Brit Music Scene

Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2009 Nominees Announced

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 12:37 PM PDT

The Barclaycard Mercury Prize (formerly the Nationwide Mercury Music Prize) is an annual event which seeks to reward the newest, freshest, or most innovative British groups. 12 artists are chosen for their albums from their last 12 months. Some are big names, but most are new acts just starting to get known by the mainstream. Being shortlisted for the Mercury Prize is a surefire way to get noticed.

Last year (2008) saw Elbow win the award for The Seldom Seen Kid. They saw off the likes of Radiohead, Estelle, and Adele to win the Mercury Prize, and few could argue with the result. The year before (2007) saw Klaxons win the award for Myths Of The Near Future. They saw off the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Dizzee Rascal, and Amy Winehouse to win.

The nominees for the 2009 Barclaycard Mercury Prize have now been announced with Lauren Laverne revealing the runners and riders at The Hospital club in London’s Convent Garden. There are a couple of big name acts in there, most notably Kasabian and Glasvegas, but most of the nominees are fairly new artists who have only enjoyed moderate success until now.

The 2009 Mercury Prize Nominees (and their odds to win)

Kasabian – ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’ 5/1
Florence And The Machine – ‘Lungs’ 5/1
Bat For Lashes – ‘Two Suns’ 6/1
Glasvegas – ‘Glasvegas’ 6/1
La Roux – ‘La Roux’ 6/1
Lisa Hannigan – ‘Sea Sew’ 8/1
Speech Debelle – ‘Speech Therapy’ 8/1
The Horrors – ‘Primary Colours’ 8/1
Friendly Fires – ‘Friendly Fires’ 8/1
The Invisible – ‘The Invisible’ 10/1
Sweet Billy Pilgrim – ‘Twice Born Men’ 10/1
Led Bib – ‘Sensible Shoes’ 10/1

This has to be the most diverse and niche shortlist for years. I’ll be honest and admit I haven’t heard of five of the artists at all, and of the remaining seven acts I’ve only heard the albums in full of four of them. Those acts are Kasabian, La Roux, Florence and The Machine, and Glasvegas. What’s more, I’d hate to even choose between those four albums because they all pretty special.

The actual Barclaycard Mercury Prize ceremony will take place on September 8 in London. All the acts, or at least the ones who can be bothered to turn up, will perform a track from their nominated album, before a panel of judges picks an overall winner. At this early stage I think I’d put my money on Glasvegas. But in the meantime I have a few albums to listen to on Spotify.

[Photo Source: Amazon.co.uk]

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