The Holland And Barrett Mercury Prize (formerly the Werthers Originals Mercury Prize and before that the Mmmm Danone Mercury Prize) was set up in 1992 as an alternative to the Brits, in the same way that myxomatosis was set up in the Australian outback in 1950 as an alternative to rabbits. It is an annual honour which is bestowed on the UK/Irish group with the best album and designed to stop them from ever having critical or commercial success ever again. The winner is selected from a dozen long players are in turn chosen to represent the health and vitality of the UK music industry.
And when they say the “best”, they mean the best! Past nominees include Sting, Take That, Spice Girls, Propellorheads, Stereophonics, Mumford & Sons, Richard Ashcroft, The Turin Breaks, The Thrills, Snow Patrol, Maximo Park, Hard-Fi, The View, Anaal Nathrakh, Crispy Ambulance and The Guillemots. So they know what they’re talking about.
So our very own Jovian Bow Shock Award – which wasn’t totally ripped off Drowned In Sound’s Neptune Award and is in no way similar to Line Of Best Fit’s Jupiter Award; Artrocker’s Van Allen Belt Award; the 405’s Ganymede Award or Rhythm Guitarist’s Attack Ships On Fire Off The Shoulder Of Orion Award – is a list of 12 albums which we feel are more suitable candidates to be considered the best of British. As in the past, we’ve basically made a list of good albums that came out during the same period (July 10, 2011 – September 10, 2012) except our list was drawn up in about 40 minutes while drinking a pot of tea.
Anyway here’s our dozen albums. The Jovian Bow Shock Award is sponsored by Rasa on Church Street, Stoke Newington and when we decide who has won we’re going to take them out for a meal there. Hopefully for a chilli rava dosa, tamarind rice, bagar baingan, kovakka olathiathu and thakalli curry, because that stuff is badass.
Please let us know what your shortlist would contain and who you would like to see win from ours.
Listed in alphabetical order
Actress – RIP
(Honest Jons)
Amebix – Sonic Mass
(Amebix/Easy Action)
Beak – >>
(Invada)
Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland – Black Is Beautiful
(Hyperdub)
Carter Tutti Void – Transverse
(Mute)
East India Youth – Total Strife Forever
(self release)
Eccentronic Research Council featuring Maxine Peake – 1612 Underture
(Bird)
Gravenhurst – The Ghost In Daylight
(Warp)
JK Flesh – Post Human
(3 by 3)
Richard Skelton – Verse Of Birds
(Æolian Editions)
Toy – Toy
(Heavenly)
Chris Watson – El Tren Fantasma
(Touch)
