Welcome To Tony Palmeri's Media Rants! I am a professor of Communication Studies at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. I use this blog to try to promote critical thinking about mainstream media, establishment politics, and popular culture.
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
The 2021 Grammy Awards: Women Make [Her]story In Rock Performance Category
The 63rd annual Grammy Awards ceremony recognizing outstanding performances in popular music will be held on March 14th , 2021 in Los Angeles. I don't typically follow award ceremonies, but the 2021 Grammys are noteworthy in the extent to which female artists dominate major categories. The "Best Rock Performance" category for the first time in history includes ALL female nominees: “Shameika” by Fiona Apple, “Not” by Big Thief, “Kyoto” by Phoebe Bridgers, “The Steps” by HAIM, “Stay High” by Brittany Howard and “Daylight” from Grace Potter. All the songs are great, but if I were voting a voting member of the award selection committee, here's how I wound rank them:
Brittany Howard's "Stay High" will become a staple at senior proms, golden wedding anniversaries, and everything in between for many years to come
#6 Phoebe Bridgers "Kyoto": Also nominated in the Best New Artist category, Bridgers' sound and style in this song reminds me of 1990s indie, alternative pop like Liz Phair. The punkish guitar, driving beat, and lyrical quest for self-identity make Kyoto a kind of gen x/millennial/zoomer hybrid. The tune is from the album "Punisher" (nominated in the "Best Alternative Music" album category). Don't go to that album expecting more Kyoto-like songs; most of it features ballads sung with a kind of mellow intensity.
#5 Haim "The Steps": The Haim sisters (Este on bass and vocals; Danielle on lead vocals, guitar and drums; Alana on guitar, keyboards and vocals) have a reputation for rocking out in live performance (they do the best cover version of the pre-Stevie Nicks Fleetwood Mac classic "Oh Well."). "The Steps" is one of those catchy songs that you end up playing until you get sick of it. There's so much in it to enjoy: great guitar riff, drums that announce their presence at the right times, lyrics that anyone who's lived with a difficult partner can appreciate, and an acoustic break that sets the song apart from most pop/rock. The only reason why this song is not higher in my ranking is because the remaining tunes are simply in another league. (Note: "The Steps" is off the album "Women in Music Part III" which is also nominated for Album of the Year.).
#4 Fiona Apple "Shameika": Fiona Apple has released only five albums since 1996, and each one has earned critical acclaim. She has the tendency to "get real" with her lyrics in ways that few artists can match, and she's consistently original and provocative. "Shameika" is from the album "Fetch the Bolt Cutters" (nominated for Best Alternative Album), and like that entire album it's a story of self-discovery and search for personal liberation. "Shameika," which is based on a true story of young Fiona's interaction with a kid at school, will force you to think about the influential figures from your own youth.
#3 Grace Potter "Daylight": Since the late 2000s Grace Potter has been one of the most energetic live performers on the circuit. "Daylight" the album is also nominated in the "Best Rock Album" category. "Daylight" the song is truly spectacular: a kind of Janis Joplin meets Led Zeppelin affair (Grace's stay-at-home cover of Zep's "Whole Lotta Love" is super good). Without exaggeration, I would say the middle part of the song "Daylight" might be the best rock jam I have heard in many years. When Grace shrieks "Daylight Come!!!" it's just epic.
#2 Big Thief "Not": One of the worst things about artists being labeled "alternative" is that the label by itself keeps their work hidden from audiences who would, as they used to say in the 60s, "dig it." Case in point: Big Thief's Adrianne Lenker. Her vocals are so other worldly, her lyrics so primal, and her guitar playing so potent that she belongs in the "great rock star" category. NOT great "alternative" rock star. "Not" is the kind of song that in an earlier era would have dominated FM radio. It features the kind of lyrics that grad students in liberal arts majors philosophize about in between tokes off a joint. It's got a heavenly vocal performance by Lenker, and her electric guitar jam calls forth Neil Young from his "Like A Hurricane" period. Just a knockout performance all around.
Brittany Howard, lead singer and guitarist for the great band Alabama Shakes, released her first solo album ("Jaime") in 2019. The album is nominated for best in the "alternative" (sigh) category. Brittany Howard's vocal style is extremely amazing. Within a single verse, she can sound like a hybrid of Nina Simone, Al Green, Mavis Staples, and Prince. It's quite extraordinary.
"Stay High" is my top choice for a couple of reasons. First, of all the songs mentioned it is by far the most multi-generational in appeal. No doubt in future years it will become a staple at senior proms, golden wedding anniversaries, and everything in between. Second, I hear "Stay High" as a covid-19 song even though it was composed, recorded, and released before the virus hit. Why do I hear it that way? Because covid has forced all of us to become more mindful of the people closest to us; to realize that they can be cruelly taken away from us in an instant; that the lowest of low feelings happens when we can no longer stay high with the one we love.
Congratulations to these wonderful artists on their much-deserved nominations. And kudos to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for finally giving female artists the recognition they deserve. Hopefully mainstream FM rock radio will follow the example and place these and other female artists on the air more often.
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