Even though I vowed never to bother with the Mercury after 2008 when Elbow won over Burial... fucking Elbow over the landmark album that was Untrue; even Neon Neon and Radiohead were better choices yet they gave it to fucking Elbow, the soundtrack to every shitty slo-mo montage on terrestrial TV when they exhausted Sigur Rós' equally shitty back catalogue... fuck Elbow and fuck Sigur fucking Rós.
Anyway, despite the clusterfuck of five years ago I still take notice of the Mercury Prize and 2013 threw a few predictable ones up and neglected the best British album I've heard this year, which is Tomorrow's Harvest by Boards Of Canada.
I only own one album on the shortlist - well a dirty CD-R - and that's Disclosure, which is a perfectly serviceable pop-dance album that admirably annoys house purists but isn't anything ground-breaking or forward-thinking, quite the opposite in fact.
Rudimental's selection feels in the vein of Ms Dynamite and Speech Debelle's nods i.e. the desperate attempt to include the British urban scene/box-ticking exercise overriding any artistic merit (compared to Roni Size's and Dizzee Rascal's genuinely important and brilliant Mercury-winning albums).
The rest are just Fulham, y'know? I like Fulham but they're just... there... with one possible exception. With the absence of BOC, I'm going to side with Jon Hopkins - I've only (knowingly) heard one track but it is shitting brilliant...
Anyway, despite the clusterfuck of five years ago I still take notice of the Mercury Prize and 2013 threw a few predictable ones up and neglected the best British album I've heard this year, which is Tomorrow's Harvest by Boards Of Canada.
I only own one album on the shortlist - well a dirty CD-R - and that's Disclosure, which is a perfectly serviceable pop-dance album that admirably annoys house purists but isn't anything ground-breaking or forward-thinking, quite the opposite in fact.
Rudimental's selection feels in the vein of Ms Dynamite and Speech Debelle's nods i.e. the desperate attempt to include the British urban scene/box-ticking exercise overriding any artistic merit (compared to Roni Size's and Dizzee Rascal's genuinely important and brilliant Mercury-winning albums).
The rest are just Fulham, y'know? I like Fulham but they're just... there... with one possible exception. With the absence of BOC, I'm going to side with Jon Hopkins - I've only (knowingly) heard one track but it is shitting brilliant...
