Mercury nominations announced
12:40pm Wednesday 21st July 2010
NOMINATIONS have been announced for this year’s Mercury Music Prize.
And the shortlist of the 12 “albums of the year” contains very few surprises.
Crowd pleasers Biffy Clyro, Corinne Bailey Rae, Dizzee Rascal, Mumford and Sons and Paul Weller all get the nod, along with hipster faves The xx, Wild Beasts and Foals.
Whimsical folk singer-songwriter Laura Marling has been nominated, and there is a welcome recognition of Manchester heartbreakers I Am Kloot’s latest offering, Sky At Night, although their inclusion probably precluded a nomination for Bolton’s Cherry Ghost, hotly tipped in the pre-announcement speculation.
The now-mandatory token jazz spot was this year taken by Kit Downes Trio and the list is completed by the relativey-unknown Irish band Villagers.
The xx are already hot favourites to win, with some odds as short as 2/1. “Bonkers” hitmaker Dizzee Rascal is a relative outsider at 12/1, longer odds than Wild Beasts, Mumford and Sons and I Am Kloot.
Previous winners include Bury band Elbow, whose 2008 album The Seldom Seen Kid became a commercial as well as a critical success.
However not all winners have been as lucky — Speech Debelle who took home the trophy last year has since disappeared from sight after her album saw no perceptible increase in sales.
Mumford and Sons
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