Comments on: Recovering from my Grammy hangover

By: Michelle Kinsey Bruns

Michelle Kinsey Bruns — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:14:11 +0000

Actually, I should clarify that I only know first-hand that the Gumbo-A-Go-Go location down on Ponce is closed and has been for years. It was after making that sad discovery that I heard a rumor that the entire mini-chain had been run into the ground by new owners, so it seemed safe to assume that they were all closed. If you discover otherwise while you are back in the 404, for the love of god please let me know, because I will for real road trip all 800 miles down there to get me some gourmet lunch in a plastic tub.

Deanna: wow, no joke. I didn’t know, but Google says you’re right. I also read that The Standard in Grant Park is giving some shifts to some of the Trackside staff—crazy awesome of them; hope the community’s doing a little extra drinking there to show their support.

By: Deanna

Deanna — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:01:25 +0000

Did you people with Atlanta/Decatur connections know that Trackside Tavern burned to the ground a couple of weeks ago?

By: Mark Blankenship

Mark Blankenship — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 07:47:20 +0000

Gumbo-A-Go-Go is closed? Why wasn’t I told? Let me get a black armband. And I just learned Burrito Art is gone from the Emory Village. Sadness.

And Brooke… totally! I should’ve mentioned Adele and Duffy’s wins as rad… because they were. I especially love Adele’s album, which is accomplished, surprising, and just feels *current.*

Clearly, I’m hinting at a lot of assumptions about what I expect from awards shows. I will unpack those later.

By: Brooke

Brooke — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:09:54 +0000

I’m 18 and I have the album! Go me!

I think the Grammys picked some really good ones even outside of this with Adele’s two-fer and Duffy’s Best Pop Album.

Don’t get used to it, right?

By: steve

steve — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:20:21 +0000

btw, COLDPLAY!?!?! I’m 21, and I would hope a bit more reliable when I say…that isn’t what the youth listens to.

try MGMT, city and colour, joanna newsom, Vampire Weekend, Arctic Monkeys, devendra banhart, cold war kids…anything but coldplay. and you MIGHT actually understand what music is and where it is headed.

By: steve

steve — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:11:15 +0000

You use the world relevant like you ACTUALLY believe acts like The All American Rejects will be anything but forgotten.

Good music deserves to be rewarded, not crap music that tons of stupid people pretend to like to seem cool.

I’m with KarenG.

Also, I think you guys should start listening to good music.

By: Michelle Kinsey Bruns

Michelle Kinsey Bruns — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 03:33:58 +0000

My own personal eternal flame of Decatur dining burns for the late, great Gumbo A-Go-Go.

No Indigo Girls affiliation, to my knowledge, but it being Decatur, you’d practically trip over a pile of folk-singing lesbians trying to get the counter to place your order— so you didn’t feel the lack too much

Topic, hrm. Uh. Raising Sand is… nice? It is. It’s nice.

By: Mark Blankenship

Mark Blankenship — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:40:19 +0000

I agree Destiny. And I think, Karen, that a Lil’ Wayne win would have been genuinely exciting, and that a Ne-Yo or Coldplay win would have felt very in touch with what people like right now. A Radiohead win would’ve been strange and surprising and weirdly cool.

This is one thing that links the Grammys and the Oscars — left-field and/or underground folk often get nominated for big awards (like Melissa Leo for Best Actress or Jazmine Sullivan for best new artist) but they rarely win.

I think your comparison of the two is largely appropriate, because a lot of people claim a conservative/older-voter bias for the Oscars, too. (At least, that’s what I remember when Brokeback lost to [erp] Crash.)

And truthfully, both ceremonies do occasionally award the coolest possible performance/artist/record. Hilary Swank’s win for Boys Don’t Cry, say, or Lauryn Hill’s victory for album of the year.

By: Destiny

Destiny — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:07:07 +0000

Mark, I’m so jealous that you dined at the flying biscuit. I used to live at that place. As for the Grammys, you are spot on. I mean Ne-Yo winning album of the year would have been more interesting. Of course, I was rooting for radiohead (whose performance seemed as if it were broadcast from another planet compared to the bouncy pop, hip hop, and country that dominated most of the proceedings) but I would have been happy with Lil Wayne or even Coldplay winning. Anything but the Steely Dan/ Herbie Hancock/ Ray Charles factor rearing its predictable head. It’s as if the Grammy voters take pride in rewarding irrelevant music.

By: karenG

karenG — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:10:10 +0000

Hmmmm… I am not following pop music like I used to, and could totally be talking out my arse, but isn’t this kind of the problem with the Academy Awards? And I am not so sure that it has to do so much with an aging voting population… Whoever campaigns the loudest (i.e. spends the most money or, if you are the Golden Globes, has the biggest celebrity) is nominated and/or wins. While small indie jewels are generally left out and the winners are just so bland… And aren’t most of these labeled acts kind of middle of the road, anyway? Who could have won Plant and Krauss’ category that would have been more exciting?

I would love to see someone like NY-based singer/songwriter Alexa Wilding (google her, she’s fierce) with a Grammy nom. And so I wait…