Is it that time of year again? Yes, yes it is. This year has made me both understand and experience the nature of fangirling, and it will all cumulate to a peak this Wednesday, when the winner of the 2014 Mercury Music Prize will be announced.
Unlike other music posts I’ve written, I have decided to refrain from preaching about the credibility of the prize itself (which will be greatly received by anyone who has had to sit through my preaching. Provided they actually read it.). What I will say, though, is that this year has been particularly interesting. In contrast to last year’s nominees, where many of the twelve had already been successful in the charts, this year has taken a step away from the mainstream, with acts such as Elbow (winners in 2008 for ‘Seldom Seen Kid’ and Clean Bandit not being considered for the prize. Even Metronomy, nominees from 2011, have (somewhat undeservedly) not been recognised for their critically acclaimed album ‘Love Letters’, which came as a huge surprise to me personally.
Anyway, I realise that the quality and relevance of what I’ve just written is probably pretty poor, so I’m just going to crack on with my power rankings. Enjoy 🙂 (odds are provided courtesy of Ladbrokes).
12. Young Fathers – Dead Odds – 16/1
This experimental hip-hop group from Edinburgh has taken the hip-hop world by storm, and are credited for their ‘unique’ and ‘original’ style, which would normally make them ideal for a Mercury nomination. However, whilst the Mercury Prize does credit original ideas (Talvin Singh won in 1999 for his mix of electronica and Indian bhangra music), the originality is useless unless the album created actually has any quality. And fundamentally, this is what Young Fathers’ debut album is lacking. This album just felt like a mess, with no continuity between lyrics or the songs themselves, and whilst I found the harmonies quite interesting, they are oddly similar to another artist on this list, so I’ll come back to that.
Many people seem to have credited Young Fathers for their soulfuless, their heartfelt lyrics and their inventive drumming. Frankly, I could not help but disagree with every compliment anyone gave to them. Luckily for me, though, at just under 35 minutes, it is the second shortest album on the list.
Listen to: Low
11. Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow Odds – 16/1
Whilst this nomination did not surprise me in itself, Bombay Bicycle Club are the only indie rock band nominated this year, which was surprising given the quality of indie rock created over the past twelve months, including METRONOMY, Wild Beasts, London Grammar, METRONOMY, Chvrches, METRONOMY etc…
Sure, this is quite a nice album, and I’m not the only one who thinks that, given that this was one of two albums on the list to top the UK charts. However, as an album, did it really possess much artistic merit? Unfortunately, this is not supplied by ‘niceness’. Whilst this album was more exciting and original than some if their earlier stuff, compared to the rest of this list, Bombay Bicycle Club do remain within their musical box, making this album much less interesting than the rest.
Listen to: Carry Me
10. Royal Blood – Royal Blood Odds – 5/1
This happens to be the other of the two albums to reach top of the UK charts. With their debut album, Royal Blood have become this year’s breakthrough act, with their short bursts of bass-ridden energy gaining them a rather large crowd of followers. However, this is somewhat predictable, because even after only one or two listens to this 34-minute album, one can’t help but feel a sense of deja-vu. Namely, this album has The Black Keys written all over it. Maybe with a twist of Arctic Monkeys for colour.
That’s not to say this is inherently a bad album. In fact, it’s rather good, but a win for Royal Blood would go against everything the Mercury Prize seems to stand for regarding emerging sounds and originality. Hence, Royal Blood find themselves all the way down here.
Listen to: Little Monster
9. Anna Calvi – One Breath Odds – 16/1
I can’t believe this album found itself so far down this list, but after several listens, I felt than Anna Calvi did not quite live up to her self-titled debut, which received a nomination in 2011. This album is a shade darker, with a combination of muted synthesisers and Calvi’s somewhat angry guitar solos, which far contrasts everything on this list. Whilst these factors make Calvi herself an interesting artist to listen to, this harmed the album’s continuity and inhibited the album from being considered as a whole body of work.
I would still give this album a listen though. I was also fortunate enough to see her incredible live set at Green Man Festival. I shall never forget some of her impressive solos, no matter how long they were.
Listen to: Eliza
8. Polar Bear – In Each And Every One Odds – 25/1
Despite being one of only two acts to be receiving their second Mercury nomination (along with Anna Calvi), at 25/1, experimental jazz group Polar Bear still find themselves, similarly to their 2005 nomination, as outside chances, even including the other jazz act to be nominated. Whilst I did enjoy this album’s tempo, use of brass and general ‘jazziness’, there are still issues to be addressed. Namely, at 68 minutes, this is the longest album on the list. An album needs to have the excuse of being exceptional if it wants any chance of lasting 68 minutes. And the only reason an album can last this long is because the listener is made to feel a sense of progress in the album. Unfortunately, this album does not progress at the sort of pace required of such a long album.
Listen to: Chotpot
7. Jungle – Jungle Odds – 7/1
Ah, this year’s Rudimental! Fortunately for Jungle, unlike Rudimental, they are not competing against another album from their own genre in the name of ‘Settle’ by Disclosure. This is a really fun album to listen to. The songs are catchy and approachable, and so Jungle find themselves as being a rather immediate band, which ought to do them some good in the future. I am pretty certain, however, that they aren’t going to win this prize, partially because they are this year’s Rudimental, but also because no matter how much you love listening to an album, it is not proportional to quality. This album still very much sounds like a collection of songs rather than an album in itself, and so how can I credit this as an album?
Listen to: Busy Earnin’
6. Nick Mulvey – First Mind Odds – 10/1
I was disappointed not to get the chance to see Mulvey perform at Green Man Festival this year, but if I had listened to this album before I wouldn’t have missed it. This is a truly lovely album, with flowing harmonies, combined with a new style of guitar provided by Mulvey and his almost soothing voice. You can feel both the Latin influences from his time studying music in Cuba and the folk influences from his time in Portico Quartet, all combining to create an album with a lovely texture to it, similar to the likes of Ben Howard and Beirut.
Listen to: Fever To The Form
5. Damon Albarn – Everyday Robots Odds – 16/1
With his endeavours in Blur and Gorillaz, nobody could dare predict what Albarn could come up with this time, having jumped from britpop-rock to alternative-indie-hip-hop (or however else you might like to describe Gorillaz). And even though this album is incredibly broad in terms of musical themes, Albarn is very direct in isolating the meaning of this album, starting with the opening lyrics, “We’re everyday robots on our phones”, and maintaining this idea throughout the album. Whilst this album owned the continuity a whole album ought to have, Albarn still managed to reach for the outer regions of his already enormous repertoire, meaning you had no idea how the next song could sound like, creating pleasant surprises throughout the entire album.
Listen to: The Selfish Giant
4. Kate Tempest – Everybody Down Odds – 3/1
Favourite to win the prize prior to the release of this shortlist, Kate Tempest has already taken the world by storm. Not the rap world, which she is in the process of doing with this album, but the spoken word world. She has already won the Ted Hughes Prize, and plans to turn this album into a book sometime in 2015. Yet whilst Tempest herself did not produce this album independently, this album, which tracks the relationship between Harry and Becky, is full of powerful prose and incredible experimentation, making my first listen to this album an awesome experience. It is common for a Mercury-nominated album to tell a story, citing Bat For Lashes or Jon Hopkins as prime examples. This means that the album has to have the air of continuity which I seem to have so frequently mentioned in this post.
Listen to: Chicken
3. GoGo Penguin – v2.0 Odds – 20/1
It’s unfortunate that this album, by Manchester jazz group GoGo Penguin, is considered such an outside chance by the bookies just because it’s jazz. However, contrary to the bookies, this is a beautiful album in every way. It’s full of both peaceful relaxing music and exciting, quicker points. And, even though only the piano, double bass and drums ever feature, there is no sense of repetition or boredom, as this album rests in the hands of such a capable, diverse band. This album opens beautifully with ‘Murmation’, and ends in a similarly peaceful way with ‘Hopopno’, bringing the excitement of v2.0 to an ending which is not as abrupt as most of the other albums on this list. I could not help but love all of this album, so maybe a jazz act will finally be honoured?
Listen to: Kamaloka
2. FKA Twigs – LP1 Odds – 5/2
Whilst FKA Twigs has been in the public eye less so for her music and more for her relationship with Robert Pattinson, as favourite to win this award, FKA Twigs has been critically acclaimed for her debut album ‘LP1’, which has already featured on Pitchfork’s Top 50 albums of the last five years. This may be the only album where its overproduction is strongly credited, as it creates a sound unlike anything else before; a fascinating break away from the mainstream whilst also ethereal and magical. The fact that everything in this album has been produced and changed indicates that everything in this album is structured and thoroughly considered, meaning not a single note is wasted throughout the entire 40 minutes. Unfortunately, structurally speaking, it is far too similar to the 2013 winner James Blake’s album ‘Overgrown’: both ten songs with the same length and style of production. This has to be why I am not placing FKA Twigs top of this list. However, our winner is still very much worthy of this award.
Listen to: Two Weeks
1. East India Youth – Total Strife Forever Odds – 10/1
‘Recorded in bedrooms between November 2010 & July 2013’ reads the back of East India Youth’s debut album. How much more representative of the current UK music scene can you get than bedroom producers, with the likes of James Blake and Jon Hopkins, who were both top tips for the prize last year. And even though it was produced and written entirely by one person, this album is just stunning. No album is so beautifully ethereal and visionary, allowing the listener to let this album flow over them. He represents something wholly different in house music, where drops and bass are relied on. Here, East India Youth focuses on the space and the movement of Total Strife Forever, which only enhances the beauty of this piece of art. Yes, you should be patient when listening to this album, but I have not been able to put this album down.
I’ve included the intro to the album here. Annoyingly enough the entire song is not on YouTube, but if this does not make you want to listen to the rest of the album then I don’t know what will.
Listen to: Glitter Recession
If you have any thoughts as to who will follow in the footsteps of James Blake to take the £20,000 prize please leave them as a comment.
Happy listening!
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