The Mercury Prize seems to be the one award that consistently divides opinion across all quarters of the music industry. Last year’s award was no exception; Speech Debelle’s victory with her debut album ‘Speech Therapy’ was lauded just as much as it was questioned. While many applauded the panel’s decision to award an unknown, urban artist many felt that some of the better known artists (Florence & The Machine, Friendly Fires and La Roux) were more deserving candidates for the prize. A fact that was confirmed by Speech Debelle swiftly leaving the public eye and her record label.
This year’s shortlist brings together a variety of acts for what promises to be another tough decision. An obvious favourite has to be the debut album from youthful London prodigies The xx. Their ennui filled brand of mellow indie has struck a chord with a wide variety of music fans this year and will surely be the name tipped by most. However, as we know, the Mercury always has the potential to amaze and frustrate in equal measure! Here is the full list of nominees.
Biffy Clyro – ‘Only Revolutions’ Corinne Bailey Rae – ‘The Sea’ Dizzee Rascal – ‘Tongue N’ Cheek’ Kit Downes Trio – ‘Golden’ Foals – ‘Total Life Forever’ I Am Kloot – ‘Sky At Night’ Laura Marling – ‘I Speak Because I Can’ Mumford And Sons – ‘Sigh No More’ Paul Weller – ‘Wake Up The Nation’ Villagers – ‘Becoming A Jackal’ Wild Beasts – ‘Two Dancers’ The xx – ‘XX’
Talented Londoners The xx have been causing something of a storm of late, albeit a relatively melancholy one. Their nonchalant brand of synth pop has been pricking the ears of all sorts of taste makers since the release of their debut album last year. The xx sound has also been seeping into the public consciousness like some kind of magical musical osmosis thanks to the inclusion of the band’s music in ABC’s Winter Olympics coverage and The BBC’s UK Election reports – something that has helped them shimmy up the charts in both the UK and Europe in recent months.
In the new video for ‘Islands’, The xx go all arty on us. The shots show a looped piece of footage of morose looking dancers pulling a sequenced dance routine. It all seems highly hypnotic until you realise the dancers are actually shifting their steps each time the video re-loops. Typically, The band lounge unexcitedly in the centre of proceedings looking as indifferent as ever. It’s a highly impressive but simple treatment that’s pretty close to the visual trickery used in Jamiroquai’s off kilter ‘Virtual Insanity’ video. They may well have been a slow burning act to break, but now it looks like The xx are finally crossing over to the big time.
2009 was an amazing year for London based band The xx. Their debut album ‘xx’ was met with almost universal acclaim, finishing high on many critics’ end of year lists. The xx’s morose mix of The Cure and Chris Isaak style guitar riffs has given the group a highly distinctive sound; something the folks at NBC seem to have picked up on after using their music as the theme for their coverage of the Winter Olympics.
The track NBC has used is ‘Intro’; the instrumental opener to the band’s debut album. As you would expect, the group’s presence on the TV is showcasing The xx to a whole new and more mainstream audience – something that’s likely to do the band no harm before their upcoming tour of the States.
On another note, the band have also been recently remixed by techno maven Matthew Dear AKA Audion. Check the video below to listen to his proto-disco rework of one of the band’s breakthrough tracks, ‘VCR’.
For more info on The xx and tour dates head to their myspace
With the last batch of artists announced yesterday, the San Miguel Primavera Sound festival has a superb line-up for its tenth anniversary, held from the 27th to the 29th of May in the Parc Del Fòrum of Barcelona.
The popular independent music event has been generating a growing buzz since both Pavement and Pixies were confirmed as headliners – thus putting two of the most eagerly anticipatedreunion tours of recent times at centre stage.
The organisers of San Miguel Primavera Sound launched a poll for fans to vote for past acts they would like to see play the festival again. The winners included the fore-mentioned Pavement and Pixies; Wilco; Shellac; Orbital and Panda Bear from Animal Collective. Other heavily influential artists such as The Pet Shop Boys, Gary Numan, Marc Almond, Les Savy Fav, The Slits, Sunny Day Real State and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry have also been confirmed. Added to this Low will be performing their classic album ‘The Great Destroyer’ in full and Charlatans will do the same with their LP, ‘Some Friendly’.
