Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize 2010: The Nominees - Part 1

THE winner of the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize 2010 is announced on September 7 and Luminous Plectrum is giving you a two part in-depth look at the nominees, and who we think will be crowned winners.

Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions

LADBROKES ODDS: 14/1

BIFFY Clyro have become one of the most revered rock acts in the UK in the past couple of years and it’s difficult to understand why.
Only Revolutions is formulaic, derivative rock that offers nothing in terms of originality or enjoyment.
Biffy have managed to transform themselves from shamefully twee Scottish indie to this isle’s version of the Foo Fighters. Poo.
The songs on Only Revolutions are fodder for Radio One’s PR department to say “oh look, we DO play guitar-based music on daytime mainstream radio! Aren’t we so eclectic!”
Bubbles and The Captain, two (s)hit singles from this nominated album, do nothing but grate on sanity.
Only Revolutions has zilch chance of picking up the Mercury Music Prize. If it does, I’ll chew off my right arm.

I Am Kloot – Sky At Night

LADBROKES ODDS: 10/1

DREARY outfit I Am Kloot employed Elbow’s Guy Garvey to produce this album.
It’s like a marshmallow, soft, sweet but ultimately leaves you feeling nauseas if you have too many - listens, in this case.
Everytime I listen to Sky at Night, I feel the walls slowly closing in and it doesn’t take long until frenzied panic ensues and the record is promptly thrown out.
Yeah, they’re not appalling but it’s the same song repeated ten times.
However, it wouldn’t be the Mercury Music Prize if there wasn’t at least one Mancunian entry.

Dizzee Rascal – Tongue N’ Cheek

LADBROKES ODDS: 33/1

DIZZEE, Dizzee, Dizzee. What happened, man? Boy In Da Corner offered a slick transition for grime's passage to mainstream pop. Songs such as I Luv You and Stop Dat were dirtee, stinkin’ cuts that were made for sweatiest underground dives. Not to mention the might of Fix Up, Look Sharp and the killer Jus’ A Rascal – the two songs that signalled Dizzee’s arrival with a rather loud bang.
Seven years on and Dizzee is an embarrassment. Tongue N’ Cheek is just like the album’s sleeve - bubblegum garbage. He is hell bent on becoming the king of British pop but the only way to achieve it is to create dumb club anthems perfect for the VK-wielding chav in your local Yates’ bar.
He deservedly won in 2003 but it would be a travesty if he was awarded the prize in 2010.

Paul Weller – Wake Up The Nation

LADBROKES ODDS: 14/1

PAUL Weller has never been off form. He’s ridiculously cool, an icon of British music. From The Jam to his solo material, this country’s been pretty lucky to have a horribly consistent rock ‘n’ roll star churning out driven and calculated rock songs.
Wake Up The Nation is a great album, not at all boring, and shows a man who has matured into an inspirational song writer.
OK, he doesn’t offer anything mind-blowing or that original but what you see is what you get with Paul Weller – clean, cool and passionate rock ‘n’ roll.

Corinne Bailey Rae – The Sea

LADBROKES ODDS: 33/1

CORINNE Bailey Rae was unleashed in 2006 and tried her best to stay on every radio station, chat show and music television channel until she vanished in 2008.
The Leeds songstress returned in 2010 in The Sea, which sticks to Rae’s sullen, dry guitar-based pop that never really gets going.
She’s got a great voice and showcases British female talent far better than the likes of Cheryl Cole, Pixie Lott and Diana fucking Vickers but it’s just so hard for me to like her music.
It’s perfect background music and The Sea is as warm as a burning log fire on a winter’s day, but I struggle not to grab the whiskey to put me into a far more enjoyable alcohol-induced coma before this album does.

The xx – The xx

LADBROKES ODDS: 13/8 (FAVOURITES)

THEY’RE the bookies’ favourite, the cool kids’ favourite, everyone’s favourite. But will they win?
Their short, minimal-lettered, minimal fuss, self-titled debut glistens with understated panache.
Islands and Crystalised are joyous pop joints that stick in the mind for days while Basic Space is just liquid cool, with its slight keyboard stabs and addictive wooden beats.
The xx are young, talented and a shining light of the UK’s music scene and the future is so, so bright for the Elliott School alumni.

Visit Luminous Plectrum on Sunday for part two, where we will reveal who we think will be crowned winner of the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize 2010