Mercury Music Prize 2013

It's that time of year when even your dad has an opinion on Frightened Rabbit.

Shortlist announced today, who should be on it?

hitler

King Krule?

Wire

can't imagine hitler turning up to the ceremony tbh, he was never one to suffer foals gladly

damn son

was this whole thread just an excuse to crack that joke? Either way I take off my hat you you!

Don't do that on my account, it's pretty cold out this morning.

Don't do that on my trousers, either.

So, about to be announced then?

Arctic Monkeys – AM
David Bowie – The Next Day
Disclosure – Settle
Foals – Holy Fire
Jake Bugg – Jake Bugg
James Blake – Overgrown
Jon Hopkins – Immunity
Laura Marling – Once I Was an Eagle
Laura Mvula – Sing to the Moon
Rudimental – Home
Savages – Silence Yourself
Villagers – Awayland

No tokenism? "It's an outrage!!"

These New Puritans got stiffed again

even worse than usual (did i say this last year?)

probably. but it's actually significantly better than usual.

Arctic Monkeys – everything they've ever done has been worthless
David Bowie – i accidentally heard the single on the radio and it was like dreadful c-list britpop
Disclosure – this is aight but haven't even gone back to it much, three stars
Foals – this terrible band continues to exist? fuck off
Jake Bugg – this dude is the worst
James Blake – fuck off fuck off fuck off, absolutely dire artist
Jon Hopkins – i have not heard of him
Laura Marling – as a genuine fan of laura marling i have to say this album was a massive snoozey disappointment
Laura Mvula – so tastefully boring
Rudimental – my pick, if i had to pick one; its highs are some of the best tracks of 2013 (esp "baby"). but honestly it's pretty patchy
Savages – i found this unlistenable not because of the music but because of the total lack of character
Villagers – never heard of this

haha

Feels like quite a boring list, partly cos it's lots of the same names cropping up again and they're artists whose latest records aren't really any better than previous efforts.

Jon Hopkins album is nice but also seems it could be a smoothly Mercury-ish alternative to, say, the (hardly extremely challenging) James Holden album.

I hadn't heard of Villagers and assumed they were the token folk pick, but a quick google suggests they're more of an Irish Mumfords?

the Jon Hopkins is by far the best for me. lots of utter boredom in there.

what kind of music is jon hopkins/would i like it

always stymied when i try to think of "albums that should have been nominated" by having to look up a) release dates b) where the artist comes from and then c) not caring enough, but chucking some names into the pot

vatican shadow - ghosts of chechnya
maya jane coles - comfort
ikonika - aerotropolis
royal-t - rinse presents royal-t
andy stott - luxury problems
gwyneth herbert - the sea cabinet
emika - dva
charli xcx - true romance
ghostpoet - some say i so i say light

Jon Hopkins is quite pretty, kind of along the same lines as Four Tet or something but a little more compelling imo. I like that one and and the Savages record the best of these. Enjoyed the Rudimental and Disclosure albums but not really that fussed about them and found most of the rest of them either hard going or actively horrible.

vatican shadow - ghosts of chechnya

^ this guy's american btw

Savages street team over here

i was SURE vatican shadow was from like the north of england or something. oh well getting overly fussed about nationality is reason #948729320 why the mercury prize is shit

also while the good Rudimental songs are indeed very good, there's no way the entire album is better than the Disclosure album

oh i think it is but i prioritise higher highs over something more consistent that never quite stuck and seemed kinda redundant in some ways, if not actually bad

The first half of Jon Hopkins reminds me strongly of mid-00s Border Community releases, maybe some early Areal as well. Certainly Holden's The Sky Was Pink remix is a key template. The second half moves into a more 'ambient' atmospheric register, which is slightly more interesting, but very cleanly produced and still feels quite safe. Overall, I feel like it's a record created by an engineer, a bit uninspired somehow.

Arctic Monkeys – everything they've ever done has been worthless

next album title

Once I Was an Eagle is well above the rest here.

everything i'm reading about jon hopkins screaming "safer/more boring version of stuff i already love"

at least when they used to do the token jazz/folk/classical picks you knew those records wd be better than most of the actual contenders

The Barclaycard Mercury Prize exists solely to champion music in the UK, mainly through the ‘Albums of the Year’ competition, which celebrates recorded music of all genres by British or Irish artists. The music on the album is the only thing taken into account.

http://static.nme.com/images/gallery/2012JakeBuggEB080712.jpg

"solely"!
"all"!
"only"!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zzk2dPGwCls/UKbTLpQjPsI/AAAAAAAABCY/NW2RXioqLrY/s1600/jake+b.JPG

I hadn't heard of Villagers and assumed they were the token folk pick, but a quick google suggests they're more of an Irish Mumfords?

Nah this is very unfair on Villagers. They are (or he is) pretty straight in a 6music-on-a-Sunday fashion - so unlikely to excite ilm much - but it's a very good record.

Mark Savage BBC News entertainment reporter

Right now, the single is the dominant format in the music industry - making the Mercury Prize crucial for those newer, fringe artists who have no hope of making the Top 40.

So it's strange that so many of this year's artists are already successful.

There are seven former nominees and four number one albums on the list (five if Arctic Monkeys hit the top slot this weekend, as expected). Last year, there was one chart-topper. In 2010, there were none.

But the selection is still surprisingly diverse - from Laura Marling's naked folk confessionals to the rave-funk of Rudimental.

Resurrected rock colossus David Bowie is the headline-grabber but the Mercury panel traditionally prefer debut albums to grand dames - five of the last seven winners were first-timers.

The smart money is on dance duo Disclosure. Music fans would do well to check out all of the nominees.

Laura Marling's naked folk confessionals

The shortlist, however, did not reflect the widespread perception that dance music is the dominant force in British music at the moment, reflected by the change in emphasis in bookings at even the rockiest of festivals, such as Reading and Leeds. Only two out-and-out dance acts, Disclosure and Rudimental, featured on the 12-strong shortlist, with the dance-influenced sepulchral electronica of James Blake joining them.

Instead, traditional guitar music dominates the list – with albums from Savages, Foals, Jake Bugg, Laura Marling and Villagers on the list, which is completed by Laura Mvula and Jon Hopkins.

"This year's Barclaycard Mercury prize shortlist celebrates a fascinating year for British and Irish music, marked by a wonderful range of musical voices – urgent, reflective, upbeat and tender, acoustic and electronic, and all with something intriguing to say," said Simon Frith, who has chaired the judging panel since the award was launched in 1992.

Just as interesting as what is included, perhaps, is what is omitted. Commercial big-hitters such as Mumford & Sons and Bastille, both of whose albums topped the chart, didn't make the cut. For the first time since 2004, what is traditionally referred to by observers as "the token jazzer" fails to appear, with Hopkins's widely admired electronica album Immunity representing the more experimental end of the musical spectrum. And, as ever, there is no room for one of the most enduringly popular musical genres in Britain, metal.

"The thing is, within the rock music industry there's a bit of debate about how bothered people are with an award like the Mercuries," said James McMahon, editor of the rock bible Kerrang! "The other year we were pushing the idea of Bring Me the Horizon being nominated as an innovative, exciting British rock band who want to be seen out in the world – but then they didn't enter.

"If the rock industry doesn't have any belief in its relevance, what can the Mercuries do? But if it were genuinely the 12 best records of the year, it would be blinkered to ignore metal."

Personally I'm glad that utter shite metalcore like Bring Me The Horizon don't get nominated as there's so much better metal around (like lex I cba checking release dates for examples) but I dont suppose BMTH are any worse than what gets nominated.

Maybe one day some middlebrow metal that appeals to Guardian critics/readers might get nominated?

Music fans would do well to check out

AG, i think worrying about what "deserves" to be on this list is pointless, it's the thing itself that deserves ridicule - other music is out there doing fine

like i'm pretty sure your fave hipster metal bands don't really want to be interviewed on Breakfast Time about their Mercury nomination ;-)

haha very true but I just wanted to line up this -

Imago you love that stuff what do you think could have been nominated? ;)

Laura Marling's naked folk confessionals

thought they said they were only judging the music

I honestly would have loved a band like Electric Wizard or Jesu to have been nominated in the past. Even if it was just a Token metal act like the jazz noms were. But you can bet if metal were to get a nomination it would be an incredibly shite band that gets it.

so yeah fuck the mercuries.

matherd1

11 September 2013 6:03pm
Recommend - 2

Metal isn't generally included in things like this because it's almost always massively, massively kitsch. (Far more than some of the pop music than the more annoying metal fans look down on, like Beyoncé or Justin Timberlake.) It also usually is either standard issue vague cliché angst or fantasy concept nerd rubbish (geek 'culture' must die!).

ugh.

I've heard Bowie, Disclosure, Blake, Marling, Mvula, and Savages.

Would vote Marling.

idiot dismisses straw man's dismissiveness of straw man's dismissive version of thing he hasn't listened to. looks like the internet's still working then.

xp!

There are bits on that Foals album that get kinda loud and RAWKlike but unfortunately it's not quite enough to drown out the braying donkey they've got for a singer

did you just call me an idiot? haha
xp

jon hopkins record is far and away the best thing here

Oh wait, I've heard the Foals album, too. Didn't leave much of an impression.

Jon Hopkins record is the thing that I'd listen to here most regularly, but-- even though it's not my favourite kind of music-- I feel that Villagers record is a real achievement, pushing outside its genre conventions in very pleasing ways.

surely AM is too recent? that's surely the most recently-listed nom ever; album only came out last week!

really have to hear that Charli xcx album that You Ha Ha Ha single is fantastic.

Although I can offer no reason why anybody should care what my version of this list would have looked like, here it is:

http://rd.io/x/QUPlBzMCJnI/

Frightened Rabbit: Pedestrian Verse
Bastille: Bad Blood
Little Mix: DNA
Little Green Cars: Absolute Zero
Big Country: The Journey
Little Comets: Life Is Elsewhere
Raffertie: Sleep of Reason
OMD: English Electric
Lapalux: Nostalchic
Holden: The Inheritors
The Joy Formidable: Wolf's Law
I Am Legion: I Am Legion

that has happened before I think

xp

just thinking that black sabbath could have got the old man/metal nomination. That would have got an all new demographic for the mercurys.

Everyone does realise that bands have to choose to pay to be considered for this prize, right? So who 'deserved' it is irrelevant, as they may well have chosen not to waste their money (eg. Hookworms).

I assume it's not just an entry fee (How much?) but money has to be spent on lobbying, right?

The entry fee is £200, apparently, which doesn't seem inherently prohibitive to me, although I can totally understand anybody refusing to pay to enter on principle.

AG, i think worrying about what "deserves" to be on this list is pointless, it's the thing itself that deserves ridicule - other music is out there doing fine

― Cap'n Save-a-Co. (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, September 11, 2013 7:12 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^^^^^

£200 is a lot to small labels and independent releases!

like i mean properly small ones not lol xl

xlol

Sure, but I would assume that everybody on my list could afford to enter if they actually wanted to.

maybe jazz acts got fed up wasting £200

The mercury is going to be reaching boiling point when the winner is announced. Wooh! strap yourselves in for this ride.

i'd looooooove to read a feature about the level of various musicians'/labels' actual income. see what they're actually working with etc. don't think any of them on any level would go for it though

"lack of character" is a surprising barb to throw at savages

i vote marling, disclosure to win probably though recently i've sort of decided that home > settle

Anyway, the thing is..

Each nomination has been obtained by someone entering the album with the required fee and the loadsa copies for the judging panel at the first stage,, and implies the artist will be doing the obligatory live sessions and promo. Which will be interesting, wrt Bowie. Will he, won't he?

Also, as Wire and My Bloody Valentine are both self-released, I guess they won't have gone in for it.

Anyone not making a debut album probably doesnt bother with it I suppose as that tends to be what wins. A big name gets nominated purely to get tabloid coverage

The £200 in itself is probably not unaffordable, but for smaller labels – I was talking to some people yesterday – it's more a case of there being better things for them to spend £200 on, given the unlikelihood of their getting a nomination, let alone winning. And if you do get nominated there's the need to spend on marketing, to buy tickets for the do, to be available for promo. The costs do mount up.

I was surprised to learn last night that around 230 albums were entered, which really didn't strike me as that many.

That's what I was thinking, all it needs is a couple of judges to 'hear' something, and there's a chance for it.

Also, the (small) number of entries doesn't surprise me. Also, that the costs of promo, etc, is the bigger cost but by then they have the visibility..

Home and Settle are both really boring.

Wonder if Domino got a bulk discount? 3 albums on the shortlist

Domino seem to throw money at this shit every year

i wonder if judges are allowed to nominate albums that they have heard - one would hope (though maybe not expect!) such a panel of judges to have spent the year looking outside of the usual channels for music that excites them - that hasn't been officially submitted

i'd imagine not

Cant see it either

"this terrible band continues to exist? fuck off"

Well, this might be a stupid question, but do you guys think that this thing with smaller bands not bothering to participate could hurt the prize in the long run? I mean, though it's obviously a populist crap-fest, it still sells itself as being about the best of british music. If too many bands of the stature of mbv goes 'eh, who cares', do you think it will be harmful?

probably not as long as they have someone of Bowie's stature to grab the headlines

no because nobody normal gives a fuck about award ceremonies

bookies and punters seem to

haa this list is so terrible. mercury total waste obv

it gets written about in tabloids and people do seem to buy the winners albums so some normal people seem to care about it. The proper music fan tends to snark about it!

what the hell

I'm out

see ya

Normal people also seem to watch the brit awards and grammys and vma's

i'm defining normal as "does not give a fuck about awards ceremonies" ergo

Well, it's supposed to make money right? So somehow it has to add enough value to a lot of bands/brands for it to make sense. In a way different from most other award shows, which are mainly tv-shows.

well i define it as your general public not your ilm type but YMMV

i think we all agree here the MMP is shite

Well, it's supposed to make money right? So somehow it has to add enough value to a lot of bands/brands for it to make sense. In a way different from most other award shows, which are mainly tv-shows.

I cant see a MMP winner making more money than a Brit/Grammy winner.

I've never really been aware of what the MMP is supposed to stand for.

Do labels still have to provide hard copies for every judge? When Spotify and zip files exist that seems perverse.

Mercury nominees do get a sales bounce and more media interest afaik, though it can't make a hit out of something that leaves the public cold (see: Speech Debelle). It's not meaningless. It's been especially helpfully to the jazz and folk nominees which is why it's a shame this year's shortlist is full of people who are already widely known.

Details of Mercury "bump" here: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/sep/09/xx-mercury-prize-sales-boost

fromhttp://www.mercuryprize.com/aoty/about.php

About the Prize

The Barclaycard Mercury Prize exists solely to champion music in the UK, mainly through the ‘Albums of the Year’ competition, which celebrates recorded music of all genres by British or Irish artists. The music on the album is the only thing taken into account.

The Prize also celebrates live music through the Barclaycard Mercury Prize Sessions, showcasing many of the exciting live bands currently playing in the UK, with exclusive performances from the unique setting of Covent Garden’s The Hospital Club.

Barclaycard Mercury Prize Recommends sorts and sifts through the world of music online, bringing you the best new tracks, videos, albums and live dates.

which celebrates recorded music of all genres

haha yeah right

which celebrates recorded music of all genres

Who actually decides the shortlist? Are they really that blinkered they think they cover ALL genres?

Yeah, but it's not a non-profit organization, right? Or is it? And if enough of the chatter about their award becomes 'oh, they are even more clueless than last year', then it will hurt the brand. And then Barclaycard won't get enough for their sponsorship, and neither will AM get enough of a bumb for their second win.

There's actually some debate about whether winning it is even worth it: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/oct/12/speech-debelle-mercury-prize

I'd really like to know who compiles the shortlist.

it's me

sorry guys, had a lot on my plate this year

lol emil.y i'd completely forgotten i ever wrote that piece

Winning is only not worth it if you're Speech Debelle. Most do very well.

Haha, lex, I didn't even notice it was you. I remembered reading it at the time.

Re: shortlist, one thing that drives me mental is the refusal to name the judges each year. It's not top secret but it says a lot about Simon Frith's arrogance and resistence to change that he hasn't conceded even this small point despite years of complaints.

there may be a sales boost for most acts that win the Mercury but a look back over the winners suggests that the chance of a boost to yr long term career is 50/50 at best

and surely Frith can do what he wants? this isn't a public honour or a record of achievement, it's an ad campaign tarted up as a news story for outlets where music isn't their main remit. might as well call it the Frith award

between the Mercury and the Man Booker the main competition seems to be which prize can have the most poisonous sponsor

xp And that's a surprise how? No award - not a Grammy, not an Oscar - can ensure long-term success. But an award can give you added momentum (xx, Elbow) if you don't fuck up by putting out a bad follow-up (Klaxons).

this is just a hunch rather than specific number-crunching but i get the impression a mercury nomination helps your career far more than a win

for "unknown" acts anyway

and a lot of the new acts who went on to big things post-mercury would have probably done so anyway

So basically the shortlist might actually be drawn up by Frith himself?

No, it's done by the judges. I know someone who used to be on the panel.

These were the judges from last year:

Anna Calvi (Nominated artist in 2011)
David Smyth (Evening Standard)
David Wilkinson (Mercury Prize)
Elisa Bray (critic, The Independent)
George Ergatoudis (Head of Music, Radio 1 and 1Xtra)
James Curran (Head of Music, Absolute Radio)
Jeff Smith (Head of Music, Radio 2)
John Kennedy (Presenter, Xfm)
Jude Rogers (Freelance critic)
Mike Flynn (Assistant editor, Jazzwise)
Simon Frith (Mercury Prize)

ahh ok, cheers dorian!

http://www.clashmusic.com/features/mercury-prize-2013-no-more-heroes-anymore

Muse, pishy giro and therapy? are not metal though.

A common criticism of the Mercury is that it’s never looked to metal for a nominated album. Biffy Clyro, Therapy? and Muse have all been shortlisted in the past – but as the birthplace of heavy metal, it’s reasonable to think that a British (and Irish) music prize might have a little place in its heart for one of our greatest musical exports.

George Garner, reviews editor at Kerrang! magazine, identifies two albums that could well have contested this year’s Mercury: Black Sabbath’s ‘13’ (review) and Bring Me The Horizon’s ‘Sempiternal’. The former was a huge critical hit on its June release, and went straight to number one, keeping Beady Eye off the top spot. The latter has a Metacritic score of 81, indicating “universal acclaim”. That’s a higher aggregated score than those achieved by 2013 nominees Rudimental, Jake Bugg, Laura Mvula, Foals and Villagers. So why doesn’t the Mercury ‘do’ metal? Can it be as simple as the fact that nobody on the panel likes metal? What a tragic thought that is, for a British and Irish music prize.

heh 13 should have won it just for keeping Beady Eye from getting to #1

Kevin Shields has a rant:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/sep/13/my-bloody-valentine-slams-mercury-prize

just read that actually

Shields said in an exclusive interview. "We're banned by them, and do you know why? Because we're not on Amazon or iTunes. That's one of the qualifying criteria. You have to have major distribution or be on iTunes or Amazon."

The Mercury feels like an early pivotal moment in Dizzee's career, it's difficult to tell quite how his career would have panned out without that sudden burst of mainstream exposure, even if it took another five years or so for him to become a genuine mainstream pop star. It's also explicitly mentioned on Showtime.

Most of the other winners either didn't really benefit much in the longer term, or they were so successful in the first place that it made no real difference.

I am hardly convinced from that Shields interview that he actually tried to enter his album and was rejected on a technicality. Perhaps. Or perhaps he has figured, probably correctly, that the exposure he gets by preemptively complaining about it is more than the exposure he would get by entering and not winning.

This is the panel of judges from 2008:

Simon Frith - Chair, music author
Jude Rogers - The Guardian, New Statesman *
Janice Long - Broadcaster, Radio 2
Mark Findlay - Head of Music, Global/Capital *
Conor McNicholas - Editor, NME *
George Ergatoudis - Head of Music, Radio 1 *
Arwa Haider - Music Editor Metro newspaper; Word *
Mike Flynn - Jazz Editor, Time Out
Charles Hazlewood - Conductor *
Kitty Empire - Chief Music Critic, The Observer
Dean Jackson - Broadcaster, BBC Midlands *

Anyone with an asterisk was on the panel the year before as well. Some of them are on the panel this year too, but Britain doesn't have many pop critics iirc.

If you could combine the best of two albums, Rudisclosure.

raw patrick you know who is on the panel of judges this year? I thought it was a secret.

think i once went fairly ham on charles hazlewood right here on ilx

haha oh the memories Swash Dogs and Diet Coke Heads: the 2008 rolling Guardian zing thread

Soz, meant that last year list posted above.

(xp)

i was SURE vatican shadow was from like the north of england or something. oh well getting overly fussed about nationality is reason #948729320 why the mercury prize is shit

― lex pretend, Wednesday, 11 September 2013 18:09 (2 days ago)

maybe you are thinking of demdike stare and that set

you should investigate the rest of dominic fernow's work, though

the bbc.co.uk alternative list

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24054123

So... pretty much as crap as the real one?

give over, there's a few good albums in the bbc one

mbv, tnp, melt yourself down, heard good things about the steve mason

kill lists

its still a boring list lj

reminded me i need to hear that last Steve Mason tbf but yeah, nothing on that list wd have "enlivened" the Mercury one

but then as i say, fuck lists, fuck scores, fuck competition, fuck taste-waving contests, fuck what-you-need-to-listen-to, fuck "the industry", fuck consuming music in 2013

LJ doesnt understand because he hasnt seen enough lists

If someone were to compile a list of actually interesting lists, he would be able to tell the BBC list is boring

Nothing excessive, just twenty or thirty interesting lists would illustrate this

lol

a list of lists

TNP, MBV, and MYD are all fucking awesome records.

my man

Arctic Monkeys: are what they are
David Bowie: I mean it's late-period bowie. it sounds like "late-period" more than it sounds like bowie. that said it is head and shoulders above 50% of this list by default
Disclosure: like a lot but something tells me this isn't targeting the same crowd
Foals: haven't heard
Jake Bugg: nope
James Blake: nooope (although it is funny to see the critical press's retroactive shrugs for dudes like this after their hyped debuts)
Jon Hopkins: haven't heard
Laura Marling: A++++, amazing album, top-notch songwriting, a breakthrough for Marling as a writer; I want to slay every mumford though for tainting it by association.
Laura Mvula: pretty album. not my thing generally but the mercury awards/etc exist for albums like these to get praise and sales, which I am entirely OK with
Rudimental: haven't heard in full but I suspect my reaction would be same as Disclosure
Savages: A+, great album, the benefactor of hype yes but when did committing to an aesthetic become a bad thing
Villagers: continue to be the one Irish band getting plaudits despite only being intermittently interesting (this is coming from someone actually OK with their last single, even though I've mostly forgotten it now that I write this)

katherine.

i love you.

you have encapsulated the noms perfectly.

I try

Hang on. Is imago mr loo E jagg ah?

y

Andy Stott.

I really don't get the love for the Rudimental and Disclosure albums. Is it an American thing?

I liked Savages tho. They're good live too.

Hopefully Elbow and Hawley will be nominated/winning next year, it's just not the same without them on the list

Laura Marling and Arctic Monkeys have both now been nominated more times than Richard Hawley

"I really don't get the love for the Rudimental and Disclosure albums. Is it an American thing?"

American here, so I am on the wrong side of this to weigh in obviously, but I would not be surprised (which indicts me, but....)

Disclosure and Rudimental not an American thing. Disclosure were huge at the festivals this summer - everywhere they played there were reports of crowds way bigger than the arena could hold. Lot of goodwill to Rudimental, too. They're the poptimist options on the shortlist.

isnt it standard practice to book this years cool new bands in places too small to accomodate the interest in cool new bands

I can't remember how the judging works, is it supposed to be appraising the ALBUM as such from each of the acts? Rudimental and Disclosure have made more music that I've flat-out loved and put on repeat than anybody else on that list by far. Neither album is wall-to-wall classic but you could put together an incredibly tight 60-minute playlist from them.

"Disclosure and Rudimental not an American thing. Disclosure were huge at the festivals this summer - everywhere they played there were reports of crowds way bigger than the arena could hold. Lot of goodwill to Rudimental, too. They're the poptimist options on the shortlist."

I saw both at a festival this year and neither were very good.

I'm just having a hard time understanding the favourable reviews I guess. Mercury Music Prize I understand.

there can't be too many things more obtuse than an american music critic* faced with british music

*obv a few exceptions that i can literally count on the fingers of one hand

it's hard when you have a hard time understanding dance music

Crowd for Disclosure at Glastonbury was ridiculous - likewise the reaction to Dizzee and Aluna covering White Noise on the Pyramid Stage. They're legitimately big.

there can't be too many things more obtuse than an american music critic* faced with british music

*obv a few exceptions that i can literally count on the fingers of one hand

― lex pretend, Monday, 16 September 2013 07:31 (2 hours ago) Bookmark

idk, the ones that try their gosh-darndest to join in are kinda worse imho

Forget glastonbury sets, disclosure and rudimental have sold truckloads. and not just in the UK either

idk, the ones that try their gosh-darndest to join in are kinda worse imho

hey now

xp oh yeah that too

Disclosure and Rudimental both became huge after they were booked for those festival slots, is my guess. It happens to bands quite a lot, see also The Strokes in 2001.

Was hearing bits of the Rudimental album right across Eastern Europe, it seems to be doing pretty well outside the UK.

chill trace ur adopted

xpost Yes that was definitely true with Disclosure at Glastonbury - but it wasn't just that the tents were full, I believe - but that you couldn't get within 200 yards of the tent. They'd got huge enough that people wanted to be near them, even if they couldn't see or hear them.

that happened to kula shaker and nowaysis at t in the park in 96

And Kula Shaker and Nowaysis remain the biggest stars in pop's firmament! (subs: please check)

People still talk about it! (cf: "that happened to kula shaker and nowaysis at t in the park in 96" - Algerian Goalkeeper (Mercury Music Prize 2013)

Yeah I saw Disclosure at Glastonbury. I think there's some over-exaggeration here. The new dance tent thing was packed for Redlight too but I don't know if I'd consider him huge.

Anyway, I guess I'll just chalk this up to me not getting it.

haha i don't think i've ever heard of nowaysis

just saying that packed out at a festival thats sold out and the band in question isnt responsible for it selling out means fuck all. Happens every year and how many of the bands get big or stay big?

lex - Nowaysis was a cover band, have a guess which

they then changed their name to Norwaysis, guess who they covered?

currently giggling at the idea of a Seahorses cover band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI9e9F-Fves

Settle's a #1 album, still in the Top 40 after 15 weeks, with four Top 20 singles. I don't know why there's even a debate about whether they're big or not. Rudimental are doing slightly better though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCn81fIe8Uw

no money, not funny

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFIHZQUfjyw

(btw, the b-side was two songs of their own writing. Because they're not completely stupid)

Vote for the Uranus Prize!

http://sickmouthy.com/2013/10/29/an-alternative-mercury-music-prize-shortlist/

Winner gets invited for dinner at my house.

i dont want to win uranus, nick

zero women, nick?! nope nope nope

Yeah he missed Hero & Leander!

several of those bands have female musicians, tbf!

Factory Floor, These New Puritans and Dean Blunt (at least) all feature prominent female musicians, but that is bad of me; had it not been a British list there would've been far more women. Couldn't include Marling or Mvula cos they're on the 'proper' list.

Primal Scream's bassist is female these days, as is Melt Yourself Down's.

Lex has a point, though, if none of the music was written by women

I don't deny that at all.

No metal, nick?

Anyway, I'm giving More Light a spin. 2013 is diverting so far if not triumphant

Surprisingly enough, no, no metal either. Or folk. Or dubstep. Or modern classical.

It's, err, certainly aesthetically consistent.

It's a list very much in character, but that's no bad thing. Plenty there I need to hear.

(I like several of those records fwiw)

I love the MBV and TNP, like very much the Melt Yourself Down and slightly dislike the BOC. Scik, you know me - which others might I dig?

Of course it's aesthetically consistent and in character, it's one person's list!

I don't think you'd dislike anything on there, Imago, except maybe PSB.

Think you might flip over Holden, though.

OK, have stuck Holden on. Primal Scream wasn't really hitting the spot.

um, holy shit

what if you didn't really feel any record released by a UK woman this year

then have a word with yourself tbh

Would be surprised if Nick didn't like the Maya Jane Coles record for one.

Nick, have you heard Thighpaulsandra? This is like a more direct take on that kind of synth excursion. The debut I, Thighpaulsandra is one of my favourite albums.

It's also less a question of what you like as what you make the effort to seek out in the first place.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/29/alternative-mercury-prize-shortlist-2013

Emika, Ikonika, and Maya Jane Coles are all on my shortlist to investigate; if I've avoided them previously it's because of the word dubstep rather than because they're women.

What you choose to seek out is a massive part of this; I simply don't have the time or energy to check out everything I'd like to, even if I have the tools (if I want them). I don't feel like my list (which was put together very quickly with 'is it British?' as the overriding motive; a non-country specific list would have Julia Holter and The Knife in there with a bullet) is especially blokey in terms of aesthetics, but it clearly is in terms of who made the music. I can't do anything but hold my hands up and listen to some of the records that have been suggested.

Opening track of Hookworms is great as well. Absolutely no contest in the 9-minute opening psych-outs contest between this and Primal Scream

Just occurred to me that Nick should probably at least hear the new Six By Seven - it has a couple of lovely songs on it, even if it's perhaps a trifle uniform in its style

oops, change second 'contest' to 'contention' or 'brawl' or somesuch

imago have you heard that Error 500 album?

ooh, a new Holden record? i am so pish at keeping up, even with stuff i like

Oh shit, it's out now on Ipecac isn't it. Will grab hold today :) xp

http://open.spotify.com/album/0ilr042uLSqsOSI0zCIKK4

(for the rest of you, Error 500 features Ginger WIldheart, Shane Emburey, Jon Poole of Cardiacs and guests Mark E Smith and Merzbow, so I should probably hear it and you probably shouldn't)

aaaaahhhhhhh omg :D

well the bands name is MUTation but yeah its up imagos alley

I think Nick would puke if he heard this

This place makes much more sense when I remember who Imago is.

Wouldn't go that far, Imago. Doubt he would give it a listen however.
xp

Imago have you heard the Colin Stetson?

Yes, it's great! Possibly even better than New Warfare 2

*New History Warfare 2

The Colin Stetson and Holden do very similar things to my ears, in terms of texture and scale and chaos.

The Redeemer is my favourite album of the year by a mile

What you choose to seek out is a massive part of this; I simply don't have the time or energy to check out everything I'd like to, even if I have the tools (if I want them)

I know, it's always a bit frustrating to see you put these lists up and for them to be pretty much a load of artists you already liked in the first place, like your listening habits are so much more conservative than your tastes. Hostility/ambivalence to "the tools" (if by which you mean free access to digital music) is all well and good but it's not as if you can't buy things if you like them.

I've bought about 50-ish new albums released this year, and maybe another 30 back catalog records, too, which is about average compared to the last five years or so, and there are few of them that I feel I've listened to as much as I'd like (for various reasons to do with work and other hobbies - road cycling and 5-a-side not being conducive to listening to music).

Imago Sun Of White Leg sounds like blur

Best track is Innocentes in Morte

Sun Of White Leg is a pretty obvious tribute to a band which Damon Albarn also liked. I shan't say any more :)

sky news just reporting James Blake won

Because he did.

Great to see Hacker Farm getting a mention in that Guardian shortlist.

what even did that boring twat release

let us hope this hastens the moment when we can burn this prize down forever

yep

i thought no one listened to that james blake album. though that one jools holland performance was quite nice.

re nick's list, nik colk is as much of a creative force in factory floor as either of the guys, if not more, right? so nick can get a pass for now, with a 'must do better next time' proviso.

lol hands up who even knew jLLLLLames blake put out an album this year

iirc it was notable for having this 'just got dumped while visiting the local natural history museum' album cover and little more:

http://images.contactmusic.com/images/press/james-blake-overgrown2.jpg

ahaaaa amazing

lolll

that hand is compelling

mercury earned

music for sly armpit scratches

totally pleased for james, i've known his label ppl for years and they are great dudes, deserve this recognition from the british music community for a rare independent voice in a world drowned out by scenesters and dickheads

let us hope this hastens the moment when we can burn this prize down forever

― lex pretend, Wednesday, October 30, 2013 10:19 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

delighted to be proved rong on this point but it feels more like the natural mnstrm reaction to an album like this winning this stupid fucking prize is 'o shi best figure out what we missed abt this thing' as opposed to 'look at these clowns, giving a prize to a not terribly well received album'

ps delighted to confirm that was my first post itt

Luckily that's not the actual album cover, at least not in the UK.

He's going out with the guitarist from Warpaint.

Judges called his record "inventive, poetic and poignant", adding "James Blake makes music like no-one else".

Does he?

Think Lewis Taylor might have a thing or two to say about that...

Lewis Taylor says nowt about nowt tho.

"Blake beat off David Bowie, Arctic Monkeys and Laura Mvula"

some people will do anything to win

True dat...he needs to come back tho...then everyone can say who is this bloke ripping off James Blunt (sic)...

lol that's such an insult to taylor xps

pished thom yorke covering jamie woon more like

hopefully it'll be back to normal next year and Elbow / Hawley / Marling / James Blake will be nominated and win

I love Overgrown and thought it was unfairly slept on so for me this is a rare example of the Mercury boosting an album that deserved more attention. On the shortlist only Hopkins, Savages and Villagers have sold less so far.

He doesn't sound much like Lewis Taylor. Jamie Woon does though.

hating on soulboys, that's the problem with this country

progressive values, new sounds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aNRCoOsWb8

how does anyone keep a straight face to this, srs q

Racism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Anti-White Racism)

James Blake
Music Producer
James Blake is an English electronic music producer and singer-songwriter from London. Blake was the runner-up in BBC's Sound of 2011 poll. Wikipedia
Born: September 26, 1988 (age 25), London Borough of Enfield
Height: 1.96 m
Parents: James Litherland

I wish they put those heights in feet and inches...

I stood next to him once and he was def v tall

"you're really overgrown, James," I said to him as a twinkle formed in his eye

parthenogenesis

parthenogenesis
james blake nemesis
no one move a muscle as they laud Overgrown