mercury music prize: 2009

Noms announcement today!

La Roux, Doves, Florence and the Machine and the BBC's Sound of 2009 winner, Little Boots, have all been tipped for this year's shortlist.

The award, now in its 17th year, aims to promote the best British and Irish albums of the last 12 months.

Florence and the Machine have been making waves since their debut single Kiss with a Fist in 2008 and won the Brit Awards' Critics' Choice prize for best rising star.

Little Boots' debut album, Hands, which was released in June this year, peaked at number five in the UK chart, while La Roux's Bulletproof is currently number two in the singles chart.

Presenter Lauren Laverne will announce the contenders at The Hospital Club in London just before midday.

Bookmakers have listed Florence and the Machine as the favourites to be included on the list at 4/1, with Doves, Little Boots and Bat for Lashes all at 7/1.

Here are NME.COM's 35 contenders - not counting the traditional folk, classical and jazz entries:

Bat For Lashes – 'Two Suns'
Bombay Bicycle Club – 'I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose'
Camera Obscura – 'My Maudlin Career'
David Holmes – 'The Holy Pictures'
Doves – 'Kingdom Of Rust'
Florence And The Machine – 'Lungs'
Friendly Fires – 'Friendly Fires'
Gallows – 'Grey Britain'
Glasvegas – 'Glasvegas'
Graham Coxon – 'The Spinning Top'
Jack Penate – 'Everything Is New'
James Yorkston – 'When The Haar Rolls In'
Jarvis Cocker – '"Further Complications"'
Kasabian – 'West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum'
La Roux – 'La Roux'
Late Of The Pier – 'Fantasy Black Channel'
Lily Allen – 'It's Not Me, It's You'
Little Boots – 'Hands'
Manic Street Preachers – 'Journal for Plague Lovers'
Maximo Park – 'Quicken The Heart'
Micachu – 'Jewellery'
Monkey – 'Journey To The West'
Nitin Sawhney – 'London Undersound'
Oasis – 'Dig Out Your Soul'
Peter Doherty – 'Grace/Wastelands'
Robert Mitchell 3iO - The Greater Good
Roots Manuva – 'Slime And Reason'
Stuart Murdoch – 'God Help the Girl'
Take That – 'The Circus'
The Horrors – 'Primary Colours'
The Hours – 'See The Light'
The Phantom Band – 'Checkmate Savage'
The Week That Was – 'The Week That Was'
White Lies – 'To Lose My Life…'
Wiley – 'Grime Wave'

Patrick Wolf apparently submitted his own application

los campesinos!!!!!!

James Blackshaw as token folky blokey would be cool.

out of that list i would hope for friendly fires or maybs late of the pier

i bet bat for lashes wins tho

someone at the announcement ceremony will break the news first on twitter:
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%22mercury+prize%22

who will get the scoop, apparently ilxor Mitchell Stirling is there

according to twitter irish lassie Lisa Hannigan nominated for Mercury Prize!

and The Horrors! Nominated for the Mercury Prize

Glasvegas - Glasvegas

Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

Lisa Hannigan - See So

The Horrors - Primary Colours

Sorry that was an outburst. So… Glasvegas, I mean really? They’re a poor man’s Twilight Sad. Like a Lidl JAMC. Or should I say Wembley Market offcuts ott-reverb.

Kasabian - West Rider Lunatic Pauper Asylum (is that what it’s called?!)

Led Bib - something unknown?!

The Invisible - The Invisible

La Roux - La Roux

The Invisible is a massive surprise! Great news. They’re playing ‘London Girl’ as a highlight, my favourite track. Kasabian though?! Woah.

Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires (hurrah!)

Sweet Billy Pilgrim - Twice Born Men

Speech Debelle - Speech Therapy

friendly fires have the best album easy

I count 11 there?

and Florence and The Machine - Lungs

oh dear

Led Bib are jazz-rock types a la Polar Bear FYI

Have liked the descriptions I've read of Sweet Billy Pilgrim, haven't enjoyed what I've heard very much though (live stuff on YouTube).

Mercury seems to be anti Lily Allen and Patrick Wolf, and Doves just too boring

Glasvegas - there is always one big turkey, like a bloated helium balloon full of hot air

I thought Led Bib included some American musicians

A helium balloon full of air?

Wouldn't that technically be an air balloon?

it's not as if i can think of many better UK albums from the past year...just the following 4. and roots manuva if i was being generous, it's a ton better than the shit on the actual shortlist at least. i don't care enough to be outraged tho.

http://musicvideos.su/Album6/This_Is_UK_Funky_House_Vol.1.jpg
http://cdn.7static.com/static/img/sleeveart/00/003/446/0000344657_350.jpg
http://cdn.7static.com/static/img/sleeveart/00/004/619/0000461999_350.jpg
http://www.egothieves.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/donaeo-party-hard-album-cover-front.jpg

big and bloated from the outside, puncture the balloon and what happens? there is nothing of any substance

Final list sans comments:

Bat For Lashes – 'Two Suns'
Florence And The Machine – 'Lungs'
Friendly Fires – 'Friendly Fires'
Glasvegas – 'Glasvegas'
Lisa Hannigan – 'See So'
The Horrors – 'Primary Colours
The Invisible – 'The Invisible'
Kasabian – 'West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum'
La Roux – 'La Roux'
Led Bib – 'Sensible Shoes'
Speech Debelle – 'Speech Therapy'
Sweet Billy Pilgrim – 'Twice Born Men'

I never know whether I'm offended or not by DJ Martian's need to explain every metaphor and simile to us as if we're retards.

Bat For Lashes/Florence and the Machine two horse race I think.

Can anyone even tell the difference?

BFL maybe a little bit less major-label in terms of aesthetic. But only just.

bat for lashes = rejected kate bush demos, florence = c-rate sophie b hawkins

probably the best on the list tho, along with the mediocre and bafflingly popular speech debelle, who i guess is this year's token 'urban' nomination

Oh it nearly always goes to a debut doesn't it? Florence then. I actually quite enjoyed that album when I listened to it but it's so obviously being positioned as this year's Mercury winner in waiting.

wait for the Simon Frith soundbite for this year....

A quote from Simon Frith, Chair of Judges: “There are seven fine debut albums on the list and five outstanding records from more established acts, all marking out new ground. What most impresses is the imaginative verve with which British and Irish musicians continue to explore musical possibilities, push musical boundaries and refuse to be pinned down by genre”.

just to give credit for Muso Guide, for scooping the announcement - just to clarify the source of the cut and paste info i posted earlier was from Natalie Shaw @ Muso's Guide
http://musosguide.com/barclaycard-mercury-prize-nominations-revealed/6082

this is so funny:

http://twitter.com/Gigwise/statuses/2756475784

Oasis Fans 'Outraged' After Band Are Shunned By Mercury Prize Judges: This morning...
http://bit.ly/1bshqd

Oasis fan Wilkopops told Gigwise he was “outraged” by the band's omission, adding: “'Dig Out Your Soul' was class.”

Another fan, Bob, was also surprised: “This is a travesty.”

gotta be a woman - La Roux or FAT M

This is a dreadfully boring list, even for the Mercury. I mean, really. How boring can you get? Christ, maybe you could get some cream coloured paint and watch the fucker dry.

Anyway, Bat For Lashes wins because socially awkward music writers would like to fuck her/token female voting committee members still live in the past.

Oasis fan Wilkopops told Gigwise he was “outraged” by the band's omission, adding: “'Dig Out Your Soul' was class.”

Yeah, and it was Ace. and Skill as well.

They should have brought in Oasis or The Manics to liven up the nominations. Who's going to give a stuff what the boys from Glasvegas have to say?

Patrick Wolf is not happy

http://twitter.com/pw_official/status/2756455635
Mercury Prize has consistently snubbed ALL FOUR of my albums. why? is it my face? my sex? my fucking queer agenda? fucking conservatives x p

Dearie me. The Horrors might be my favourite. Not that I've heard many of these, but still.

Christ, even "media personality" Lily Allen could have at least got people talking about what is an almost meaningless prize.

fucking conservatives

On a "quite interesting actually, well whaddya know?" indie tip, I'd like to have seen Jack Penate and Bombay Bicycle Club on there, if only so as not to see the wasted choices of Bat for Lashes (NO WAY is she close to winning, new album's half as good as the first one and that didn't win amid some fairly shoddy competition) and fucking Kasabian instead.

Kasabian will of course win, now I've said that.

Heartened to see The Invisible on there, what I've heard of theirs is grand, so. No Leisure Society?

The more Patrick Wolf goes on there the further he gets away from the answer

have heard one Bombay Bicycle Club song on Spotify and loathed it

Seven indie labels out of 12, that's good.

Anyone here heard the Sweet Billy Pilgrim record then? Keep reading comparisons with Talk Talk, was wondering if it lived up to it.

This must be a new definition of "good". (xpost)

I think it's pretty obvious Bat for Lashes will win it. Not a bad thing though.

talking of fucking conservatives, the torygraph's Q reading U2 fan Neil McCormack never fails to bemuse me

http://www.neilmccormick.co.uk/?p=552

"Even Kasabian, the biggest name band on the list, last seen performing to rapturous stadiums with Oasis, have a musical adventurousness that belies their laddish image. Their space age, club and dub inflected Britrock certainly deserves its place."

hahahahahaha xp

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night night.

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This is the problem with ILX. Something that is funny the first or second time ceases being funny the 473rd time.

the problem with ilx is not being funny the 1st or 2nd time either :(

you don't think anything is funny tho

The tennis thread refutes that statement!

No results found for "speech bagelle".

The tennis thread refutes that statement!

right, i guess i meant 'anything intentional'

i'm always laughing (tho)

http://thequietus.com/articles/03024-florence-welch-interview-rage-against-the-machine

harsh

but fair

WHY HAS NO ONE DONE ONE OF THOSE TO LA ROUX YET

hahahahaha even this woman was like "La Roux is completely terrible but at least she's an entertaining interview"

Really not a big fan of the tactic of leaving all the ums and ers in as an attempt to convey inarticulacy. I'd call it a dick move, in fact

― Turbohongro (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 21 October 2009 16:10 (52 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

(posted on the other, less noticed thread as I didn't know they were bumped for the same reason)

As someone who is completely annoyed with the pauses that have crept into his speech patterns as he's gotten older, I think it's the best dick move ever and should be done at every opportunity.

it's her "entertaining interviews" which make her an even better target - she's said shit which she actually needs to pulled up on, as opposed to florence, whose music is bad but inoffensive and who just seems a bit inarticulate. (of course, the marketing and media positioning of florence as a smart, original, quirky artist is a different matter...)

Really not a big fan of the tactic of leaving all the ums and ers in as an attempt to convey inarticulacy. I'd call it a dick move, in fact

― Turbohongro (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 21 October 2009 16:10 (52 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

agreed

― DavidM, Wednesday, 21 October 2009 16:12 (23 seconds ago)

leaving in the "ums" and "ers" in when you want to portray someone in a bad light w/o going balls out for a full-on trashing is a classic strategy - when the point of the piece is to trash so comprehensively, it's kinda unnecessary. but still fun!

if you're a dick

on the unpleasantness scale it comes in wayyyy below what elly jackson says

on which note did everyone see tulisa from n-dubz going innnnnn for her today??? amazing http://bit.ly/10Bl5A

"Where was she brought up - in a barn?"

thats a pretty cruel article

― Bobby Wo (max), Wednesday, October 21, 2009 12:13 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

nah i don't think the target quite deserves it this time, but i'm all for more unalloyed hate in the music press, especially when directed at any of the fauxteurs running rampant at the moment - i hate how a certain type of "artist" can end up getting a free pass whenever they're mentioned

but theres a big difference between taking on a fawning music press with its head up its ass--and issuing a brutal takedown of an artist whose only crimes seem to be inarticulacy and being too-beloved by UK media!

yeah, that's why i'm not cheering this particular piece, but the author makes it clear that she thinks florence herself is a fake and a hypocrite - that she really isn't the kooky artist she likes to portray herself as. which is fair enough. but i totally think that someone who's been an ignorant dick in the public arena herself would be asking for this - would you think it was cruel if it was on la roux?

haha welllll to put all my cards on the table i have absolutely no clue who la roux, or florence and the machine are, and im willing to admit my feelings about this kind of journalism would be different if i did

"But I can't fucking work iPods, any kind of technology past the 90s seems to break on me."

You don't need the ums and ers to show how retarded she is.

xpost -- Well then, enjoy:

http://www.myspace.com/florenceandthemachine

"I think now the boundaries between popstar and musician are becoming blurred, and I think that's a really good thing because it allows you to experiment with like, a look, or a style of performance, but still retain your musical integrity. You don't have to have one or the other now, you can have both."

Um, and this is laughable how? Because it used to be like that in the sixties?

And while I'm at it:

http://www.myspace.com/larouxuk

SHE DID A COVER OF "YOU'VE GOT THE LOVE"????????????????????????

leaving in the "ums" and "ers" in when you want to portray someone in a bad light w/o going balls out for a full-on trashing is a classic strategy - when the point of the piece is to trash so comprehensively, it's kinda unnecessary. but still fun!

― lex pretend, Wednesday, 21 October 2009 16:14 (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

YMMV but it strikes me as similar to if I said your post was invalid because you didn't write it using capital letters

SHE DID A COVER OF "YOU'VE GOT THE LOVE"????????????????????????

Haha here we go.

All of a sudden the f2k speculation list will take on new entries.

ha i love it when someone suddenly comes over all KILLLLLLLL

(the xx have remixed florence's "you got the love"! it's really good b/c they basically remove 99% of her vox and sing it themselves, so it's basically their own cover)

the f&tm stuff isnt totally offending me

ill admit to having heard the leo zero edit of rabbit heart and really digging it. his version is better than hers.

(the xx have remixed florence's "you got the love"! it's really good b/c they basically remove 99% of her vox and sing it themselves, so it's basically their own cover)

Hahaha I was just about to mention this because it's the second track on her Myspace page and about a bazillion times better than her original version.