Mercury Music Prize

Sco

Has anyone heard any of the albums making up the Mercury Music Prize nominees? Any opinions?

Love the Elbow & Radiohead ones and recommend them. Some good tracks on the Neon Neon CD but I either haven't listened to it enough or there is an awful lot of dross on it. Heard some Burial stuff but it hasn't grabbed me.

* Adele - 19
* British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
* Burial - Untrue
* Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
* Estelle – Shine
* Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim
* Neon Neon - Stainless Style
* Portico Quartet - Knee Deep In The North Sea
* Rachel Unthank and the Winterset - The Bairns
* Radiohead - In Rainbows
* Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
* The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement

suzisausage

I only have 3 of the above, and Elbow is the best of the 3 I have. I like adele, but can't get into the last shadow puppets album. Although I don't have the album I love Laura Marling as she has an amazing voice, and I love her on the Mystery Jets single and also she does backing vocals on Noah and The Whale album which I can't take out of my cd player at the moment.

Salad

I concur with Suuz and Sco that the Elbow album is excellent :-)

The Radiohead album is on a different wavelenght to me, I can tell it is good but it does nothing for me!
The British Sea Power album is fine but all their stuff sounds a tad workaday to my ears.
LSP album is decent enough, Neon Neon isn't bad but neither are standouts for me.

No idea on t'others, but I'll check at least one of them out.

kimbo

My favourite would be rachel unthank but i do not think view would give prize to them too folky

Valley_floyd_red

I've never really been into Radiohead until they released In rainbows. Without a shadow of doubt the best thing they've ever released, Jigsaw falling into place is the best song released in the last twelve months.

Adele bores the hell out of me. as do The Last Shadow Puppets and estelle.

I'd have Neon neon as an outside bet.

buckshee

a few good ones this year but for me I think neon neon is what the mercurys should be about , something completly different .

saw them do it live at glastonbury and it just reminded me why Gruff is the most effortlessly cool man on the planet

blackheathaddick

I love love love the Laura Marling album.

This was a review I read when it was released

"ALBUM OUT THIS WEEK THAT, IF YOU DON'T BUY NOW, YOU'LL REGRET IN TEN
YEARS

Laura Marling "Alas I Cannot Swim" (Virgin) out now
I have been listening to this a ton again this week, and marvelling
at how perfect it is and how on earth it could have been made by a
seventeen year old. It really is an absolutely incredible album. Just
breathtaking. It's very gentle. I don't want to say folky, because
that can conjure up terrible aural images of wavey-voiced hairy
dudes, singing in Olde English. But there is something timeless and
haunting that puts it somewhere in that bracket. Vast apologies if
this is an obscure reference, but some of it reminds me of Bonnie
Prince Billy*.
As I said last week, I also strongly feel that it is a very important
album. It will be written about for years and years. There will come a
point, in two or three decades, where you'll look back and think, Wow.
I am so happy I bought that the month it came out. It makes me feel
very special. Seriously, it is like that."

If you dont own this album I can heartily recommend that you change that!

bigstemarra

Liking the Elbow and LSP albums, but Radiohead have never won it and I agree that in rainbows has moments of pure genius on it....

Rothko

I'll be stunned if it's not the Burial album, great piece of work. If not then Last Shadow Puppets

Badger

Burial - very 1977
Elbow - bed wetting coldplay soundalikes
Plant & Krauss - lame
L marlin - lilly allen soundalike,how old is she?
estelle - groovy summer pop music
radiohead - won't win too established
Adele - sonds like amy winehouse
neon neon - too much like visage,stupid name
british sea power - rubbish
Rachel unthank - no too much like joe newsome

my winners would be from
portico quartert
or
Last shadow puppetts

Rothko

[cite]Posted By: Badger[/cite]Burial - very 1977

1977? Sounds like something from 1999

Rothko

So it was Elbow, hmmm

Badger

Boo...

Vincenzo

Huzzah! It's a great album and looking forward to seeing them at the Roundhouse next month. They are a bit 'grown up' but they've got great arrangements, lyrics, humour and Garvey's voice has grown on me.

Liked the Burial album too.

northstandsteve

what the feck are all u students talkin about ;-) have a wash and join the civilized world ;-)

alex jones

I like Norman Brown.

Leroy Ambrose

Out of all that lot the only two I like are the Radiohead and Estelle albums. At least this year there aren't ten bands who all want to be The Jam (and fail miserably at it)

CHG

Pleased that Elbow won, great album, they are amazing live, looking forward to the Roundhouse.

blackheathaddick

[cite]Posted By: Badger[/cite]
L marlin - lilly allen soundalike,how old is she?

How on earth does she sound like Lily Allen. Thats like the laziest journalism ever. I think the only thing they have in common is that they are girls and they are English. Laura Marling isnt even from London, shes from Reading.

I love it when people post stuff as if its true when its just their own opinion but you clearly have never listened to her album or even any of her singles

Oh and she wrote it when she was 17 but I believe she's now 18.

boggzy

Was really pleased that Elbow won, been a fan since Asleep in the Back days. The new album, about 2 thirds of the tracks are jawdroppingly good, the rest a bit dodgy. But more than worth buying for the good stuff.

They really deserve it: a bunch of talented blokes with hardly any ego at all, they'd been together a long long time slugging it out before getting known. Anyone see em at the Royal Festival Hall earlier this year? If so or if not would recommend one of the Roundhouse gigs as CHG says.

Badger

[cite]Posted By: blackheathaddick[/cite]

[cite]Posted By: Badger[/cite]
L marlin - lilly allen soundalike,how old is she?

I love it when people post stuff as if its true when its just their own opinion but you clearly have never listened to her album or even any of her singles

Oh and she wrote it when she was 17 but I believe she's now 18.

My post was last minute and very tongue in cheek. :-) i have listened to her album and also have lilly allen stuff as well.

Sco

Well chuffed Elbow won it. A great album and Guy Garvey seems a top bloke to boot. It is also worth checking out their earlier stuff too.

[cite]Posted By: Badger[/cite]Elbow - bed wetting coldplay soundalikes

Is this worth a response?...nah!

northstandsteve

never heard of them to the other night,lead singer has a cracking voice.

Rothko

I like Guy Garvey, it's hard not to, and I like the music, but album of the year? really? What was the album that got beat by PJ Harvey? Now that was the best piece of work they've done. They have been an incrediable consistant band though.

Still would have gone for Burial, but there is a fair arguement that it's a very London sounding album

northstandsteve

i'm too old,i've not heard of any of these.I used to think I was well up on music,that's what happens when you trade xfm in for talksport.

bigstemarra

Pleased that Elbow have won. I loved their early stuff (Cast of Thousands esp.) and the latest stuff is growing on me.

I also love his sunday evening show on radio six. The bloke is a true gent with a great taste in music. I'm glad they have finally got some recognition!

Sco

[cite]Posted By: Rothko[/cite]I like Guy Garvey, it's hard not to, and I like the music, but album of the year? really? What was the album that got beat by PJ Harvey? Now that was the best piece of work they've done. They have been an incrediable consistant band though.

Still would have gone for Burial, but there is a fair arguement that it's a very London sounding album

I understand what you are saying but SSK has some real moments of beauty - and it is so rare when a group of men come up with beauty that it is usually special.

Mind you I have a taste for more melancholy music. To each his own.

Chunes

I'm quite shocked Burial didn't win it. Not a big Elbow fan. It's a bit middle of the road. They've had some truly shocking songs in the past as well. Burial is a unique sound pulled from strong influences. Thought it was a dead cert, shows what I know!

Rothko

That's why I thought Burial would win, mainly cause it was a far more unique and briliantly put together record.

In fact it was album of choice this morning on the tube

DA9

I've got an original CD handout, Mercury Music Prize, 92 or 93, used to work for Mercury in them days, and staff were given it as a freebie, Pulp, disco 2000 I think.