Bizarro Grammys: The White Stripes’ USBs, Gerard Way’s MCR Packaging, Flaming Lips’ Surround Sound
Johnny Cash is up for a Grammy this year, as are Barack Obama, Eddie Vedder and the White Stripes‘ cute USB-drive versions of Icky Thump. Hidden among the 109 Grammy categories are some under-the-radar and just downright bizarre nominations. Check out the more mainstream nods here, and keep reading for a rundown of the lesser-known categories, where folks like Prince, R. Kelly and Gerard Way will battle it out for awards like Best Surround Sound Album, Best Spoken Word Album and Best Short Form Video (where Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” battles Mute Math’s backwards “Typical” clip and Feist’s colorful, choreographed “1234”).
Best Short Form Music Video
Feist, “1234”
Gnarls Barkley, “Gone Daddy Gone”
Justice, “D.A.N.C.E.”
Mute Math, “Typical”
Best Long Form Music Video
R. Kelly, Trapped In The Closet Chapters 13-22
Madonna, The Confessions Tour
Kenny Wayne Shepherd & Various Artists, 10 Days Out – Blues From The Backroads
Dierks Bentley, Live & Loud At The Fillmore
Various Artists, Liberacion – The Songs Of The New Cuban Underground
Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade Special Edition (Matt Taylor, Ellen Wakayama & Gerard Way, art directors)
Panic! at the Disco, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out Limited Edition Collectible Deluxe Box (Alex Kirzhner, art director)
The White Stripes, Icky Thump Limited Edition USB Flash Drive (Stan Chow, art director)
Him, Venus Doom (Matt Taylor & Valo, art directors)
Various Artists, What It Is!: Funky Soul And Rare Grooves (1967-1977) (Masaki Koike, art director)
Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, “Falling Slowly” (from Once)
Eddie Vedder, “Guaranteed” (from Into the Wild)
Prince, “The Song of the Heart” (from Happy Feet)
Chris Cornell and David Arnold, “You Know My Name” (from Casino Royale)
Siedah Garrett and Henry Krieger, “Love You I Do” (from Dreamgirls)
Best Spoken Word Album
Barack Obama, The Audacity Of Hope: Thoughts On Reclaiming The American Dream
Maya Angelou, Celebrations Bill Clinton, Giving: How Each Of Us Can Change The World
Jimmy Carter, Sunday Mornings In Plains: Bringing Peace To A Changing World
Alan Alda, Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself
Best Recording Package
Bright Eyes, Cassadaga (Zack Nipper, art director)
Black Sabbath, The Dio Years (Masaki Koike, art director)
Menomena, Friend & Foe (Craig Thompson, art director)
The Fold, Secrets Keep You Sick (Don Clark, art director)
GTS, White Horse (Qing-Yang Xiao, art director)
Best Historical Album
Woodie Guthrie, The Live Wire – Woody Guthrie In Performance 1949
Also Nominated:
Various Artists, Actionable Offenses: Indecent Phonograph Recordings From The 1890s
Various Artists, Forever Changing: The Golden Age Of Elektra Records 1963-1973 (Deluxe Edition)
Various Artists, Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970
Various Artists, People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs 1913-1938
Best Surround Sound Album
The Flaming Lips, At War With The Mystics 5.1
The Beatles, Love
Porcupine Tree, Fear Of A Blank Planet
Charles Bruffy, Kansas City Chorale & Phoenix Bach Choir, Grechaninov: Passion Week
Robert Spano & Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chamber Chorus, Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5; Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis; Serenade To Music