keeping their core sound intact. On their sixth studio album, they experiment with rave sounds while adding generous bursts of tough synthesizer riffs like on All Rights Reversed. Elsewhere, like in their first single from this album Do It Again, there are enough backward guitar sounds to leave Beatles lovers salivating. Check out the great straightforward electronica on Das Spiegel and the strange Salmon Dance, where hip hopper Fat Lip tells a weird story about salmons over droning squeaks and a big big beat.

Download this: Das Spiegel
Label: Virgin

Amy Winehouse
Back To Black
(Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album)

A turbulent year couldn’t have ended in a better way for the English soul queen. And the awards couldn’t have gone to a more deserving artiste. Right from the first bar of the impossibly infectious first single Rehab, Back To Black sounds like the real thing. What many forget is that this is actually her second album. While her first set was distinctly more jazzinfluenced, this one is all about the classic ’60s sound of Motown. Winehouse wears her influences on her sleeve, whether it is the distinct tambourine-snare percussion sound of Martha and the Vandellas, or the songwriting and harmonies of the Supremes. But make no mistake, the songs are all her own.

From the mischievous You Know I’m No Good to the Ray Charles influenced Back To Black, Winehouse’s soaring voice rides over a tasteful and driving backup of pianos, drums and snaky bass lines. It’s very rare to hear an album where every cut is a killer, and Winehouse manages exactly that. Straddling subjects from her alcoholism to the war in Iraq, Back To Black does not have a single dull moment.

Download this: Tears Dry on Their Own
Label: Island

Herbie Hancock
River: The Joni Letters (Album of the Year, Best Contemporary Jazz Album)

It isn’t often that a jazz album gets the biggest Grammy for Album of the Year. In fact, the only other one was way back in 1965. The nomination itself was surprising, let alone the fact that Hancock actually won it. And yet, it is a true testament to a living master. Standing on the shoulder of giants such as Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, Hancock was never happier than taking artistic left turns whenever he could. For this album, he handpicked 10 songs by the redoubtable Joni Mitchell and went about giving them his own unique treatment.

Hancock has a superb band (with the equally legendary Wayne Shorter on saxophones), which can switch from cool jazz to hard bop in the blink of an eye with the same electrical effect. Mitchell herself is a songwriter who incorporates adventurous rhythms and Hancock understands that. So, when he performs Both Sides Now, he turns the melody inside out and gives it a completely different harmonic structure. It is impossible to go into all the other songs—each of which are highlights in their own right—in this review. However, some of the standout cuts would definitely include Tina Turner’s soul spin on Edith and the Kingpin and the spooky Court and Spark with guest vocals by Norah Jones. Good as this is, one can make a case for all the fantastic jazz albums that the Academy has neglected in the past 40 years. Here’s hoping that more jazz gets the same recognition that Hancock has got.

Download this: Both Sides Now
Label: Universal