| In its 14-year history, the UK's annual Mercury Music Prize has never been taken lightly. With its main contention being to acknowledge quality music, the "prestigious" prize shortlists 12 albums based on more than just commercial and chart success. The shortlisted albums are expected to meet excessively high standards of excellence and innovation, and should be utterly brave efforts. |
| The prize has long since come to be seen as the ambassador of new and cutting-edge musical talent. Based on the existing musical climate in the UK and Ireland, the Mercury recognises talent that is a true reflection of all that multicultural Britain has to offer. |
| It claimed its reputation by presenting Primal Scream with the inaugural Mercury Prize in 1992 (over major acts like U2 and Simply Red) for the unique but legendary album Screamadelica. Ever since, the Mercury has gone on to celebrate some of the most daring and uninhibited music Britain has ever seen. |
| With just one all-encompassing prize to give away, the judging panel of music business experts, writers and artistes are forced to lay equal priority on every existing genre of music that graces the British musical landscape in a year. |
| It is because of this that an artist like Nitin Sawhney, shortlisted for his album Beyond Skin, found a place alongside then growing phenomenon Coldplay (shortlisted for its debut Parachutes). And also the reason why acts ranging from the Spice Girls to the Asian Dub Foundation (and everything in between) have been nominated. |
| Major acts like Radiohead, Sting, The Chemical Brothers, Basement Jaxx, Coldplay, Oasis and David Bowie have made up the nomination lists over the years, but regardless of how many millions they might have sold, mega acts like these have never claimed the award. |
| Every year, the shortlist is largely made up of lesser-known acts. Past winners include producer/rapper Dizzee Rascal, Asian drum 'n' bass sensation Talvin Singh, trip hop visionaries Portishead and Scottish art rockers Franz Ferdinand. |
| Everyone looks toward the Mercury Prize in the hope that it will find newer, more profound acts to pay attention to. So, outside of the £20,000 reward that comes with the prize, the Mercury is guaranteed to expand the artiste's career. |
| Past winners Dizzee Rascal, Franz Ferdinand, Badly Drawn Boy, Suede and others have all earned the immense respect of music lovers. In fact, just being nominated is sometimes enough to propel an artist into the musical major league. Bands like Athlete, The Streets and Nitin Sawhney have all gained commercially and otherwise from their position in the shortlist. |
| This year, Coldplay (for X&Y) is the only major act to be nominated, but the bets seem to be on Kaiser Chiefs. The Leeds quartet have turned into the most interesting musical proposition of the year having sold close to 6 lakh copies of their album Employment. Bloc Party come in as second favourites with Silent Alarm among the most successful and talked about albums of last year. |
| But the Mercury judging panel has successfully put together a shortlist of artistes, each of whom are well worth the Mercury's status. Sri Lankan born M.I.A, whose debut release Arular on XL records is a combination of hip-hop, raga, dancehall and dub, has been touted as one of the best albums of the year. |
| Scottish singer/songwriter K T Tunstall's debut album Eye To The Telescope opened to 1 lakh sales in the UK in its first week and is a soulful meld of bluesy rock and great songwriting. The Magic Numbers self-titled debut album was released as recently as June 13 in the UK and in this short time is already among the most sought after bands this year.
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| Shortlist 2005 Who'll be the winner when the Mercury is announced on September 6? |
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Mercury rising
HIGH NOTES
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First Published: Aug 13 2005 | 12:00 AM IST
