Lately, it’s easy to feel like you’ve stepped into a time machine. Gas prices are plummeting, the next election is shaping up to be Round 2 of Bush vs. Clinton, and now, Beck has won a Grammy.
The win comes completely out of left field, as the famously quirky musician was pitted up against two of the hottest properties in music right now: Beyonce and Sam Smith. With competition like that, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the rest of the nominees could be safely ignored. But Morning Phase must have left quite the mark on Grammy voters, because it took home the prize for Album of the Year, giving Beck his first win in over a decade (as well as Best Rock Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical earlier in the night).
Morning Phase was one of my personal favorite albums from last year, and one of the few I’ve found myself unable to review, because words simply don’t do it justice. To see it sweep away Album of the Year from two hugely popular musicians is wonderful to see, considering how often the Grammy’s favor popularity over artistic merit (as also evidenced by Aphex Twin’s shocking win for Best Electronic Album tonight as well). If you haven’t heard Morning Phase yet, now is as good a time as ever, if only so you’ll be in touch with the big winners of the night (but preferably to enjoy the slow burn of a finely crafted folk album).
Around the Sound 