Bon Iver's Justin Vernon tweeted that he "hates the Grammys" on Thursday, responding to tweets sent by Grizzly Bear vocalist Ed Droste, who was distraught over not being nominated for any awards.
Grizzly Bear's latest album, "Shields," was extremely well-received. The disc currently has a Metacritic score of 86, and with reviews from Pitchfork, The A.V. Club and more rating it above a 90.
Here's how the conversation started:
At which point Vernon (@blobtower) weighed in:
Droste later tweeted that he was being sarcastic, but it's not uncommon for musicians to show a distaste for the Recording Academy's Grammy nominations. Vernon, who himself won Best New Artist at last year's awards, has been vocal about his complicated feelings about the process. "It's really hard to accept this award," he said during his acceptance speech. "There's so much talent out here... and there's a lot of talent that's not here tonight. It's also hard to accept because you know, when I started to make songs I did it for the inherent reward of making songs, so I'm a little bit uncomfortable up here."
The Droste-Vernon conversation wasn't the only Grammy nomination controversy. A number of top DJs and producers tweeted their disgust with the Best Dance Recording category, which features a virtually unknown artist named Al Walser alongside heavyweights like Avicii and Skrillex. Walser has a murky past in music and claims to be a voting and nominating member of the Recording Academy. His song, "I Can't Live Without You," and its accompanying video were widely mocked, and some have wondered if the Recording Academy was "trolled," or pranked. The Huffington Post was told the Academy was looking into the matter.
Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun also took to Twitter Wednesday to express his dismay that Bieber received zero nominations. The omission of Bieber's name on the nominee list was generally perceived as the only "snub" of the evening.
The 55th Annual Grammy Awards nominations were announced Wednesday night at a concert hosted by Taylor Swift and LL Cool J. Big honorees include Frank Ocean, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Mumford & Sons, the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach and fun., who each received six nominations. The actual Grammys will take place on Feb. 10 in Los Angeles. CBS will broadcast the show.
