Who shouldn’t win the Mercury Prize?
We’re only a mere few hours away from finding out who is the recipient of this year’s Mercury Prize. Regular readers will know that a few weeks ago I ran a couple of articles profiling the nominees and given some pretty short thoughts on whether or not they will/should win. I make it pretty clear that Two Suns by Bat For Lashes should, and deserves to, win this year but going to a long essay about why this is the case would make for boring reading (and at the rate the year is going, I might be doing one anyway for the Albums Of 2009 feature before Christmas). So instead, as everyone else is focusing on who should win, I’m going to take a different take on it and focus on albums that are shortlisted that do not deserve to win.
West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum by Kasabian – Do Kasabian really need the prize money and recognition as Mercury Prize winner? Kasabian are doing pretty well for themselves, selling out arenas nationwide, drawing massive crowds at festivals, and consistently managing to score support slots for stadium bands like the late Oasis and Muse. There’s also the brutal truth that this album is a crushing disappointment and for the most part sees the band lose everything about them that made them great.
La Roux by La Roux and Lungs by Florence And The Machine – Confused as to why I’ve lumped both albums together? Well, this year has been touted as the ‘year of the solo female star’ and whilst there are albums by such musicians that are worth owning and prove this theory right, there are some artists who have been on the hype machine and have then released albums with little substance in comparison. Incidentally, what’s strange when you put these two albums up against each other is how polar opposite they both. La Roux is an album great sounding songs ruined by a shrill voice, whilst Lungs is an album with gorgeous vocals ruined by overly familiar music.
Glasvegas by Glasvegas – Glasvegas don’t win prizes for any real innovation or freshness, which the judges love. Then again, Glasvegas also won’t win any prizes for making a great album either, as it’s a pretty average and dull-sounding affair.
So, are there any albums that you feel may fill you with anger and rage if they win? If so, please share your thoughts with a comment below.
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Posted on September 8th, 2009 by Max
Filed under: Albums, Features
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