Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2013

It's that time of year again, no, not halloween, its the Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2013! There are some great nominees this year, and more well known, which could make the decision harder for the judges.
Luckily the winner is voted for by people with a decent taste in music working in the music industry, otherwise we'd end up with the likes of Cheryl Cole stamping her foot until Ne-Yo gets crowned winner.
If you need to refresh your memory of who was nominated last year, just click here.

I was under the impression the Mercury Prize was about new artists who hadn't quite broken through, but were clearly popular. So for this reason I am confused as to why Bowie and the Monkeys are up for nomination. But their albums are petty bloody fantastic. Maybe ill have to research the history of the prize a bit more!

David Bowie - The Next Day

The Arctic Monkey's career has been like the sales of Dr.Martin's over the last two decades. So what I'm trying to say is that nothing could beat that first album, then it went downhill, and now they're coming up trumps again. But for this reason I'm not sure if they will win, as this is their 5th album, they sort of need to give someone else a chance.

Arctic Moneys - AM

After discovering my love for Jake Bugg around a year ago, he has become a regular on my ipod. I'm glad he's done this well, especially at such a young age. In my personal opinion, I think he has an 80% chance of winning the prize, but I think there is some strong competition there this year.

Jake Bugg - Jake Bugg

Disclosure's album I have to say is pretty awesome, and the duo managed to persuade some great singers to contribute to some of the songs (e.g. Jessie Ware, Eliza Dolittle, London Grammar). I think if they won it would be well deserved, (and if there was a prize for 'best album cover' I think they would definitely win). Its the only electronic album up for nomination, which will hopefully give them a bit of a head start. They are clearly extremely talented, so kudos! And the best of luck. 

Disclosure - Settle

I love love love James Blake, and recently seeing him live at Festival No.6 turned it into true love. His self titled album released in 2011 also made the Mercury Prize nominations that year, but unfortunately didn't win. Let's wish him the best of luck with his album Overgrown.

James Blake - Overgrown

The Foals new album in my opinion is quite different to their first (and may I add incredible) album. A lot slower paced, and not trying to hard to fit in with the scenesters. So I think they have a huge right to be nominated, as they are trying to succeed on a different sound, which has proven to be hard and often unsuccessful for some artists. 

Foals - Holy Fire

I started listening to the Villagers album and started browsing the internet, I then forgot I was even listening to music. So the album didn't have a good start with me, however with further listen I realised this isn't just your average devonshire-sounding acoustic band. They definitely have that twist, hence their nomination. 

The Savages sound like they would be amazing live, so I'm very much looking forward to hearing their set from the awards. However I feel that if they were better known they would have a better chance of winning. 

I take my hat off to Rudimental for creating an album that is clearly successful, but I have to admit it's not quite my thing. 

I remember when Laura Marling released her first album I downloaded 'Night Terror', and haven't really given her a chance since. She has created a beautiful album this year, however feel I would appreciate it more if I were suffering from heartbreak. 

Jon Hopkins is an odd one...but in a good way. I like what I hear but couldn't listen to on a regular basis, so I unfortunately don't have any hope for him this evening. Perhaps he would be more appreciated in a basement party in Manchester at 6am when it's not just the alcohol thats keeping people going. 

For her first album, Laura Mvula has done pretty well. With a very retro sound, there's hope this evening for her. 

Luckily for the viewers this year, they have increased the TV coverage (as I recall last year they showed 15 minutes on the television, announcing Alt-J the winners then a quick interview). Live coverage of the event is being broadcast tonight, starting with a 45 minute programme on More4 at 9.30pm. The overall winner is also being revealed live on Channel 4 at 10.00pm. The entire Awards Show, including all live performances, will be broadcast in full the tomorrow night (Thursday 31 October) at 11.00pm on Channel 4.

Rest In Peace Lou Reed

I was lucky enough to have been bought up listening to some of the greatest artists to ever walk this earth, such as the likes of The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner and one of my personal favourites, Lou Reed.

The 27th of October 2013 was a very sad day in the music world, as one of the most influential and talented artists to ever have lived, sadly passed away. He died at the age of 71 from liver-related ailment.

However I don't want this blog to focus on his passing, but on the incredible music this man created.

"The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band."

 - Brian Eno

The above album has had such a huge influence on me as it was one of the main albums my parents would listen to whilst I grew up, I just want to remind everyone of the incredible songs he wrote and how they had such a large influence on many other artists, even if he didn't know it. 

So if you do anything this week, make sure it's listening to this album to remember this talented human being. 

David Bowie, Iggy Pop & Lou Reed

The Velvet Underground & Andy Warhol

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

  

One of the many huge perks of travelling was getting the chance to listen to all those albums on my ipod I hadn't had time to do yet, one of these is the hypnotic album Halcyon Digest, by Deerhunter.

Halcyon Digest

Now, Halcyon Digest is the only album which I've listened to by the band mind, but it only means Iv'e got a few more potentially amazing albums to discover. Every song on this album has a different sound, and there are some spectacular ones on there. My definite favourite has to be Desire Lines (as heard above). This song is incredible, and has now become one of my favourite songs ever (a big statement I know, and I'll probably tell you I have a new favourite song in the next blog, but don't tell me your not enjoying it). 

Another awesome track from this album is Sailing. A lot more chilled, but just as incredible. I also have to admit that this was one of my songs to help me fall asleep on 28 hour bus journeys, however does not mean its boring in the slightest, it just made me forget where I was. The lyrics in this album are a bit darker than the usual ambient punk (self-description by the band), but this perhaps has something to do with Bradford Cox's upbringing. After his parents divorced, he explains how he practically lived alone in a large suburban house. It is clear in the chirpy sounding lyrics in Memory Boy, not one of my favourite songs on the album...but explains a lot. 

"Try to recognise your son, in your eyes he's gone, gone, gone..."

One of these hypnotic songs on the album is He Would Have Laughed. It drags you in with the non changing rhythm on the drums, you could happily sit and listen for a while, however the song changes direction towards the end, and the second half is even better than the first.

Hopefully you enjoyed Desire Lines. Now go and listen to the rest of the album. 

Festival No.6 - second year success

After returning from a 6 month around the world trip (hence the lack of blog entries), and missing all of the British festivals, I came back just in time for Festival No. 6!

Not only am I lucky enough to live right on the doorstep of No. 6, but I also get cheap tickets to the event! Last year's outing to the festival was just on a whim, as someone kindly gave us free tickets, it was a 'might as well' decision, and now it has become...wait for it...probably my favourite festival.

The great thing about No.6 is that it's not all about the line-up (as you would probably be a bit disappointed with the line-up/price of ticket ratio). Throughout the weekend at this wonderful location theres poetry readings, story telling, woodland trails and their very own cinema. One of the things I was  stupidly too lazy to attend this year AND last year were the woodland raves, which Iv'e heard are amazing, but however only last until sundown. The other reason I rate this festival so highly is the venue, well you can't really call it a venue, as it's more like a fairytale village from a child's novel. Iv'e been going to Portmeirion ever since I was a child, and I will never get bored of it, there's always something new to discover with every return. 

Now back to the music.

I only heard about London Grammar about 3 days before the festival, and this was about 9 seconds of my friend playing them from her iphone. And as I was there, it would have been silly not to check them out...and I was blown away. The voice of the Hannah Reid, the singer of the band, has been likened to Florence Welch (Florence & the Machine), however, in my opinion, she's better. She has one of the best voices Iv'e heard live. They have become my favourite band of the moment, probably because they have a similar sound to The xx. It's vey relaxed but too good just to be background music. Listen to Strong and you will be blown away, then Hey Now and you won't be able to close your ears. 

My second favourite artist of the weekend was Lianne La Havas. After listening to her Mercury nominated album Is Your Love Big Enough? whilst away, I was desperate to see her live. She was what I expected and more (the more being her see through dress). She is a very talented musician and has a very enchanting presence on stage. I would definitely recommend seeing her live if you ever have the opportunity. 

Over the whole weekend there were a number of incredible performances. Headlining on Friday was James Blake, who was amazing live (and very very attractive guy), so I was not going to miss looking/listening to him. My Bloody Valentine headlining was a bonus for me, as I hadn't listened to them very much pre-No.6, and now I have a new band on my 'to download' list. The Manic Street Preachers were a tad disappointing, I did only watch them for a short time, so this could be my fault. My friend saw them a few years ago playing their last performance after a long tour, and he said you could tell. However this is the description of how they played on the Sunday, however, I love their music, so would give them a second chance!

My Bloody Valentine

Overall, a very successful weekend (apart from the downpour on Sunday). I can't recommend this festival enough, not just the contents of it but it's location. If you are unfortunate enough not being able to attend next year, you can visit the village any time of year!

Links:

http://www.festivalnumber6.com/

http://www.portmeirion-village.com/

http://www.londongrammar.com/home/

http://www.liannelahavas.com/

http://www.mybloodyvalentine.org/

http://jamesblakemusic.com/