Friday, January 18, 2013

Grammy Hype Gets a Bump From The Black Keys

Posted By on Fri, Jan 18, 2013 at 10:24 AM

black_keys.jpg
  • Courtesy of The Black Keys

Speaking from experience, it takes heavy motivation for music fans on the far-out fringes of the mainstream to sit through the Grammys. Between the Chris Brown-induced nausea and gaudy Lady Gaga get-ups, the show is rightfully criticized for being all about theatrics and not about, you know, the thing they’re handing out those little gramophones for: the music.

This year, though, things are looking up: the nominations seem to be catering to all corners of the market (the safe corners, of course; let’s not give them too much credit) and have finally shaken off their shameless Taylor Swift crush along with the rest of Hollywood's males. Then, once they released this little preview video, via Rolling Stone, they pretty much had me sold.

The Black Keys were made for live performing, and on the Grammy stage they should be unstoppable. Up for nods in the “Record of the Year,” “Album of the Year,” “Best Rock Performance,” “Best Rock Song” and “Best Rock Album,” the Keys have stiff competition against the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Jack White, but their unmistakable sound and low-key charisma put them up their with the legends.

Their preview video is brief, focusing in close on Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney tuning their instruments as a voiceover reads, “When you finally get sound, it might lead you nowhere. But then again, it might take you somewhere you never dreamt was possible.” The boys then break into an arena-shaking rendition of “Little Black Submarines,” as #TheWorldIsListening flashes onscreen. The hashtag refers to a Grammy-led campaign website, where musicians can upload their own songs that could potentially be heard by the industry’s biggest acts, then made available to listeners around the world.

Performances from Swift, Fun., Rihanna and Mumford & Sons are also on deck for the Feb. 10 telecast. Which performances are you most looking forward to, or are you tuning out of the Grammys altogether?

Tags: , , , , ,