Villagers – Becoming a Jackal
LADBROKES ODDS: 12/1
SITTING alongside an astronomical line up of Animal Collective, Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand could be a daunting prospect for some bands, but Conor O’Brien’s Villagers are a virtually unknown diamond among a rough of Domino starlets.Villagers’ debut Becoming a Jackal has fully deserved its nomination with these dark, intense folk tracks.
That Day sounds like a Wilco cover (a good one at that) and I Saw The Dead is as gloriously glum as its title suggests but gallops into a dizzying orchestral thriller.
It won’t win but Becoming a Jackal will immerse itself in the exposure it richly deserves.
Foals – Total Life Forever
LADBROKES ODDS: 12/1
FOALS’ resurgent rise from drab indie imposters to indie mainstays has been truly remarkable.2008’s Antidotes was forgettable. They tried to jump onto every popular British band at the time to concoct something listenable but failed – miserably.
Take Cassius for instance. It’s like a meow-meow intoxicated Klaxons in full-gurn mode. It’s ear-piercingly erratic.
But the material on Total Life Forever is exciting, tight and full of ideas.
First single Miami is catchy and has a killer guitar hook. If Franz Ferdinand hadn’t turned up seven years earlier with Take Me Out, this would have been a worldwide hit.
After Glow, Blue Blood and the blossoming 2 Tress show a band that has learned from its mistakes.
Perhaps they should be called Horses now? (CRINGE)
Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
LADBROKES ODDS: 6/1
GREAT voice. Dull album. Britain is starved of true female stars and the talented Laura Marling deserves to be one of them but until she comes up with something catchy and memorable, Miss Marling is going to be lost in the airwaves.I’d love to say more on this album but there’s little here to write about.
Wild Beasts – Two Dancers
LADBROKES ODDS: 5/1
ONE of the albums of 2009. Kendal art-rockers Wild Beasts released one of the albums of the 21st century with 2008’s outstanding Limbo Panto and managed to match it with the astonishing Two Dancers.Bassist Tom Fleming takes a more prominent role in sharing vocal duties with awesome Hayden Thorpe and the results are delicious.
Hooting and Howling is a masterpiece of modern rock/pop, exhibiting Thorpe’s unmistakable vocals with an addictive guitar riff, while Fleming shows he is a more than capable singer on All The King’s Men as he bursts “Watch me! Watch me!” from the very depths of his stomach.
Two Dancers is a magnificent piece of work from start to finish and should finish head and shoulders above the other nominated albums.
*Two Dancers is Luminous Plectrum’s pick for Mercury Music Prize glory.
Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More
LADBROKES ODDS: 6/1
Click for Luminous Plectrum's viewLuminous Plectrum has yet to listen to the Kit Downes Trio album and, therefore, cannot provide an opinion or discuss their chances of winning. Sorry.
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