The 11 Best Nominations for the Music Blog Awards

(Soundgarden Part 2 coming on Sunday - just hold your horses)

Every year the Grammy awards come out to a massive fanfare in the media. The way the press drools all over the nominees you would think they had just cured cancer or at least discovered a new medicine for dust allergies. But when the names of the nominees hit the general public, they are always met with a giant Charlie Brown *sigh.* Sometimes the Grammy awards are on the right track (like when Outkast or Bob Dylan won album of the year) but most of the time, the Grammy awards are a closer representation to the year's sales chart rather than a yardstick of talent. Just because James Blunt outsold The Decemberists doesn't mean he had a better record, it just means he had a better marketing campaign. If the Grammy awards are all about awarding marketing campaigns, then they're doing a bang-up job. If they're awarding the best music of the year...then they have a lot to learn.

This year, a bunch of us bloggers got together and decided...hey, we can do this, too. We decided to host our own awards. We have as much musical knowledge as any of the Grammy nominators. Probably more. I mean, how many people who vote for the Grammys have even heard of The Knife, Joanna Newsom, or especially Girl Talk. So we nominated a bunch of artists in a lot of different categories, we convinced emusic to sponsor this little event, and now we're letting the general public vote on the winners. That means you!

Voting ends June 15th!!! Last chance to participate.

Go here to vote:

http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2269CC7CSU5

I know I'm not supposed to twist the arm of the voters but here are my favorite nominees from this year. Take That Grammy!!!

1. The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
2. TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
3. Midlake – Roscoe
4. We Are Scientists – With Love and Squalor
5. LCD Soundsystem – 45:33
6. The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls In America
7. Thom Yorke – The Eraser
8. Girl Talk – Night Ripper
9. Tapes and Tapes – The Loon
10. Cold War Kids – Robbers & Cowards
11. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins – Rabbit Fur Coat


The 2007 Music Blog Award Nominees:

Album of the Year

1. Camera Obscura – Let’s Get Out Of This Country
2. Hot Chip – The Warning
3. Joanna Newsom – YS
4. The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
5. The Knife – Silent Shout
6. TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
   

Song of the Year

1. Band of Horses – The Funeral
2. Beirut – Postcards From Italy
3. Camera Obscura – Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken
4. Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
5. Midlake – Roscoe
6. Peter Bjorn and John – Young Folks
   

Best Artist

1. Beck
2. Joanna Newsom
3. The Decemberists
4. The Knife
5. TV On the Radio
   

Best Blog

1. An Aquarium Drunkard
2. I Guess I’m Floating
3. Large Hearted Boy
4. My Old Kentucky Blog
5. Stereogum

Best Live Band

1. Cansei Der Se Sexy (CSS)
2. Radiohead
3. Tapes N Tapes
4. The Decemberists
5. TV on the Radio

Best Rock Album

1. The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
2. The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
3. Thom Yorke – The Eraser
4. TV on the Radio – Return To Cookie Mountain
5. Wolfmother – Wolfmother

Best Rock Song

1. Band of Horses – The Funeral
2. Tapes N Tapes – Insistor
3. The Decemberists – O! Valencia
4. The Raconteurs – Steady As She Goes
5. TV On The Radio – Wolf Like Me

Best Debut Album

1. Beirut – Gulag Orkestar
2. Cold War Kids – Robbers & Cowards
3. Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere
4. Lily Allen – Alright, Still
5. Lupe Fiasco – Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor
6. We Are Scientists – With Love and Squalor
   

Best Indie Album

1. Cold War Kids – Robbers & Cowards
2. The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls In America
3. Sunset Rubdown – Shup Up I Am Dreaming
4. Tapes and Tapes – The Loon
5. The Thermals – The Body, The Blood, The Machine
   

Best Dance/Electronica Album

1. Cansei De Ser Sexy – Cansei De Ser Sexy
2. Girl Talk – Night Ripper
3. Goldfrapp – Supernature
4. Hot Chip – The Warning
5. The Knife – Silent Shout
   

Best Dance/Electronica Song

1. Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
2. Hot Chip – And I Was A Boy From School
3. LCD Soundsystem – 45:33
4. The Knife – We Share Our Mother’s Health
5. The Rapture – Whoo! Alright, Yeah…Uh Huh
   

Best Rap Song

1. Nas – Hip-Hop Is Dead
2. Outkast – PJ and Rooster
3. T.I. – What You Know
   

Best Rap Album

1. Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury
2. Ghostface Killah – Fishscale
3. Lupe Fiasco – Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor
4. Nas – Hip-Hop Is Dead
5. Rhymefest – Blue Collar
   

Best Country/Alt.Country/Country Rock Album

1. Drive By Truckers – A Blessing And A Curse
2. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins – Rabbit Fur Coat
3. Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
4. Old Crow Medicine Show – Big Iron World
5. The Be Good Tanyas – Hello Love