So, does anybody else care about the Mercury music prize? Basically, every year they choose 12 British albums as a Shortlist which is announced in July (last week) and then the Winner is announced in September and they win £20,000, which is a lot considering it usually goes to indie acts; what is supposed to make it unique is that it rewards creativity and the actual music, as opposed to popularity or how many records they've sold. Past winners include Primal Scream, Suede, Portishead, Pulp, PJ Harvey, Ms. Dynamite, Dizzee Rascal, Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, Anthony and the Johnsons, Klaxons, Elbow and The Xx. There are some really good albums on the list this year, so take a look if you feel like it... Adele - 21 Spoiler [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEDA3JcQqw&ob=av2e[/YOUTUBE] Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi Spoiler [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKVy0EVu2ZI[/YOUTUBE] Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys! Spoiler [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pYjCYNh-Kw&ob=av2e[/YOUTUBE] Everything Everything - Man Alive Spoiler [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUq7tbuH00E[/YOUTUBE] Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues and Melencholy Jam Spoiler [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP11r5n5RNg[/YOUTUBE] Gwilym Simcock - Good Days at Schloss Elmau Spoiler [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq5JmuT27mM[/YOUTUBE] James Blake – James Blake Spoiler [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOT2-OTebx0[/YOUTUBE] Katy B – On a Mission Spoiler [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNhPYj-5rIY[/YOUTUBE] King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mine Spoiler [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Lr0igwLIY[/YOUTUBE] Metronomy – The English Riviera Spoiler [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PnOG67flRA[/YOUTUBE] PJ Harvey – Let England Shake Spoiler [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va0w5pxFkAM[/YOUTUBE] Tinie Tempah – Disc-Overy Spoiler [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzvGKas5RsU&ob=av2e[/YOUTUBE] Sooooo, any predictions? I want PJ Harvey to win, personally.
I think I heard that PJ Harvey was the favourite this year? I'd be pretty happy if she won, she's pretty awesome. Who's your money on?
I think PJ Harvey should win, the album is just amazing. Admittedly I haven't listened to most of them yet... I've listened to PJ Harvey, Adele, James Blake, King Creosote and Elbow. Didn't like Elbow and James Blake was kinda meh, the two best songs on the album were covers :S PJ Harvey is 2/1 last time I checked; I got my Dad to put £10 on her when it was 4/1. Okay, I found the odds; 1. 2/1 PJ Harvey 2. 3/1 Anna Calvi 3. 6/1 Adele 4. 7/1 James Blake 4. 7/1 Metronomy 5. 10/1 Ghostpoet 6. 14/1 Everything Everything 6. 14/1 Katy B 7. 16/1 Tinie Tempah 7. 16/1 King Creosote & Jon Hopkins 8. 25/1 Elbow 8. 25/1 Gwilym Simcock
Hmmm... yeah I think the only other person I would like to see win would be King Creosote, I love his album 'KC Rules OK?', but I haven't heard this one he's done. Otherwise, bar him and PJ Harvey, the rest of the list doesn't really do much for me... Is PJ Harvey's new album worth picking up then? I've heard good things. Surprised Radiohead didn't get a nomination this year, just been watching the 'From the Basement' performances of some of the tracks of 'The King of Limbs' and it sounds ace.
I found King of Limbs to be kinda sub-standard actually. It just didn't match up to In Rainbows, despite having a few good tunes. I really think that Radiohead should have won when Ok Computer was nominated or when In Rainbows was nominated but I don't think they deserved to be nominated this year. The again, King of Limbs was better than a lot of things on this list *cough*disc-overy*cough*buildarocketboys*cough*manalive* But yeah, Let England Shake it quality
Cool I'll pick it up, been a while since I've listened to her, good excuse to buy more music! I really like 'White Chalk' and 'Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea', both ace albums... Yeah I know what you mean about 'The King of Limbs' not living up to 'In Rainbows', I was quite disappointed when I heard it first, but I totally recommend watching the Basement performances, suddenly made some of the tracks come to life a bit more... plus Codex from that album is a nice tune.