Grammy Predictions

This post shouldn't need much of an explanation. We chose some of the most important awards at the Grammys and chose who we think will be the winners.  I also wanted to thank all of you who participated in the first poll.  Below, you will see a list of the nominees for the categories we chose to predict.  The nominee that we think will win, will be highlighted and in bold.  While you watch the show on Sunday, you can follow along with our predictions so you can see if we were correct!  I hope you enjoy my list of predictions for the 2013 Grammy Awards.

Record Of The Year

Lonely Boy - The Black Keys

Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Kelly Clarkson

We Are Young - Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe

Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye Featuring Kimbra

Thinkin Bout You - Frank Ocean

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift

Album Of The Year

El Camino - The Black Keys

Some Nights - Fun.

Babel - Mumford & Sons

Channel Orange - Frank Ocean

Blunderbuss - Jack White

Song Of The Year

The A Team - Ed Sheeran, songwriter (Ed Sheeran)

Adorn - Miguel Pimentel, songwriter (Miguel)

Call Me Maybe - Tavish Crowe, Carly Rae Jepsen & Josh Ramsay, songwriters (Carly Rae Jepsen)

Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Jörgen Elofsson, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin & Ali Tamposi, songwriters (Kelly Clarkson)

We Are Young - Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess, songwriters (Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe)

Best New Artist

Alabama Shakes

Fun.

Hunter Hayes - (Winner of the Reader Vote)

The Lumineers

Frank Ocean

Best Rock Album

El Camino - The Black Keys

Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay

The 2nd Law - Muse

Wrecking Ball - Bruce Springsteen

Blunderbuss - Jack White

Best Rap Performance

HYFR (Hell Ya F***** Right) - Drake Featuring Lil' Wayne

N****s In Paris - Jay-z & Kanye West

Daughters - Nas

Mercy - Kanye West featuring Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz

I Do - Young Jeezy featuring Jay-z & André 3000

Best Country Song

Blown Away - Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins, songwriters (Carrie Underwood)

Cost Of Livin' - Phillip Coleman & Ronnie Dunn, songwriters (Ronnie Dunn)

Even If It Breaks Your Heart - Will Hoge & Eric Paslay, songwriters (Eli Young Band)

So You Don't Have To Love Me Anymore - Jay Knowles & Adam Wright, songwriters (Alan Jackson)

Springsteen - Eric Church, Jeff Hyde & Ryan Tyndell, songwriters (Eric Church)

Best Country Album

Uncaged - Zac Brown Band

Hunter Hayes - Hunter Hayes

Living For A Song: A Tribute To Hank Cochran - Jamey Johnson

Four The Record - Miranda Lambert

The Time Jumpers - The Time Jumpers

Best Pop Solo Performance

Set Fire To The Rain [live] - Adele

Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Kelly Clarkson

Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen

Wide Awake - Katy Perry

Where Have You Been - Rihanna

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

Shake It Out - Florence & the Machine

We Are Young - Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe

Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye Featuring Kimbra

Sexy And I Know It - LMFAO

Payphone - Maroon 5 & Wiz Khalifa

Best Rap Album

Take Care - Drake

Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Pt. 1 - Lupe Fiasco

Life Is Good - Nas

Undun - The Roots

God Forgives, I Don't - Rick Ross

Based On A T.r.u. Story - 2 Chainz

Best Dance Recording

Levels - Avicii

Let's Go - Calvin Harris Featuring Ne-yo

Bangarang - Skrillex Featuring Sirah

Don't You Worry Child - Swedish House Mafia Featuring John Martin

I Can't Live Without You - Al Walser

Best Dance/Electronica Album

Wonderland - Steve Aoki

Don't Think - The Chemical Brothers

>Album Title Goes Here< - Deadmau5

Fire & Ice - Kaskade

Bangarang - Skrillex

Best Rock Song

Freedom At 21 - Jack White, songwriter (Jack White)

I Will Wait - Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Winston Marshall & Marcus Mumford, songwriters (mumford & Sons)

Lonely Boy - Dan Auerbach, Brian Burton & Patrick Carney, songwriters (the Black Keys)

Madness - Matthew Bellamy, songwriter (Muse)

We Take Care Of Our Own - Bruce Springsteen, songwriter (Bruce Springsteen)

Short Form Music Video

Houdini - Foster The People | Daniels, Video Directors; Gaetano Crupi, Video Producer

No Church In The Wild - Jay-Z & Kanye West Featuring Frank Ocean & The-Dream | Romain Gervais, Video Director; Mourad Belkeddan, Video Producer

Bad Girls - M.I.A | Romain Gavras, Video Director; Romain Gavras, Video Producer

We Found Love - Rihanna Featuring Calvin Harris | Melina Matsoukas, Video Director; Juliette Larthe & Ben Sullivan, Video Producers

Run Boy Run - Woodkid | Yoann Lemoine, Video Director; Roman Pichon, Video Producer

Our Grammy Prediction Playlist:

Mumford & Sons - Babel

Yesterday we reviewed Frank Ocean's debut album, Channel Orange.  With that review, we decided to  format in in a different way.  We received mixed reviews from our audience.  Therefore, we are going to try again today, with some minor changes.  After today, let us know what you would prefer to read in the future.  We really appreciate all of your feedback and we hope you enjoy todays review.

Babel is the second album released by Mumford & Sons.  This album was released in September of last year to incredible reception.  Their debut album, Sigh No More, was the third most downloaded album of 2011, even though it was released in 2008.  Sign No More has sold over 2.5 million copies.  After their incredible breakthrough album, there was a lot of anticipation and pressure for the release of their follow up album.  Sigh No More may be one of the best albums of the decade, so it would be very difficult to outdo themselves on their sophomore record.  

Even with all of the ridiculous expectations that were set for them, Babel was a huge success.  It debuted at number one in both the UK and the US and sold of 750,000 copies in its first week!  That made it the fastest selling album of 2012 in the United Kingdom.  The album is nominated for four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.  

The album starts off with the title track, "Babel".  This song represents the changes the band has made over the time in between their two records.  This album is far more powerful and smoother than its predecessor.  This song is so crisp, it flies past the quality of Sigh No More's sound.  I'm not saying that Sigh No More was of poor sound quality, but their latest album is exceptionally well done.  The second song, "Whispers in the Dark", shows off the other new side of Mumford & Sons.  This song exhibits Marcus Mumford's abilities as a songwriter.  It's a new flavor of the band that we hadn't seen on their previous album.

Other stand out songs include "Reminder" and "Broken Crown".  "Reminder" is a slower song that comes in at only 2 minutes.  It is a song of disappearing love that is simple, but one of the most moving on the album.  "Broken Crown" is one of the album's best songs.  It starts off slow and suspenseful and builds up to an incredibly powerful final two minutes.  From Mumford's intense vocals to the banjo that is consistent in most Mumford & Sons' songs, this was a fantastic song.  Additionally, this is the requisite single that features a vehement F-bomb.  On Sigh No More, the song "Little Lion Man" earned this honor.  

Mumford & Sons' British indie rock style is one that before their debut, was unheard of.  After their success, many bands have attempted to mock their unique style. *cough-Phillip Phillips-cough*  However, none have been able to achieve the amount of triumph Mumford & Sons have earned.  There is not another band that can compete with Mumford in the genre of Modern Folk music.  This is easily one of the best albums of 2012 and my favorite to win the category of Album of the Year.

Top 5 Songs From Babel

1. Babel

2. I Will Wait

3. Babel

4. Lover of the Light

5. Ghosts That We Knew

5. The Boxer (feat. Jerry Douglas & Paul Simon) [Bonus Track]

Listen to Babel on Spotify:

Buy Babel on iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/babel-deluxe-edition/id548698631

Do you have any suggestions that you want to share with us?  Which style of reviews do you prefer? Let us know in the comments section below!!

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Frank Ocean - Channel Orange

This will be our first album review since early January, and we are going to try something a little different.  A few of our viewers have requested that we change our format for album reviews.  Our album reviews are our best feature in the eyes of many readers.  The complaint we were getting was that when we review longer albums, the reviews become so long, it becomes boring.  In contrast, more people read our album reviews than any other type of article.  We thought that just for today, we would try a new format for reviewing this album.  Please let us know which format you prefer!

Channel Orange is the debut album from American singer/songwriter, Frank Ocean.  Frank has been nominated for a few Grammys this year, including Best New Artist, Record of the Year, and Album of the Year.  This is a great achievement for an artist who has only been on the scene since 2011.  He is my favorite to win the Best New Artist category, but you'll have to wait until Friday for the rest of the list!

This album has a distinctive style that contains influences from hip-hop, R&B, soul, and psychedelic music.  In my opinion, Frank Ocean is one of the most talented modern artists.  His songwriting abilities are reminiscent of some of the best in history, especially in the way he can tell a story.  His music is as relative to modern youth as Buddy Holly was in the 1950s!  This creates an overwhelming sensation of desire.  When I first heard this album in July, 2012, I was genuinely astonished by the quality of this record.  It was definitely not the experience I was planning on having.  Listening to this album put me in a trance that I just didn't want to depart from.

This is a beautiful album that requires patience and attention to completely understand.  This is the kind of album that you have to listen to more than once.  The lead single off of the album, "Thinking Bout You", is one of the best on the album.  It evokes feelings of regret and sorrow, somehow in a subtle manner.  It shows off Ocean's incredible falsetto ability, as well as his incredible songwriting abilities.  The song peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100, which came as a surprise to me only because of the unconventional genre of the song.

I think this was one of the best albums of 2012 and it has the chance to win Album of the Year on Sunday.  I actually told my father that I thought Frank Ocean would win Best New Artist way back in 2011 when he released the mix tape, Nostalgia, Ultra.  He is one of my favorite artists of the year and I  am rooting for him this Grammy season!  

Top 5 Songs From Channel Orange

1. Thinking Bout You (9/10)

2. Pyramids (10/10)

3. Super Rich Kids (8/10)

4. Lost (8/10)

5. Sweet Life (7/10)

Listen to Channel Orange on Spotify:

Buy Channel Orange on iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/channel-orange/id541953504

Hopefully you all enjoyed our experimental format for album reviews.  Let us know if you want to see more of these kinds of reviews, or more track-by-track reviews!

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Stay tuned for more Grammy coverage all week!!

Daily Polls

Just a quick note about a new feature for Grammy Week!  On the right hand side of your screen, you will now find a section for polls.  Each day leading up to the Grammys there will be a new poll that asks about a different category.  Today's category is Best New Artist.  We will announce all of your predictions on the Monday after the Grammy Awards.  I hope you enjoy this fun new addition to Taking Notes Music Reviews!

Celebrate the Grammy's With Taking Notes!!

This coming Sunday is the 55th Grammy Awards.  This is one of the most exciting days in music.  And we will be spending this week getting ready for this weekend's ceremony.  Unfortunately, we will not be at the show, even with our official Press Credentials.  Make sure you check Taking Notes for some exclusive material, regarding this year's Grammy Awards.  Here is our schedule for this week, leading up to the Grammys on Sunday.

Wednesday and Thursday

--Each day we will do a full review of an album that is up for the award of Album Of The Year.

Friday

--We will release our highly anticipated list of predictions for all of the most important categories.

Saturday

--We will review two songs that are nominated for the award of Song and Record of the Year.

Sunday (!!!!!)

--When the big day finally arrives, we will be ready.  We will be posting throughout the day about all of the news that comes out the day of the show. 

--As soon as the coverage on CBS begins, we will be live-blogging the ENTIRE EVENT!

We Have A Very Exciting Week Ahead of Us, so Stick With TAKING NOTES!!!

Two For Tuesday Playlist

Our very first Two For Tuesday Playlist is a great one.  We categorized this type of music as "Old Soft Rock".  Most of the songs come from either the 60's or 70's.  I was tempted to call it folk music, but we decided that Old Soft Rock, fit their description better. 

Earlier today, I announced the introduction of this new feature.  If you haven't read it yet, just CLICK HERE! We put together a list of 5 artists and chose one well known song and one song that most people haven't heard of.  This is a great opportunity to learn more about some of these artists that are very well known. The artists we included today include Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and James Taylor.

Please let us know if you LIKE this new feature!  We are very glad that you are all happy about our return!

Paul Simon

1.  50 Ways To Leave Your Lover

2.  Duncan

Van Morrison

3.  Brown Eyed Girl

4.  Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye)

Neil Young

5.  Heart of Gold

6.  Runaround Babe [Previously Unreleased]

Bob Dylan

7.  The Times They Are A-Changin'

8.  The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll

James Taylor

9.  Fire and Rain

10.  The Promised Land

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Introducing:  Two For Tuesday Playlists!

"Two For Tuesday" is a tradition that is recognized by radio stations throughout the country.  Every Tuesday, certain stations play two songs by the same artist, back to back.  It's a fun tradition that is loved by many.  We wanted to become a part of this tradition.  From now on, we will no longer have a song of the day on Tuesday's.  Every Tuesday we will upload a playlist via Spotify, that will take on the idea of Two For Tuesday.

Each week, we will feature a different genre.  From that, we will choose 5 artists from that genre.  We are going to treat this like those old 45's from the good ole days.  When you would buy a 45, there would be one song that you knew and wanted to hear, while the other side had a much lesser known song.  This is what we are planning to do with our "Two For Tuesday" playlists.  We feel that this will help you all get to know each artist a little better, and learn a little more about each artist.

We are going to start this new feature TODAY.  Check back in the next hour for the first ever "Two For Tuesday" playlist!

Taking Notes is Taking Off!

Don't Worry. We're Not Going Anywhere.

I'm sure that many of you have been wondering why we have not been posting as often as we say we are.  Well, even in this drought, we have been working hard to improve your viewing experience.  In fact, it feels like we've been working harder than ever these past two weeks.  Let me start my explanation back on January 9th. 

This is one day ofter we published our review of Chris Tomlin's Burning Lights.  We had contacted the advertising company, Commission Junction.  What they did, is allow us to contact advertisers in order to run ads on this website.  Each advertiser reviews the application and decides if they want to advertise on the website.  As you may have noticed, we have contacted many businesses and many of our applications have been accepted.  To name a few, we've been accepted by Best Buy, Lowe's, GoDaddy, Guitar Center, and TicketLiquidator.  It's the last one that led to the next week's endeavors.  Needless to say, that week we were very busy filling out applications.

This week has been the most exciting in the history of Taking Notes Music Reviews.  This is more exciting than becoming a .org domain.  This is more exciting than beginning to earn profits through advertising.  Are you ready?

We are now official members of the United States Press Association.  This means that you can expect to find a lot of new and exclusive material on the Taking Notes website.  We have already been contacting a number of venues throughout North Carolina about covering concerts from Eric Clapton to Lady Gaga.  This has been a long and grueling process that has taken up much of our time.  Luckily, everything is just about finished and we are ready to continue providing you all with the best music reviews on the internet.  We are so thankful that you haven't all forgotten about us in the few weeks that we have been inactive.  

Don't Worry. We're Not Going Anywhere.