Mercury Music Prize Shortlist
Nominees and odds of winning according to bookies at William Hill:
Posted at 11:16 AM
Tags: Antony Hegarty | Bloc Party | Coldplay | Hard-Fi | Kaiser Chiefs | KT Tunstall | M.I.A. | Maximo Park | The Go! Team
July 19, 2005
The 'Gum Drop
Get our newsletter. MP3s and giveaways weekly.
Staff
Founder/Editor-In-Chief
Scott Lapatine
Executive Editor
Amrit Singh
Senior Writer
Brandon Stosuy
Columnist
Jon McMillan
Technology & Operations
Jim Jazwiecki
Angela Williams
The Cool Kids
- AbsolutePunk
- Afro Jacks
- An Aquarium Drunkard
- Arjan Writes
- Baeble Music
- Best Week Ever
- Brooklyn Vegan
- Catbirdseat
- Chromewaves
- Coolfer
- Corporate Casual
- Culture Bully
- Done Waiting
- FluxBlog
- Golden Fiddle
- Good Weather For Airstrikes
- Gorilla Vs Bear
- I Am Fuel, You Are Friends
- Largeheartedboy
- Lindsayism
- Loudersoft
- Marathonpacks
- Melody Nelson
- Michael Goldberg
- More Cowbell
- Music For Robots
- My Old Kentucky Blog
- No Dessert For You
- One Louder
- Pampelmoose
- Pop Candy
- Product Shop NYC
- Punk Photo
- RockDaily
- Said The Gramophone
- Scenestars
- Songs: Illinois
- The Modern Age
- Thighs Wide Shut
- Ultragrrrl
- Videogum
- Witz
- Yeti Don't Dance
- You Ain't No Picasso
coldplay....???
on the shortlist. i thought this was for folks that werent selling that many records. go m.i.a. and bloc party!!
first post? yeahboyeee!
Score = 0
the Kaiser Chiefs album is horrible, they should not win this.
Score = 0
oasis-don't believe the truth should be recognized if massive records sales don't matter.
yeah i fuckin' said it-OASIS
Score = 0
Kaiser Chiefs = awesome.
Also, the Oasis album is easily the most underrated album in ages. "The Importance of Being Idle" is a top 5 song of the year for me.
Also, are they listening to the same Crapplay album I am?
Score = 0
I for one am happy to see the Magic Numbers on here. Though I predict an M.I.A. upset over Kaiser Chiefs. Did those guys really just say the United States thinks they are the new "Rolling Stones"? Don't you have to sell some records over here first?
Score = 0
I think I am over the whole M.I.A. thing. I bought the album, played it through a few times, uploaded it onto my computer and sold it. I can't listen to her for more than 2 or 3 songs in a row now.
I guess my pick would either be Bloc Party or Antony and the Johnsons
I don't know how Kaiser Chiefs are at 4:1 odds.
Score = 0
Now I'm mildly depressed.
Score = 0
I think i'm the only person in the world that loathes M.I.A.
...Yea, I totally see her being around for a long time
Score = 0
Yeah Oasis totally got fucked over. It's far to superior to the Coldplay record. Hopefully M.I.A. or The Go Team wins.
Score = 0
Does Coldplay fit ANY of the prize criteria?
At least The Go! Team have a sound that isn't activly bad like most.
They should win because they seem like they can get the job done, they are a large band so probably are strapped for cash, and their lead singer's name is Ninja.
Score = 0
Oh no, I'm with you, I really don't like MIA. I tell other brown people this and they call me a traitor to my ethnicity. Grow up kids.
p.s I'm disappointed by this year's short list - I mean, Coldplay? Come on!!
Score = 0
I guess I'm joining the hatering. MIA is mostly unlistenable.
Score = 0
Yeah...not feeling the Coldplay nod. Someone musta been smokin the boring, unoriginal crack.
My vote goes to Bloc Party or Maximo Park. Easily my fave albums of this year thus far...(though technically BP is '04 but whatevs:))
Score = 0
The award is from summer 2 summer not january to january.
Score = 0
If the Kaiser Chiefs win, I predict a riot. (Never gets old)
Score = 0
I don't think the favourites ever win. Thank god.
I'll put good money on Bloc Party.
Score = 0
I don't think Bloc Party have much of a shot, they're too buzzed about almost the Franz Ferdinand of 2005. Mercury goes in a different direction every year, so I'll put my money on The Magic Numbers or Hard-Fi.
Score = 0
I dont think the go! team will be strapped for cash since they've just signed to Columbia
Score = 0
m.i.a. is really hot, i think that may be swaying my thought process. bloc party is the best album of the year, therefore, it will not win the shortlist.
i won't listen to the new coldplay.
i have no interest in oasis.
i listen to a.m. radio.
Score = 0
How's about Art Brut? Where are they in the contention? Oh, and Arcade Fire. Were they in the running last year or...what. harumph. I think I'm going to go buy one of the aforementioned "boring, unoriginal crack" rocks.
Score = 0
i'm all for the go! team and maximo park.
coldplay.... i had to listen to that new album a billion times in a row at work and it's basically insufferable. except fix you. i like that one. but even then, i don't like the ending. and i hate chris martin. so much.
Score = 0
Hey spo....I'm with you on the Coldplay...the ONLY other song that is halfway decent on there is "What If"...
...but how many slow-tempo'd, depressing songs can you shove on an already uneventful record, y'know? :)
Score = 0
Im a tad bit surprised that Bloc Party is close behind Coldplay. Not that im a fan, of either band.
Yay kaiser chiefs.
Score = 0
i agree on oasis. i disagree with the clod who mentioned the arcade fire. the band had one good song. get over them. they also aren't from europe.
my favorite record of the past year is the black keys' rubber factory. this record is highly underrated in my opinion. wish they'd win some awards already.
Score = 0
I do *not* get this whole M.I.A. thing. She sucks. If she were fat or ugly we would not currently be suffering her ubiquitousness, as she would never have gotten a record deal.
Score = 0
what is this prize shortlist?
best album of 2005?
aren't they forgetting about sufjan?
Score = 0
zaba, sufjan ain't european. it's their thang.
Score = 0
I vote for Antony and The Johnsons.
It's probably my favourite album of the year.
BUT Bloc Party will probably(which is alright too, because it's an incredible album too).
Score = 0
In order to be eligible for the Mercury Prize, you have to be either a British or Irish act. That's why there's no Sujfan or Arcade Fire or anyone else who's not British or Irish.
Score = 0
Re: Victor--why is Antony and the Johnsons on the list? I thought he was from New York.
What's with the M.I.A. hateration? I still think she's better than most of the people on that list, and I downloaded her stuff last year. Bloc Party, on the other hand, has fallen into my "cringe list." Of the ones I've actually heard on that list (Are Hard-Fi any good?), I vote for M.I.A. or the Go! Team.
Score = 0
Ha! I'm rare enough to like M.I.A., Bloc Party and Maximo Park...but people let's bond over our hateration for Coldplay.
I agree, the only song I like is "Fix You" only because the rest of the songs sounds like remixes of A Rush of Blood...to me. Especially "Speed of Sound" am I the only one who thought "Mr. Martin...'Clocks' again?"
Score = 0
is the coldplay album selling well?
if it sucks as bad as ya'll are saying, its probably #1. coldplay should have stopped while they were ahead. with parachutes. that was a good album.
Score = 0
pageblank - That stumped me as well. The only thing I can think of is that his first albums were released by a UK label.
I second your MIA comments.
Score = 0
I hope M.I.A. wins. That would rule! Ha! ;)
Score = 0
Although the Mercury Prize inspired the Shortlist Prize, I'm afraid that you have to be from Britain or Ireland to be nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, not just European.
Score = 0
i vote for the go team.
ps - you guys hate on MIA way too much.
Score = 0
I, too, loathe M.I.A. Listening to her album is the aural equivalent of a root canal.
Score = 0
oh, i see now... brit acts... what about the new kano?
from that list, i predict bloc party will win
kaiser chiefs have only one good song
maximo park is probably my favorite cd
the go team is the most talented
and MIA definitely lives up to the hype (ask aziz), but I can understand how some people might not be into it.
Score = 0
Antony's on the list because he's worthy? Seriously, I thought I read somewhere that he's British. When I checked his bio on AllMusic though, it just said he grew up in California, before moving to NYC.
Score = 0
my money's on m.i.a... regardless of all the 'hateration'.
Score = 0
Anthony was born in the UK though, so i guess they allowed it.
MIA sucks, as does most of that list for the most part. if i had to pick a band to win it, i'd say Magic Numbers, but even they're not all that.
as for Coldplay, well they were nominated for the last 2 albums too...
Score = 0
I'm sure I'm about to get yelled at for this b/c no one else seems to like them, but why isn't kasabian on the list? Pure and simple britpop! Not innovative, but how many of the acts on the list really are? I mean, Coldplay? Yawn.
Score = 0
Ooooohhh. That's. Okay. I was getting this confused with *the* Shortlist Awards (which TV on the Radio won last year, yes?)
Score = 0
M.I.A haters can suck a fat one.
she's awesome and that's all there is to it.
go back and cry into some of your sad bastard music and leave us party people be. Sheesh! you don't see me talking shit about that crap you hipsters idiots cry along to.
as for this list, M.I.A, Bloc Party and the Go! Team are all totally deserving. maxim park is pretty cool too though. and anyone worth their salt knows that the kaiser chiefs are going for 'new kinks' status, not the rolling stones.
as you were...
Score = 0
worst.mercury.prize.ever.
how does coldplay even get on the list, i though you had to sell less than 500,000 copies. my vote is with the go team, but who knows considering the number of copywrite violations on their album. the rest of the list, with the exception of antony and the johnsons is pretty brutal. go, go! team, go!!!
Score = 0
I don't understand how the Mercury's have built this rep as being 'presigious'?? I mean, the Spice 'girls' were nominated!?!? The Spice F*cking 'Girls'!?!?!? M People won it!!! M F*cking people!?!?!
That said, I hope The Go! Team win this year, although I think it'll probably be KT Tunstall
Score = 0
oh, I also don't think Anthony & The Johnsons should have been allowed on the list, even if he was born in the UK
Score = 0
furious_styles
the 500k thing is a pre-req of the US's Short List of Music prize, not the Mercury.
Score = 0
To those who believe The Go! Team are somehow not strapped for cash due to a signing with Columbia: that deal is for Thunder Lightning Strike ONLY, and only because Columbia has the financial resources to clear samples. They will get the album out in America and hopefully some proper exposure, but due to samples rights and all that other stuff, this really gives them zero money and I wouldn't be surprised to see them edge back to a smaller label once their debut is over and done with.
Score = 0
if i don't like it, i don't like it, that don't mean that i'm hating...
Score = 0
Am I the only one who heard the KT Tunstall record? It made me want to play the guitar again.
Score = 0
Kasabian should def. be on the list...great album, I thought they were huge in Britain.
I also cannot listen to M.I.A., pure hype, terrible music.
Bloc Party should win.
does anyone have any idea why Kaiser Chiefs are the favorite?
Score = 0
Kaiser Chiefs = super popular in britain. That's probably why! (disclaimer: i don't know what i'm talking about, i just felt like commenting b/c work = boredom)
Score = 0
aww. i met the hard-fi kids in line for the porta-potty at some party at sxsw. we ended up getting drunk, eating mexican food, planning a massive green card marriage system, and sending drunk text messages. they were nice boys.
Score = 0
Is it strange to actually like all the bands on the Mercury prize list? Because I do, including M.I.A. and, wait for it... Coldplay. Maybe it's because I never listen to radio. I don't feel the grinding omniprescense of abusive top 40 radio...
Score = 0
Oh please, M.I.A. is the only fucking good thing on that list. She's also the only prominent female on that list. Isn't that interesting?
Let me guess, all you haters loved her last month when she was on every critic's hot list. Now that her album has been out for a few months and the hype is relatively over, you "hate her" and always have. I swear; you indie kids are worse than top 40 fans in that respect. "Chew em up and spit em out". You know, if she was some tragic hipster faggot with a guitar and an ugly haircut and wore tight, bulge-revealing jeans - you'd eat it up regardless of how the music sounds. You people are so transparent.
Go back to listening to your Gwen Stefani records and repeating the phrase "this shit is bananas" over and over again until a new contrived indie popstar comes onto the scene, you fucking superficial cunts.
Score = 0
nope, hated her last year too
Score = 0
Damn jeff, you beat me to the punch.
Score = 0
I haven't understood the whole M.I.A. thing, it all seemed like hype to me, but it's probably in the lyrics and I just can't get past the poor music production.
The Go! Team should win! Though they probably wont.
Am I alone in disliking The Magic Numbers? I admit i've only heard one track (Forever Lost), but it was enough to convince me they were dreadful, as both the video and song were extremely poor.
Score = 0
the only truly essential record on that list is antony's "i am a bird now." utter sonic beauty. m.i.a should be rewarded for, if nothing else, simply having something to say, which is all too rare these days. as far as the kaiser chiefs, i think few will remember that record or cite it as having any real quality/importance/cultural impact in a few years.
Score = 0
I love KT Tunstall! She's awesome!
Check out her Other Side Of The World video
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/webpages/kttunstallx25x04x05
Score = 0
the spin is MIA sucks balls.
go Maximo Park - knock 'em the fuck out.
:: piss
Score = 0
maximo park in a stunning upset. they're the best dressed of the bunch
bring the crown back to Warp
Score = 0
Polar Bear are the most interesting band for me, it's great that they are finally getting some mainstream attention. the album is awesome and hardly anyone has even heard of polar bear. excellent i say.
Score = 0
I'm saying yes to KT Tunstall or Bloc Party, but I'm alarmed British Sea Power is not on that list. Kaiser Chiefs? Spare me.
Score = 0
Yeah, too right, WTF ? British Sea Power DEFINITELY should have been there.
The Futureheads too - they actually missed out on it due to the timing of their release.
In case you guys haven't heard, Anthony & The Johnsons has taken the prize.
I WAS gonna put a fiver on them, on M.I.A. and on Bloc Party to win, and a fiver on those fucking fuckheaded fucks, the fucking Kaiser Twats to lose. Fuck, they're so fucking fuckety fucking annoying. Fuck. I could have made about £60 on those bets for a £20 outlay. (The only reason I didn't is that I couldn't get it done in time - wanted to do it online today at about 8 PM and the fucks are all not taking any bets anymore, despite the announcement being made at about 10:30 PM. WTF ??? They take horse racing bets minutes before !!)
And, to clarify, the Kaiser Tits ARE pretty popular here, esp. if you judge by the radio playlisting. And yes, that's maybe why they were favourites - the bookies don't know their arse from their elbow when it comes to the Mercury Music Prize.
Score = 0
William Styron, whose Holocaust novel Sophie's Choice became a film and an opera, has died, aged 81...
Score = 0