At 5:30pm tonight the shortlist for the 2013 Mercury Music Prize will be read out at Covent Garden’s Hospital Club. Our deputy editor Daniel Paton will be there, trying to get a laptop phone to connect to the internet and make it write things, and we’ll of course bring you the list of albums considered worthy by the worthies.
Albums released by UK or Ireland born artists between 11 September 2012 and 9 September 2013 are eligible; and while this week has seen several astonishingly good releases – not least Goldfrapp, who are surely overdue a nomination and deserve one for Tales Of Us, and Arctic Monkeys – it’s likely that the judges will pick albums which have been out a little longer and thus established traction.
Unlike the BRITs it’s not all about sales figures, so there will again be space for fringe albums; these have in past years come from the jazz and folk worlds rather than, for instance, thrash. The remaining 10 nominations, if the 2013 shortlist follows form, are likely to be albums we’ve at least heard of, if not yet bought in huge quantities – though there will be space for at least a couple of big names, too.
Daniel and I mused on what life as Mercury judges would be like and, using the Prize’s criteria, came up with an eventual list of 12 albums we think might get the nod, in no particular order. See how right/wrong we are very soon…
Melt Yourself Down – Melt Yourself Down
Laura Mvula – Sing To The Moon
Laura Marling – Once I Was An Eagle
More on the Mercury Prize can be found here.
David Bowie MP3s or CDs
David Bowie on Spotify
