-
-
Who will win ...?!
The nominations for this year's Nationwide Mercury Music Prize were revealed this morning.
I don't particularly care for any of these artists though.
NME breaks down who's who on the shortlist:
"Adele - Soul star Adele broke through at the beginning of this year, racking up a Number One record with debut album '19'."
"British Sea Power - The Brighton based four-piece gained a nod with their third album 'Do You Like Rock Music?', and have been critics' favourites since their debut record 'The Decline Of British Sea Power' five years ago. They are know for their enigmatic live shows, which sees band members climbing scaffolding round a stage usually featuring some kid of foliage, as well as their devoted fans."
"Burial - This London based dubstep artist has received a nomination for his second album 'Untrue'. The anonymous producer has already gained awards for his releases, as well as remixing fans Bloc Party and Thom Yorke, but still no one knows what he looks like. "
"Elbow - Epic rockers Elbow are up for a Mercury nod with album 'The Seldom Seen Kid'. The Manchester band's fourth record was delayed for nearly two years as the band swapped record labels but they made up for lost time with an album that includes a guest spot from former Mercury nominee Richard Hawley."
"Estelle - London hip-hop lass Estelle cracked the UK this year with her American-influenced second album 'Shine', which saw her team up with Kanye West, Mark Ronson and John Legend. She scored a number one with the first single from the record 'American Boy', which features the aforementioned West, and is regularly covered by Jay-Z live."
"Laura Marling - The Reading-born teen sensation has been building up a huge folk following since the release of her first studio album 'Alas, I Cannot Swim' in February. The waif-like musician also sings with Noah and the Whale."
"The Last Shadow Puppets - Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner has now notched up a hatrick of Mercury nominations as his collaboration with The Rascals singer Miles Kane, follows nods in 2006 and 2007 for his main band. 'The Age Of The Understatement' boasts a Scott Walker-vibe, with lush strings from Arcade Fire collaborator Owen Pallett and production from Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford who also played drums on the record."
"Neon Neon - The side project of Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys. The Welsh man teamed up with producer Boom Bip in 2006 to start work on the album 'Stainless Style', a 1980s-influenced concept album about the playboy designer John DeLorean, the main responsible for the DeLorean car featured in the 'Back To The Future' movies."
"Portico Quartet - The London based jazz quartet's debut album 'Knee-Deep In The North Sea' has been nominated for the prize this year. Renowned for busking in unusual gigging places, from churches to galleries, the foursome are booked up to play festivals this year with their hooky jazz sound."
"Rachel Unthank And The Winterset – The folk four-piece from Northumberland are already a critics favourite, and are up for the prize with their second album 'The Bairns'. The band are playing all over Europe and America for the next few months."
"Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - The Led Zeppelin frontman's collaboration record with bluegrass country singer , 'Raising Sand', hit high in the charts both in the UK and USA. The highly hyped team up has proved popular with both fans and critics"
"Radiohead - The Oxford quintet's seventh album, 'In Rainbows', caused a storm last year after the group told fans they could decide how much they wanted to pay for it as a download. The iconic Oxford band's album later hit the top of the charts after its retail release and has been praised by critics worldwide."
The nominations for this year's Nationwide Mercury Music Prize were revealed this morning. ... more -
Arctic Monkeys head to the studio this week
The Arctic Monkeys are set to begin recording new material for their third album when they head to the studio this week.
-
Arctic monkeys to start work on third album
They will begin writing material next month, looking forward to hearing how much they've sonically matured.
-
The Last Shadow Puppets "The Age Of The Understatement"
"
Domino is proud to announce the release of The Age Of The Understatement, the debut album by The Last Shadow Puppets on Tuesday May 6th, 2008 (April 21 UK).
The Last Shadow Puppets are Alex Turner (from Arctic Monkeys) and Miles Kane (from The Rascals). Firm friends ever since Arctic Monkeys toured with Kane’s previous group, The Little Flames, the pair were so inspired by listening to the likes of Scott Walker, early Bowie and David Axelrod, that they hatched a plan.
The result, The Age Of The Understatement, is an album of 12 full-blooded songs, bold and brassy, full of drama, wit and melody, that source the past but avoid falling into pastiche. Both Miles and Alex are 22, and this is a youthful record, full of life and the sheer pleasure of music making.
The Last Shadow Puppets recorded the songs at Black Box studios near Nantes, France in two weeks during the summer of 2007, with producer and drummer James Ford. The band then approached Owen Pallett to arrange and conduct the orchestration of the tracks, which were recorded by the 22 piece London Metropolitan Orchestra at British Grove studios in London over Christmas.
The album will be preceded by a single (7” and Digital), also titled “The Age Of The Understatement”, released Tuesday, April 15th.
The Age Of The Understatement album will be available on CD, vinyl & digital download. Tracklisting is as follows:
1. The Age Of The Understatement
2. Standing Next To Me
3. Calm Like You
4. Separate and Ever Deadly
5. The Chamber
6. Only The Truth
7. My Mistakes Were Made For You
8. Black Plant
9. I Don't Like You Any More
10. In My Room
11. Meeting Place
12. The Time Has Come Again
" " ... more -
Dizzee danced, Arctics won, Klaxons raved: It was the NME Awards!
The Arctic Monkeys won Best British Band, Best Video and Best Track for their song 'Fluorescent Adolescent' at this year's NME Awards as well as also scooping Best British Band. The group headed the contenders for this year's NME Awards with seven nominations.
This year's NME Awards haven't been finished long but what a show! Dizzee Rascal wowed the audience with a surprise performance, the Klaxons kicked off the event with a raucous introduction and Smiths legend Johnny Marr joined The Cribs on stage for a truly monumental set. Other performances came from a laser-toting Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs and this year's Godlike Geniuses Manic Street Preachers.
A few of the night's other winners:
Best International Band: The Killers
Best New Band: The Enemy
Best TV Show - The Mighty Boosh
Best Album: Klaxons - 'Myths Of The Near Future'
For acceptance webcams, star-studded backstage blogs or and a full list of the winners, Check this link:
http://www.nme.com/awardsnews
To listen to 'Fluorescent Adolescent' click here: http://snipurl.com/arctics
To check out some of the Mighty Boosh click here: http://snipurl.com/boosh
To hear what the Enemy sound like check this: http://snipurl.com/enemy
Or maybe even a bit of the Klaxons right here: http://snipurl.com/klaxons
The Arctic Monkeys won Best British Band, Best Video and Best Track for their song 'Fluorescent Adolescent' at this year's NME Awards ... more -
Arctic Monkeys win at Brits (again)
The Arctic Monkeys and Take That were the big winners at the Brit Awards. The Sheffield band won the coveted Best British Group award. They also walked away with the Best British Album award.
Take That won Best British Live Act and Best British Single for Shine, voted for by commercial radio listeners and The Sun Bizarre column readers. Gary Barlow described it as "unbelievable". Then he turned away from the buffet and realised they had won an award. The Arctic Monkeys and Take That were the big winners at the Brit Awards. The Sheffield band won the coveted Best British Group award.... more -
Rolling Stone: "Quality Of Music Is In Decline"
A revolution in recording technology and the rise in people listening to music through computer speakers or tiny headphones has meant the sound quality of music is drastically dropping, says Rolling Stone magazine. Music engineers are being told to forget subtlety and crank up the sound levels 'to grab listeners attention' and the result, the magazine say, is nearly always for the worse.
Very interesting article that looks at the music of artists such as Bob Dylan, Jeff Buckley and the Arctic Monkeys, and avoids tech-talk to get the point across in plain English. It's a good read for any music fan.
A revolution in recording technology and the rise in people listening to music through computer speakers or tiny headphones has meant ... more -
She's also got good taste in music
The Streets, Ben Lee and Arctic Monkeys to name a few
-
related topics
Arctic Monkeys
Contributors (32)
Arctic Monkeys
