If music needed saving, I'd die for it

[venta]

Earlier this week, the nominations for the Mercury Music Prize were announced. I know people grumble about the prize, about how the entrance fee freezes out small bands, and so on but if nothing else the nominees do provide a cross section of decent albums from the recent year.

Browing the nominations is interesting, but what's much better is that the NME have provided a handy page where you can listen to all the nominated artists:

Listen!

For some artists it's just links to videos, but for others you can stream the entire album.

Thus far I have been:

• blown away by PJ Harvey


• unexpectedly impressed by Tinie Tempah


• underwhelmed by Ghostpoet


• oblivious to Metronomy


• currently deciding about Everything Everything

Get your bets in now :)

What should have been on the list that wasn't? What's your best album from a British band in the past twelve months? (I'm not entirely sure how the Mercury panel define "of the year", I'm decreeing that it means July 2010 - June 2011.)

I'm considering adding Into the Murky Water by The Leisure Society and Drown Your Heart Again by The Strange Death of Liberal England.

Comments

[venta.livejournal.com]

for others you can stream the entire album

Except Adele, whose identical-looking stream-y thing only plays clips :(

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

I can't stand Adele, she annoys me. No modulation in her tone at all, it's belt-it-out the whole time.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I have heard sufficiently little that I hadn't realised that :)

[ext2366.livejournal.com]

Hmm, sorry about that (it's my employer's streaming widget), it seems that Adele's record label have made streaming her album a premium-only feature, and the NME re-branded widget doesn't show you that.

[zenithed.livejournal.com]

My British albums of the year:

Help Stamp Out Loneliness by Help Stamp Out Loneliness
The Phantom Forest by Bearsuit
Life! Death! Prizes! by Shrag.

I'm shocked that none of these were nominated (not really). Of the list I quite like Everything Everything, have heard good things about Metronomy and should probably get around to listening to PJ Harvey.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I have a copy of Six Songs By Shrag hanging about somewhere[*], but I never really got into it at all. Is it representative, or have they moved on a bit?

Not heard of the other two, or at least not heard anything by them. Will investigate.


[*] probably under S, to be honest

[zenithed.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Shrag have become a lot more focused since then - they're at their best live but the album's great as well, Rabbit Kids is probably the standout track.

[lnr]

I saw Metronomy before they were famous, and have an album knocking round somewhere, but haven't heard anything recent.

Actually I don't think I've heard anything recent by *anyone* :) I do love PJ Harvey though, so should definitely go find her new album.

[venta.livejournal.com]

The new PJ Harvey album seems much more... melodic than some of her recent offerings. I like it, but it probably depends which of her earlier albums you were most impressed by :)

[lnr]

I like some of the shouty stuff, but the more melodic ones are definitely my favourites so it sounds ideal.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

I saw them at the Zodiac supporting CSS, so they can't have been all that famous. They don't seem to do the lightshow routines with the push-lamps on their chests any more. Which might help explain why they're more famous now than they were then.

[lnr]

Aww, shame :)

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

I went off Everything Everything as a band when I discovered that my mobile phone contract was being transferred to them.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

But think of the ringtones!

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

Aren't they on their farewell tour?

[phlebas.livejournal.com]

I didn't really get into the PJ Harvey one - should probably listen to it more. Am enjoying the new Horrors album but I guess that's too recent - will have to check what else I've been listening to that's British...

[venta.livejournal.com]

I liked the last Horrors album, but haven't heard the new one. In fact, the last one is (in my head!) sufficiently recent that I'm vaguely surprised they've extruded another already.

[phlebas.livejournal.com]

Research suggests:
Smoke Fairies - Through Low Light And Trees (Haunting, folky, redolent of Fairport Convention/Fleetwood Mac back when they were good. The title is a good fit.)
Dutch Uncles - Cadenza (Clever and mathsy and referencing Steve Reich but with CATCHY POP TUNES)
Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (A Mogwai album)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Well, I've heard of Mogwai. But that's about where my knowledge ends. Will investigate :)

[phlebas.livejournal.com]

If you're still at the investigation stage I'd start with one of their earlier ones - Young Team if you're feeling energetic or Come On Die Young for a more considered statement of intent.

nice idea

[(Anonymous)]

good start

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Ditto the Smoke Fairies rec above, that's very good.

I like The Middle Ones It is the Rehearsal That Will Make This.

Emmy the Great, Virtue (surprised that wasn't in there, maybe too recent?)

As for the actual award, I wouldn't be surprised if Katy B won. Between her and Everything Everything, I reckon.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Katy B or Everything Everything?

These people:
http://www.olbg.com/mercury-music-prize.htm

... presumably don't think they're all that likely. Mind you, the MMP is more or less famous for being won by outsiders.

I'm surprised the odds on Elbow are so long. Maybe that's because they won it only a few years ago. (Has anyone ever won twice? Looking at Wikipedia, it seems not. PJ Harvey is the only other of this year's nominees who's won before, and she seems to be that bookie's favourite.)

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

It would be interesting to see what the odds were, and where in the ranking they were, for previous winners. I reckon there would be very little correlation, because the judges seem to see it as part of their job to confound expectations every now and then.

That's why I favour Katy B -- it's probably about time they thought "I know, let's shock everyone by giving it to a lowbrow genre." The M People memorial award, if you will.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

Speaking of P J Harvey, is 15/4 a real time signature, or is it three bars of one and one of the other?

[venta.livejournal.com]

I have no idea. Given that there is (or was) a perfectly well-respected Mexican composer who wrote in 2 1/2 / 4 (ie two-and-a-half four) I think all bets are off.

Logically it should be a series of bars each with 15 crotchet beats, but since I'm guessing that Ms Harvey doesn't actually formally score her music, she might not have considered how to handle this eventuality. If she did, it would seem less hideously unwieldy to write it out with changes to 4/4 and 3/4. I'm sure a more competent musician can explain the difference in terms of the sound, but I can't.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

"it should be a series of bars each with 15 crotchet beats" - that would be brilliant, especially considering that it does about 4 of those, then goes to more sensible 4-time for a few bars. I suspect it's a cunning trick to make people fall over if they try to dance to it.