What is the Mercury Prize?

POLAR BEAR FTW

Dead is the debut studio album by Scottish hip hop group Young Fathers. It was released on Anticon and Big Dada on February 4, 2014.

reckon twigs might be a good bet

POLAR BEAR FTW

they always get nommed amirite?

the horribly named GoGo Penguin are jazz too, maybe this is a jazz year

It's their second nomination - last was 2005 for Held On The Tips Of Fingers. Seb has been involved in other records that have been nominated though.

Was hoping Neil Cowley would get the token jazz nod, shame he's missed out.

Damon Albarn favourite apparently.

The only one's I've heard are FKA Twigs and Jungle.

TWIGS TWIGS TWIGS TWIGS

not a massive fan of that record but it's infinitely more agreeable than the other stuff I've heard off this list

have given east india youth a few plays and i don't really get it, but it seems vastly preferable to the likes of james blake as far as earnest synthsmithery types go

royal blood seems like the proxy alex turner option, screw that imo

gogo penguin make some clever music but it's polite and tasteful to the point of frigidity

is the anna calvi any better than her previous? that never really lived up to the (admittedly modest) hype

still need to give the kate tempest a proper listen, not much of a fan of her voice though

have no interest in hearing nick mulvey - nick is kind of a boring name tbh, puts me right off

fuck off damon albarn forever

listening to the damon albarn. jesus man what's happened to you

'mr tembo' might be the worst thing i've ever heard

like, this is the guy who once upon a time, when he wanted to knock out something a bit spiritual, would make something as genuinely beautiful, soaring & poignant as 'black book'. now reduced to this. it's embarrassing

otm. dreary shit from what i've heard. baffled that he's even nominated.

the first half of 'you and me' was actually kinda good, but then hey presto, back to platitudinous cheesy fucking bilge in the guise of emotive progression. fuck you damon albarn

lj as an openly anticon man, have u heard the young fathers lp

no but lol

def jux >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> anticon imo

I like the Young Fathers alright (stumbled into it on Spotify one night), but it's not award-worthy in any context.

where's the shambhala on here

charli xcx is an improvement on 100% of these nominations afaict

The last Charli album is from 2012 and the new one's not out yet.

maybe it could be award worthy in a 'best scottish rap album' context?

ya i know but i was making a weird qualitative observation xp

lol scottish rap lived and died with the beta band rap

Inverness is perhaps the most overlooked area of Scottish Hip Hop though acts such as Spit-Dis and T-E-C were prominent in the Highlands & Islands. Spit-Dis consists of Brude(Glass Cage), John-Boi (Focus on the Day), KD (Life is a Game) and Sherbit(Hip-Hop). Their most misunderstood track "Morgue City", highlighted the high suicide rate in the North's capital. The members of T-E-C, Mgoff and Paul Scotti are perhaps most recognised for their tracks "Don't Doubt The Flow", "These Parts" and "The Movement". In an area disproportionately dominated by traditional Highland music and Rock bands, these groups are particularly influential in the local and national scene in a way which was previously unassociated with artists from this area.[citation needed]

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5569/15016128420_0b22fcfa65_b.jpg

has since been altered to this http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/10/in-praise-of-sleaford-mods

suspect whoever wrote it misread an article in their own paper, printed yesterday, in which one of the posters itt said that he'd like to see them nominated. great work all round

shithappens

The Kate Tempest record is super duper.

Also, another vote for Mr. Tenbo as the worst thing ever. Even worse than him singing about cellphones.

Many xposts: last Charli album is actually 2013 but would be outside the allotted time period.

Lots of surprising omissions incl. Sam Smith, Chvrches, Blood Orange and La Roux. Twigs to win in a landslide.

lol True Romance must have leaked crazy early, because I'm always associating it with xmas 2012.

I don't know why I am always shocked Actress is never on these lists.

the anna calvi record is good

Just imagine if Actress won the Mercury prize, jesus....

critically acclaimed producer wins "credible" music prize would not be that astonishing

not enough clear world music influences i reckon.

The shortlist could have been better.

But it also could have been a lot worse.

Kate Tempest, I think, works better as a poet than as a rapper.

Two jazz nominations and wouldn’t it be nice if – for once – one of them won?

East India Youth is great although I felt there were a few too many instrumentals on the album whereas I'd heard the majority of the song-based tracks on the preceding Hostel EP. Still a good record though and well worth seeing live in the right context.

Yeah the Kate Tempest album is interesting but selling her as a rap artist is largely going to invite derision and confusion I fear. I definitely think of her as a performance poet who is influenced by rap and it's certainly a better way to approach that album in the first instance.

I like the production on the Young Fathers record (esp. the Knife-y backing on "Get Up") but the rapping is really dodgy. Cod-profundity wrapped in "clever" gibberish. Who was it that said something like: alliteration is the last refuge of the person with nothing to say?

Siegfried Sassoon

^actual lols.

I was kind of skeptical while listening to the Kate Tempest album until I hit "Lonely Daze", which is flat-out fantastic and made the previous songs click into place for me.

can see why she would want to avoid the "a bit shit" connotations of "performance poet"

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/mercury-music-prize-2014-who-should-win-from-ed-sheeran-to-jake-bugg-9714800.html

Andy Gill's article seems to have a somewhat different list to the official.

(I was pondering what was happening to Roy Harper's case, which was supposed to have been heard in August, but nothing has been stated it seems)

Is this meant to be an alternative list? Cos he doesn't say that anywhere. And the list's half the same as the official one? In know The Independent's gone rapidly down hill in terms of fact checking and quality and stuff, but this is just... weird?

"The Independent’s chief rock critic makes his own nominations"

Aha! I didn't read that cos it was under a picture of Ed Sheeran.

Tempest:
Yeah. "Lonely Daze" is pretty fantastic. Maybe track of the year for me.
The album lyrics as a whole are fantastic too. Concept album in the best sense.

xp agree it's a dumb list though - lots of the same things as the official, some of the fringe stuff switched for more populist fare plus a few random folky choices. thanks for saving music andy!

lj as an openly anticon man, have u heard the young fathers lp

― Nothing less than the Spirit of the Age (nakhchivan), Wednesday, September 10, 2014 9:55 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol

i suppose i'll 'have to' now

vera lynn snubbed again, a travesty

sorry, dame vera lynn

VL is 2 black, 2 strong!

bass for your face london

could someone just post the danged list

The Dinosaur album is worthwhile.

Mercury prize 2017 shortlist

Alt-J: Relaxer
The Big Moon: Love in the 4th Dimension
Blossoms: Blossoms
Loyle Carner: Yesterday’s Gone
Dinosaur: Together, As One
Glass Animals: How to Be a Human Being
J Hus: Common Sense
Sampha: Process
Ed Sheeran: ÷
Stormzy: Gang Signs & Prayer
Kate Tempest: Let Them Eat Chaos
The xx: I See You

thx Nick

I know nothing of any of these:

The Big Moon: Love in the 4th Dimension
Blossoms: Blossoms
Loyle Carner: Yesterday’s Gone
Dinosaur: Together, As One
Glass Animals: How to Be a Human Being

Dinosaur looks like their obligatory concession to jazz, the rest is undoubtedly fucking awful indie bollocks

dinosaur jr used to be called dinosaur until they got sued by a band called the dinosaurs who are these young upstarts why they oughta throw them in jail

Blossoms?? what the f

There's always a token gaz nomination iirc

loooool

lol! excellent wins!

I have The Big Moon in my 'to listen to' Spotify pile based on a recommendation from someone I trust. Currently playing Dizzee tho' so they'll have to wait.

I like the Kate Tempest record

not been a good ilx lynching in a while

that anti-austerity poem Katie did at Glastonbury, almost made me want to change my name by deed poll to Tory Bastard.

:D

Ha!

another shitparade

ah imagine a Chelsea Boot being stomped on a human face forever but nobody's actually watching it

Arctic Monkeys – ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’
Everything Everything – ‘A Fever Dream’
Everything is Recorded – ‘Everything is Recorded’
Florence + The Machine – ‘High as Hope’
Jorja Smith – ‘Lost & Found’
King Krule – ‘The Ooz’
Lily Allen – ‘No Shame’
Nadine Shah – ‘Holiday Destination’
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – ‘Who Built the Moon?’
Novelist – ‘Novelist Guy’
Sons of Kemet – ‘Your Queen is a Reptile’
Wolf Alice – ‘Visions of a Life’

https://ak4.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/24589934/thumb/1.jpg

Of those I’ve heard, really like the Sons of Kemet and Arctic Monkeys LPs.

Is XL the label with the most nominations at this stage, or the most regularly nominated?

That Sons of Kemet record is very good indeed.

god that jorja smith album is so boring. let's eat grandma were robbed here

Many were robbed tbh

It's a pointless charade though really

xp They made the Twenty Quid Music Prize shortlist though:

Love Lasts Forever by All Saints
One Kiss by Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa
Pat Earrings by CASISDEAD
Solo by Clean Bandit and Demi Lovato
Waking Up Slow by Gabrielle Aplin
Paradise by George Ezra
Falling Into Me by Let’s Eat Grandma
Word Of Mouth by Metroplane and Bree Runway
All Or Nothing by Naughty Boy, RAY BLK and Wyclef
Do It by Rae Morris
Anywhere by Rita Ora
Dancefloor by Tracey Thorn

As a list it’s pretty much exactly the shade of beige you’d expect

That Twenty Quid thing is just as bad lol

have knowingly enjoyed sons of kemet & nadine shah.

This would be a really good year to give the award to the 'token' jazz album. Not only is Sons of Kemet brilliant, they are also fairly well known, no?

(Not saying that the jazz albums are 'token' nominees, but they never seem to win)

I thought the Binker and Moses alb was pretty fab as well, in fact UK jazz is pretty good at the moment - but these clowns never seem to have more than one token jazz nom.

The Wolf Alice record is fucking awesome.

words i never expected to see in that configuration, vol 276

The fact that British jazz is actually fashionable right now (look at the Friday on this year's Field Day lineup if you don't believe me) suggests it might actually win for once.

Hopefully so, Matt!

The Independent headline :

The Mercury Prize is still struggling to acknowledges innovative UK music

none of these artists aren't English

The Wolf Alice record is fucking awesome.

― how's life, Thursday, July 26, 2018 6:08 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

The jazz terrorists have won.