Biffy Clyro, I Am Kloot, Paul Weller. It's the 2010 Mercury Music Prize.

[actwithoutwords]

Nominations out

Dizzee Rascal – Tongue N' Cheek
The xx – xx
Paul Weller – Wake Up the Nation
Corinne Bailey Rae – The Sea
Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More
Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
Foals – Total Life Forever
Wild Beasts – Two Dancers
Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions
Villagers – Becoming a Jackal
Kit Downes Trio – Golden
I Am Kloot – Sky at Night


Some surprisingly unfashionable names on there. Though as someone who has only heard one of those albums, it's got to be the xx surely. The first really distinctive, interesting and enjoyable British record I've heard in quite a number of years.

[scarecrow]

I know it's only the Mercuries, but I really wish critics would stop taking Villagers seriously. I caught his live act twice, both times supporting artists I admire, and could scarcely believe how awful he was. At best he's pointlessly derivative of Bright Eyes. At worst he's one of the most pretentious, shallow performers around. Absolutely none of his lyrics hold up to any scrutiny. Yuck. Still, he's my pick to win.

I'm actually surprised I know all the acts this year...

[Serge]

The Wild Beasts album is the only one I like on that list. I'm a longtime Weller fan, but the adulation his last two rather average albums have received does baffle me. I hate The XX with a passion.

[Johnny Townmouse]

I think it's a toss-up between Mumford & Sons and Villagers, rather depressingly. Laura Marling may snag it as she may get the sympathy vote being her second nomination. I think the ill-advised Mercury prize to the Klaxons may scupper the XX's chances, though I wouldn't be surprised if they won it.

I completely and utterly agree with scarecrow on the cae of Villagers. Total shit - some of the worst lyrics I have ever heard delivered in a dreary, whiny, uncharismatic, self-pitying drone. I saw them/him support the Tindersticks and it was dogshit.

Serge - why the hatred towards XX? I have only heard a couple of things, and saw a couple of songs from the Glastonbury coverage. They strike me as largely forgettable, but I was interested in why they had stoked your ire? Is it because you hate gays?*



_{* I thought I would be the first person in the thread to start a baseless argument about something not worth getting hot under the collar about, in true CaB stylee.}

[Lee Van Cleef]

Load of crap, again.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I actually quite like Villagers - the lyrics don't pass muster, but it's pleasant enough stuff.  I too saw him supporting Tindersticks, and it does work a lot better with a full band backing him.

Conversely, I don't mind a couple of tracks by The XX, but their album is really front-loaded and the Glastonbury footage I saw of them was execrable.

In short, what's the new I Am Kloot album like, then?

[rudi]

I'm backing I Am Kloot this year. Dues paid, big hope fopr the new album, I reckon they've as good a chance as ever with this one.

The xx? Yawn. Top of so many critics' Best of lists at the end of last year and I@m utterly baffled at the love being shown them.

Dizzee Rascal: his weakest album yet (and he's already won it hasn't he?), Paul Weller: haven't heard it and you'll not make me, Corinne Bailey Rae: mm, yeah, s'ok I suppose, Mumford and Sons: boring and flatulent, Laura Marling: haven't heard it, Foals: a bunch of tools who think themselves much cleverer than they are, Wild Beasts: haven't heard it, Biffy Clyro: not their best, really, Villagers: oh fuck off, won't you?, Kit Downes Trio: any good? I know nowt about 'em I must confess.

[localhero87]

Awful list.

I can say I've listened to 6 of the albums on that list and not one of them I have heard were better than average. Some were garbage.

[vrailaine]

I like The xx loads... got a nice simple vibe going through it. Completely missed the big music journalist brouhaha they had when the album came out though.

No These New Puritans? ...odd.

Don't think much of Villagers but yer man's old band had potential of some sort.

[Johnny Townmouse]

I actually quite like Villagers - the lyrics don't pass muster, but it's pleasant enough stuff.  I too saw him supporting Tindersticks, and it does work a lot better with a full band backing him.

I can imagine the songs are improved with a full band simply because just the two of them meant that the voice and lyrics were EVERYTHING. The awfully self-conscious and immature lyrics really cause a block for me. I'm trying to think of other bands that have lyrics so dreadful that they are impossible to like. Actually, for the second time in this thread, I will probably nominate the Klaxons.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I can imagine the songs are improved with a full band simply because just the two of them meant that the voice and lyrics were EVERYTHING. The awfully self-conscious and immature lyrics really cause a block for me. I'm trying to think of other bands that have lyrics so dreadful that they are impossible to like. Actually, for the second time in this thread, I will probably nominate the Klaxons.

At the time my friend remarked, "Well - he got good value for money out of his rhyming dictionary."

[purlieu]

Maybe I'm getting older, but the Mercury list really is bollocks most of the time, isn't it?  How on Earth could anyone think Only Revolutions is worth an award?  I'm only really a fan of their second and third albums, but it's such a boring, watered down pile of cack I can't believe anyone over the age of 17 takes it seriously.
My money's on Mumford & Sons, although I don't much like them.
Also, am I the only one who seems to have been entirely passed by by Villagers?

[Serge]

Serge - why the hatred towards XX? I have only heard a couple of things, and saw a couple of songs from the Glastonbury coverage. They strike me as largely forgettable, but I was interested in why they had stoked your ire? Is it because you hate gays?*



_{* I thought I would be the first person in the thread to start a baseless argument about something not worth getting hot under the collar about, in true CaB stylee.}

Largely forgettable, yes, unless you work in a record shop where it inexplicably becomes album of the year and you have to listen to it every fucking day for months on end until its blandness has mushed your brain into pulp. And I hate Jarvis Cocker, too.

As a Friend O' Lesbians, I can safely say I don't hate gays.

[non capisco]

I hate The XX with a passion.

I saw em at Primavera this year, they're so boring live it's unreal. The male vocalist looks like he's ripped off his stage moves from an end of the pier magician. I hope they win this so no-one ever hears of them again.

[Epic Bisto]

I seem to remember a part of Luke Haines' book Bad Vibes (an excellent and thoroughly re-readable book) where he mentions how the Mercury cash prize hasn't changed since he attended in '93 (and got beaten by Suede). Apparently its always been about £20k. "Haven't they heard of inflation?"

[actwithoutwords]

I seem to remember a part of Luke Haines' book Bad Vibes (an excellent and thoroughly re-readable book) where he mentions how the Mercury cash prize hasn't changed since he attended in '93 (and got beaten by Suede). Apparently its always been about £20k. "Haven't they heard of inflation?"

Ha. I was thinking that today. Had no idea it was still the same that far back though.

[PaulTMA]

The only thing that would make me not want to plant a nail bomb at this awards ceremony is the nagging fact that I Am Kloot have a few good songs, despite sullying their own reputation by working with sloth rock "People's Poet" Guy Garvey Lead Singer Of Elbow.  Still, the thought of intense pain and facial disfigurement being administered to Biffy Clyro, Foals, Villagers (he's even called Conor, a common Irish name but pretty astute of his parents nonetheless) and Mumford & Sons would be too much to resist.

Laura Marling, on the other hand, is dreadful.

[TheWizard]

It should be at least 30k by now. I managed to predict 7 of them beforehand elsewhere on the internet, I think that they went with some more conservative options (only three debuts, seven albums that made the top ten) after last year. Probably a better list than last year but still a few head scratchers.

Would be quite happy if Laura Marling, XX or Wild Beasts won. None of the others are all that good or just won't win.

[alan nagsworth]

In short, what's the new I Am Kloot album like, then?

I can't say much as I'm about to leave the house but I think it's lovely stuff. I've never heard them before this. There's lots of violin work in there and it has a sweet, affectionate feel to it. The single 'Northern Skies' is great and there's a video for it with Christopher Eccleston in it. Go get it.

[Johnny Townmouse]

Largely forgettable, yes, unless you work in a record shop where it inexplicably becomes album of the year and you have to listen to it every fucking day for months on end until its blandness has mushed your brain into pulp. And I hate Jarvis Cocker, too.

Aha, yes, how silly of me to forget how it is to work in a record shop when everyone around you adores an album and plays it repeatedly to the point where you want to organise a staff meeting on the subject of 'taste'. When I worked in a record shop there was a deep love from everyone for free-jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann. 2 hours of that every day for a fortnight had me locking up the sharps.

As a Friend O' Lesbians, I can safely say I don't hate gays.

Some of my best friends are gayz too.

[El Unicornio, mang]

The Wild Beasts album is one of the best, most unique records I've heard in the past few years, so I would definitely go for that one.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Someone's taking the piss with the I Am Kloot nomination, aren't they?

Yes, an incredibly dull drudging 'acousticky indie band' that have been around for ten years being incredibly dull, drudging and average, just what we need to showcase how vibrant the British music scene is.

[PaulTMA]

Someone's taking the piss with the I Am Kloot nomination, aren't they?

Yes, an incredibly dull drudging 'acousticky indie band' that have been around for ten years being incredibly dull, drudging and average, just what we need to showcase how vibrant the British music scene is.

They've been given the kiss of life by the underdog Chris Martin.

[DJ One Record]

Largely forgettable, yes, unless you work in a record shop where it inexplicably becomes album of the year and you have to listen to it every fucking day for months on end until its blandness has mushed your brain into pulp.

I think The xx based their latest music video on your very experience:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PElhV8z7I60


I do quite like The xx's album, and Jamie xx has done some decent mixes here and there. It is a generally disappointing list though, albeit in pretty much the same way that the Mercury shortlist is more or less every year. Personally, I think the fact that they completely overlooked King Midas Sound's gorgeous "Waiting For You" this year is nothing short of criminal, much like how they overlooked Micachu & The Shapes last year.

[Subtle Mocking]

Very disappointing line-up this year. Add me to the list of XX haters and Villagers haters.

I was holding out hopes for Polar Bear's 'Peepers' to get a nomination, very disappointed about that. Were any of you expecting to see an album get shortlisted that didn't?

Oh and I'll also go for the Mumfords to win too. Even though they're shite.

Edited due to me believing it was voted for by the public. At least that explains Speech Dewhatsername winning last year.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Oh and I'll also go for the Mumfords to win too, just because people under 18 will vote for them in the same way they voted for the Klaxons the other year. If only it was judged on talent...

Though it isn't voted for by the public.

It would have been nice to see TFC shortlisted, but Jedward probably had more chance.

[Subtle Mocking]

Give it a year and Jedward might be nominated, god forbid.

[buttgammon]

I liked the XX album when it first came out but it's been so ubiquitous that even though I've tried not to over play it, I managed to get fed up of most of the tracks purely by watching TV. The use of the intro over the BBC's election coverage sums up how it seems to have pentrated everywhere and that would makes anything that wasn't truly exceptional lose its shine for me. In retrospect, it always was one of those albums that tailed off towards the end as if they ran out of ideas and stuck a load of filler after excellent songs like 'Crystallised'. That said, I could learn to like it again if I had a clear space away from it for a while - so for that purely selfish reason, I'd quite like it not to win even though it is one of the most deserving candidates.

The Foals album is dull and that's coming from someone who has a soft spot for 'Antidotes'. The jerky rip-off Afrobeat made their first album so when they tried to shed that it was always going to leave them bare. Shame they have no ideas in their nudity. As for Dizzee Rascal, he's just not very good these days. Something of S Club 7 about him somehow.

'Two Dancers' is my favourite on that list. It's an unusual album which was clearly made with a lot of love and that shines through in every track. The music is beautiful and the vocalist has one of the most incredible voices I've heard for some time - full of richness and sometimes, downright weird. The way that guy sings on the best songs (like 'This Is Our Lot') knocks me out every time. It's also an album that has stood up to repeat plays far more than 'the XX' but that might be because it's had a lot less media exposure apart from the use of 'Underbelly' in some advert and a bizarre appearance on Newsnight Review that I caught a few months ago.

[Serge]

I think The xx based their latest music video on your very experience:

But if I click on that link, I'll have to listen to that song again. O-ho, you don't catch me out that easily!

[Bennygaylord]

The XX's album is amazing. If it's overplayed, it ain't the band's fault.