Frank Ocean And A Bunch Of Dudes Lead 2013 Grammy Nominations

Bisexual breakout star Frank Ocean leads the Grammy pack this year with a total of six nominations including Record and Album of the Year, as well as a nod for the kiss of death, also known as Best New Artist.

Mumford & Sons, fun., The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, Jay-Z and Kanye West are also nominated for six trophies each, thus guaranteeing an evening high on testosterone and low on anything that could be considered interesting.

This year’s nominees continue the Grammys’ lurching attempt to remain relevant with a focus on younger, less pop-driven fare. To wit, the nominees in the four major categories:

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

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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
The Lumineers
Frank Ocean

Note the absence of a Bieber or a Rihanna or a One Direction. Taylor Swift, still reaping the benefits of whatever deal with Satan she struck years ago, and Kelly Clarkson are the only “mainstream” acts to infiltrate the grand daddy Record of the Year category.

Meanwhile, Ocean’s Channel Orange is among the most critically-acclaimed albums of the year and while it’s unlikely to set fire to the rain like Adele’s 21, it could snatch Ocean a trophy or two.

For a full list of Grammy nominations ( like you care) click here.