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Mercury Music Prize nominations - 19/7/2011 1:23:55 PM

G.O.B

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Joined: 9/3/2006
From: Ireland

So, once again the nominations for the Mercury Music Prize have been announced. Personally, I'd say it's business as usual apart from the lack of a nom for the new Horrors/Cat's Eyes album. Still, good to see three of the best albums (James Blake, Elbow and PJ Harvey) of the year get a nomination. Cue the annual arguments about who should have got nominated and why the Mercury doesn't matter

Anyway, here's the full list of nominations:

Adele - 21
Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi
Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys!
Everything Everything - Man Alive
Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam
Gwilym Simcock - Good Days At Schloss Elmau
James Blake - James Blake
Katy B - On A Mission
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine
Metronomy - The English Riviera
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Tinie Tempah - Disc-Overy

< Message edited by G.O.B -- 19/7/2011 1:28:15 PM >

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 19/7/2011 7:33:28 PM

moontheloon

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From: Birmingham

I'm a little disappointed with that list to be honest...

Adele I am absolutely fed up of, we have it on at work constantly and it is driving me up the wall. Even thinking back to when it first came out and it was fresh and new it still was just very much a meh album, she obviously has a voice on her, but the songs were a little dull and generic and rumour has it can fuck the fuck off right away as it is one of the most irritating songs I've heard in ages.

Anna Calvi I was quite excited for before it came out because everyone was comparing her to PJ Harvey, and at first glance I could see why, then when I really listened to it I was a little underwhelmed, not awful, but it didn't set the world on fire in the way PJ Harvey does for me.

Elbow have made a good album, it's a slower burner than the last one and I was glad to see it do well, but I rarely find myself going back to it to listen to it after the initial month

Everything Everything are another band than everyone raved about at the time comparing them from everyone from New Order to MGMT and the like, I just thought they sounded weak personally, like a hollow shell with very little depth to their sound.

Ghostpoet I don't know enough about, I think I heard one track on 6music and remember thinking it sounded Okay, I'll have to give this album a listen

Wilym simcock I know even less about having never heard of her before this, again, i'll check it out, and if anything positive can be said about Mercury it's that it can get people/bands ( I assume it's a person though) recognition and attention where they would not normally get it

James Blake was a slight disappointment when the album came out, I think there is a lot of potential for him in the future, the album had moments of greatness, but some tracks fell a little flat and didn't deliver after the build up, but he is someone I will keep an eye on in the future.

Katy B was described as being the future of dubstep when she brought her album out, so I thought it might be good, it mostly wasn't, couple of okay tracks does not make a great album.

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - This album I actually really liked when I got it, haven't listened to it enough lately, but it was a wonderful album. I saw King Creosote years back and remember feeling like the set went on forever, but I had never heard them before that, since then I have grown to like them and this album was very good.

Metronomy's latest album was another disappointment (I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record here) but a couple of albums ago Metronomy were a great new band with heaps of potential, this new one got a lot more poppy and indie like and lost the rougher edges I really liked. A Pleasant enough listen, and I wouldn't object to listening to it, but ultimately I didn't feel it was anything special.

PJ Harvey should win this, hands down, this album was not just one of the best albums she has ever made, but was one of the best albums of the year, with a decent shot of being the best album of the year, she is an amazing artist, constantly pushing herself to new and interesting musical directions yet retaining what essentially makes her who she is. An amazing album

Tinie Tempah, this album should fuck off too, boring, generic and did I mention it wasn't very good either.

so ultimately not a very strong list in my opinion with only two albums I would be happy winning it. I am surprised that there's no Wild Beasts this year, I know they were nominated last year, but their album was fantastic this year too....

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 19/7/2011 7:42:34 PM

Piles

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Adele, Katie B, Tinie Tempah... Oh dear

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 19/7/2011 7:57:19 PM

FritzlFan

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I haven't heard all of these albums (can't say I'm going to rush to listen to Disc-Overy), but Anna Calvi and Let England Shake are both incredible. Let England Shake is probably my favourite album of the year so far, but I'd like to see Anna Calvi win.

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 19/7/2011 8:20:41 PM

moontheloon

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quote:

ORIGINAL: FritzlFan

I haven't heard all of these albums (can't say I'm going to rush to listen to Disc-Overy), but Anna Calvi and Let England Shake are both incredible. Let England Shake is probably my favourite album of the year so far, but I'd like to see Anna Calvi win.

I think I'm gonna have to give Anna Calvi a second chance, away from my time listening to intense amounts of PJ Harvey, which could have been the reason I was underwhelmed initially... I'll try again.

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 21/7/2011 3:36:16 PM

vad3r

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Tinie Tempah and Adele nominated over Radiohead?

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 21/7/2011 3:57:06 PM

trainedasninja

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Im a huge fan of Adele but I think her album is a disapointment. Rolling in the Deep, Someone like you and Set Fire to the Rain are some of her strongest singles but the rest are lifeless ballads. The many reviewists who claim her 2nd album is an improvement to her 1st makes absolutely no sense to me as her debut had more accoustic sounds, more uptempo tracks and altogether more personality. I think 21 is a better album than most but surely doesnt deserve as much praise as it receives.

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 27/7/2011 7:34:23 AM

Qwerty Norris

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Would like to see it go to Metronomy, PJ Harvey or Anna Calvi, Adele & Tinie Tempah really don't need (or merit) the win....

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 27/7/2011 8:37:23 AM

Drew_231

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quote:

ORIGINAL: vad3r

Tinie Tempah and Adele nominated over Radiohead?

The King of Limbs was never going to be nominated, not sure it would really deserve it (even though I love the album)
Radiohead should have won for Kid A, but that was ages ago

Im also hoping PJ Harvey gets it

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 30/7/2011 8:47:43 AM

JessFranco

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Katy B is the only outstanding record on the list. It'll be between that and Let England Shake.

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 30/7/2011 7:19:18 PM

Olaf

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Really? A few good songs aside, all I really got from it was a watered-down pop variant of contemporary dubstep with little or no new ideas of its own. It seems a bit like saying Gina G made an important contribution to British dance culture.

I know I'll come across as a massive bore if I list all the albums that should have been nominated, so I'll just say that Elbow's album is the best on the list - it seems to have been overlooked a bit because it wasn't as massive as TSSK, which is a shame as it's got some of their best songwriting to date. and no crass stadium rock manouevres or half-baked One Day Like This rewrites mercifully. Other than that, PJ Harvey's album was great, James Blake's was good but not as good as hoped (may have to give it a relisten) and the rest that I've heard are largely meh. EDIT I'm vaguely interested in hearing the Metronomy album though. does anyone have any strong feelings towards it?

< Message edited by Olaf -- 30/7/2011 7:24:08 PM >

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 30/7/2011 7:25:05 PM

MonsterCat

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That line-up is mostly pretty dull. Everything Everything and Adele can both fuck off for sure, like totally.

PJ Harvey's Let England Shake is the best of the bunch.

< Message edited by MonsterCat -- 30/7/2011 7:29:59 PM >

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 30/7/2011 9:25:24 PM

JessFranco

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quote:

Really? A few good songs aside, all I really got from it was a watered-down pop variant of contemporary dubstep with little or no new ideas of its own. It seems a bit like saying Gina G made an important contribution to British dance culture.

It's not really a dubstep album, although that's one of the influences. It's a pop record that draws on themes from twenty years of British club culture, from rave to funky. It's not pushing dance music in a new direction but it's more successful than anything i can think of in pulling all the disparate strands together into something modern and accessible.

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 6/9/2011 10:33:10 PM

moontheloon

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PJ Harvey wins it

YAY

A worthy winner in my eyes

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 6/9/2011 10:42:01 PM

matty_b

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She the only person to have won it twice?

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 6/9/2011 10:50:28 PM

pedros

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Yeah they kept banging on about no-one else ever having won it twice before. As Moon said, a fully deserving winner. Best album of the year - I still listen to it on a regular basis. Really looking forward to seeing her at Bestival on Saturday.

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 6/9/2011 11:32:51 PM

Olaf

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After listening to it pretty extensively in preparation for seeing her live last Friday (ridiculously amazing, by the way) I have to revise my position from two months ago and agree with everyone else that it's the best album nominated (still think Elbow's album was better than a lot of the coverage this week has suggested it was though). It is a pretty remarkable album, but tbh I think there's been better albums both from her (Is This Desire?/White Chalk) and from this year so far (whose idea was it to nominate Adele and not Wild Beasts). worthy winner nonetheless.

< Message edited by Olaf -- 6/9/2011 11:36:11 PM >

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 7/9/2011 10:53:25 AM

Larry of Arabia

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Just watched the ceremony highlights on the iPlayer - Tinie Tempah's face when PJ was accepting = priceless.

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 8/9/2011 11:27:53 AM

Toby Monroe

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I've decided I quite like Ghostpoet. It's been a while since I bought an 'urban' Lp, but I'm willing to take a punt on his.

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 16/9/2011 9:39:55 PM

Beetlejuice!

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Metronomy should have won this, I love the album!

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 12/9/2012 7:00:32 PM

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RE: Mercury Music Prize nominations - 3/10/2012 4:52:05 PM

The Hooded Man

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I lost any respect for The Mercury Music Awards when I read Dave Fanning's autobiography, he said that when he was a judge they came under massive pressure from the organisers to ensure that M People won it that year over Blur, Pulp, Paul Wellar and The Prodigy as they didn't want to be seen as anti mainstream.

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