Grammy nominations: the good, the bad and the Houston

The Grammys announced nominees for its 60th annual awards show, which will take place in January.

Large voting bodies can yield confounding results. The list of nominees was no exception. After taking arrows for years for being a little elderly and fuddy duddy, the Grammys swung hard into more youthful territory.

And after years of treating hip-hop as deserving of its own categories but undeserving of the top prizes, the Grammys this year look like they may hand out an album of the year award to a rap album. Three of the nominees -- "Awaken, My Love!" by Childish Gambino, "4:44" by Jay-Z and "Damn." by Kendrick Lamar are nominated along with Lorde's "Melodrama" and Bruno Mars' "24K Magic."

Record of the year also ran toward the youthful: "Redbone" by Childish Gambino, "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee (feat. Justin Bieber), "The Story of O.J." by Jay-Z, "Humble." by Kendrick Lamar and "24K Magic" by Bruno Mars are nominated.

Your nominees for best new artist are Alessia Cara, Khalid, Lil Uzi Vert, Julia Michaels and SZA.

Elsewhere there are categories where Bob Dylan goes up against Seth MacFarlane. And Leonard Cohen goes against Foo Fighters and Chris Cornell. Because Leonard Cohen rocks.

Did you know they still hand out a Grammy for best surround sound album? If Eivind Gullberg Jensen & Trondheim Symphony Orchestra And Choir don't win for "Kleiberg: Mass for Modern Man," there'll be hell to pay, man.

The full list of nominees can be found here.

Houston didn't fare as well as it does during a Beyonce year. But a few locals made a showing, though notably NOT in the surround sound category.

The Houston Symphony was willing to commit murder for a Grammy nom. The bloody "Berg: Wozzeck" -- attributed to Hans Graf, conductor/producer; Anne Schwanewilms & Roman Trekel; Houston Symphony; Chorus of Students and Alumni, Shepherd School of Music, Rice University & Houston Grand Opera Children's Chorus -- was nominated for best opera recording.

The Woodlands' Jack Ingram co-wrote "Tin Man" with Jon Randall and Miranda Lambert. Lambert's recording of the tune is nominated in the country song category.

Houston's rising The Walls Group earned a nom for gospel performance/song for "My Life." And Rodney Crowell's "It Ain't Over Yet" is up for American roots song.

A little bit of a stretch, but Houston native and High School for the Performing and Visual Arts alum Brandon Lee is the trumpeter in Christian McBride's Big Band. And McBride's group and its "Bringin' It" was nominated for large jazz ensemble album.

The 60th annual Grammy Awards telecast will take place Jan. 28.