Go British Sea Power, SIS BOOM BAH! posted by carsonb at 12:49 PM on July 22
That Burial record rocked my world. One of my favorite records of the last year or so. posted by chupacabra at 12:54 PM on July 22 [3 favorites]
I'm a huge fan of Marling's. Her record is fantastic, and the songbox idea is great. Burial has managed to make the only album of its type that I actually like (and own). Rachel Unthank was awe-inspiring on the Culture Show recently. Plant and Krauss are simply astounding live with Burnett... I don't think we should get into radiohead again in this thread; every hater on this site already had their say recently. Elbow's album is strong... and The Last Shadow Puppets could easily win.
Coldplay are notably absent, as is Duffy. posted by chuckdarwin at 12:54 PM on July 22
chupacabra, I adore it, and have actually bought it for people... people I knew would normally hate that sort of thing. posted by chuckdarwin at 12:55 PM on July 22
So they're just getting around to making a best-of list of 2007 in JULY of 2008? posted by rooftop secrets at 1:08 PM on July 22
And you're going to leave off Neon Bible, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Boxer, Person Pitch AND Sound of Silver?? posted by rooftop secrets at 1:09 PM on July 22
After unashamedly browsing youtube having not heard of some of these artists, I can say that I don't disagree with their selections.
Here are a couple of the vids I liked after preliminary research...
The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement
kinda has a They Might Be Giants/Muse - Knights of Cydonia feel to it. My favorite part: 1:41
Elbow - Grounds For Divorce
has that twangy/distorted Beck thing going for it, and going for it well. Plus, the bar setting reminds me of Tombstone posted by clearly at 1:11 PM on July 22
Oh I see, these are British awards.... still a bit late. posted by rooftop secrets at 1:12 PM on July 22
rooftop secrets,
from wikipedia: "The Mercury Prize, formerly the Mercury Music Prize and currently known as the Nationwide Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom or Ireland." posted by clearly at 1:14 PM on July 22
After unashamedly browsing (both) youtube (and the awards page, and last years FPP as linked to, and) having not heard of some most of these artists, I can say that I don't understand what all the fuss is about. Sorry to be all bah humbug and shit, but I routinely have the same reaction when I browse Pitchfork or myspace for bands I've read about but never heard (something I do every so often and for long stretches of time). I'm a real music nut with diverse taste, but 99% of what I hear today leaves me cold. Although, every once and a while I will hear something that catches my fancy (today for instance I first heard this band and liked them quite a bit). posted by ornate insect at 1:22 PM on July 22 [1 favorite]
past winners:
1992 Primal Scream – Screamadelica
1993 Suede – Suede
94 M People – Elegant Slumming
95Portishead – Dummy
96 Pulp – Different Class
97 Roni Size/Reprazent – New Forms
98 Gomez – Bring It On
99 Talvin Singh – Ok
00 Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour of Bewilderbeast
01 PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
02 Ms. Dynamite – A Little Deeper
03 Dizzee Rascal – Boy in Da Corner
04 Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
05 Antony and the Johnsons – I Am a Bird Now
06 Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
07 Klaxons – Myths of the Near Future posted by chuckdarwin at 1:22 PM on July 22 [2 favorites]
It seems like the Robert Plant / Alison Krauss album is a weird fit. Sure, he's English, but she's American, the producer is American, the label is American, and it was recorded in America. posted by Paid In Full at 1:32 PM on July 22
Poor England. I can only hope the few that I haven't heard are really good, as the ones that I have are boring crit-rock (or, in Burial's case, boring crit-IDM). posted by klangklangston at 1:37 PM on July 22
the only thing wrong with the robert plant/alison krauss nomination is robert plant. posted by msconduct at 1:47 PM on July 22
The Burial album was alright, but I don't think it holds up under this summer heat. I haven't listened to it in a while; I don't dislike it, I just don't understand it's high regard. Someone should tell me why it's so awesome. Is it all AM radio or street recordings or something? Is it because big space reverbs are the new black? posted by fuq at 2:12 PM on July 22
Although I'm not sappy enough to listen to Elbow any more, I'm very happy to see that they're still around. I haven't had a chance yet to listen to this new stuff, but as a moody teenager I was known to blast Cast of Thousands like some pre-Polyphonic Spree hippie-ster. While weeping.
msconduct: Hey, man. Just, like, cool it. posted by cmoj at 2:13 PM on July 22
If you like this stuff, a lot is available on emusic.com:
Eh, it's all British. I suppose that's the point. If you like this stuff, you likely already found it all a while back... /snark snark.
I don't like music awards much, but I do like The Last Shadow Puppets and Elbow too. And yeah, I liked the Foals much better than most of those. I like The Plants too... but they're not BRITISH!!
Nice to see British Sea Power get the nod, and I'm an Elbow fan myself-- there's always room in my heart for unabashed romanticism and big melodic landscapes. They are who Coldplay fans should be listening to, and maybe will when they grow up.
I guess my fantasy that Burial will turn out to be the pseudonym for a middle-aged white housewife in Essex is likely to remain that, though. Too bad-- I think that would be excellent. posted by jokeefe at 2:50 PM on July 22
And was Portishead eligible? Because that's the only way they didn't get on this list... posted by jokeefe at 2:51 PM on July 22
Also, the Elbow b-sides are a joy. And there's a lot of them (I put together a playlist this weekend). Just saying. posted by jokeefe at 2:53 PM on July 22
Yeah, missing Portishead is the glaring error for me, but the rest of the list is not too bad. In particular, Rachael Unthank is a good choice as token folkie.
The opening four songs on Do You Like Rock Music? are the first third of a great album, but the rest of it, while not bad, is not that great album. posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 3:54 PM on July 22
Also, I highly approve of British Sea Power's track Waving Flags being a commentary on and rejection of racial and nationalist tensions but at the same time an unabashed ode to intoxicated revelry. posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 4:11 PM on July 22
Thanks for the clip page. Astonishing, though. With the exception of the Burial, not one of these pieces would have sounded out-of-place 20 years ago. posted by lupus_yonderboy at 4:12 PM on July 22 [1 favorite]
I think Laura Marling is very talented, but winning the UK's top music prize at 18 would not, perhaps, be such a good thing.
And I'm really having a wtf moment over Portishead not being nominated. There has to be some rational explanation, right? posted by jokeefe at 4:37 PM on July 22
jokeefe, no one has ever won the prize twice, and Portishead won it for Dummy in 95. It could be that it was not nominated because of that. Radiohead has been nominated four times. posted by chuckdarwin at 4:46 PM on July 22
There was strong betting on the Arctic Monkeys winning twice in a row last year, wasn't there?
I seem to recall so, anyway.
Not to nitpick, but RH's been nominated three times, Thom Yorke once. posted by jokeefe at 4:55 PM on July 22
97, 01, 03, 08 = four nominations, surely? I was counting this newest nom as one of the four... posted by chuckdarwin at 4:59 PM on July 22
Wow, hard to believe Suede won this before.
posted by Anderson_Localized at 1:30 PM on July 22 [+] [!]
Why? Hard to believe they won it for "Suede" not "Dog Man Star", or hard to believe they won it rather than The Auteurs that year? posted by debord at 5:06 PM on July 22
97, 01, 03, 08 = four nominations, surely? I was counting this newest nom as one of the four...
D'oh! Apologies. posted by jokeefe at 5:36 PM on July 22
And I'm really having a wtf moment over Portishead not being nominated. There has to be some rational explanation, right?
Simple, really: The music industry's ability to make dull, worthy, joyless pap has moved on by leaps and bounds in the last 10 years, and now Portishead is considered too much like fun to be allowed on the list. posted by cillit bang at 1:32 AM on July 23
M People won?!? And they still claim to have some respectability? Last time I heard M People was on the opening credits of The Biggest Loser. posted by PenDevil at 2:34 AM on July 23
I love the strong insularity of the British Music scene. I don't care for much of what they produce but it at least means I can see North American acts in small venues when they tour on this side of the pond. I saw the Long Winters with maybe 10-15 other people. Broken Social Scene, the Stars and Fiest with around 200 at each show. The National with about 400. I'd never get that close in Toronto. posted by srboisvert at 3:50 AM on July 23
It seems like the Robert Plant / Alison Krauss album is a weird fit. Sure, he's English, but she's American, the producer is American, the label is American, and it was recorded in America.
Indeed. It's the best record of the bunch (YMMV) but it is totally American in every which way. The musical style, the execution and production, the supporting players, etc. Plant is the only thing British about the project.
Now if the Mercury Prize is intending to reward Plant they should have just given the 2003 award to How the West Was Won. posted by Ber at 6:29 AM on July 23
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posted by carsonb at 12:49 PM on July 22