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Grammy 2010 Staff Picks & Predictions

January 31, 2010 Dan Milliken 7

Even in Grammy’s darkest hours, CU brings its picking powers!

– Superhero television show about our blog from the 50’s.

Share your own picks and predictions in the comments, and be sure to check back for our live blog! The awards telecast starts at 8 pm Eastern, and I imagine there will be some red carpet action in the hour prior.

Record of the Year

Picks

  • Beyonce, “Halo” – Kevin
  • Black Eyed Peas, “I Gotta Feeling”
  • Kings of Leon, “Use Somebody” – Tara
  • Lady GaGa, “Poker Face” – Dan
  • Taylor Swift, “You Belong with Me”

Predictions

  • Beyonce, “Halo”
  • Black Eyed Peas, “I Gotta Feeling”
  • Kings of Leon, “Use Somebody” – Kevin, Dan, Tara
  • Lady GaGa, “Poker Face”
  • Taylor Swift, “You Belong with Me”

Kevin: Am I wrong for preferring Eric Cartman’s rendition of “Poker Face” over the original? This is a pretty lightweight slate of contenders. I really like “Halo”, but I suspect Kings of Leon will win, simply because it’s the only rock song in a lineup of pop hits.

Dan: “Poker Face” just feels very representative of popular music in 2009. I wouldn’t whine if it got passed over so that “Bad Romance” could take this award next year, though.

Tara: I would’ve pulled for “Single Ladies” in a heartbeat had it been submitted, but “Use Somebody” is just as deserving of this award. It’s a fantastic song even outside the context of its moment in pop culture, and it’s the kind of larger-than-life song that the voters have picked to win in the past.

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My Grammy Wish List: 2010 Edition

January 28, 2010 Kevin John Coyne 24

Since this was a solo blog, doing a Grammy Wish List has been an annual tradition. I’m not too excited about this year’s Grammys, to be honest. 2009 was a weak year in my opinion, and the shortened 11-month eligibility period didn’t help matters. But a tradition is a tradition, so here are my picks in the eleven categories that I care about this year:

* denotes my personal wish:

Record of the Year

  • Beyoncé, “Halo” *
  • The Black Eyed Peas, “I Gotta Feeling”
  • Kings of Leon, “Use Somebody”
  • Lady Gaga, “Poker Face”
  • Taylor Swift, “You Belong With Me”

It’s always nice to see a country radio hit in there, but I honestly can’t stand “You Belong With Me.” I dig the Kings of Leon song, but the record that I enjoy the most here is “Halo.” Some pundits have suggested that Beyoncé threw her chances at this trophy by submitting “Halo” instead of “Single Ladies”, but I like that song even less than “You Belong With Me.” Love “Halo”, though.

Song of the Year

  • Lady Gaga & RedOne, “Poker Face”
  • Hod David & Musze, “Pretty Wings”
  • Thaddis Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”
  • Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill, “Use Somebody” *
  • Liz Rose & Taylor Swift, “You Belong With Me”

Great to see Liz Rose in there, too, but I still can’t stand the song. I think “Use Somebody” is a great composition that could easily be a hit in other formats if the right artist covered it. Are you listening, Sugarland?

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Review: Jewel, “Stay Here Forever”

January 25, 2010 Leeann Ward 16

Once applauded for her introspective songs and uniquely intriguing voice, it is disappointing to hear that both strengths are imperceptible in this train wreck of a song. As a result, “Embarrassing” is the only word that aptly describes Jewel’s latest single, “Stay Here Forever.”

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Armchair A&R

January 24, 2010 Kevin John Coyne 20

Gilbert O’Sullivan spent six weeks at #1 in 1972 with “Alone Again (Naturally)”, a song that is so sad it should’ve been a country song a long time ago:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAFPbOxhpYo

There’s only one artist that could improve on this, and that’s Alison Krauss. She’d be a perfect fit for a song that starts with a man being stood up at his own wedding, ends with him mourning both of his parents, and finds him doubting God’s mercy, God’s very existence.

I’m sure we’ve discussed this before, but it’s been a while:

What classic pop song would you like to hear covered by a country artist?

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Review: Reba McEntire, “I Keep On Loving You”

January 21, 2010 Kevin John Coyne 9

I had such a negative reaction to “Strange” that it kept me away from the new Reba McEntire album at first. So imagine my surprise when the second single from Keep On Lovin’ You, “Consider Me Gone”, turned out to be my favorite single from her in thirteen years.

Everything that “Strange” wasn’t, “Consider Me Gone” was: introspective, self-assured, fully believable and completely adult. It left me more receptive to McEntire’s music than I have been in a long time, so I eagerly dived in to the title track, which is now the latest single.

While it doesn’t approach the perfection of “Consider Me Gone”, I must say that it’s still a good deal better than the bulk of this legend’s output. It’s really unfair to compare her to the newer acts that dominate the radio. Among the women, only Carrie Underwood is in her league as a vocalist, and she doesn’t have the thirty years of life experience to draw upon that Reba does.

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BTW, eMusic Is Kind of Awesome Again

January 20, 2010 Dan Milliken 7

There was considerable grumbling among eMusic’s 400,000-ish subscribers last year when the formerly indie-centric music download service enacted a dramatic increase in monthly user subscription fees in exchange for posting a few good chunks of the Sony catalogue. Thankfully, the service endured the backlash long enough to strike up another major-label deal, this time with Warner Music Group (and no additional price hike – so far).

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Best Country Albums of 2009, Part 2: #10-#1

January 15, 2010 Dan Milliken 49

Round 2 – FIGHT!


#10
Play On
Carrie Underwood

World: meet Underwood. She’s fiercely compassionate and endearingly idealistic (the riveting “Change”). She holds her beliefs with a firm but quiet conviction (“Temporary Home”). She’s as comfortable and convincing at tearing down a wrong-doer (the Dixie Chicks-esque “Songs Like This”) as she is nursing an irreparable heartache, whether it’s in the form of a haunting country standard (“Someday When I Stop Loving You”) or a rich pop ballad (“What Can I Say?”). And she’s one of the most gifted vocalists of this generation, possessing an instrument that, when colored and layered with emotion as she’s aptly learned to do on Play On, can have bone-chilling effects.

Like it or leave it, Play On is the most authentic encapsulation of Underwood’s artistry and persona to date, and serves as an exciting glimpse at how far a little growth can carry her. The best is yet to come, but in the meantime, the “good” is pretty damn good. – Tara Seetharam


#9
Sara Watkins
Sara Watkins

As most people know by now, Sara Watkins is the female member of the now-disbanded (hopefully temporarily) New Grass trio, Nickel Creek. While Nickel Creek was difficult to classify in a certain genre (not bluegrass, not country), they were embraced by bluegrass and country music fans alike. Each member of the popular trio has released intriguing projects outside of Nickel Creek, but Watkins’ album has assumed the most decidedly country direction of them all. As a result, we are treated to a sublime album thanks to Watkins’ sweet voice and a set of impressively solid songs. – Leeann Ward

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