Mercury Shortlist

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Arctic Monkeys' Favourite Worst Nightmare
Basquiat Strings featuring Seb Rochford's Basquiat Strings
Bat for Lashes' Fur & Gold
Dizzee Rascal's Maths & English
Jamie T's Panic Prevention
Klaxons' Myths of the Near Future
Maps' We Can Create
New Young Pony Club's Fantastic Playroom
Fionn Regan's The End of History
The View's Hats Off to the Buskers
Amy Winehouse's Back to Black
The Young Knives' Voices of Animals and Men

go on then.

Comments

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I have actually heard 2 of them, which is one more than last year.

I wd imagine - given that Rehab won the Now poll last week! - that Amy W is the Poptimists' choice. Not mine tho.

The View WTF???

[umlauts.livejournal.com]

Worst shortlist ever. Winehouse will walk it, though.

[ms-bracken.livejournal.com]

Is winning the Mercury still considered some kind of curse? Looking at the list of winners (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_music_prize) it doesn't seem to be that bad. However, I'm still not sure that I'd want the ones I actually like (Young Knives, Klaxons, Winehouse) to win, just in case.

The View, as noted already, utterly incomprehensible. I own it. I have listened to it quite a few times. It is 'fun' at best and 'utter rubbish' at worst. They are really not very good.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Not heard any of these, though they all seem very cool and trendy. What about lovely The Feeling? Or Take That? MUMS OF TEH WORLD UNITE & show yr disapproval for this nu-young-persons racket etc etc

The View?!?

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

Ok, I will no longer pay ANY attention to this.

[dzilinebisa.livejournal.com]

Another WTF for The View. What a godawful band.

I like a few of these bands but can't pretend I've heard the albums in full. I'd imagine Winehouse will probably be the favourite, they won't want to give it to the Polar Chimps two years in a row.

Of the ones I am familiar with, I like Maps best although as ms_bracken points out above, I would hate them to have the kiss of death planted on them. Srsly, if I was ever good/successful enough to get a Mercury nomination I would crawl into a hole and hope all the attention went away.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

One of The Young Knives calls himself The House Of Lords. o_0

And that is all I have to say on the subject, frankly.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

As someone with a passing interest in strings in popular music I can honestly say my reaction to Basquiat Strings is 'snore, oh god who let the school orchestra loose'
http://www.myspace.com/basquiatstrings

Horrifying. The worst sort of bad playing combined with 'o ya we are so clever bringing this music to the masses y/y?'

lord sukrat sez: MORE TOKENS PLZ

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

jazz? world? electronica? classical? hem hem "experimental"?
(are basquiat strings a kind of "portsmouth sinfonia w/o the politics"?)

Popjustice £20 Music Prize

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

as is now traditional, Popjustice have announced their shortlist:

http://www.popjustice.com/musicprize/shortlist.htm

A few good ones in there, but overall it doesn't give the impression that last year was a great one for British pop overall.

As with last year, there is one crossover with the Mercury list (Amy W this year; Muse last year). As usual, Girls Aloud will undoubtedly walk it. Roisin should win.

[jel-bugle.livejournal.com]

Dragonforce should have been nominated.

I bought that Bats for Lashes album, I thought it would be euro goth metal. Oh dear.

The MMP just highlights horrible worthy indie music. It's a public service in a way, if you don't care for those nominated, you're doing okay. I know that's complete inverted snobbery, but I don't care.

[anthonyeaston.livejournal.com]

i really like the brougey up and down that fionn reagon does with his voice, and how innocent he makes stalkery sex songs sound, and i think penny in the slot is surpinsgly hooky...

what does everyone else thing?