Mercury Music Prize 2009

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Albums? What a ridiculous concept...

(format nicked wholesale from last year's poll)

[Poll #1433368]

Comments box questions:

Do you feel compelled to check out any of the above?
Do you think this is a fair representation of British Music in 2009?
How do this lot shape up against last year's nominees?

(Stay tuned for news of this year's Lex 20p Indie prize!)

Comments

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

Do you feel compelled to check out any of the above?
- Yes, if only just because there are a couple more than usual I've never heard of. I don't expect them to be particularly good tho.

Do you think this is a fair representation of British Music in 2009?
- Not really. If they're going to be tokenist then it should be one album from 12 different genres. And obviously there have been better British albums in the last year not included but that's a slightly different question.

How do this lot shape up against last year's nominees?
- Roughly the same quality but as I said there's a few more I don't know which at best suggests they've made some sort of effort to help obscurer artists more (regardless of whether they picked the right ones). I refuse to accept it is because I am losing touch more!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I have heard "selected cuts" from the Bat For Lashes, Florence, Horrors, Friendly Fires and L* R**x albums, all of which make me want to actively avoid the whole albums. Kasabian and Glasvegas don't deserve the honour of their existence being acknowledged. The best track affiliated with any of these acts is the Aeroplane remix of Friendly Fires' 'Paris' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYNTkAjybQg).

The shortlist is even worse than last year tbh. At first I thought I didn't really care enough to be outraged, and indeed wondered why I ever cared. But over the course of yesterday I saw a TON of people showing interest in and checking out those albums just b/c they'd made the shortlist, and that was depressing: as much as people bitch about it, it does buy those acts a ton of publicity, and...artists like Geeneus, Toddla T, Crazy Cousinz, Donae'o, even the John Parish & PJ Harvey curio are all so much more deserving.

I mean, so many people - probably a lot of poptimists! - will probably go and check out the Speech Debelle token urban nomination. But the album REALLY ISN'T VERY GOOD. The kindest thing I can say is that it sounds like the work of a promising, very raw talent...the first time she'd ever stepped into a studio, ever. And before she'd made any edits. I'm baffled by the critical plaudits that her rambling, unmemorable album has received - I guess cuz it's slightly "worthy"? And I don't want to hate, as I said she's not untalented and has the potential to make a good album one day, but this is not it, and it's frustrating that she'll get so much attention for it.

On the plus side, that irritating little brat Patrick Wolf threw a Twitter tantrum b/c he was missed out, which was entertaining, so slight redemption for the Mercury there.

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

I too was rather put-out that Peej & Parish didn't get a mention - it's really rather good.

I was rather pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Horrors album myself, but then, I am A GOTH, so it's a bit more logical. The inclusion of Kasabian bothers the hell out of me.

I really don't get on with Florence &TM.

I can never quite make up my mind about Patrick Wolf. I do like some of his ideas, but he does seem to have an annoying air of being too clever for his own good. He would have been something of a fit, though, so I can see why he felt entitled to be included - it's hardly as if he would have *won*, but the whole exercise is just free advertising, right?

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I actually totally forgot about PJH until reminded - had assumed it would grow on me a bit more than it did, but then I did enjoy it at the time and probably only stopped listening to it b/c the weather got nice. I remember that the closing track is really beautiful.

I was also shocked that the Horrors somehow made a not-unlistenable album, but this didn't equate to an actually good one.

I can't really remember why I dislike P Wolf's music, just that I do - probably his voice - but these constant public tantrums don't do him any good at all.

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Yes, I got out of the habit of listening to it after a couple of weeks too, and your comment brought it all back. Funny that.

The first Horrors album is definitely quite silly and a bit of a novelty record, which I certainly did expect to loathe, but I picked it up for a whole £2 at Fopp (thinking "what the hell, may as well listen before I bitch") and was pleasantly surprised that there were a few good ideas lurking - the cartoon misogyny really misses the mark a lot, I have to say - but had no hopes that they'd do anything useful. Hence being more than a little impressed by 'Primary Colours' - OK, they're getting their best ideas from "Pornography" (I'm apparently alone in not regarding this as a Cure zenith but as the start of the decline), but if you're going to steal... I think therefore that I can class it as an at-least-somewhat good album, but will wait to see how well it ages first.

Am thinking of going to see PW at the Gay Icons thing at the NPG - not made up my mind yet. I'm conflicted about him, to say the least.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Seconding the first paragraph of the above, except that I like the Horrors. The judges clearly wanted a list which was Young and Edgy and Hot - but only for broadsheet/glossy mag definitions of those words. Hence this shower of shit.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

But over the course of yesterday I saw a TON of people showing interest in and checking out those albums just b/c they'd made the shortlist, and that was depressing

Yeah, this - and here WE are discussing a bunch of OK-ish at best albums just bcz they're on the shortlist!

What I will say tho is that the judges hands are tied by what's entered. Did Toddla T enter? I dunno. I can see why less broadsheet-approved fare wouldn't bother - why pay money to be told by a 50something white guy that you're not as good as Gomez? And so the cycle continues.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I'd be shocked if Toddla T wasn't entered! Broadsheet-approved, hugely trendy, stood a great chance of being the token urban nomination. Ditto PJ Harvey for her track record alone. Wiley - on a major label, had a hit, why not? Less sure about Geeneus and Crazy Cousinz but tbh it's not as though those are self-released mixtapes, they're albums on established imprints (Rinse and Ministry of Sound respectively) which got a decent amount of press. And assuming that you'll just lose out to Gomez or whoever would be foolish - if there's one thing in the MMP's favour, it's that it IS really unpredictable. Elbow may have won it last year, but IIRC that was a huge shock - the needle has swung to "urban" enough times that you couldn't ever rule out Geeneus being, say, this year's Roni Size.

Oh I forgot the Roots Manuva album, that was pretty good too - 7/10 but again better than 100% of the shortlist.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Good god that makes the PJ 20p music prize look AMAZING. Bring on the Lex 20p. If I started listing all the missing things I would quite literally be here ALL NIGHT.

I really like the new Kasabian single and have now nearly bought the album twice. That doesn't mean it deserves a Mercury tho.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

The Popjustice shortlist is definitely better this year but still really shit and dull. half-drunkenly went through it ILM last night:

alesha dixon - the boy does nothing - CRAZY COUSINZ REMIX - AMAZING.

'the fear' is really good, even if it seems to be a bizarro one-off for allen. 'beat again' is hugely likable, even if it is a straight rip of ciara's '1 2 step'.

original 'boy does nothing': kinda fun track carried mostly by alesha's liveliness, but there's a touch of the "geri halliwell goes to samba class" about it, and it's aimed far too obviously at daytime radio when she should be ~going back to her roots~ and vocalling some uk funky tunes.

'new in town' is a well-written song but they should probably find an actual performer to sing it rather than release the songwriter's half-assed, charisma-free demo.

'take me back' is annoying trebly electrocheese with a dose of autotune bandwagonning for good measure; its role as harbinger of tinchy's terrible new direction makes it significantly worse. i'm glad tinchy's a bankable no 1 pop star now but the disparity between his best tracks and his most successful tracks makes me grimace.

'method of modern love' is ok, can't really remember it, strictly for sentimental ostriches.

'love etc' also for sentimental ostriches except it's kind of awful, especially with its trite lyrics :/

'the promise' is a clumsily-sung, poorly-written attempt to jump on a bandwagon of a pastiche. what a pointlessly turgid group girls aloud have become.

hey let's recreate rachel stevens' career with half the hooks, a quarter of the production and a tenth of her personality (lol she had none anyway) spread over 5 british chicks. how is it even possible to give a shit any way about the saturdays, especially given the emergence of electrik red.

i've dealt with that worthless hack frankmusik here already (http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=399).

calvin harris is also a worthless hack in much the same vein, plus he gives every impression of being a cunt as well. why on earth is this pound-shop james murphy popular?

which leaves that shrieking harridan la roux. words literally cannot do justice to my hatred of her at this point. bitch is unreal and needs to sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up forever.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

I cannot actually see one song on the PJ list which genuinely excites me in any way. SADFACE. Why must Mr PJ be such a generally nice person but so off the rails musically these days?

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

'New In Town' is probably the 2nd worst track on the LB album. Really don't know why that was chosen as the single, so many better choices.

I don't really see the point of Calvin Harris either, I never really get him.

IMHO, there's only one halfway decent song ("Tigerlily") on the La Roux album which isn't "Quicksand" - it's all horribly, horribly overrated. I did try to listen fairly (and it's a genre I'm slightly more predisposed to like, not that that usually means much!) but no, really, it's mostly a waste of time. Not that I've very surprised. Elly herself appears to be an annoying pain, but I'm not sure how much of the musical input is hers anyway.

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

1. Not really. Mildly curious about Led Bib, as I've never heard of them.

2. Not really, but what is? I suppose it's no worse than the next thing - I don't ever think this sort of thing can really be "representative", whatever that means.

3. I personally slightly prefer it, although there are plenty of artists I don't like on there. I should probably listen properly to *all* of BFL and FF, though, despite their not entirely grabbing me.

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

i know people who know people who are the proud mum of (one of) the horrors, and have recently met one of them: he was very sweet and pretty (and omg young)

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Heh, fame by association!

Is this going to turn into your Celebrity Shag story? One of my former friends was of the opinion that everyone should have one (hers was Roland Gift!!)...

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

I have not shagged anyone on the current mercury list :(

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

I think if that was the requirement for the story, not that many people would have a CS tale.

Unless "being a right old slapper" became a requirement for nomination - would at least make things more interesting, I suppose.

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Honestly though, is there anyone on the list you'd *want* to shag? Natasha Khan, maybe, she does have nice make-up.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

Florence and her machine

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Eee, I'll be saying no, ta. Too annoying for me.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

I can't see how she could be more annoying than Khan. Do you mean as a person or their music or wha?

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Musically. I don't know her as a person! Although I don't like the outfits I've seen her in.

I find BFL OK but a bit bland, rather than annoying. Has nice moments, but can't always remember it afterwards. F&TM I find wilfully twee, though.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

tbh how annoying their music is is pretty irrelevant wrt whether i find them attractive or not (obv they might be annoying as people for other reasons but i'm just going by appearance - not even dress sense!). i realise it can work the complete opposite way for some tho.

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

It's all about personality for me. And in the absence of that, music is as close as I'm likely to get. Which means music isn't always a determining factor - could be behaviour in public - but might have a bearing at times.

I'm bad at this fancying celebrities thing, because I'm not terribly visual!

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Word; her pins looked bloody amazing at T4 On The Beach, too.

/lecherous

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Two token jazz nominees? Blimey, the Mercs are getting edgy in their dotage.

I'll probably check out F+TM, but not with any great enthusiasm. I was curious about Speech Wotsit but The Lex upthread has now put me off.

Agree with others that PJH & JP is a surprising absentee.

I was just thinking last night that it would have been great if that Crazy Cousinz cash-in double mix CD had been nominated. But Donae'o would have been the more obvious choice, I suppose. I may go out tonight and buy his record unheard as a gesture of protest against this list. ;)

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

has a double album ever been nominated? i think they would just reject the concept outright / not take the idea of 'remixes plus mix of other people's tunes' srsly as a contender

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Technically 'In Rainbows' was a double album but I'm not sure if they took the CD2 tracks into account when nominating.

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

different class was a double alBUM on vinyl wasn't it?

also did UFOrb get nommed in the early days? that was DEFFO a double

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

UFOrb is a single CD. lots of albums use two bits of vinyl tho innit?

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

what fresh madness is this? generation terrorists fitted on one tape but it doesn't stop it being a double album!!!

(uforb not nommed btw, although checking this on the mercury site reminded me that STARS BY SIMPLY RED was nommed in the first year, so we should THINK OURSELVES LUCKY!!!)

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

OK by double album i was only thinking of distinct 'requires two CDs' type affairs and i REFUSE to consider other types damnit.

sleb shag

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

mick hucknall oh yes

Re: sleb shag

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Have you? Or was it his Mancunian punk lookylikey?

Re: sleb shag

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

You know, I am now bursting with curiousity. I think I have to go make a post about this on my own journal...

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

interestingly i didn't even think of OK Computer being a double album (although i'm sure the vinyl was...)

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

I think this needs a post of its own, about whether technological advances have rendered existing cncepts of "the double album" meaningless.

[hoshuteki.livejournal.com]

I enjoy CDs that persist in listing a 'side a' and 'side b'. These days, double albums on CD = triple on vinyl, so the terminology is a bit vague but generally = a bit sprawling. (I think Beyonce's recent double could have fit on one CD, IIRC, for example.)

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's sort of sweet really! A nod to tradition. I like that.

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

I've not listened to any of them extensively except Friendly Fires. Nevertheless

FRIENDLY FIRES FTW

[awesomewells.livejournal.com]

Kasabian - I don't think I have ever knowingly heard a Kasabian record and yet I know exactly what they sound like.

Florence & The Machine - this is better than I expected, the big euphoric build ones anyway. Still can't quite get with her baying voice in full on belter mode though.

Bat For Lashes - reposted from ILM: "I really don't like this - her aesthetic is terrible and the production is so shiny and polished it kind of kills any feeling of intimacy. I want records like this to be creaky and dusty with the sound of instruments creaking in the background, like White Chalk or that Grouper album from last year. This just sounds a bit hollow and empty."

Glasvegas - I keep forgetting they exist. God no.

La Roux - I'm actively avoiding listening to this.

Lisa Hannigan - absolutely no idea. I suspect this is quite pleasant in an inoffensive and folky way, right?

Speech Debelle - enough people I trust about things like this have said she is a bit meh, so no real interest.

The Horrors - not terrible and certainly a pleasant surprise, but the aesthetic is kind of played out and the vocals are just flat-out goth. Best bits are the parts that Geoff Barrow has lifted wholesale from the last Portishead album. Still, I kind of want to give it another chance, which puts it ahead of most of the list.

Friendly Fires - terrific. Stevem described them as what Jacques Lu Cont producing the Killers should have sounded like and I'd agree with that. Sounds is huge and they actually know what to do with a rhythm section, and their dance influences are more than just window dressing.

The Invisible - liked the idea of it, the reality is very Observer Arts Supplement and zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Sweet Billy Pilgrim - actually intrigued by this

Led Bib - I don't even know what this is

[ms-bracken.livejournal.com]

I don't think I have ever knowingly heard a Kasabian record and yet I know exactly what they sound like.

Assuming the thing you think they sound like is the shrieking and braying of barnyard animals, you pretty much have their number.

In-jokes are strange and confusing

[meserach.livejournal.com]

As a new member of the community, what's the gag with the Lex 20p indie prize? Explain.

especially when there's no real reason behind them

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

*clears throat* WAAY back in the dark mists of YORE there once was a handsome but stubborn prince who sought the hand of the fair maiden POP. But the evil witch INDIE was jealous of their happiness and called forth a wretched curse upon the prince, dooming him to an eternity worse than death: lending his name to an interweb poll of dubious repute that no-one could understand nor explain without long-winded waffle and hand-waving.

(Er it's sort of our equivalent of this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popjustice_%C2%A320_Music_Prize))

Re: In-jokes are strange and confusing

[mcarratala.livejournal.com]

This will all be explained properly within a couple of days no doubt, but the Lex, being Poptimist's biggest diva, likes to remind everyone frequently how much he hates indie music (except for indie music he actually likes, but deems not indie by dint of the fact HE likes it). In his honour, we annually nominate the most unashamedly indie music of the year.

[vumgarda.livejournal.com]

Have heard six, two of which I really disliked (Glasvegas, Florence Against the Machine). Bat for Lashes is my favourite of them. The people saying they'd like less shiny and polished might have more luck with her first album although not by much.

It reminds me that I should check out Friendly Fires' album but that's more motivated by really liking Jump in the Pool when I've heard it on the radio.

I preferred last year's nominations mostly on the basis that there's no one this year I'd be as happy for as Elbow. 2007 remains worst list ever by inclusion of The View. That makes Kasabian look like an insipred choice.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

The Horrors album does nothing for me, but I'm not in the mindscape to allow for it, so to speak. Don't get Friendly Fires either.

I made fun of the Glasvegas album all the way up until I realized their ridiculousness was a point in their favour - art naïf, basically. Also I have drunk their beer and they're really nice people.

I expect to like the Florence, Bat for Lashes, and La Roux albums about equally, i.e. some songs but not others. Haven't gotten around to the legwork. Have heard all of the Kasabian and like it about as much as their first one, which I listened to a lot at the time and assumed was a weird taste fluke/lapse, but... apparently not? XD

Most interesting to me at the moment: the Lisa Hannigan

[meserach.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure Florence + the Machine will win this by a mile for me, but I haven't actually heard the album yet. Judging from the singles alone it's a clear winner tho.