Lex 20p Indie Prize: 2009

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

As I try very hard not to die too much, I bring you the news that the nominations for this year's Lex 20p Indie Prize are now open. For those of you not familiar with either the prize or the Lex, the principle is that the winning act is sent 20p in Lex's name. The possible reasons for why you would nominate acts for this I will list under this here cut:


In all cases the act are indie but the following qualifiers can also be used to define said act, indiscriminately and probably (preferably) in a contradictory fashion:
-the act are good
-the act are hated by the Lex (who is alexmacpherson)
-the act are liked by the Lex
-the act are hated by you
-the act are liked by you
-the act are universally hated
-the act are universally liked
-the act are really, really indie
-the act are not really indie at all
-you feel like talking about the act for some reason
-the act are a repulsive plague on the face of music, ie: Scouting For Grills
-you want to get a good ol' haterade party going on in the comments about a particular act
-the act are the only indie act you've heard anything by this year

I was going to go and make a flowchart on OKCupid to demonstrate this but it turns out work have blocked FUN and I can't be 4r5ed with MS Paint.

RIGHT THEN, is that all clear? Nominations away!

[Poll #1439016]

Comments

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

I do not think I could nominate Dan Black, despite him being clearly the winner this year, because I am simply not that cruel.

I may play fair and nominate Mastodon. Mmm, lovely Mastodon.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Oh no, in my theme of always nomming ridiculous postrock, it has to be the mighty Isis:


Mmm, groovy.

[my nominations never get anywhere, to no one's surprise]

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Last year's winners (by some margin) were the Ting Tings.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that we will play whatever wins at Poptimism.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

(Also, ideally the nominated acts should be UK-based and have released something in the last year or so but that's not as vitally important a factor as their Services To Indie)

[koganbot]

(Yes, "UK-based" is not true of my nominee but given that (1) I first heard it from you, (2) Lex has professed hatred, and (3) it is terrific, it absolutely should win. Except I suspect that La Roux will win, irking Lex trumping every other qualification.)(Someone should nominate Animal Collective, though at this point it'd be a nostalgia nominee: "Remember early in the year when we were all hating innocuous little Animal Collective? Ah, the past was such an innocent time!")

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

The main reasons it was restricted to UK-based stuff before was a) to 'align' it with the Mercury Music Prize [which bends the rules anyway so botherd] b) make it a manageable number of poll items [much more of a consideration rly].

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

But if people're only allowed one nom each then it'll be fine anyway.

May have to change my nom back to Mastodon after some thought. And by 'thought' I mean 'listening to Mastodon.'

[koganbot]

Oh, since we are tormenting Lex posting videos, here's my nominee (which as I said is terrific and will certainly do well in the year-end poptimists poll):

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

How much do you think the Popjustice twenty quid music prize & the Lex 20p are going to allign this year? :/

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Has there been a year where Lex hasn't nominated the Yeah Yeah Yeahs?

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

can i change my vote to "yeah yeah no"

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

But shirley Lex actually likes YYY's...?

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see what you're saying. Haha, nice try, Lex. I'M ON A BOAT! I'M ON A BOAT! I'M ON A BOAT!

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Watch it, dude, that does actually make him angry.

[hoshuteki.livejournal.com]

So what's it about that song? Just the general white fratboy entitledness of the whole thing? Watching the video made me aware that this is related to some kind of comedy enterprise (SNL?), though I didn't find it particularly funny per se. I suppose the danger is reading it as simply comedy, in which case it fails, unless you think rappers wearing silly hats are de facto funny. I would argue that (i) they're not, (ii) that the song is not particularly funny either, but that (iii) it's really FUN. And I don't even like boats. It's a strong 20p contender in any case.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Really? I was about to exclude it for not being indie.

I think it is because he feels it is mocking hip hop and yeah, the white fratboy thing. Which I fully understand and in fact I hated the song for awhile before it earwormed me so badly I gave in to the idea of T-Pain fucking a mermaid. There is something hugely annoying about how smug they are though, if you let yourself think about it for five seconds. The trick is not to think but merely to enjoy, obv.

[hoshuteki.livejournal.com]

Is indie-ness really a major criterion for this prize? I don't even know what it is anymore, and I'm not sure it applies to La Roux either...

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I refer the honourable gentlemen to this post here (http://community.livejournal.com/poptimists/708498.html) which may or may not sum up poptimists' viewpoint on this matter.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

It takes something which is already FUN and pretty funny too (Khaled-culture hip-hop) and then just bashes you over the head with spelling it out unnecessarily obviously. And, what Hazel said about mocking hip-hop, (tho) I don't think it's as bad as this as it could be - it's just a minor irritating element.

And yeah I hate comedy, all comedy.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Eh, it makes me really irritated, but not properly angry like Dan Black and La Cunting Cunt Roux, who both piss me off so much that I get angry whenever I see anyone so much as defending the worthless little bitches.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I nominated Santogold last year!

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Very true. Possibly I meant more 'has there been a year when YYYS haven't been nommed'.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

My nominations have historically all been the the POSITIVE spirit of "the best indie release of the past year". Every year, it is rigged so that my choice doesn't win :(

I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Someone should really nominate Marilyn Manson for "Arma-goddamn-motherfvckin'-geddon." The Teddybears STHLM remix will sound better at Poptimism.

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

I'm going to be controversial here and say I don't think much of this new stuff. And I even liked The Golden Age Of Grotesque.

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Seconded, and I even liked Eat Me, Drink Me.

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Eat Me, Drink Me sort of seemed like a return to form, too.

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

More than that, he actually seemed to be doing something new - that one burlesquey track aside, Grotesque had felt like more of the same, albeit still fairly well-executed, whereas on Eat Me he was doing something less theatrical, much rawer - and not that I mind theatrical, obviously, but I got the impression he'd gone as far as he could with it. An impression which his new album has really helped confirm.

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Eat Me had the air that he was maturing and creating things that were just as affecting as, say, 'The Nobodies,' whilst being sort of deeper and sadder and sharper. I mean, I lovelovelovelovelove Mazza but I have to say I am completely and totally embarassed by this new stuff and find it quite depressing.* I mean, arma-whatever-who-cares-is-he-really-still-trading-on-the-thirteen-year-old-shock-market is just ...weak. Where there seemed to be subtlety and growth and almost a quietness on Eat Me (and I love Mazza when he's unsubtle and immature and incredibly loud, obviously but as you say, nice to see him doing something different) but a sense of being more himself circa Antichrist than had been there for years but ARGH this is all so by numbers. *weeps*

He's one of my very favourite popstars ever and it's just disappointing to see him like this. I hear he was absolutely rubbish at Download, too. :(

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Wow, I really can't construct a sentence this morning.

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Dude, I got the comment notification, read that and thought 'I totally agree, except that I didn't know about the Download bit'. So I really wouldn't worry.

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I haven't paid attention to Maz since that godawful Tainted Love cover, however it is alarming to me that Antichrist Superstar was released thirteen years ago.

My Marilyn Manson top 8:
- Irresponsible Hate Anthem
- Disposable Teens
- Tourniquet
- Fight Song
- Dope Show
- Beautiful People
- Rock Is Dead
- New Model No 15 ('I'm as fake as a wedding cake' <-- ahahahahaha)

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Blvddy hell, I was nine. I bought it when I was eleven and thought it was amazing, obv.

Mazzalist clearly better than telling people how to use Rep ('don't bother' etc.) so here is my top ten-

1. Narcissus Narcosis (the first verse of this makes me DIE and MELT and ARGH)
2. The Nobodies
3. Irresponsible Hate Anthem
4. Angel With The Scabbed Wings
5. Tourniquet
6. Heart-Shaped Glasses (OH YES; I genuinely really really thought this was the start of Maz being FVCKING AMAZING again -woez)
7. Fight Love Song (this should be higher probs but I always sing it as 'got a crush on a pretty biscuit' and have consequently slightly ruined it for myself)
8. The Nobodies (acoustic versh)
9. Coma Black
10. (S)aint (this gets in for having Greg from CSI in the video -LOVELY GREG LICKING MARILYN MANSON SHOCKER HURRAH)

I basically like the s3xy ones best.

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[koganbot]

Manson is hardly indie, though.

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[koganbot]

(Nor are the Lonely Island.)

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[infov0re.livejournal.com]

Well, this really just returns it to a logic problem: Is Lex annoyed because it's indie, or is it indie because it annoys Lex?

You see?

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

This year the twist is that I also hate pop now.

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

We might have to split the 20p into two 10p prizes and an arbitrary 'Best Live Act' category...

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

OK, changed mine to Future of the Left's "Arming Eritrea."

Re: I'll trade you a motherfvcking boat for an arma-goddamn-motherfvcking-geddon!

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

This thread is clearly the best opportunity...

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

To introduce Poptimists to the world of RAYGUN (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSJEf1cF6pY).

Re: This thread is clearly the best opportunity...

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

...wow. Not only does their video look like the intro to Rock Band but just ...wow. That's err. That's very bad.

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Because it's made me so cross, I'd like to nominate the whole of this year's (double!) album by Chicks on Speed. 'Cutting The Edge' is *horrible*. I didn't think much would top Dan Black, but they're giving him a run for his money. If I say single "Supersurfer Girl" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLam18yIXRE) is one of the BEST songs on it, you'll get the idea.

I'll be amazed if Lex doesn't already loathe it.

(Future Of The Left are an excellent choice, though. Brr!)