Peak Mercury that.
Thank god for that
Yeah, called it months ago. Sampha is Mercury porn.
They must have been a bit pissed Ed Sheeran dingyed them out of a live performance considering the publicity it would’ve gave them.
Probably got a heads-up he wasn’t winning it.
Glad Sampha won.
So the entire eventual short shortlist of five for the winner’s spot were from South London.
NICE ONE THE REST OF THE BRITISH ISLES, WHY DO YOU EVEN BOTHER TURNING UP?!?
On a related note, someone should have told Idris Elba that the prize was for music from the UK and Ireland while he exclusively talked about ‘English music’ in his pre-prize giving speech…
By my reckoning there has been ONE nominee out of all the acts in 2016 and 2017 who was not English. That being Corrie Dick, the Scottish drummer of Dinosaur.
Idris Elba was actually quite right to talk about England, it’s just a shame he couldn’t have said it in a more judgemental and disappointed manner. The real problem here is that the people nominating don’t seem to have much musical geography. Or maybe they’re all London-based and just nominate their pals.
Its probably more subconscious but I think the nominating pals/previous judges thing does happen, I mean Jessie Ware worked on the Ed Sheeran album and previously worked with Sampha while Kate Tempest and Ellie Rowsell (sings on the Alt-J album) were both judges last year.
Yeah, it’s not so much unconscious nepotism I have a problem with but that I can’t really believe they didn’t feel anything by a Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish act was worth consideration for the second year in a row.
They seemed to be celebrating the fact nearly half the acts came from South London - I’d say that’s cause to review the panel’s geography
i can only watch the first 15 seconds, but what a 15 seconds
The whole “where are all the East London artists at, five of the nominees are from South London” thing was gross. Are they now replacing token world act with token northern act?
The whole of Ireland actually qualifies for the Mercury rather than just the north, but only gets one token nomination every 2 or 3 years
Did make me wonder if the Welsh Music Prize and Scottish Album of the Year awards becoming established has harmed the chances of artists coming from there getting recognition at the Mercury Prize.
I wouldn’t have thought so, if anything it should shed more light on them - but maybe the Mercury judges feel less need to be representative
It’s a shame they don’t pay more attention- the last two winners of the SAY have been streets ahead of any recent Mercury winner. It’s especially surprising that Kathryn Joseph wasn’t nominated.
It could be that. There’s always been the “token jazz” nomination - makes you wonder if previous winners like Franz Ferdinand, Young Fathers or even Primal Scream might have won if there hadn’t been someone reminding the nominators to think outside England.
Kathryn Joseph deserved a nomination. Anna Meredith, Sacred Paws and Meilyr Jones too I’d say.
CLASSIC ENGLISH ARROGANCE
Out of interest, what are the best albums to come out of Ireland over that period (genuinely intrigued, I’m not trying to make a counterpoint)?
