mercury music prize - bowie nominated and playing live

[zero000]

Well a debate has started, what I wanted thoughts on was would Bowie play to the awards or not?

I doubt it.

[Wooderson]

Just given You & Me a listen, it's a proper house banger and seems like a a lot of thought has gone into the production and general mood of the song.

The chorus takes me back about 20 years mate.

[mrtourette]

Well a debate has started, what I wanted thoughts on was would Bowie play to the awards or not?

The thread title suggests that he is.

[splinterbungee]

I would be amazed if Bowie played but you never know. His is probably my favourite off the list but i'm not really a huge fan of any of them . If anyone wants to decide for themselves all the albums are on this spotify playlist I've done. Mercury Music Prize 2013 Nominees

[LondonTom]

I often get confused between Rudimental and Disclosure, both are okish at that they do but the people behind them....I have an unnatural hate for and I am not really sure why, just get the feeling there bellends. That said , I think if I remember rightly it's Disclosure with the rather good "live" show, from watching Reading on TV anyway it looked decent...but yeah the album leaves me cold.

On the mercury prize, it used to be a decent award bring exposure to those smaller/more "leftfield" acts but this year seems to have gone in a bit of weird direction. Think they should exclude some of the bigger acts, as the prize (and money) could really help smaller/newer acts push on.

[Wooderson]

Disclosure are worth another look Tom. Decent record.

[BlackHole2006]

The chorus takes me back about 20 years mate.

You just can't beat a decent house anthem man!

[jimmyt]

It doesn't matter who wins. They'll have to live with knowing that the prize should've been Martin Rossiter's. Still, at least when they announce the winner we'll know who one of the contestants on Celebrity Masterchef will be in 2016.

[DL50]

Wow that is a lot of Mercury Prize hate

I understand people's criticisms, they have made some monumental fuck ups in the past, Speech Debelle the other year being the prime example.

However i share the opinion with a few others on this thread that it does serve the purpose of giving some genuinely good bands some deserved exposure. It certainly gave a leg up to Elbow and the xx. For that reason i would love to see Foals win it, purely because i want to see them headline one day and it would cap an excellent year for them and would be a push in the right direction!

[Amy Lawn]

I initially assumed Rudimental and Disclosure must be pants when I first learned that there were acts with such poor names, and when I listened to their music, I found out I was completely correct.

[jimmyt]

I initially assumed Rudimental and Disclosure must be pants when I first learned that there were acts with such poor names, and when I listened to their music, I found out I was completely correct.

I saw one of them at Glasto and they were quite good. Couldn't tell you which one, though.

[topmarksbri]

Guessing a lot of the people in here grouping Disclosure with Rudimental have heard neither and are band waggoning...whether you like them or not they're completely different sounds.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I liked it in the days when it promoted obscure music, like when they gave it to Suede, the fastest-selling debut album in British history.

[The Nal]

I liked it in the days when it promoted obscure music, like when they gave it to Suede, the fastest-selling debut album in British history.

Or when they nominated U2? The biggest band in the world.

[mrtourette]

However i share the opinion with a few others on this thread that it does serve the purpose of giving some genuinely good bands some deserved exposure. It certainly gave a leg up to Elbow and the xx.

I think most people agree that exposure for bands is good, however the issue is that the prize is so revered as promoting new/abstract music and being the 'anti-Brits' when in fact it isn't and the bands it's giving exposure to are mainly played on daytime Radio One anyway. Certainly for me it's the mis-representation that bugs me, the fake edginess, the supposed dangerous and eclectic shortlist, if it was just another award that people scoffed at it wouldn't really be an issue but when people regard it highly as some kind of oracle of knowledge and good taste the issues with it almost need pointing out.

[FloorFiller]

the Mercury Prize was great when i was younger and looking to find some new albums to listen to. i actually got kind of excited about it (then Alt-J won last year and i thought 'fuck this'), but now as i've grown up musically and looking back at previous years, it's all very predictable isn't it? all of these albums have been flogged to death over the past year. maybe it's because i'm constantly looking into and listening to new music these days that i'm so aware of them all - i'm sure Jon Hopkins will be a massive 'who?' to a lot of people but he's been pasted all over Pitchfork for the last few months - and it's not that any of the albums are bad (i actually quite like Disclosure and Rudimental) but these are the same acts that get nominated every time they release an album. maybe i'm just expecting too much - they're not exactly going to nominate some lo-fi trip hop / samba record recorded in somebody's basement. would just like to see a few albums that haven't graced the top 20 albums chart recently

oh and as for Bowie, no way will he come out of live retirement for this

Edited September 13, 2013 by FloorFiller

[mrtourette]

I guess that real once-in-a-lifetime moment could be upon us and those albums in the shortlist are actually the best albums released in the time frame of the award...

[ThomThomDrum]

There is no way in hell that this bunch of albums are the best that have been released in the UK and Ireland over the last 12 months...............

Edited September 13, 2013 by ThomThomDrum

[Wooderson]

There is no way in hell that this bunch of albums are the best that have been released in the UK and Ireland over the last 12 months...............

Whats missing?

[FloorFiller]

There is no way in hell that this bunch of albums are the best that have been released in the UK and Ireland over the last 12 months...............

definitely not but they're probably some of the best of the SUCCESSFUL albums released over the last twelve months and that's really what the Mercury Prize goes for unfortunately. bar maybe one or two every year, if it hasn't charted in the UK top 40 then you can forget about it being nominated, so many of the less successful but still phenomenal albums get left out. and even the ones that are included very rarely have a chance of winning (like Jon Hopkins)

[Mardy]

hehehe, it's always been about shilling music, nothing more, nothing less. Virgin started it for the sole reason of flogging more albums over the summer (I'm sure the shortlist used to be released earlier in the year). Never been anything other than that.

[Mardy]

anyway, to return to the point, that Discolsure, I'd never heard of it/him/them before. And probably wouldn't ever have given them a listen were it not for this thread. It's pretty good as it goes, quite like it. Lot going on in that album

[ThomThomDrum]

Disclosure are worth another look Tom. Decent record.

OK.

I gave it one more listen.

You now owe me an hour of my life back

The urge to skip throughout was at some points overwhelming. But out of some form of respect I persevered and listened from start to finish. Im sorry but its rubbish. I think my main issue is the extensive use of lyrics and singing over this type of music. To me it cheapens it and makes it cringe worthy. There is some stuff on the album I can appreciate and I do like the intro and the first tune. Grab her is a decent enough tune and Stimulation has a nice progression to it. But some of the other stuff is just shit. Like Voices, Latch & F for You. If they stripped away the vocals and remixed the tunes a little it would be a collection of less offensive tunes that you could have a bop to in a club, but very much nothing to get excited about to me. White Noise for example has a nice Acid House feeling loop to it but the Aluma singing over it destroys it. I see many like the tune "You & Me" but again as soon as Mrs Doolittle opens her gob I am out..............

I have given it its fair shot and its not for me. If it came on in a club as part of a DJs set I probably would not be offended and get on with it but there is no way I can purposefully listen to these guys again...........

[Ed209]

anyway, to return to the point, that Discolsure, I'd never heard of it/him/them before. And probably wouldn't ever have given them a listen were it not for this thread. It's pretty good as it goes, quite like it. Lot going on in that album

I can't figure that album out. The production's great, and it has some nice touches, but then suddenly in plunges me into Ayia Napa circa 1998

[ThomThomDrum]

Whats missing?

For me Bonobo, BOC and Forest Swords would be 3 albums I find myself going to a lot...........