And the award for best music awards goes to…

When the Grammy Awards are nigh, the preview articles invariably deal with the conflict of “Who Will Win” versus “Who Should Win.” “New” acts can be years old. Categories like “Metal” and “Rap,” though they’ve existed for long enough to evince some level of credibility, are still being too loosely defined, or the province of long-established commercial acts who couldn’t get a shake in the main categories.

The whole affair reeks of injustice.

Which is why the Brit Awards

http://www.brits.co.uk/

which come just weeks after the Grammys are so appealing. They demonstrate how it’s possible to actually balance the new and the old, the popular and the cultish, the anthemic and the clever. Whereas the Grammy’s “new artists” are folks you’ve heard to death on mainstream radio, the Brits’ “British Breakthrough Act” nominees this year are Anna Calvi, Ed Sheeran, Emeli Sande, Jessie J and The Vaccines.

Yes, there are duplications in the Grammy list of Best New Artists and the Brits’ International Breakthrough Act—namely Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver—but while the Grammys were stuck on J. Cole, The Band Perry and Skrillex, The Brits have already moved on to Lana Del Rey, Foster the People and Aloe Blacc. Now, you could argue that both lists contain acts which have been around a little while, but I would argue right back that “Breakthrough” is a much better word for the award than “New.”

The candidates for “British Album of the Year” include the obvious Adele, Coldplay and Florence & The Machine, but P.J. Harvey and the aforementioned Sheeran. Kate Bush, having come out of long hibernation with two albums this past year, is on the British Female Solo Artist roster. Blur is getting an “Outstanding Contribution to Music” prize while “Critics Choice” honors got to Emili Sande, Maverick Sabre and Michael Kiwanuka.

These are lists that make me want to find out more, rather than lists that make me think I’m browsing a year-old issue of Entertainment Weekly in a dentist’s office.

The Brit Awards are given out tonight. As far as I know, the ceremony won’t be televised in the U.S. But we’ll be listening.