Grammy Nominees 2016: Various Artists
UNIVERSAL MUSIC, Rs 395
This is the 22nd installment of the best-selling series of Grammy nominees. This set features 21 hits from Grammy-nominated superstars and the hottest emerging talent. The line-up might include a few toppers which you might chill out with to a few not-so-happening tracks by new artists, but it’s worth listening to all for who knows where these same artists would be in a few years’ time. By now you already know who won, but let’s rundown the ones who matter.
Uptown Funk, Blank Space, Thinking Out Loud and Lips Are Moving represent the best in pop music from artists like Mark Ronson, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Meghan Trainor who all won in their respective categories.
Wiz Khalifa rap on See You Again is impressive on this beautiful tribute to the late Paul Walker. Can’t Feel My Face is the best dance song of the year and The Weeknd certainly deserves a pat on the back for bringing such a heavy groove to it. With his soft vocals, James Bay had stiff competition from his peers in Best New Artist, but sadly lost out even though his song Hold Back The River is the most uplifting song playing on the channels now. His album has good moments that fit well in the sentis category. Girl Crush by Little Big Town is what it says and is a pretty neat piece to rewind to. Newcomer to the industry Sam Hunt’s Take Your Time is a topper and has very infectious lyrics to go with it.
The other artists that make an appearance on this CD include Alabama Shakes, Maroon 5, Florence + The Machine, D’Angelo and the Vanguard, Kendrick Lamar, Chris Stapleton, Tori Kelly, Courtney Barnett, Carrie Underwood, Cam, Lee Ann Womack and Keith Urban.
This compilation brings together the best in the music industry from all music labels, but it would be wise to release this type of a compilation a month before the awards ceremony so that those who want a copy can lay their hands on it before the awards are announced. As for this CD, the release was three days before the 58th Grammy Awards. Production or copyright issues, music lovers should get the release in their hands early, that’s the only way to keep everyone guessing which artist is going to take the Grammy home in each of the main categories.
Verus Ferreira is a music journalist for over three decades. He is the author of The Great Music Quiz Book and The Great Rock Music Quiz Book and the founder of Musicunplugged.in
