Amy Winehouse Mercury Award ?

July 25, 2007 6:30pm by

100pxflag_of_the_united_kingdomsvgThe Mercury Prize nominations came out while I was away this past week. They are the British equivalent of a Grammy.

Update: The Mercury Prize isn’t the British Grammys at all. Those would be the Brits (clever name, huh?).  The Mercury Prize is a one-off kind of acknowledgement of taste making
music (note 7 of the finalists are on indies). The Short List in the US was modeled after the Mercury thing.

Here is the list of Mercury nominees . . .

Amy Winehouse —  "Back to Black” (Island)
Arctic Monkeys — "Favourite Worst Nightmare” (Domino)
Basquiat Strings — "Basquiat Strings With Seb Rochford” (F-IRE)
Bat for Lashes — "Fur and Gold” (Echo)
Dizzee Rascal — "Maths + English” (XL)
Fionn Regan — "The End of History” (Bella Union)
Jamie T — "Panic Prevention” (Virgin)
Klaxons —  "Myths of the Near Future” (Polydor)
Maps — "We Can Create” (Mute)
New Young Pony Club — "Fantastic Playroom” (Universal)
The View — "Hats Off to the Buskers” (1965)
The Young Knives — "Voices of Animals and Men” (Wea)

Prior winners can be found here.

Source:
Amy Winehouse Faces a Tough Fight for Mercury Prize
Mark Beech
Bloomberg, July 23, 2007
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aLK94.j8hG6c&

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  1. BCS commented on Jul 25

    This is only on topic as it relates to music, but I highly reccomend the new Kings of Leon album “Because of the Times”.

    I was not really a fan of their first album, and I saw them get blown off the stage by an opening act a couple years ago, so had low expectations on the current album.

    They are very young, like the Arctic Monkeys, so it is nice to see them evolving a little. Definitely a worthwhile purchase.

  3. Devo commented on Jul 25

    Good to know British mainstream music tastes are as awful as the U.S. Friggin Winehouse? What a joke.

  4. BCS commented on Jul 26

    Why?

  5. BCS commented on Jul 26

    Not sure how to interpret the “how old are you” question (seems smarmy at best), but I posted because this was an actual music entry, with a contemporary emphasis at that.

    From time to time Barry solicits musical and dvd suggestions, and the Kings of Leon album is something I came across that stands out, so I volunteered it. Also, having read earlier posts it would fit with anyone who likes the Black Crows or any southern based rock.

    Here is an excerpt from the Rolling Stone review:

    “the Kings could be as facile as the Black Crowes or Nickelback if they were content to aim that low. Caleb’s vocals continue to defy description: Steppenwolf’s John Kay after a nad-crushing motorcycle crash? The Band’s Richard Manuel with scurvy? Dave Matthews getting ripped apart by wolverines? And did I mention the lyrics? Ridiculous little monsters, they are, fit to get brutally stomped into the dirt, which in fact is exactly how Caleb treats them. How good can the Kings of Leon get? On Because of the Times, they’ve already gone further than anybody could have guessed.”

    http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/13885771/review/13891139/because_of_the_times

  7. Herb Levy commented on Jul 26

    The mercury Prize is less like a Garmmy award and more something the Booker Prize for pop music. There’s a cash award not just a statuette for the winner and the selection panel system isn’t part of a larger industrial self-congratulatory fest.

  8. john trenouth commented on Jul 26

    “Back in Black” is a fantastic disc. You can practically feel her vodka stained breath coming over the speakers. No corporate android here.

    Bat for Lashes is a surprising addition. The single “What’s a Girl to Do” is impossibly catchy in creepy-kitchy way, and its minimal video is absolutely hypnotic

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1wnOUH2jk8

    But the rest of the album feels a little dull in comparison.

  9. Jonny Q commented on Jul 26

    I agree, Bat for Lashes is a top notch album. Arctic Monkeys new work isn’t really that good. The View, I thought was just an indie bloggers favourite but it appears they have some headway in the mainstream British press.

    I also enjoyed Kings of Leon new work. I really didn’t like their previous work since it was a bit too “hard” but I like this one.

    I think my album of the year of 2006 was Mew and my album of 2007 so far is Dappled Cities.

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