The Mercury Music Prize nominations are announced tomorrow and we are asking you who should be nominated this year ? Early front runners include London Grammar for their album ‘If You Wait’, Steve Mason for ‘Monkey Minds In The Devil’s Time’, David Bowie for his surprising comeback album ‘The Next Day’, elsewhere usual suspects The Arctic Monkeys for ‘AM’, Foals and Laura Marling are all favourites to be mentioned meanwhile annoyances The Strypes, Example and The Rizzle Kicks are all heavily tipped to feature much to our utter disdain.
How about a nod for Savages debut album? Or maybe M O N E Y will get a mention? Will Daughter be a surprise entrant and is Goldfrapp‘s new album worth a shout? Did any returning artists like Villagers and Everything Everything manage to secure a second nod? How about a few curve balls (Public Service Broadcasting?These New Puritans?Martin Rossiter? Thought Forms? The Fall?Edwyn Collins?Rudimental?mbv?Laurence Made Me Cry?) ? Maybe old hands Suede and Primal Scream will make another appearance? We suspect Fuck Buttons have a slot of their own ready and waiting!Do you have any other unheralded albums you believe are worthy of nomination?
Always a divisive list of nominations, Mercury can pander to tokenism in genres like folk, classical and jazz where acts are slotted into position with never a hope of winning, but I guess it gives them a brief bit of the limelight huh? As for the winners Mercury seems constantly conflicted some years going for populist winners ‘Arctic Monkeys’, ‘Klaxons’ , ‘Elbow’ other years looking to ‘cutting edge’ acts like The XX, Roni Size, Speeche Debelle et al other years they just hit the wrong note completely M People anyone? Of course there are occasions when they get it right P J Harvey‘s recent win being one in recent memory.All of which makes you wonder what Mercury is for? Is it an attempt to find the best album of any given year? Or a conflicted compromise constantly striving to appear to have its finger on the pulse, whilst ending up a disappointingly ‘hip’ compromise such as last year’s winners Alt-J. Whatever the case it’s fair to say that for some winners it has the potential to showcase their album in to a wider audience which I guess is a good thing?
Who do you think should be nominated for this year’s Mercury Music Prize?
