Look down the long list of winners and nominees at the 2010 Grammy Awards (www.grammy.com/nominees), and you'll find plenty of names that have featured in SOS over the past year. Among others, Jacquire King's work with Kings of Leon (www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec08/articles/it_king.htm) earned them the coveted Record Of The Year gong; Black Eyed Peas' The END (mixed by Dylan '3D' Dresdow: www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul09/articles/it_0709.htm) was voted Best Pop Vocal Album; and Lady Gaga's The Fame (partly mixed by Robert Orton: www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar09/articles/it_0309.htm) won Best Electronic/Dance Album.
The biggest surprise of all, however, came in one of the technical categories. Scroll past the endless list of awards for things like Best Hawaiian Music Album and Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media, and you'll arrive at the award for Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical). Topping the polls in this category was Imogen Heap's Ellipse — which was recorded and produced by the artist herself, in her own project studio, using the sort of gear that many SOS readers also employ. Congratulations to Imogen on what is a remarkable achievement, and almost certainly a unique one in the history of the Grammy Awards! You can read more about how the album was made in our December 2009 interview: www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec09/articles/heap.htm. Sam Inglis
