Barclaycard Mercury Prize [Nominalizarile 2014]

Barclaycard Mercury Prize este un premiu anual, care rasplateste cel mai bun album din Marea Britanie si Irlanda. Lucrul asta se intampla din 1992 si a fost creat ca o alternativa la Brit Awards. La preselectie se poate inscrie orice trupa in care mai mult de 50% dintre membri sunt din Marea Britanie si Irlanda. Premiul este deschis cam pentru toate genurile muzicale, adica pop, rock, folk, urban, dance, jazz, blues, electronica si classical, dupa cum se vede este un premiu eclectic. Lista scurta este aleasa de o suma de oameni din industria muzicala britanica, jurnalisti, executivi la case de productie si muzicieni.

Pana acum PJ Harvey este cea care a castigat premiul de cele mai multe ori (2001 si 2011) si tot ea are cele mai multe nominalizari. Sa vedem care-i lista scurta de anul asta.

ANNA CALVI ‘One Breath’ este al doilea album al solistei. A fost lansat anul trecut pe 7 octombrie la Domino Records si este descris de casa de discuri ca un deschizator de capitol in cariera artistei. Critica este mai mult decat elogioasa NME spune ca “there’s new confidence here, a sense that she’s stretching herself musically and lyrically” iar The Guardian crede ca “One Breath is truly cathartic, but it will leave you a quivering wreck”.

BOMBAI BICYCLE CLUB ‘So Long, See You Tomorrow’ este al patrulea disc al formatiei. E lansat pe 3 februarie 2014 si continua linia deschisa de A Differnt Kind Of Fix, adica multa electronica si influente world. NME crede ca “after years of chopping and changing, Bombay Bicycle Club have finally found an iteration worth sticking with” iar Pitchfork vede mai departe de asemarea cu albumul din 2011 si spune ca “another radical change and a wonder of cosmetic surgery, So Long, See You Tomorrow is an often dazzling, euphoric electronic-pop record where Bombay Bicycle Club have decided they don’t want to be seen as a rock band anyway”.

DAMON ALBARN ‘Everyday Robots’ este un disc de debut. Solo. Discul a fost lansat anul asta, pe 25 aprilie si a populat deja fm-urile britanice cu ceva piese single. Albarn descrie albumul ca pe cea mai personala productie. Critica este si ea extaziata, Clash  scrie ca “what Everyday Robots is, however, is a subtle, textured patchwork covering Damon Albarn’s 45 years to date, with lyrics capturing snapshots of his childhood in Leytonstone through to a song he made up for a baby elephant he met in Tanzania”.

FKA twigs ‘LP1’ este o combinatie eclectica de stiluri muzicale: electronic, dream pop, pop si trip hop. Albumul s-a lansat pe 6 august 2014 si a fost precedat de 2 piese single, Two Weeks si Pendulum. Spin crede ca “LP1 sounds like nothing else in the world right now”, Pitchfork foloseste expresii ca “huge album” si “monumental debut” iar The Guardian vede discul ca pe “a singular piece of work in an overcrowded market”.

GOGO PENGUIN ‘v2.0’, iata un album de jazz al unei trupe (trio) din Manchester. Este un disc interesant, care depaseste sfera jazz-ului si atinge, cu tuse usoare, muzica electronica. London Jazz News scrie ca “it’s little wonder that these ten tracks have been attracting the attention not just of jazz fans but also club DJs” iar All About Jazz crede ca trio-ul flirteaza cu “dance music textures and riffs in a way that references it”.

EAST INDIA YOUTH ‘Total Strife Forever’ este un disc ce combina indietronica cu synthpop-ul si cu muzica ambientala. Lansarea discului s-a facut pe 13 ianuarie la Stolen Recordings. NME scrie despre album ca “it’s an exercise in Doyle using electronic sounds to express himself in a way he never could with rock music. The music feels highly personal and warm, and it’s intentionally open and sketch-like: personal notes, written down and turned into songs.” iar The Quietus e de parere ca piesele de pe Total Strife Forever fac “that most welcome of things: an often fairly classicist pop record which nods heavily towards naggingly familiar influences, yet doesn’t feel like it could exist at any other time than now”.

JUNGLE ‘Jungle’ a fost lansat pe 14 iulie la XL Recordings. Este din nou o combinatie fericita de vechi cu nou, iar stilul il putem numi, asta ca sa fim acoperiti, modern soul. NME descrie discul ca pe o inregistrare “designed to seep from barbeques the breadth of 2014, an ultra-modern rewiring of funk for Generation Y. The falsetto space funk of opener ‘The Heat’, ‘Platoon’ and the irrepressible ‘Busy Earnin’’ you’ll know already, and they’re matched strut-for-strut by ‘Time’ and ‘Julia’ to make a swathe of colourful party pumpers destined to ram this year’s festival tents like Disclosure touring Trinidad, with their distorted steel drums, tropical crackles and washes of sparkling-surf synth.”.

KATE TEMPEST ‘Everybody Down’ sau poezie muzicala. Albumul este o alta alegere eclectica si o indepartare de la stilurile obisnuite. Tempest a avut primul show la 16 ani (acum are 27), la deschiderea unui magazin de discuri hip hop, dupa care… calea a fost deschisa. The Clash crede ca Tempest “might have created a new genre: the album noir…” iar NME spune ca Tempest creeaza “complex and believable characters, each one carrying their problems like a lead weight hung inside their heart. She has a skill for spinning perspectives.”.

NICK MULVEY ‘First Mind’ ne duce in zona folk-ului. Pentru acoperire sa-i spunem… modern folk. Evident ca influentele pop abunda pe acest album lansat anul asta, pe 12 mai. Critica este favorabila, aproape toate revistele si site-urile care au recenzat albumul gasesc cuvinte mestesiugite, Clash crede ca discul este plin de “intricacies and influences that should see it celebrated as one of the great albums of 2014” iar The Telegraph gaseste albumul “a lovely, and rewarding record”.

POLAR BEAR ‘In Each And Every One’, lansat pe 24 martie 2014. Si din nou putin jazz, dar amestecat cu ritmuri electronice si rock. Fuziunea suna bine, NME scrie despre album ca “is affecting and stylistically broad, but the dreamlike trumpet, blurry electronics and hard-rock drums form an evolving landscape” iar The Guardian foloseste expresia “delightful rhythm games on delicate sax motifs” atunci cand face referire la disc.

ROYAL BLOOD ‘Royal Blood’ de departe cea mai rock alegere de anul asta. Royal Blood este albumul de debut al trupei cu acelasi nume si a fost lansat pe 22 august. Paleta stilistica este generoasa si se ating subgenuri rock ca: garage, noise sau grunge. O descriere scurta si foarte tintita gasim in NME “unconcerned with anything other than how fun the shared language of rock can be, ‘Royal Blood’ is here to convince everyone in its path that loud is good” iar The Guardian se intreaba “it’s heavy and hefty enough to crown them kings of the commercial rock scene, but then, who is going to stand in their way?”.

YOUNG FATHERS ‘Dead’… din nou o combinatie brilianta de hip-hop cu pop si electronica. Discul s-a lansat pe 4 februarie anul asta si criticii spun ca spiritul de pionierat al Massive Attack este din nou prezent odata cu Young Fathers. Clash vorbeste despre multiculturalitate (Nigeria, Liberia si Scotia sunt radacinile celor 3), “Young Fathers possess that which makes the best British acts truly special: a singular identity born of multinational mixology” iar The Guardian face o paralela intre ei si Massive Attack “like Massive Attack 25 years ago, Young Fathers have quietly constructed a strange and intoxicating musical universe that feels entirely their own, while no one else was paying attention”.