Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize 2014

For the final post in what I accidentally seem to have christened Awards Autumn, let’s find out who won the 2014 Mercury Music Prize. The ceremony took place just a few days ago at The Roundhouse in the north of London.

Let’s begin by looking back at the shortlist:

• Damon Albarn – Everyday Robots
• Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow
• Anna Calvi – One Breath
• East India Youth – Total Strife Forever
• FKA twigs – LP1
• GoGo Penguin – v2.0
• Jungle – Jungle
• Nick Mulvey – First Mind
• Polar Bear – In Each and Every One
• Royal Blood – Royal Blood
• Kate Tempest – Everybody Down
• Young Fathers – Dead

The prize was presented by Nick Grimshaw to Young Fathers, which had apparently only sold a couple of thousand copies prior to its nomination. It will no doubt do a bit better now…

Here’s some of the coverage:

• BBC News
• Stereogum

See also: Mercury Prize Winners 1992-2013, Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize 2013, Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2012.

Mercury Prize 2014 – Nominations

For all its failings, the Mercury Prize remains one of my favourite music awards. It’s always stuck to its guns by only ever having one single prize, and the only real change that’s ever occurred was the increase from ten to twelve nominations.

There are those who have argued in recent years that it has become too commercial, and if anything, this year’s nominations should put paid to any of that nonsense. Here are the twelve choices for 2014:

• Damon Albarn – Everyday Robots
• Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow
• Anna Calvi – One Breath
• East India Youth – Total Strife Forever
• FKA twigs – LP1
• GoGo Penguin – v2.0
• Jungle – Jungle
• Nick Mulvey – First Mind
• Polar Bear – In Each and Every One
• Royal Blood – Royal Blood
• Kate Tempest – Everybody Down
• Young Fathers – Dead

If, like me, you’ve never heard of the vast majority of them, you should head over to the Barclaycard Mercury Prize website and give them a listen. Some are actually quite good.

See also: Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize 2013, Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2012.

Mercury Music Prize 2004-2006

By 2006, speculation seemed to be mounting that somehow winning the prize was a curse, meaning you would never do anything meaningful again. Which, if you look back through the list of winners, may not be a million miles away from the truth. But then, how many artists release more than one exceptional album?

Nationwide Mercury Prize 2004

The 2004 ceremony took place on 7th September.

Nominees:

• Basement Jaxx – Kish Kash
• Belle and Sebastian – Dear Catastrophe Waitress
• Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
• Jamelia – Thank You
• Keane – Hopes and Fears
• Snow Patrol – Final Straw
• Joss Stone – The Soul Sessions
• The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come for Free
• Ty – Upwards
• Amy Winehouse – Frank
• Robert Wyatt – Cuckooland
• The Zutons – Who Killed… The Zutons?

Winner: Franz Ferdinand

Nationwide Mercury Prize 2005

The first week in September always saw the Mercury Prize ceremony during this period, and this year’s was on 6th September 2005

Nominees:

• Antony and the Johnsons – I Am a Bird Now
• Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
• Coldplay – X&Y
• Hard-Fi – Stars of CCTV
• Kaiser Chiefs – Employment
• KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope
• M.I.A. – Arular
• Maxïmo Park – A Certain Trigger
• Polar Bear – Held on the Tips of Fingers
• Seth Lakeman – Kitty Jay
• The Go! Team – Thunder, Lightning, Strike
• The Magic Numbers – The Magic Numbers

Winner: Antony and the Johnsons

Nationwide Mercury Prize 2006

The award ceremony took place on 5th September 2006

Nominees:

• Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
• Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan – Ballad of the Broken Seas
• Editors – The Back Room
• Guillemots – Through the Windowpane
• Richard Hawley – Coles Corner
• Hot Chip – The Warning
• Muse – Black Holes and Revelations
• Zoë Rahman – Melting Pot
• Lou Rhodes – Beloved One
• Scritti Politti – White Bread Black Beer
• Sway – This is My Demo
• Thom Yorke – Eraser

Winner: Arctic Monkeys

Further information

• Mercury Music Prize on Wikipedia
• The 2004, 2005, and 2006 Mercury Prize albums at Discogs.com
• The Scotsman’s preview of the 2004 award
• The Independent’s coverage of the 2004 award
• The Telegraph’s coverage of the 2004 award
• The Guardian’s coverage of the 2004 award
• The Scotsman’s coverage of the aftermath of the 2004 award
• BBC news interview with Simon Frith building up to the 2005 award
• BBC news coverage of the 2005 award
• NME coverage of the 2005 award
• BBC News coverage of the 2006 nominations
• The Guardian coverage of the 2006 award
• Daft 2006 article from The Independent about how the award ruins people’s careers
• The Scotsman interview Isobel Campbell on how the nomination ruined her career