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

[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 :)