And so, another year, another Mercury Music Prize nomination list.
Out today, there’s the usual ‘albums-that-have-been-everywhere-so-they-must-be-nominated’ (catchy, I know), and the token jazzy ‘album-that-next-to-no-one-will-have-heard-of-so-the-whole-affair-isn’t-too-mainstream’ (again, catchy), coming this year from, Kit Downes Trio.
So, here’s how the twelve albums shape up in my eyes:
Biffy Clyro ‘Only Revolutions‘
I like it but I don’t love it compared to earlier albums from the hairy Scottish rockers… There’s some really great individual tracks That Golden Rule, but some that don’t really live up to the mark God and Satan.
Corinne Bailey Rae ‘The Sea’
I read a comment that Corrine Bailey Rae is a boring Amy Winehouse, and I have to agree. I think it’s the whiney voice that does it. Listening to an entire album of her ‘whimsical’ and ‘airy’ tones and indeterminable lyrics, no thank you.
Dizzee Rascal ‘Tongue N’ Cheek’
I just can’t fathom why this has been nominated. Last effort, ‘Boy in Da Corner’ maybe. This however, no.
Foals ‘Total Life Forever’
I like this album a lot. I feel however that like their first album it can get a little old after many listens.
I Am Kloot ‘Sky At Night’
Very Mancs… but not necessarily in the best way. I enjoy listening to this album whilst I’m doing something else, but I really want it to go somewhere and stop me in my tracks.
Kit Downes Trio ‘Golden’
Hello token jazz entry. A little morose, but they are a talented bunch…
Laura Marling ‘I Speak Because I Can’
Lots of folk, and lots of self-confessing from Laura Marling’s second effort. A very ‘listener-friendly’ album with some fabulous stand out tracks. It’s definitely an album that you can listen intently too and enjoy every track.
Mumford & Sons ‘Sigh No More’
Well, well, well. Mumford and Sons – a current bone of contention in many a conversation for me. I’ve always hated the ‘I heard of that band before you and now they’re big I’ve gone off them’ people, but, after a tip off from a friend (who usually gets it right might I add) about a year and a half ago about these guys, I loved them from that moment. However, the not so great songs from the album being stuck on repeat on EVERY radio station, and the best tracks (I Gave You All, and White Blank Page) seemingly forgotten in a blur of mandolins and aggressively-played banjos, I’ve kinda had enough.
Paul Weller ‘Wake Up the Nation’
I don’t really have an insightful and informed opinion on this album, I just don’t really like it. The title track annoys me hugely – especially the rhyme ‘Wake up the nation, shake up the station’. The attempt at alternative ‘quirky’ piano bashing in ‘Fast car/slow traffic’ annoys me also. My verdict - Annoying.
The XX ‘XX’
Not a huge surprise that this album’s featured on the list of nominations. The ‘XX’ have been catapulted into the mainstream and forced down our ears for the entire year. Don’t get me wrong, I like the XX and I like this album, but I feel it’s a little hypocritical when I constantly get told Radiohead are depressing… These guys could seriously drag you down. Probably a front runner, although with Speech De Belle’s surprising (and horrifically misjudged) win last year, I suppose you just don’t know. Speaking of Speech De Belle, where is she now?
Villagers ‘Becoming a Jackal’
An incredible album from this hugely talented band from Dublin. Haunting and captivating, lyrically interesting, and musically, just great, raw song writing. You need to experience these boys live too!
I just want this album to win. Meaning of the Ritual and I Saw the Dead are two of the best songs I have heard in a long time.
Wild Beasts ‘Two Dancers’
A little ‘yodelly’, but a good effort from Wild Beasts. It works well as an album in its entirety. You’ll recognize Underbelly from the Santander adverts.
