Pick Your Poison: Tuesday 2-16-16

After a short break for the holiday(s), it’s time to get back to action. Hope your Valentines Day was great, along with your President’s Day and Grammy Day. Speaking of the Grammys, they’re not typically an awards ceremony I put much stock in, particularly since their focus appears to be largely driven by album sales than actual talent. Creativity and originality often gets the short end of the stick, but this year more than most I had higher hopes. Many of the nominees were actually solid picks, especially Kendrick Lamar, who was up for more awards than anyone else. He wound up actually winning five, which was nice, but missed out on the biggest award of the night, Album of the Year. That honor went to Taylor Swift’s 1989, which isn’t a bad album by any means, but once again popularity and sales trumped innovation. These things happen. In terms of the performances, there were plenty to choose from, but once again Kendrick stole the show with a three song medley that was strange, theatric and fiery. It was a nice change of pace compared to the stale and/or classic-leaning performances that otherwise dominated the night. Alabama Shakes were good too. Lady Gaga’s tribute to David Bowie was…okay, but was a bit too campy, which is something Bowie definitely wasn’t. Overall I guess you could call it a very disappointing evening, with a few small bright spots. Ah well, that’s about par for the course. Until next year, Grammys. In the here and now, there’s a fresh edition of Pick Your Poison ready for your ears. There are some past and future Grammy nominees in this set, some easier to spot than others. Don’t miss downloads from American Killers, Giraffage, The Smoking Bells and Wench. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Classixx ft. Joe Keefe (covering Natalie Prass), David Vassalotti, Day Wave, Happy Hollows, Johnny Jewel (ft. Chloe Sevigny), Kanye West, Los Angeles Police Department, Postiljonen, RJD2, Terribly Yours and Trust Punks.