Mercury Music Prize 2008 tittle-tattle aggregator

Unthank ftw.

My money’s on The Shortwave Set (not on any of those lists) for a nomination and Burial for the win, but my money has never ever been right, ever, since 1992, so best ignore me.

So when's the announcement of the nominees?

11.45 ish tomorrow

oh wow.

Would it be too much to hope for that "Voice of the Seven Woods" gets in?

Radiohead will win this year. The PJ Harvey mandate, basically.

Edwyn Collins dead-set for a nomination.

Bloc Party to win a prize for the onliest single called Mercury?

Quite a lot I like in contention this year: Radiohead, Portishead, Benga, Burial and to a lesser extent MIA and Girls Aloud.

Unthank seconded.

Robert Wyatt and either The Blessing or Neil Cowley Trio for nominations. Radiohead to win. Or maybe... Elbow. As an outsider. Portishead to be nominated.

what is unthank?

Rachel Unthank & the something-or-other, I assume? British twee folkness. Joanna Newsome-esque.

I'd say The Wombats are a lock for the list, and I'd be worried about Newton Faulkner too - he's only had one hit single, but all four of his singles thus far have found their way onto the Radio 1 A-list. Mysterious hands are moving for that man, to be sure...

http://www.myspace.com/rachelunthank

Southall, my office tomorrow etc.

D'ffy will win. They can't afford for her not to.

..and the Winterset.

Who are the Mercury judges this year?

that Welsh Wench from The Guardian is one.

presumably, Conor NME?

Edith Bowman was probably too busy to be involved this year, i.e with the newborn kid

A colleague of mine worked in marketing for Nationwide for a few years before coming here, and was involved in the Mercury campaign. Do not expect another wildcard winner like Anthony again.

I'd also not be shocked to see some kind of uber-fury unleashed on here tomorrow about the phrase "classic pop" being used as a description of the Scouting For Girls album.

This could be the jazz nomination:

Empirical - Empirical

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/s938026.jpg

Hahahahaha, no, not at all.

The Empirical album is FUCKING AMAZING but when was it released?

Amazon reckons July 16th last year, so cutting eligibility mighty fine.

this could be a surprise nomination:

Nancy Elizabeth - Battle and Victory

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/s968546.jpg

Bloc Party to win a prize for the onliest single called Mercury?

And John Lydon to present the award?

it qualifies ! trust me !

It should be the Keith Tippett Tapestry Orchestra but no fucking way.

Duffy may indeed crack it, or (srsly) Coldplay. Dull dull dull. The Wombats will get a nom but (jesus I hope) will not win.

I'm wondering if the delayed release of the Polar Bear album might be tactical? Apparently it was recorded in December 2006.

Coldplay wont win in a year Radiohead put out In Rainbows, unless, of course, no one at Radiohead Towers stumped up the £150 admission fee or whatever.

Who are the Mercury judges this year?

that Welsh Wench from The Guardian is one.

Stevie Nicks?

It also seems impossible that The Ting Tings will be ignored. And that Foals album that's not exactly flying off shelves might just get a late sales bump off this too...

I think I'd put Estelle as borderline, along with The Last Shadow Puppets. Oh, hang on, Adele. I can see that they might like that a bit.

could be a surprise nomination:

James - Hey Ma

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/s1374681.jpg

Polar Bear does not qualify for this year's Mercury Prize

I don't give a toss unless Youthmovies are nominated, and then I still don't care cos they'll only be in to make up the numbers.

What about Robert Plant and Alison K ? does that qualify?

http://a261.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/00594/06/20/594990260_l.jpg

Oh, and Hot Chip, almost definitely.

65dos was released May last year.

I've got the Polar Bear album already, bought it straight from the label; Dizzy's first album was nominated the day after release, wasn't it?

If Elbow win it'll be Pol Pot time.

I understand that Mercury archivists are currently hard at work in Somerset House and the Kew Public Records Office looking for possible British ancestry of any member of Fleet Foxes.

:D ^^^^

Mercury Prize loves debut albums and always has a few female artists

Adele Vs Duffy Vs Marling Vs Nash

Adele too boring
Duffy too mainstream
Marling too serious
Nash too crap

I reckon Duffy will likely be shortlisted

I wish The Notwist were British.

I don't think Hot Chip will necessarily get a nom. I'd like to see Sennen on the shortlist... well, the longlist anyway.

Kate Nash could just be nominated; August 6th release.

Polar Bear is not released till July 28th therefore will qualify for Mercury Prize 2009

predict:

Coldplay OR Radiohead
Duffy
Ting Tings
Last Shadow Puppets
Poxy Foals
Elbow
Estelle
Hot Chip OR Sam Sparro
Portishead OR Pendulum
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss OR Paul Weller
Jazz
Other

I can't see past Lightspeed Champion.

It's the hat.

oh, and just when and why did 679 recordings become sixsevennine ?
was that a clever clever accounting/debt avoidance issue, or just a simple open case of rebranding ?

-- mark e, Tuesday, 29 July 2008 16:39

It actually didn't: DiS got it wrong. Earlier this year it became sixsevenine, guaranteed to fuck up any potential googlers (probably).

Foals excepted, this is quite a fun list.

It changed to sixsevenine when it was bought out by a major.

i thought it was always a Sony (?) imprint?

"Warner Music has acquired 679 Recordings, home to British urban acts The Streets and Kano plus alt-rock band Mystery Jets, for an undisclosed sum.

The label becomes a wholly-owned division of Atlantic Records U.K.; founder Nick Worthington remains as managing director, reporting to Warner Music Europe president John Reid and Atlantic Records U.K. president Max Lousada. The label's staff will re-locate to Atlantic's offices in Kensington, London.

The label is also changing its name to Sixsevenine, dropping the 'Recordings' tag in recognition of an increasing focus on activities beyond recorded music.

Warner Music U.K. previously had a stake in the label, which was launched in 2001. Other acts which have released material on 679 include the Futureheads, King Creosote, Death From Above 1979 and Plan B. The label has been an early proponent of forming new business models with artists, recently forging partnerships with Cut Off Your Hands and The Rifles across an expanded range of rights and revenue streams."

It really is quite frustrating that the only publication that would big up Youthmovies (DiS) are actually the folx who released their record, and so don't, out of a sense of fair play (they didn't even review it).

For me it's between The Bug, PJ, PHead, M.I.A. and Wyatt. Fuck Buttons are interesting but I'm not fully convinced yet.

i am, but it's a very grimly-esque furrow they plough. i'm actually quite surprised so many other people like them at all.

Failure to sell Elisa Bray the Mercury CDs for under £30 seems to have been the last straw and it's gone into administration this afternoon.

Sorry, insert "for Sister Ray" somewhere in that sentence.

Really? Link please.

I looked at their website and they seem to think they've been going since 1981 as well, as opposed to the 1989 I remember them actually starting up. Unless they had a shop in Fort William or something.

If they have gone under they've only got themselves to blame; their stock has diminished dramatically over the last couple of months and their concept of stock control in general seems to have been drafted by Fotherington-Thomas, i.e. lots of DVDs, the same old discounted crap and nothing new or different.

http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1035010&c=1

http://www.unctv.org/pressroom/jfk/images/AMEX3yearoldJFKjrSalutes.jpg

10-point penalty, demotion to Oxford Street league?

Jude Rogers is back!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/aug/08/popandrock

"It's been quite a week for sex, music and me. Take last weekend. There I was at the Big Chill festival, hot-browed and clammy-palmed, watching Leonard Cohen sing erotically about how he "moved in you" as he sang Hallelujah. Then, right on cue, my phone bleeped with saucy news from the UK singles charts."

OK, so that's last weekend. And moving on, to some other examples ... nah. There aren't any more. She forgets that appalling opening line, and just talks about a current pop star.

Christ, read it again:

"It's been quite a week for sex, music and me."
!?!

Also note that she surely shouldn't have had her mobile on while at a concert, which one imagines was a quite hushed and reverential affair.

Probably not hushed and reverential at the Big Chill festival. Or maybe it is, I've only ever been to Leeds.

"saucy" in 2008.

"I've heard this perky new pops disc from young Katy Perry which is going towards the top of the hit parade, and oh my sainted aunt, it is a trifle blue."

First para redolent of onetime Melody Maker 'funny page' staple Derek Kent

"funny" page, morelike

Yes, Derek Kent. But even he wouldn't have written the first line.

The funny page was, I think, funny, though that particular (1990s?) column was never really to my taste.

Elbow win, YEAH!

independent.co.uk

One can only imagine the bitterness with which the inconstant Island and V2 executives greeted the news this morning that an overnight sales increase of some 260 per cent had already shunted The Seldom Seen Kid to the top of Amazon's sales chart.

Johnny Foreigner won the DiS Pluto Prize, with is the sort of comically irrelevant Camden indie album only DiS readers could consider the best of the year.

It is funny to think that I paid a lot of attention to this thread, once, but none to the prize, when it actually happened, the other night. I guess this is a good thing, the prize cannot have been good in any way, can it?

can i just say how profoundly thankful i am that ilx was down for this

If Elbow win it'll be Pol Pot time.

― Dingbod Kesterson, Monday, 21 July 2008 15:26 (1 month ago) Bookmark Permalink

ELBOW SELECTOR: We speak exclusively to Simon Frith about how he came to this decision.

A humerus look at the Mercury Prize

I've never heard Elbow

I've only just realised that Elbow aren't Doves, and now I have no idea who they are.

Don't worry, they are Doves really.

I felt very Pol Pot on Tuesday evening for sure and it's probably just as well ILx wasn't up at the time to allow things to cool down a little.

Lauren Laverne reported "disappeared"

Watching 6Music DJ Lauren Laverne lickarse 6Music DJ Guy Garvey on Tuesday night was the most offensive thing I've ever seen on TV and I've duly written to OFFTHETELLY or whatever the broadcasting regulation commission is now called.

I put my boot through each respective arse and sent 6Music the cleaning bill

HOW DARE THIS BROADSHEET-FRIENDLY INOFFENSIVE COMPROMISE CHOICE ALBUM WIN THIS BROADSHEET-FRIENDLY INOFFENSIVE COMPROMISE TYPE PRIZE?!!!

YOURS,

A VERY ANGRY MAN

Burial reported "middle class" at the findings.

That is, if they'd managed to find Burial.

Burial was apparently in a hotel over the road.

He loves his Little Chef mega-deals.

From the Mercury HYS thread:

Instead of watching a show that really only served one purpose- to add to the endless list of rather tiresome accolades a musician or group of musicians can get, I watched Maestro instead, which was not only entertaining, but served to create a deeper awareness of classical music to people who would not be as likely to listen to it. Indeed, classical music has existed for a long time, whereas ten years from now, people will have forgotten modern musicians.

Hannah, Bristol

But Maestro was on BBC2 as well, immediately before the Mercuries show.

Classical music listeners are only allowed to watch one hour of television every other day, and none at all if it's on ITV.

You guys can hate all you want but deep down you know that classical music has existed for longer than modern music

TV's Bradley Walsh has existed for longer than Sue Perkins. Does that necessarily make him better?

He is though

Fair enough.

I'm just glad that jolly frolics Daily Mail-friendly Jane Asher missed the final count.

Maestro might be fine if it was an elimination contest for actual composers and not just whichever slebs are free and willing. I don't care that they get to learn how to do something new and isn't that great for them and also maybe we learn something about ourselves and our capabilities as Ordinary People at the same time. FUCK OFF.

Maybe they should have been made to conduct the full 60-minute version of Goldie's "Mother."