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

[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.