FEATURE:
The Mercury Prize:
25 and Still Surprising
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WHETHER you consider it an irrelevant award or a…
vital part of the music catalogue: you cannot deny how important the Mercury Prize is to the artists nominated. Whilst some winners have faded into obscurity (Talvin Singh anyone?) bands like Elbow, Primal Scream and Suede are still together and recording years after they won the prize. There has been a lot of interest and attention paid to this year’s nominations considering David Bowie’s untimely death – he is the odds-on favourite to win in many people’s hearts. While I favour Radiohead for the prize but feel a win for Kano would be a great decision – there is no telling who will actually win on the night. To be fair, the Mercury Prize is not a curse for artists and can increase record sales and confident for those who claim the award – even those nominated see their music reach new audiences and their careers grow. It is brilliant to see the range of artists and albums nominated this year: from the gritty Rap/Grime of Skepta to the cosmic weirdness of The Comet Is Coming. In anticipation of this year’s event: I look back at all the winners so far – selecting the best track from each album.
HEADER ILLUSTRATION: Krent Able
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1992: Primal Scream – Screamadelica
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWUC2-ypnDQ&w=560&h=315]
1993: Suede - Suede
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nWJQStqrfw&w=560&h=315]
1994: M People – Elegant Slumming
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCekWXCO6Uc&w=560&h=315]
1995: Portishead - Dummy
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnFlrR43YBs&w=560&h=315]
1996: Pulp – Different Class
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0DRch3YLh0&w=560&h=315]
1997: Roni Size/Reprazent – New Forms
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwI0gbGEyuI&w=560&h=315]
1998: Gomez – Bring It On
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKrIkflT_YY&w=560&h=315]
1999: Talvin Singh - Ok
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VclOPJCMlCY&w=560&h=315]
2000: Badly Drawn Beast – The Hour of Bewilderbeast
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPVAipmV7jY&w=560&h=315]
2001: PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTrGowDPjBk&w=560&h=315]
2002: Ms. Dynamite – A Little Deeper
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxkRuJz0yrw&w=560&h=315]
2003: Dizzee Rascal – Boy in da Corner
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZGvnI37mxk&w=560&h=315]
2004: Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18pyJ1rPfH8&w=560&h=315]
2005: Antony and the Johnsons – I Am a Bird Now
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufmJo_OBWyM&w=560&h=315]
2006: Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqkBRVukQmE&w=560&h=315]
2007: Klaxons – Myths of the Near Future
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-SJjFcnsGs&w=560&h=315]
2008: Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxczVhG0os8&w=560&h=315]
2009: Speech Debelle – Speech Therapy
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I98iyEf5a7E&w=560&h=315]
2010: The xx - xx
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pib8eYDSFEI&w=560&h=315]
2011: PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBtOWXNPQ_w&w=560&h=315]
2012: Alt-J – An Awesome Wave
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVeMiVU77wo&w=560&h=315]
2013: James Blake – Overgrown
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p6PcFFUm5I&w=560&h=315]
2014: Young Fathers - Dead
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiMtr9QJHlY&w=560&h=315]
2015: Benjamin Clementine – At Least for Now
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dc5BQ31iLw&w=560&h=315]
2016: The Five in the Running...
Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI2oS2hoL0k&w=560&h=315]
Kano – Made in the Manor
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPmNxobIoWI&w=560&h=315]
Bat for Lashes – The Bride
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0QTaULDRXI&w=560&h=315]
Anohni – Hopelessness
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pei4SnavUk&w=560&h=315]
David Bowie – Blackstar
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zF2tsBJnpk&w=560&h=315]
In four days, we will find out who walks away with this year’s Mercury Prize. While there are definite frontrunners and favourites: Past years have shown you cannot easily predict who will win. The past two years have seen under-the-radar artists emerge victorious – those who defied the odds and claimed the top prize. In 1994, few would have guessed M People would have won the prize – considering The Prodigy and Blur were both nominated following career-best album releases. Who knows but many bookies are favouring David Bowie to win – it would be very shocking were anyone else to scoop the Mercury. With regards this year’s forthcoming ceremony…
WHO knows what will happen.