Is it just me, or do many of the same labels seem to have been dominating these lists for the past few years? I'm thinking specifically of the likes of Domino and XL who seem regularly to have had multiple records nominated.
Are they just incredibly consistent, or just good at finding acts that broadsheet critics and mercury prize judges love?
I wouldn't be surprised if there's some kind of link Neil. I've heard the same thing claimed about The Brit Awards, and I think the Mercury Prize is organised by the group, BPI. Maybe Doc will chime in, as I bet he'd be in the know about that sort of thing.
haha. yeah i wouldn't say mercury prize is particularly transparent, a bit like the BBC poll thingy at the start of the year which is full of conflicts of interest, by bloggers who consult for labels or A & Rs that plug to journos. end of the day, it is what it is, i don't think anyone treats it as a gospel guide to the best of the year, it's simply a way to flog some records. this isn't supposed to be an ethical business, its a business run on favours, back scratching and who you know. having said that, it's always a nice thing when someone weird gets to flog some records off the back of it, like burial going platinum off the back of the mercury prize nomination and subsequent Sun-newspaper "unmasking" campaign that followed.
theres always a similar pattern to the nominations - always at least one "urban" artist - in recent years this has become more dominant in the lineup - always at least one "indie thing that all ages like" - eg Joanna Newsom or Elbow - and always one "wildcard" - last year speech debelle, this year Gwilim Symcock/ Ghost Poet.
tough one to call this year, i bet on speech last year, but this year i've no idea. maybe blakey tbh, and i like that record so i'd like to see him win.
Ok, for my own amusement, and to avoid work, have gone through the nominees on Spotify. Came into them all as blind as I could so my impressions weren???t influenced by knowledge of them or their views on Michael Jackson:
Adele ??? 21 ??? Hilariously the only one not on Spotify. Rolling In The Deep is a decent pop song though and guess most of the rest of it is MOR standards? Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi ??? Um, not for me, skipped through and left well alone. Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys! ??? Didn???t bother listening to as clicked on it briefly and it sounds the same as the last however many records Everything Everything - Man Alive ??? Listened to a bit, sounded kind of awful and already had my eighties feel from Metronomy so lacked the patience to find any value in its knowing mess. Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam ??? This was a nice surprise, is this guy on Big Dada as the Roots Manuva influence was pretty obvious? Liked it though, and stuff like Survive It suggests there???s more to come. Falls apart near the end but think I???ll be revisiting it. Gwilym Simcock - Good Days At Schloss Elmau ??? Not really something I have a grounding to comment on, seemed like a standard alternative inclusion but can???t imagine ever sitting through it. Awesome name though. James Blake - James Blake ??? Thought I???d give it another go. Still think it???s a hugely disappointing terd. I???ll be joining his brother and sister I think. Katy B - On A Mission ??? Definite turn of the century garage vibes to some of it and much of it has a kind of throwback feel which isn???t unpleasant. Disappear is a real true unexpected pleasure in among the mix, I???m liking that, a lot. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine ??? Very pretty indeed but I???m a right sucker for this kind of thing at the moment. Recognise the names but not familiar with the artists so no idea if this is standard for them or not. Metronomy - The English Riviera ??? This seemed quite pleasant in a sort of chillwave way though it???s probably only about an hour since I heard it and I can???t say I remember anything about it already. Easy listening pop. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake ??? been meaning to listen to this anyway so as good an excuse as any. Hasn???t she been nominated about 4/5 times now? Anyway, it???s decent but I have a big soft spot for her anyway. Tinie Tempah - Disc-Overy ??? The intro???s ok and Pass Out is still a decent track but I still find his rapping grating at best and I don???t think a single song didn???t feature a horribly cheesy chorus. Not my cup of tea. Kind of appalled by it actually.
As for a winner, I think I???ve called it wrong pretty much every year. Ghostpoet seems like a possibility though as it was non-urban last year and they never did reward Manuva. Maybe a bit too soon after Speech though so probably go to Blake.
that backwards penalty dude got a yellow and will be fined
tevez to corinthians SMH
shawn wright phillips is showing some great form
aguero will be a great signing
we need cesc so xavi can rest (fuck sanchez)
gunners should have singned cambell for so low or counteroffered immediately
Not saying that Anna Calvi is a good album, it really isn't. But I almost liked it. Shameless aping of Angelo Badalamenti-related.
Ok maybe I'll give it more of my spotify free minutes for the month as I saw the cover, clicked through a couple of the tracks, and immediately dismissed it as the standard Mercury nominee in the category of female folk/slightly eclectic without ever being genuinely interesting.
What I don't understand is the way that all these players are so desparate to join Barca. When I play football, and I see some other players who are good, I want to prove that I'm better than them by beating them. What better way for players to cement the rep as individuals or as team than by beating Barcelona? The player who scored a hat-trick against Barca? The team who dumped them out of the cup? That sounds a hell of a lot better than Henry being able to say he won a Champs League with a Barca team that would've won it regardless of his input.
If I were some kind of high-profile star and I was asked about Barca, I wouldn't be putting out one of these pussy soundbites about how much of an honour/dream/ambition it would be to play for them, I'd be saying that I hope to whoop their arses.
your right, especialy about henry
and if you think about players like jeffren, who want to stay when they play maybe 20 min against deportivo la coruna 4 times a season, it's ridiculous to not want to prove oneself
however in the case of Cesc he is from the system and the system is better adapted to him
he would shine more as a player and stands to win a lot more silverware
wenger is telling him the greatest challenge would be to win with arsenal
but being honest his potential is better served at Bar??a and he would just feel personally better winning with them
How do people feel about Fantasy league?
Do they have the time to make week-on-week changes?
Personally, I'd almost rather have a go at picking one team, and no changes until the January transfer window. That's how it works for real managers, and there would be more at stake in getting your choices correct. My team will or won't make good progress regardless of how much time I have to fiddle with it.
however in the case of Cesc he is from the system and the system is better adapted to him
he would shine more as a player and stands to win a lot more silverware
wenger is telling him the greatest challenge would be to win with arsenal
but being honest his potential is better served at Bar??a and he would just feel personally better winning with them
So you think Fabregas would shine more at Barca in a team including Xavi,Iniesta,Messi and Villa??
I think he'd just become part of the team, no more.
I hope he fails miserably after his bullshit whining during the whole saga, getting everyone else to speak for him.
shine not in terms of spothlight but in terms of being a valuable and high performing part of a well-oiled machine. Mascherano has always been excellent and you can argue he is overshadowed by the other bar??a stars but he has ''shined'' more this season by adapting himself and proving to be invaluable to the european champions
I mean for bar??a securing cesc means the machine can roll on until 2015 at least
For cesc it means a return to his roots, playing with his national side teammates and a good chance of titles galore. His form has been on a downward ark at the emirates it's time to get it over with.
Furthermore i really think we don't need sanchez so i hope cesc transfer nullifies that deal since we are on strict finances for the time being
I like him, he's a lot more entertaining than most of the dullards in the league. I don't see why there is so much outrage about the LA Galaxy thing, it was a friendly on a money making tour of the USA rather than a competitive game. Also, you can hear a whistle go just before he does it and then he mimes a whistle when speaking to Mancini at the end so it looked like he thought play had stopped and was just messing around.
As much as I find it amusing he was subbed and think he's an idiot I also think Mancini overreacted in a desperate attempt to at some sort of damage control on the fixture ("Quick, what did they do to that guy who backheeled that penalty the other day?"). Would be better off having a quick word at half time.
I'd take him over a whinging tool like Tevez any day of the week.
Comments
Are they just incredibly consistent, or just good at finding acts that broadsheet critics and mercury prize judges love?
theres always a similar pattern to the nominations - always at least one "urban" artist - in recent years this has become more dominant in the lineup - always at least one "indie thing that all ages like" - eg Joanna Newsom or Elbow - and always one "wildcard" - last year speech debelle, this year Gwilim Symcock/ Ghost Poet.
tough one to call this year, i bet on speech last year, but this year i've no idea. maybe blakey tbh, and i like that record so i'd like to see him win.
Adele ??? 21 ??? Hilariously the only one not on Spotify. Rolling In The Deep is a decent pop song though and guess most of the rest of it is MOR standards?
Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi ??? Um, not for me, skipped through and left well alone.
Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys! ??? Didn???t bother listening to as clicked on it briefly and it sounds the same as the last however many records
Everything Everything - Man Alive ??? Listened to a bit, sounded kind of awful and already had my eighties feel from Metronomy so lacked the patience to find any value in its knowing mess.
Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam ??? This was a nice surprise, is this guy on Big Dada as the Roots Manuva influence was pretty obvious? Liked it though, and stuff like Survive It suggests there???s more to come. Falls apart near the end but think I???ll be revisiting it.
Gwilym Simcock - Good Days At Schloss Elmau ??? Not really something I have a grounding to comment on, seemed like a standard alternative inclusion but can???t imagine ever sitting through it. Awesome name though.
James Blake - James Blake ??? Thought I???d give it another go. Still think it???s a hugely disappointing terd. I???ll be joining his brother and sister I think.
Katy B - On A Mission ??? Definite turn of the century garage vibes to some of it and much of it has a kind of throwback feel which isn???t unpleasant. Disappear is a real true unexpected pleasure in among the mix, I???m liking that, a lot.
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine ??? Very pretty indeed but I???m a right sucker for this kind of thing at the moment. Recognise the names but not familiar with the artists so no idea if this is standard for them or not.
Metronomy - The English Riviera ??? This seemed quite pleasant in a sort of chillwave way though it???s probably only about an hour since I heard it and I can???t say I remember anything about it already. Easy listening pop.
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake ??? been meaning to listen to this anyway so as good an excuse as any. Hasn???t she been nominated about 4/5 times now? Anyway, it???s decent but I have a big soft spot for her anyway.
Tinie Tempah - Disc-Overy ??? The intro???s ok and Pass Out is still a decent track but I still find his rapping grating at best and I don???t think a single song didn???t feature a horribly cheesy chorus. Not my cup of tea. Kind of appalled by it actually.
As for a winner, I think I???ve called it wrong pretty much every year. Ghostpoet seems like a possibility though as it was non-urban last year and they never did reward Manuva. Maybe a bit too soon after Speech though so probably go to Blake.
AC milan vibes NAGL
that backwards penalty dude got a yellow and will be fined
tevez to corinthians SMH
shawn wright phillips is showing some great form
aguero will be a great signing
we need cesc so xavi can rest (fuck sanchez)
gunners should have singned cambell for so low or counteroffered immediately
Ok maybe I'll give it more of my spotify free minutes for the month as I saw the cover, clicked through a couple of the tracks, and immediately dismissed it as the standard Mercury nominee in the category of female folk/slightly eclectic without ever being genuinely interesting.
What I don't understand is the way that all these players are so desparate to join Barca. When I play football, and I see some other players who are good, I want to prove that I'm better than them by beating them. What better way for players to cement the rep as individuals or as team than by beating Barcelona? The player who scored a hat-trick against Barca? The team who dumped them out of the cup? That sounds a hell of a lot better than Henry being able to say he won a Champs League with a Barca team that would've won it regardless of his input.
If I were some kind of high-profile star and I was asked about Barca, I wouldn't be putting out one of these pussy soundbites about how much of an honour/dream/ambition it would be to play for them, I'd be saying that I hope to whoop their arses.
and if you think about players like jeffren, who want to stay when they play maybe 20 min against deportivo la coruna 4 times a season, it's ridiculous to not want to prove oneself
however in the case of Cesc he is from the system and the system is better adapted to him
he would shine more as a player and stands to win a lot more silverware
wenger is telling him the greatest challenge would be to win with arsenal
but being honest his potential is better served at Bar??a and he would just feel personally better winning with them
Fixed.
I'm sure Jimster will renew the league in good time. (depending on how soon Sergio Aguero signs).
I'll be putting my Soulstrut title on the line.
Join Private League
Code is 42594-17164
It comes around so quickly... Tevez selection will be interesting at the moment.
How do people feel about Fantasy league?
Do they have the time to make week-on-week changes?
Personally, I'd almost rather have a go at picking one team, and no changes until the January transfer window. That's how it works for real managers, and there would be more at stake in getting your choices correct. My team will or won't make good progress regardless of how much time I have to fiddle with it.
Any thoughts?
So you think Fabregas would shine more at Barca in a team including Xavi,Iniesta,Messi and Villa??
I think he'd just become part of the team, no more.
I hope he fails miserably after his bullshit whining during the whole saga, getting everyone else to speak for him.
I mean for bar??a securing cesc means the machine can roll on until 2015 at least
For cesc it means a return to his roots, playing with his national side teammates and a good chance of titles galore. His form has been on a downward ark at the emirates it's time to get it over with.
Furthermore i really think we don't need sanchez so i hope cesc transfer nullifies that deal since we are on strict finances for the time being
i hope he adapts quickly stays injury free and gives us his best years
Still the biggest Italian talent, but he will probably never get his act together.
i hope he adapts quickly stays injury free and gives us his best years.
what a fucking wanker
Or putting on an AC Milan jersey in a bar while playing for Inter.
Or not being able to put on a training vest without help.
Dude seems bent on sabotaging his career every few weeks or so.
I'd take him over a whinging tool like Tevez any day of the week.