Mercury Shortlist 2006

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Blackdown

nexKeysound
MERCURY SHORTLIST 2006

Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Ballad Of The Broken Seas
Editors - The Back Room
Guillemots - Through The Windowpane
Richard Hawley - Coles Corner
Hot Chip - The Warning
Muse - Black Holes And Revelations
Zoe Rahman - Melting Pot
Lou Rhodes - Beloved One
Scritti Politti - White Bread, Black Beer
Sway - This Is My Demo
Thom Yorke - The Eraser

another fine moment for UK urban music...
 
B

boomnoise

♫
Well at least Sway represents something on that list. Scritti Politti are probably the most urban act on that list though.
 
swears

swears

preppy-kei
Arctic Monkeys - Shite, obviously.

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Wimpcore

Editors - The Back Room-Another wanky Joy Division imitator.

Guillemots - Through The Windowpane-??

Richard Hawley - Coles Corner-??

Hot Chip - The Warning-So overated, ten years ago they were probably in a band that sounded like Pavement.

Muse - Black Holes And Revelations- Why are they still going?

Zoe Rahman - Melting Pot ?? Oh I bet it's really "eclectic"!

Lou Rhodes - Beloved One?? Cheesy title, though.

Scritti Politti - White Bread, Black Beer-Not as good as his eighties stuff.

Sway - This Is My Demo-He's okay, there's a lot of UK hip hop that sounds like this though.

Thom Yorke - The Eraser-Even worse than with Radiohead.

Well, I hope Green Gartside wins. He deserves some recognition.
 
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stelfox

Beast of Burden
i'm very depressed by this.
i hope the monkeys get it, because that's the only record on this list i've liked (and i don't care what any of you joyless, navel-gazing, fun-hating people who say they're dreadful think!).
scritti shouldn't get it because the album is very patchy.
maybe they should just cancel the awards and make it a lifetime achievement thing for him this year and start up again the next.
being serious, though, can anyone come up with a better alternative list of british albums from last year?
to be honest, i'm fucked if i can...
 
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gumdrops

Well-known member
burial should have been in there... sway shouldnt
im not sure who else though
bugz in the attic maybe?
plan b?
boxcutter?

out of that list, id like thom yorke or arctic monkeys to win
 
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stelfox

Beast of Burden
thing is tho, that burial could quite feasibly end up on next year's.
the mercury isn't that cutting-edge, really.
most of the people nominating probably aren't aware of the record, or weren't at the time of nominations.
is anyone here asked for nominations at all?
 
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Blackdown

nexKeysound
the only person i know has ever been on the comittee is journalist emma warren. not sure if she still is though.
 
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don_quixote

Trent End
richard hawley used to have something to do with pulp didnt he? lou rhodes was in lamb, who i initial mistook for lambchop. but theyre not. lamb were a trip hop group. i've no idea what it sounds like.
 
swears

swears

preppy-kei
stelfox said:
i hope the monkeys get it, because that's the only record on this list i've liked (and i don't care what any of you joyless, navel-gazing, fun-hating people who say they're dreadful think!).
Click to expand...


Artic Monkeys are the joyless, navel-gazing, fun-hating ones. All his lyrics are bitching about stuff like clubbers and how modern life sucks.
I love having fun, but I want some more girly, futuristic, stripped down, fucked up music to have fun to.
 
T

tox

Factory Girl
gumdrops said:
burial should have been in there... sway shouldnt
im not sure who else though
bugz in the attic maybe?
plan b?
boxcutter?

out of that list, id like thom yorke or arctic monkeys to win
Click to expand...

Someone told me that a few recent albums have missed the deadline cut off, but given that the Thom Yorke one only came out two weeks ago, that can't be many. Still, the Bugz album isn't out until next week and I think if it could have been, Lily Allen would have been in there too.

For this list I think Hot Chip or Thom Yorke should have it. Hot Chip are hyped, but not to the horrible levels of Arctic Monkeys.

If I was on the panel I would have given it to Burial. Actually suprised that Boards of Canada weren't on there given the general acclaim and more easily appealing sound of the last record. For the token Jazz/World record I would have dropped in the Steve Reid and Kieren Hebden Exchange project.
 
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gek-opel

entered apprentice
Hot Chip would win this out of this lot I would hope, they will probably benefit the most, their album is quite pop-friendly, but (relatively) underexposed... This list is bad, but it could have been much, much worse (ie- Lily sodding Allen).

ANYWAY>: what is the remit of this award, there is a kind of unspoken assumption that it is for "innovative" music, but is this actually the case? Is it not just an award for best OMM British album of the year? IE- an incoherent middlebrow affair judging completely unrelated stuff against each other, and taking a seemingly random result as its conclusion?
 
swears

swears

preppy-kei
tox said:
For this list I think Hot Chip or Thom Yorke should have it. Hot Chip are hyped, but not to the horrible levels of Arctic Monkeys.
Click to expand...

Hot Chip are worse than the Artic Monkeys in some ways because their brand of drippy, "eclectic", self-consiously nerdy, mopey-boy-trying-to-get-"funky" *cringes*
indie-dance schtick is presented as some sort of viable alternative to absolute cobblers like the Artic Monkeys.
And Thom Yorke? Most overated British artist since Ian Brown. He doesn't need any more kudos, that's for sure.
 
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gek-opel

entered apprentice
Hot Chip are wimps, yes, but they make intriguing, multi-textured pop music. I don't think they're that bad...

OK- putting aside the actual merits: and wearing the hat of a gambling man I have to ask who is going to win? Tried to check out the odds on the various candidates at Ladbrokes online at lunchtime (sad I know- but to no avail...) I reckon Guillemots... which is sad cos they're little better than kookey-pukey...
 
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tatarsky

Well-known member
gek-opel said:
ANYWAY>: what is the remit of this award, there is a kind of unspoken assumption that it is for "innovative" music, but is this actually the case? Is it not just an award for best OMM British album of the year? IE- an incoherent middlebrow affair judging completely unrelated stuff against each other, and taking a seemingly random result as its conclusion?
Click to expand...

I may be wrong on this, but i think initially they had a remit which restricted them to artists that had sold under a certain volume. They've clearly ditched that now though... hello muse/thom. Not sure about this though, i may have made it up.

Not that i've heard all the records, but annoyingly the Thom Yorke one is probably the best of those that i've heard (which came as a bit of a surprise/relief after the most recent radiohead dreck). Doesn't mean he should get it though.

And yes, yes, Burial should be in there.

Actually, would have like to see Steve Mason's King Biscuit Time record on the list, now i think about it.
 
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gek-opel

entered apprentice
Hmm. Thom Yorke's album is very pleasant in a kind of thin, sketchy, low-key manner. But its not better than the Hot Chip album... He also has absolutely no chance whatsoever of winning (ie- too established-- same goes for Muse and Scritti Polliti I'd say).

Ok- different question. If you were going to set up an award which performs the kind of function we imagine the Mercury to (but really know it doesn't) ie: to help promote a deserving underground British album from the last 12 months, who would win, who would be on the shortlist and why. Oh and Burial isn't allowed as an answer....! [you are also allowed to let a jazz, classical or folk record actually win, unlike the Mercuries...]
 
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