The nominees are:
Adele - 19 (pictured)
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
Burial - Untrue
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Estelle - Shine
Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim
Neon Neon - Stainless Style
Portico Quartet - Knee Deep In The North Sea
Rachel Unthank - The Bairns
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement
Interesting list but it begs the question… Will that little Oxford band known as Radiohead be shut out for the fourth time? (insert pondering sounds here) Yep, that’s kinda what I thought too. Hey, I'm just sayin'...
The Mercury Prize, formerly the Mercury Music Prize and currently known as the Nationwide Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom or Ireland. It was established by the BPI and BARD (the British Association of Record Dealers) in 1992 as an alternative to the industry-dominated BRIT Awards. It was originally sponsored by the now-defunct telecoms company Mercury, followed in 1998 by Technics and starting in 2004 the Nationwide Building Society. It is often observed that bands who are nominated for, or indeed win the prize experience a large increase in album sales, particularly for the lesser.
For the record, I am putting my money on Burial.
5 comments:
Don't underestimate British Sea Power. Their newest is amazing.
erin
Yeah I hope you're wrong about Radiohead--In Rainbows was pretty timeless and classic and if they don't get it this year, I don't know if they ever will.
I was pretty blown away by "Stainless Style" as a concept album. I felt transported to the 80s like in Back to the Future (via Delorean of course). And Yo Majesty! were on it!
I completely agree with you Amity. I would love to see Radiohead win but the shutout seems inevitable. Such is the nature of this type of award I guess.
I like your choice too, Neon Neon was a fun release. The DeLorean theme was very clever.
s
I think maybe Radiohead is seen as too well established to be a serious contender for the Mercury. I am not familiar enough with the other albums to judge the competition, but In Rainbows is certainly worthy, in my opinion. It is hard to separate it from all the nonmusical aspects surrounding the album, though.
It's funny Barb, I was thinking about Radiohead last night and the effect they have had on the music industry. Not just this year either... Their effect has been huge since about 1995 when the Bends saw the light of day. Anyway, what I also considered was the fact that no other band since the Beatles have reinvented themselves as much as they do. I wonder then if they will be regarded historically in the same light? It will truly be an interesting trajectory to watch. It's very exciting to consider what may lay ahead for them.
s
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