So here it is....
Young Knives
Bat For Lashes
Jamie T
Klaxons
The View
Amy Winehouse
Basquiat Strings feat. Seb Rochford
Dizzee Rascal
New Young Pony Club
Maps
Fionn Regan
Arctic Monkeys
First of all, I'm genuinely delighted for Ben, Emma, Seb and the rest of Basquiat Strings - the album is excellent and deserves to win, but it almost certainly won't. I'm surprised there's no space here for Cinematic Orchestra, The Long Blondes or Bloc Party (and the observational lyrics on The Long Blondes album are surely at least the equal of Alex Turner). Much as I like Dizzee Rascal, that album is not the best example of British grime/hip-hop/dubstep etc - Wiley, kode 9 and spaceape and Skream! albums all superior.
It's actually a rather strange list, inevitably skewed in favour of acts with the full benefit of the corporate and PR machines (so no Jeremy Warmsley, Twilight Sad, Fridge, Broken Family Band, Flipron, Fraud or Curios), yet with some curious choices - the likes of Maps and Fionn Regan etc have hardly made much impact on the record buying public, have they?
There used to be a handful of selections of real insight on the Mercury shortlists (even last year with Polar Bear, Hot Chip and Scritti Politti on the list) - this may be the worst shortlist to date for recognising artistic invention and innovation.
I would say it's probably between Amy Winehouse and Klaxons, with Bat For Lashes as a good outsider's bet.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
More Mercury....
Thanks to DJ Martian for, as usual, being the most comprehensive person on the web and constructing this list of albums eligible for the prize (if their respective record labels have put up the cash to enter them of course).
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/djmartian/mercury_music_prize_2007_eligibility
I missed the outstanding Finn Peters and Tom Arthurs albums out of my list of jazz contenders and it also strikes me that Julie Fowlis must be an almost dead cert if there's a token folk nomination. I hadn't realised that the outstanding guitarist and composer James Blackshaw was British - that would be a wonderful selection, as would Ryan Teague's excellent Coins and Crosses which sadly passed me by last September. I'd completely forgotten Acoustic Ladyland's Skinny Grin, a real possibility given that the judges ignored the far superior Last Chance Disco last year in favour of Polar Bear's excellent but, at the time, less well known Held On The Tips Of Fingers album. If they look to recognise the achievement of Seb Rochford again - there's also Fulborn Teversham as well. They're also bound to nominate the ludicrously overrated New Young Pony Club and Simian Mobile Disco too I suspect, particularly as those albums are still so fresh in the mind.
DJ Martian also includes The Tuss, the mysterious act which may or may not actually be the Aphex Twin. Is this a full length album or an EP? I've not picked it up yet - note to self that I must do so ASAP. I also had no idea that Xela were a British act - The Dead Sea is outstanding! Looking at this list DJ Martian has so carefully compiled, it's clear that British music really is incredibly healthy at the moment - it's just that our beloved music critics, who are paid to sort the wheat from the chaff, simply have no idea where to look right now!
Anyway, within about half an hour, we'll know the shortlist.
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/djmartian/mercury_music_prize_2007_eligibility
I missed the outstanding Finn Peters and Tom Arthurs albums out of my list of jazz contenders and it also strikes me that Julie Fowlis must be an almost dead cert if there's a token folk nomination. I hadn't realised that the outstanding guitarist and composer James Blackshaw was British - that would be a wonderful selection, as would Ryan Teague's excellent Coins and Crosses which sadly passed me by last September. I'd completely forgotten Acoustic Ladyland's Skinny Grin, a real possibility given that the judges ignored the far superior Last Chance Disco last year in favour of Polar Bear's excellent but, at the time, less well known Held On The Tips Of Fingers album. If they look to recognise the achievement of Seb Rochford again - there's also Fulborn Teversham as well. They're also bound to nominate the ludicrously overrated New Young Pony Club and Simian Mobile Disco too I suspect, particularly as those albums are still so fresh in the mind.
DJ Martian also includes The Tuss, the mysterious act which may or may not actually be the Aphex Twin. Is this a full length album or an EP? I've not picked it up yet - note to self that I must do so ASAP. I also had no idea that Xela were a British act - The Dead Sea is outstanding! Looking at this list DJ Martian has so carefully compiled, it's clear that British music really is incredibly healthy at the moment - it's just that our beloved music critics, who are paid to sort the wheat from the chaff, simply have no idea where to look right now!
Anyway, within about half an hour, we'll know the shortlist.
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