'Nu-Rave pioneers' Arguably, the best album on this years Mercury music prize was never going to win. The artists in question won it last year. Having the honour of being the awards ceremony that praises itself on rewarding artistic merit over commercial success, the odds for the world touring, platinum selling Arctic Monkeys far removed from the edgy newcomers of last year, being the first act to win the award twice in a row were low.
The bookmakers odds reflected it, with relative unknown Bat for Lashes AKA Natasha Khan and the troubled Amy Winehouse leading the pack both with similarly fine albums. Surely they would take home the prestigious prize.
Of course not, ever controversial often for the sake of it, they chose the plucky, arguably less talented, outsiders as they done many times before (M people anyone?) It was the Klaxons, who had not been on anyone’s lips as a possible winner who pulled through, with their annoying brand of ’New Rave’, sorry ’Nu Rave’ (ugh) that stole the prize. Acting like drunken schoolboy tossers on stage, declaring how brilliant they were and how hard they had worked to get here, displaying the kind of shoddy mic work that has had them branded as an awful live act.
To add insult to injury the band went on to blow their trumpet perhaps a little too hard, proclaiming the win as a victory for ‘forward thinking music’ and casually dismissing Winehouse’s Back to Black as ’A retro record’ then modestly adding “We have made the most forward thinking record since I don’t know how long” More than happily adopting the underserved crown of musical innovators with little modesty. Quite a contradiction to the humility and maturity shown by last years winners the far more talented Arctic Monkeys “Someone call Richard Hawley he’s just been robbed!” Adopting an arrogance beyond their talents only made the Klaxons made themselves look even bigger wankers.
But hey, it’s the Mercury’s I’ll be sitting in my living room this time next year eagerly watching if Radiohead’s 7th LP can trump Pink Floyd’s critically acclaimed comeback album…maybe
We wouldn’t have it any other way would we? At least it wasn’t The View.
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