Mercury Music Prize shortlist 2016

There's only one debut album on that shortlist and that's the token jazz one featuring musicians from the acts who always get nominated for the token jazz pick.

That's the only notable thing about this list and it really does suggest that the panel couldn't really be arsed this time around.

Actually no one in the token jazz act has played on any previously-nominated records at all.

The panel's got a lot more musicians on it this year, for what that's worth.

the 1975! though that mvula record is v good

Kano and Skepta

anohni is amazing
skepta is vg and a job well done
laura mvula was decent iirc though i've not gone back to it much

not into or interested in the rest

Actually no one in the token jazz act has played on any previously-nominated records at all.

Ah I thought it was assorted Polar Bear/Melt Yourself Down dudes.

not into or interested in the rest

The Kano is great for about four tracks and then dear god does it careen off a cliff in all the ways you've come to expect.

They're going to give the thing to Bowie anyway.

1975

this IS better than usual

radiohead one of the weaker things here

I haven't been able to listen to the Anohni record since seeing the terribly-staged live show at a time of maximum political anxiety, but it's still probably the best record on the list. Not heard the Laura Mvula album though, is it more interesting than the first one?

i heard the mvula, it's quite good!

Anohni, followed by Skepta.

Or, anything but the fucking 1975.

do y'all seriously not love the bowie record? cuz i love the bowie record.

the mvula is more interesting than the first (and the lead single is excellent) but it just didn't stick with me that much

1975 stans are one of the most boring bits of the internet

https://twitter.com/edvaizey/status/761257407179882496

:o

wow @ The Comet Is Coming getting on the shortlist. Love that record.

At least four other good'uns here. I really loathed the 1975 record though, apart from perhaps two songs. I mean, I had a genuinely visceral hate reaction to it, as opposed to 'LOL Radiohead, never change'.

the Laura Mvula is really good, lots of personality and ideas. I also liked the Jamie Woon album in a pleasantly nothing way.

The Invisible, Fear Of Men, Beth Orton, Corinne Bailey Rae, Roisin Murphy, Mark Pritchard, Andy Stott and Shura all feel like oversights to me. Even if I don't think they're the best albums, per se, I think they're all things that would be both on-brand for the Mercury and actually help it seem a bit more relevant, whatever that means in 2016.

★

@edvaizey Well done @Skepta - winner of @BETAwards Best International Act UK. #UKgrime taking the world by storm https://t.co/rFnZ1tQBGZ @GRMDaily

of these that I've heard, it's blackstar by a fair margin.

Mvula and 1975 the best of the bunch.

I haven't been too compelled to return to the Anohni album beyond the singles. Bat For Lashes album is alright but certainly not her strongest.

Shabaka Hutchins (Comet is Coming) played on a couple of tracks on a Polar Bear record but not one that got nommed. He's in MYD but they never actually got nommed.

Blackstar, Anohni and Comet are three of my favourites this year. Mvula's on my list to buy.

Skepta and Anohni are my only real loves on here, if either of them win it will wind up the right sort of wankers so i'm good either way

Had no idea Savages had put out a second record.

Polar Bear's Seb Rochford is one of the two drummers in Shabaka Hutchings' main band, Sons of Kemet. Maybe that counted against them, but their second album is way better than CIC, which is a lot of fun, but hardly the cosmo-electro-jazz masterpiece some are claiming. For my money, SOK are far and away the most exciting of the new school UK jazz acts, doing something genuinely new by mixing African-Caribbean rhythms with Ethiopian melodies, spiritual jazz, dub, bass music etc.
But no matter, Shabaka is a star and it's great to see him getting the exposure.

kano one is pretty mediocre.

wouldnt be surprised if skepta takes it.

would be positive for the mercury if they gave it to someone with a massive groundswell of support right now, also an independent/self-made artist, though young fathers winning in 2014 might harm its chances by being another rap album too soon.

Yeah, I'd agree with that, Poor.Old.Tired.Horse; the second SoK album is really bnrilliant, and they were fabulous live (even without Rochford). (The second drummer is the guy who plays with Floating Points, isn't he?)

Still, I reviewed Comet is Coming for The Quietus and really like it, so I'm delighted to see it nominated, doubly so cos Shabaka is excellent in everything he's done.

true love waits from MSP i thought was incredible, but yet to hear that in full, same for the anohni one. i know that one is prob the obvious contender in so many ways (formally innovative, politicised, very on trend, made by a trans artist, all of which is great for a million think pieces), but it would maybe be too logical a choice.

second savages album is good but it's not a huge advancement on from the first one to me.

The Skepta, Anohni, Bowie and Mvula albums are all genuinely great and I'd be happy to see any of them take it (though probably happiest for Skepta). The rest of the list isn't at all bad either. Miles better than last year.

Sorry if I sounded a bit harsh on CIC - it's a cool record and I'm sure they'd be ace live.

Tom Skinner is the other drummer in SOK, yeah. Watching the two of them play off each other is fantastic. He and Shabaka are on a few of Alexander Hawkins records - the most exciting young pianist in the UK! Hopefully he'll get the token jazz choice at some point, although it'll probably go to some insipid Nils Frahm-plays-Keith-Jarrett guff like GoGo Penguin

http://www.alexanderhawkinsmusic.com/alexander-hawkins-trio.html

Shabaka has a new album out in September with his South African band - sounds real nice based on the bits I've heard. Anyway I should leave this chat for the jazz thread :)

I'd be happy if either Skepta, Anohni or Bowie won. The latter doesn't really need it though.

im a fan, but bowie winning would be the lamest possible example of celeb death sentimentalism, and i doubt even bowie would think it a better idea for him to win over someone less established.

David Bowie the bookies' favourite to win the Mercury Prize
So, as the Mercury Prize shortlist was unleashed yesterday, the bookies named David Bowie the favourite to take the album of the year award.

Though the bookies were certain that Remain was going to win in the European Referendum, and look how that turned out. The Mercury panel will probably now vote to leave the world of music altogether and give the prize to a garden shed in Basingstoke instead. Which, frankly, would be a much more interesting outcome.

Presumably those putting their pounds on Bowie to win are hoping that the Mercury judging panel won't be able to resist the temptation to use their prize to pay tribute to one of the true greats of British music. And it was a pretty damn decent final album, of course.

But - even though the Leave-voting British public have been given some token-gesture input this year – the Mercury judging panel has a habit of shunning the obvious, except when shunning the obvious would be the obvious thing to do. So who knows? I think things are still looking pretty good for that shed.

Anyway, here are the odds Ladbrokes were offering yesterday...

David Bowie - Blackstar - 2/1
Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool - 5/1
Anohni – Hopelessness - 5/1
Skepta – Konnichiwa - 8/1
Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate - 10/1
The 1975 - I Like It ... -12/1
Kano - Made In The Manor - 12/1
Laura Mvula - The Dreaming Room - 16/1
Savages - Adore Life - 16/1
Bat For Lashes - The Bride - 16/1
The Comet Is Coming - Channel The Spirits - 25/1
Jamie Woon - Making Time - 25/1

kiwanuka most def wont win because Benjamin Clementine won last year.

You'd need to be a particularly befuddled type of day tripper to bet on Radiohead.

Thanks for reminding me how shit Benjamin Clementine is

who gets the money if Bowie wins?

I guess they get to keep the dough.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

probably going to vote mvula here, it's ace

skepta, anohni, bowie and the 1975 (!) also good, comet is coming decent, rest idk

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Almost the same order as that Ladbrokes list!

number of positive mentions of Radiohead in thread: 0

so this was vote for your favourite not who will win?

put money on Mvula purely because it's not gone to a woman for five years now (but then the list has never even been an equal gender split - surprised this isn't brought up more)

if Mvula wins it'll be the best winner since records began (or, say, Dummy)

"Dummy"

Making an effort for once to listen to every one of these before the reveal. But just couldn't make it through all of 'Love and Hate'.

5 minutes working on a "embarrassing necro-sentimentality vote...for Radiohead" line but it probably isnae worth the effort

Skepta won!

Of all the acts that performed I was most impressed by his performance. I've never heard his music until tonight. Very pleasing result and his mum busting moves during his acceptance speech was really special!

Nice result, god bless this pointless award, srsly

https://twitter.com/YoshisDino/status/776529201025392640

It was 50/50 whether his Twitter bio would read 'Arsenal fan' or 'Richard Dawkins devotee really'.

The Adenuga household is going to be a lot of fun this Christmas, I suspect. (Although the album itself doesn't really take off for me).

I love Shutdown, but not heard the album yet. I guess they will be congratulating themselves on not giving it to Radiohead or Bowie and showing how down they are. They probably still secretly listen to Elbow tho :p

His acceptance speech/stage invasion was proper heartwarming.

I guess they will be congratulating themselves on not giving it to Radiohead or Bowie and showing how down they are.

They can't win. If they'd given it to Radiohead or Bowie you'd be complaining how out of touch they were.

grime is full of really nice chaps. where are all the nasty horrible bastards?

xp
Tbh I wouldn't have given a shit, but I do have a distaste for the type of amorphous music biz detritus that make up the judging panels for this type of shite.

After their performance of "Love Me", I think I've finally got the point of The 1975. It's a bit like when I saw Years & Years on the Xmas TOTP and went "oh, NOW I get it..."

where are all the nasty horrible bastards?

In prison?

I mean, 1Xtra has had to remove at least 3 artists from their playlist in the last year alone for various bad behaviour
And there's this guy, who I actually met one time - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Titch

But none of that has to do w/Skepta. Feels weird that he's won this, as Mercs are usually for new artists?

well if Radiohead got nommed..

Yeah I guess I don't know what the point of it is

What a tragedy for much-lived deceased rock legends Radiohead

Lol autocorrect

where are all the nasty horrible bastards?

In an increasingly collaborative scene no-one wants to work with them because they're fucking liabilities.

(I mean Wiley has never struck me as a particularly nice guy but he's at least a dick you can work with)

If he shows up

But yes

Interesting that the judging panel has 50/50 gender balance when the shortlist never has.
http://www.mercuryprize.com/news/full-2016-judging-panel-revealed

Skepta and Anohni are my only real loves on here, if either of them win it will wind up the right sort of wankers so i'm good either way

― the Zenga bus is coming (Noodle Vague), Friday, August 5, 2016 8:32 AM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

prescient: https://twitter.com/RappinGuardian/status/776730376895098880

Haha oh god

lol!, I haven't witnessed anyone using the witty epithet "(c)rap music" in at least probably 15 years

Love my privilege a bit butthurt, soooo tasty

IT IS THE NINETIES AND THERE IS TIME FOR (K)RAP

lol!, I haven't witnessed anyone using the witty epithet "(c)rap music" in at least probably 15 years

Next thing you'll be saying you haven't seen anyone use the word 'Bliar' in all that time.

no .. seriously, I thought that was a lost 90's thing that people whose last album purchase was Brothers In Arms used. But I'm not on FB and don't read comments sections.

need a cryingBowie.jpg

Wait, I thought Bowie would have wanted Skepta to win? This is all very confusing.

sometimes an artist is more open-eared than their loyal fans. there's a 500 post ILM list thread we don't need.