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.