Earlier today, Lauren Laverne announced the Mercury Prize nominees for this year - you can find them here, so in the spirit of that, I've decided to go with a Mercury Prize themed music recommendation for this week!
The Mercury Prize is an award which I have had increasing respect for over the past few years, particularly since the nominees always include some really super music. The shortlist gives me a great opportunity to scope out some of the best albums of the past year so I can give them a listen and it all too often introduces me to some great new artists.
While last year's twelve nominees included quite a few of my favourite albums, this year has left me with a lot of listening to catch up on! I am currently in the process of adding Anna Calvi, ghostpoet and King Creosote & John Hopkins to my music library, with a few others to follow. A surprise for me among the nominations is the presence of big acts like Tinie Tempah and Adele, since the Prize often favours lesser heard artists who benefit from the exposure it provides. Elbow have also been nominated for a third time for the album Build a Rocket Boys! and I'd be cheering for them to win this year if I didn't find that album particularly monotonous.
My selection from the 2011 nominees (and my music recommendation for this week) has got to be Metronomy for their album The English Riviera.
Metronomy have been around for quite a while, yet this song was the first of theirs to really catch my ears. It's one of my favourites from this year thanks to it's infectious beat, which tempts my feet to tap the whole way through, and the soft, harmonious and almost emotionless vocals of Anna Prior and Joseph Mount. The lyrics themselves are pretty sweet, which doesn't hurt any either.
Another favourite and the lead single off The English Riviera, The Look has another captivating and foot-tappingly good rhythm supported by great percussion and verging on odd keyboard refrains. Again, Mount's apathetic voice adds it's peculiar charm to the whole affair and the pigeons in the video are too cute not to love too!
The album itself carries on in much the same way with enough originality and variation to make it a pleasure to listen to. For now, these guys are definitely my favourite to win the Mercury Prize later this year, and I know I'll be listening to them all summer!
Tomorrow, I'll be back with some photos from my experience at this year's Open House Festival!
love, Jessica
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