Just between me and you and a worldwide television viewing audience of 2 billion people, the Grammys have naught to do with good music. Or music at all, really. More concerned with Idol-mining and major-label payola than anything approximating artistic expression, they inhabit a parallel universe in which Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" is celebrated. The 2008 nominees for good old Field 5: Category 22: Best Alternative Music Album evince this fact. Those acts who routinely topped best-of-'08 lists —Fleet Foxes, TV on the Radio, Portishead, Bon Iver— are conspicuously absent. Instead, there's this odd hodge-podge:
Beck 'Modern Guilt'
Interscope
Unless there's a sizeable Scientologist voting-block in the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Beck seems to have gotten this gong for old time's sake. Back in the '90s, the Dancin' Hansen won three Grammys, before the nominations dried up with his mopey, much-acclaimed break-up album, 2002's Sea Change. The short, sharp Modern Guilt redresses the law of diminishing returns. Produced by Danger Mouse (of fellow Grammy nominees Gnarls Barkley), it's a vintage-sounding set painstakingly recreating the sound of old psych-pop albums; its solitary artistic idea to contrast these upbeat arrangements with Beck's religiously-minded, apocalypse-themed lyrics. To me, it sounded obnoxious. But, then, I ain't no Scientologist.
Death Cab for Cutie 'Narrow Stairs'
Atlantic
After scoring a 2006 Grammy nom for their meek major-label debut, Plans, it would've been sad had the man abandoned Death Cab for Cutie right when things were getting interesting. On Narrow Stairs, Seth Cohen's favorite band sounded nothing like an outfit satisfied with their success. Centered around the eight-minute stalker's-ode “I Will Possess Your Heart” (itself an unexpected Best Rock Song nominee), the restless record razes the string sections and multi-track monstrosities of past DCFC LPs, embracing a raw, rockin', restless sense of adventure. In such, Death Cab did nothing if defiantly distance themselves from the bland, bloated balladeers that clog most modern-rock radio; something that may or may not please Grammy voters.
Gnarls Barkley 'The Odd Couple'
Atlantic
Gnarls Barkley won the 2006 Best Alternative Album Grammy, so there is precedent. But their being here still doesn't really make sense. A collaboration between a couple of cats whose roots in hip-hop run deep —DJ/producer Danger Mouse, and MC/soul machine Cee-Lo Green— Gnarls Barkley seem, to me, to land somewhere between pure-pop and new-millennial soul, making them an odd stylistic fit in this bracket. And, well, after first LP St. Elsewhere went platinum and its hit jam "Crazy" sat atop the UK Singles Charts for 9 weeks, just how 'alternative' can they really be? That said: Grammy voters love sales-figures, not least of all because they make decisions for them. So, let's lay a bet that this original Odd Couple will win. Book it.
My Morning Jacket 'Evil Urges'
ATO
It's been a big year for new-millennial jam-band My Morning Jacket: a Grammy nomination and a spot on my list of 2008's 10 Most Disappointing Albums. Evil Urges found the long-haired Louisvillians out to reinvent themselves. Shrugging off their long-worn shroud of Americana, the album found Jim James and co trying on a varying array of stylistic masks; dabbling in doo-wop, Prince-lite funk, hoary prog, neutered boogie-rock, and kitsch keyboard fetishism. It sounds a lot like the band's having a hell of a good time, but hearing other people goof off is rarely a rewarding listening experience. Yet, for whatever reason, this comedy struck a chord with Grammy voters, and, well, here we are. Still, I'd classify them as rank outsiders.
Radiohead 'In Rainbows'
XL
Selling In Rainbows as pay-what-you-feel digital files may've inspired a million death-of-the-music-biz opinion-pieces, but the industry itself isn't holding it against Radiohead, rewarding them with a whopping seven nominations. OK Computer and Kid A both won Best Alternative Album trophies, so Radiohead has history on their side. And previous winners in this category have included, um, U2 (for Zooropa) and Coldplay (for both Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head), so clearly voters are drawn to big, important, guitar-rock bands from across the Atlantic. To these ears, In Rainbows was one of Radiohead's lesser efforts, paling in comparison to Kid A and Amnesiac. Nevertheless, just to be nominated (seven times) is a real honor, right?
...and the winner is...
Radiohead! At the 51st Annual Grammy Awards Ceremony, on February 8, 2009, the gong for Best Alternative Album of the '08 was handed out to the 'head. In the end, it felt as if the band were inadvertently rewarded for their landmark decision to sell their latest opus at its user-decides rate. This gave In Rainbows the sense of being a massive, important, cultural-landmark type album, regardless of whatever music was on the disc. Coupled with Radiohead's first-ever Grammy performance at the ceremony, it wasn't a huge surprise that Thom Yorke and co received the Alterna statuette for the third time.
