FEATURE:
Ahead of Tomorrow’s Ceremony…
IN THIS PHOTO: PJ Harvey in 2000 (she is the only person to have won the Mercury Prize/Mercury Music Prize twice: for Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000; she won in 2001) and Let England Shake (2011)
The Ten Best Mercury-Winning Albums Ever
___________
THIS year’s Hyundai Mercury Prize…
IN THIS PHOTO: Portishead
is a step back into normality, into the sense there will be live performances and something similar to ceremonies of the past. The shortlist this year is as strong as ever. The official Mercury Prize page provides the lowdown:
“Arlo Parks ‘Collapsed in Sunbeams‘
BERWYN ‘DEMOTAPE/VEGA‘
Black Country, New Road ‘For the First Time‘
Celeste ‘Not Your Muse‘
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra ‘Promises‘
Ghetts ‘Conflict of Interest‘
Hannah Peel ‘Fir Wave‘
Laura Mvula ‘Pink Noise‘
Mogwai ‘As the Love Continues‘
Nubya Garcia ‘SOURCE‘
SAULT ‘Untitled (Rise)‘
Wolf Alice ‘Blue Weekend‘
The Hyundai Mercury Prize ‘Albums of the Year’ celebrate and promote the best of British & Irish music recognising artistic achievement across a range of contemporary music gen-res. The shortlist was chosen by an independent judging panel and was revealed at a launch event, hosted by BBC Music’s Huw Stephens on 22 July 2021. The shortlist was also an-nounced live on air just after 11am on BBC Radio 6 Music, with a Mercury Prize special from midday presented by Huw Stephens.
The 2021 Hyundai Mercury Prize judges are: Anna Calvi – Musician & Songwriter; Annie Mac – Broadcaster & DJ; Danielle Perry – Broadcaster & Writer; Gemma Cairney – Broad-caster & DJ; Hazel Wilde (from Lanterns on the Lake) - Musician & Songwriter; Jamie Cullum - Musician & Broadcaster; Jeff Smith - Head of Music, 6 Music & Radio 2; Michael Kiwanuka - Musician & Songwriter; Mike Walsh - Music Consultant; Phil Alexander – Cre-ative Director, Kerrang!/Contributing Editor, Mojo; Tshepo Mokoena – Editorial Director, VICE.com; Will Hodgkinson - Chief Rock & Pop Critic, The Times. The Chair of the judg-ing panel is Jeff Smith.
The judges said ‘It is testament to the strength of British music that, during a year which saw musicians face the toughest challenges of their lives, so many remarkable albums came out nonetheless. There was an embarrassment of riches for this year’s Hyundai Mer-cury Prize judges to choose from, but the final twelve show how diverse, vibrant and far-reaching British music continues to be. Choosing one winner out of twelve albums that bring so much hope for the future will be a challenge indeed’.
The 2021 Awards Show will take place on Thursday 9 September at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith. The event will feature live performances from many of the shortlisted artists and the evening will culminate in the announcement of the overall winner of the 2021 Hyun-dai Mercury Prize for ‘Album of the Year’. The Prize’s broadcast partner, BBC Music, will be providing coverage of the event across BBC TV, radio, online & social media.
Hyundai, the title sponsor of the Prize, is thrilled with the list this year. Out of the most challenging times has come the most extraordinary creativity and as a brand that likes to push the boundaries ourselves, we’re delighted to hear innovative music that breaks new ground and inspires a better world.
As part of its ongoing commitment to support UK recorded music, renowned British audio brand, Bowers & Wilkins, will continue as a partner of the Hyundai Mercury Prize, helping to celebrate the album format and the shortlisted artists’ creative achievements”.
Ahead of the ceremony tomorrow, I wanted to go back and select the ten albums from Mercury history I feel are strongest. The first album to win the prize was Primal Scream’s Screamadelica in 1992. Last year’s KIWANUKA by Michael Kiwanuka was a worthy winner. There are many British and Irish albums from the past year that missed out on the shortlist, though those nominated are superb. Below is my list of the…
TEN best Mercury-winning albums ever.
______________
Primal Scream – Screamadelica
Winning Year: 1992
Release Date: 23rd September, 1991
Labels: Creation/Sire
Producers: Andrew Weatherall/Hugo Nicolson/The Orb/Hypnotone/Jimmy Miller
Standout Tracks: Don't Fight It, Feel It/Come Together/Loaded
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/primal-scream/screamadelica-45efb525-69b0-44ce-b27f-1ab4a95b4554
Review:
“Autumn 1991 saw a wealth of excitement for the indie set. You had Nevermind quietly munching its way across the planet, Teenage Fanclub's defining Bandwagonesque, Saint Etienne launched Foxbase Alpha and My Bloody Valentine were about to be dropped after their colossal Loveless nearly bankrupts their label. Amongst all this, Primal Scream released Screamadelica and seemingly altered the musical landscape.
The first signs of the genesis of Screamadelica came in Spring 1990 when they released Loaded. Initially something of a dance/rock traitor excursion, Andrew Weatherall took a I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have from their previous album, slipped it a couple of bad things, threw on a Peter Fonda sample and transformed it into a masterpiece of the era. Loaded was the Primal's passport to Top Of The Pops and elevated Bobby Gillespie to Smash Hits poster-boy status. Subsequent singles Come Together (here in a remixed version), Higher Than The Sun (one of the most 'out there' singles to have graced the Top 40, here in both original and epic dub symphony in two parts) and the MC5 meets the rave-up italo sensation Don't Fight It Feel It. Kick off the album with the still-jubilant Movin' On Up, and the ingredients for something very special indeed were there.
Weatherall had loosened up the Scream, and they would never be the same again. A whole new menu of opportunities and sonic exploration was theirs, and allowed them out of the constraints of the 'rock outfit' set-up. That they followed it up with the slightly underwhelming Give Out But Don't Give Up is one for the history books, but proving it wasn't a one-off with the further adventures of Vanishing Point and the seminal Xtrmntr, showed that the Scream were almost chroniclers of the times.
Both of its time yet quintessentially timeless, Screamadelica still sounds like nothing else, yet all things at once. Digestable whether off your nut in a club, soundtracking a barbeque or even indie seduction. 18 years down the line, it's not too much to suggest that it's a solid gold classic” - BBC
Key Cut: Movin’ on Up
Portishead - Dummy
Winning Year: 1995
Release Date: 22nd August, 1994
Labels: Go Beat!/London
Producers: Portishead/Adrian Utley
Standout Tracks: Sour Times/Numb/Roads
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/portishead/dummy-bf2f8084-5399-4cde-852c-687d7af48f33
Review:
“Portishead's album debut is a brilliant, surprisingly natural synthesis of claustrophobic spy soundtracks, dark breakbeats inspired by frontman Geoff Barrow's love of hip-hop, and a vocalist (Beth Gibbons) in the classic confessional singer/songwriter mold. Beginning with the otherworldly theremin and martial beats of "Mysterons," Dummy hits an early high with "Sour Times," a post-modern torch song driven by a Lalo Schifrin sample. The chilling atmospheres conjured by Adrian Utley's excellent guitar work and Barrow's turntables and keyboards prove the perfect foil for Gibbons, who balances sultriness and melancholia in equal measure. Occasionally reminiscent of a torchier version of Sade, Gibbons provides a clear focus for these songs, with Barrow and company behind her laying down one of the best full-length productions ever heard in the dance world. Where previous acts like Massive Attack had attracted dance heads in the main, Portishead crossed over to an American, alternative audience, connecting with the legion of angst-ridden indie fans as well. Better than any album before it, Dummy merged the pinpoint-precise productions of the dance world with pop hallmarks like great songwriting and excellent vocal performances” - AllMusic
Key Cut: Glory Box
Pulp – Different Class
Winning Year: 1996
Release Date: 30th October, 1995
Label: Island
Producer: Chris Thomas
Standout Tracks: Mis-Shapes/Common People/Sorted for E's & Wizz
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/pulp/different-class-bd7678dd-9056-4be3-914d-6ed5cd083bf7
Review:
“Although the band recorded its first album in 1983, Pulp didn’t find an audience until over a decade later, when the things that English pop stars do best — irony, sordid sexuality, self-importance — came back into vogue at home with Suede. Like that group’s Brett Anderson, Cocker can pose up a storm as he identifies with the underdog. Although Pulp’s His ‘n’ Hers nearly won the Mercury Prize (England’s top critical music honor), this lanky, unlikely lady-killer didn’t become a household name in his homeland until last summer’s “Common People,” a hilarious single about the upper class taking a holiday in other people’s misery; “I want to sleep with common people like you,” a rich new acquaintance sings to Cocker.
“Common People” isn’t the only great one on Different Class. Under the guidance of Roxy Music/Pretenders/Sex Pistols producer Chris Thomas, the other members of Pulp elevate themselves to a level more supportive of Cocker’s minutely detailed narratives and excessively theatrical delivery. The new-wave arrangements stay focused where they used to wander, the melodies grab with stickier hooks, and the heftier beats give Cocker’s bile a bouncy physicality. This band has quoted disco riffs before, but the way it alludes here to Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” approaches genius. There are songs about naughty infidelities, sexless marriages, grown-up teenage crushes, twisted revenge fantasies, obsessive voyeurism, and useless raves; songs that demand your full attention and deserve it. When was the last time you read along to a lyric sheet?” - SPIN
Key Cut: Disco 2000
Gomez – Bring It On
Winning Year: 1998
Release Date: 13th April, 1998
Label: Hut
Producers: Gomez
Standout Tracks: 78 Stone Wobble/Get Myself Arrested/Free to Run
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/gomez/bring-it-on-20th-anniversary-edition
Review:
“On their debut album, Bring It On, England's Gomez introduce their original take on bluesy roots rock. Unlike Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, this isn't amphetamine-fueled freak-out music but similar at times to Beck's acoustic-based work (One Foot in the Grave), with more going on vocally. The band has a total of three strong vocalists, who can switch from pretty harmonies to gutsy blues outpourings in the blink of an eye. The band manages to cover a lot of ground convincingly on Bring It On, which is unusual, since it commonly takes bands the course of a few releases to hone their sound. The three British singles released from the album are definite highlights -- "Get Myself Arrested," "Whippin' Piccadilly," and "78 Stone Wobble," the latter containing a beautifully haunting acoustic guitar riff similar to Nirvana's unplugged version of the Meat Puppets' "Plateau." All the praise that Gomez's debut received is definitely not hype. The album is consistently great, as proven by such tracks as "Tijuana Lady," "Love Is Better Than a Warm Trombone," and "Get Myself Arrested” - AllMusic
Key Cut: Whippin' Piccadilly
PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
Winning Year: 2001
Release Date: 24th October, 2000
Label: Island
Producers: Rob Ellis/Mick Harvey/PJ Harvey
Standout Tracks: Big Exit/Good Fortune/This Is Love
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/pj-harvey/stories-from-the-city-stories-from-the-sea
Review:
“More pertinently, ‘Stories…’ is PJ Harvey’s best album since 1991’s ‘Dry’, a return to the feral intensity of that remarkable debut. For while it’s a cliché any frank woman singer-songwriter is ‘disturbed’ in some way, there’s no avoiding the fact Harvey’s last album, ‘Is This Desire?’, was unhappy; painfully-constructed third-person narratives buffeted by electro-industrial static.
‘Stories…’, however, is suffused with vitality. The clarity of the electric guitars played by Harvey, Rob Ellis and Mick Harvey is enough to make you fall in love with elemental rock all over again. When Thom Yorke adds his blustery yowl to ‘This Mess We’re In’, you wonder if it was the realisation he’d never write something as stark that prompted the itchy ambience of ‘Kid A’.
Harvey’s delighted at getting Yorke to sing, “Night and day I dream of making love to you now baby”, too. More than ever – check the snarling ‘Good Fortune’ and ‘You Said Something’ – she’s indebted to Patti Smith. Here, Harvey’s adopted her mentor’s positivity, so that the urban vignettes are filled with a lust for life. If the roar of ‘This Is Love’ represents the album’s sexual climax, the still moment in ‘One Line’ where she sings, “And I draw a line to your heart today, to your heart from mine/One line to keep us safe”, is its brilliant emotional fulcrum.
You could quibble Harvey has absolved her responsibilities by making an album earthed in the New York sound of 20 or 30 years ago. But when rock is so invigorating, so joyous about love, sex and living, all arguments are null and void. Hey, take a walk on her wild side” - NME
Key Cut: This Mess We’re In (ft. Thom Yorke)
Dizzee Rascal – Boy in da Corner
Winning Year: 2003
Release Date: 21st July, 2003
Label: XL
Producers: Dizzee Rascal/Chubby Dread/Moulders/Mr. Cage/Taz/Vanguard
Standout Tracks: I Luv U/Fix Up, Look Sharp/Do It!
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/pj-harvey/stories-from-the-city-stories-from-the-sea
Review:
“Before you get to the lyrics, however, there is the sound of the album to overcome. Mills allegedly honed his production style after being excluded from every school lesson other than music. Boy in da Corner certainly appears to have been born in isolation. It sounds like nothing else - which is surprising in a time when some people seem to think that rock and pop are trapped in a kind of terminal postmodernity, eternally doomed to borrow from the past.
Presumably, they haven't heard Boy in da Corner, which appears to borrow from nothing other than the terrifying sound inside Mills's head. Disjointed electronic pulses pass for rhythms. Above them lurch churning bass frequencies, disturbing choruses of muttering voices, clattering synthesisers that recall police sirens and arcade games, and, on forthcoming single Fix Up Look Sharp, bursts of rock guitar. In contrast to the macho swagger of most garage MCs, Mills delivers his rhymes in a frantic, panicked yelp. The overall effect is shocking and unsettling in the extreme.
Shocking and unsettling people may be the point. The lyrics of Boy in da Corner deal with teenage life on an east London council estate, a world of "blanks, skanks and street robbery... pregnant girls who ain't got no love, useless mans with no plans". There is much talk of stabbing and shooting - "We used to fight with kids from the other estates," says Mills on Brand New Day, "now eight millimetres settle debates" - and a distinctly queasy humour on display. I Luv U tackles the subject of underage sex with mordant wit: "Pregnant? What you talking about that for? 15? She's underage, that's raw."
Given that Mills himself was stabbed last week in garage holiday destination Ayia Napa, you suspect that Boy in da Corner is likely to send Kim Howells apoplectic with rage. If it does, however, he's not listening properly. So Solid Crew's lyrics are repugnant not because they talk about violence, but because they explicitly equate violence with success, threatening to "bring the gats" or "take you to the morgue" before bragging about their champagne lifestyle. By contrast, Boy in da Corner depicts a bleak world, devoid of aspiration: no one in their right minds would want to live there. When, on Hold Your Mouf, Mills delivers the album's most striking line - "I'm a problem for Anthony Blair" - it sounds less like thuggish boasting than a despairing statement of fact.
However, whether anybody will listen seems questionable. Both Dizzee Rascal's music and message are wildly unpalatable, and the British record-buying public is not currently renowned for wild risk-taking. If they ignore Boy in da Corner, however, they may well be ignoring the most original and exciting artist to emerge from dance music in a decade” - The Guardian
Key Cut: Jus' a Rascal (ft. Taz)
Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Winning Year: 2006
Release Date: 23rd January, 2006
Label: Domino
Producer: Jim Abbiss
Standout Tracks: Fake Tales of San Francisco/Mardy Bum/When the Sun Goes Down
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/arctic-monkeys/whatever-people-say-i-am-that-s-what-i-m-not
Review:
“With hindsight, 2006’s Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not lacks both the acerbic edge of its fairly immediate successor Favourite Worst Nightmare – released just 15 months later – and the sense of completeness conveyed by their most recent, Josh Homme-assisted affair, Humbug. But the same – that the debut doesn’t match its follow-up releases – could be said of many a domestic indie success: Radiohead’s Pablo Honey is an embarrassment placed beside the superlative structures of The Bends, and Pulp didn’t hit their stride until fourth effort, His ‘n’ Hers. Granted, Oasis have perhaps never bettered Definitely Maybe, but they’re the exception to what’s otherwise a fairly established rule.
Exuding the ramshackle character of their preceding (freely distributed) demo material, much of Whatever People Say… flows at a rambunctious pace, its players’ shortcomings at the time masked by an infectious energy – listening back, it’s the spirit of When the Sun Goes Down and I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor that nailed them to our hearts, not any particular compositional flair (Alex Turner’s John Cooper Clark-indebted lyricism aside). With their innocent faces but wicked tongues, the Arctics were always a commercial proposition in waiting; Domino’s success in signing them sped the process up, but it’s hard to imagine a world without these songs finding a sizeable audience, label assistance or not.
The album’s clearest hooks are broad enough to cover several sub-genre bases, while the spiky riffs appeal instantly to punk-minded indie kids after something with true bite – especially after the likes of Keane and (modern era) Snow Patrol took the torch passed by Radiohead et al and proceeded to dampen it down to a smouldering shadow of its former self. Today’s definition of what passes for an indie band has everything to do with this album: it redefined one’s musical lexicon, pinching from the past but resolutely contemporary with its tales, however faked, of young-adult-eye-level social minutiae.
And it’s for its legacy, rather than actual content, that Whatever People Say… warrants categorising as a classic of its era. Its roots might not stretch deep, but branches continue to sprout forth from its frame” - BBC
Key Cut: I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
Winning Year: 2008
Release Date: 17th March, 2008
Labels: Fiction/Polydor/Geffen
Producers: Craig Potter/Elbow
Standout Tracks: Starlings/Grounds for Divorce/One Day Like This
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/elbow/the-seldom-seen-kid
Review:
“If 2005’s ‘Leaders Of The Free World’ was Elbow’s on-tour love letter to Manchester, this is the sound of them returning and re-evaluating their relationship with the city. Mancunians have a curiously tempestuous relationship with their hometown that renders them both partisan and pessimistic and it’s an emotional conflict that Guy Garvey wrestled with during the conception of this fourth Elbow record. It was a tumultuous two years that saw the band marooned without a record contract and dealing with the death of their friend Bryan Glancy, a local singer-songwriter and the ‘seldom seen kid’ of the album’s title.
“I’ve been working on a cocktail called grounds for divorce”, asserts Garvey of his hometown on the brilliant Zeppelin-ish lead single ‘Grounds For Divorce’ – and it’s this sense of emotional upheaval that permeates the entire album. A semi-comic duet with Richard Hawley (‘The Fix’) aside, it’s their darkest record in years – ‘Some Riot’, for example, is a return to the claustrophobia of 2001 debut ‘Asleep In The Back’ – but also one with euphoric peaks at every turn. Lush epics such as ‘Starlings’ and ‘Mirrorball’ dominate the landscape and none more so than ‘One Day Like This’ – a seven-minute gospel-tinged masterpiece built for a chorus of thousands at Glastonbury this summer.
‘The Loneliness Of A Tower Crane Driver’ is the jaw-dropping centrepiece, however: a majestic orchestral lollop that details the pitfalls of success and which sounds like a dinosaur learning to ice-skate. Like almost everything here it’s an awe-inspiring labour of love that both soothes and swells the soul.In spite of the turmoil of its conception, ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’ is a stunning record, a career-best from a band whose consistency has seldom been matched by any British indie band this decade” - NME
Key Cut: The Fix (ft. Richard Hawley)
Wolf Alice – Visions of a Life
Winning Year: 2018
Release Date: 29th September, 2017
Label: Dirty Hit
Producer: Justin Meldal-Johnsen
Standout Tracks: Yuk Foo/Sadboy/Visions of a Life
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/wolf-alice/visions-of-a-life
Review:
“Wolf Alice have transformed since their 2013 single, Fluffy. The four-piece from North London have unfurled from their musical chrysalis, spreading each wing into a different genre, and the similarities between this alt-rock album and a butterfly don’t stop there. While some tracks – such as the opening melody of St. Purple & Green and Ellie Rowsell’s vocal on Don’t Delete the Kisses – include moments of serenity, the trashing drums and riff on Yuk Foo will leave you all in a flutter.
Visions of a Life addresses each milestone of a relationship, from deep lust to extreme bitterness. The track order prevents the linearity of a classic love album and instead leaves you feeling caught up in an emotional whirlwind. Yuk Foo is brimming with resentment and should be prescribed to anyone suffering from excess teenage angst, while Beautifully Unconventional and Don’t Delete the Kisses are the perfect anthems for a developing crush.
Wolf Alice have always been masters at lulling you into a gentle melody then pulling you out without apology, and this album is no exception. The album caters for all – there are heavy tracks for hardcore fans and songs with a more approachable indie feel for those who need a gentle introduction to the ways of the Wolf. So sit back, relax and scream to your hearts content” - The Skinny
Key Cut: Don’t Delete the Kisses
Michael Kiwanuka – KIWANUKA
Winning Year: 2020
Release Date: 1st November, 2019
Labels: Polydor/Interscope
Producers: Danger Mouse/Inflo
Standout Tracks: You Ain't the Problem/Piano Joint (This Kind of Love)/Solid Ground
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/michael-kiwanuka/kiwanuka/lp-x2-4f34a4e3-8b4a-4fe6-9b20-9391039bf559
Review:
“No longer was he hiding behind that delicate soul sound of his debut. Instead, there were lush, sweeping string arrangements, church-choir sized backing vocals, songs clocked in at ten minutes, and at the centre of it all was Kiwanuka, now embracing being a “Black Man in a White World”. This wasn’t just standard, simple soul anymore, this was something much more than that; this was the very soul of Michael Kiwanuka himself, on resplendent display, like a newly patched together flag, blowing in the winds of triumphant self-discovery. Finally, he was feeling comfortable in his own skin.
And so, we come back to the name. Kiwanuka. If there was ever a time to fly it proudly, it was now. There’s a fierce identity flowing through this record. It’s immediately evident, from the eponymous title – the very surname that he was urged to ditch all those years ago – to the regal portrait of the man himself on the cover. It’s a striking statement, from an artist that’s always been more modest about who he is and what he stands for than anything else. But with vocal interludes that sample civil rights activists and leaders, and defiant claims like “I can’t deny myself” and “I won’t change my name / no matter what they call me”, Kiwanuka has uncovered as much of himself as he ever has, and he’s fully engaged and in tune with his own identity.
A boldness and strength comes with being so sure of who you are. It’s given Kiwanuka the bravery to take the grand, expansive sound on Love & Hate even further, into new, unexplored musical territory. “Rolling”’s Mayfield-esque shuffling grooves and biting guitar licks evaporate into the tranquil, spirit-lifting gospel of “I’ve Been Dazed”. The naked intimacy of “Piano Joint (This Kind Of Love) Main” is preceded by a shadowy, atmospheric intro, a swirl of pitch-shifted vocals and guitar squawks off in the distance. And later, the bustling, skittering breakbeat and airy backing vocals of “Final Days” carries you up into the clouds, then giving way to a dream-like sequence in “(Interlude) Loving The People” – all glimmering piano notes, misty voices, and fuzzy guitar – before you’re brought back down to earth again with “Solid Ground”’s pensive, dusky balladry. There are still moments where Kiwanuka feels he’s “lost [his] way”, and that he “could use a friend”, but come the end, “all of [his] fears are gone”, sent fizzling away by the radiant beams of album closer "Light".
Everything here feels like it exists as one unified, harmonious body, like the very current of Kiwanuka’s identity has come alive, flowing like a river containing multitudes; at times it babbles, at others it gushes, it’s choppy and serene, and it washes over you with a warm sense of purpose. Finding your identity and coming to grips with who you are, and not just accepting it but championing it, is what Kiwanuka embodies. This is an exceptionally compelling, absorbing, rich, and genuinely human piece of work” - The Line of Best Fit
Key Cut: Hero