I. Bear with me here.
A Yank giving you his thoughts on your music prize? Piss off, you say, not without reason. But, in an effort to garner your good will, I concede that the Grammys are a joke, year after year. (Except for Beyoncé winning trophies. Give her trophies. I’m cool with that.) Also, we (and by “we” I mean Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner) have hubristically established a ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” That ridiculous institution remains without Warren Zevon while enshrining not only Bruce Springsteen (inevitable) but separately that colossal phony’s lurchingly bombastic E Street Band.
I come to you with any nationalistic defenses I might otherwise have (and I really have none) standing down and with an affection for the Mercury Prize, its idea and format.
But, because this is Picky Bastards, I have some notes from a particularly American perspective that you may find mildly interesting and, perhaps, infuriating.
II. The Beginning of the Mercury Prize.
The Mercury Prize is young. It began in 1992, which so happened to be a watershed year in music in the States that reverberated globally. Nirvana’s Nevermind hit number 1 destroying any remaining meaning of the term “alternative” when applied to music. Both Rage Against the Machine and Pavement released debuts. 1992 is littered with great releases, Faith No More, Sugar, Screaming Trees etc. It was an exciting time and almost literally no one in the U.S.A was paying attention to the first Mercury Prize winner Primal Scream recycling Stones riffs.
The MP was created as an alternative to the Brit Pop awards. Coincidentally, while Nirvana was changing the game, a different “Britpop” had its hold on the U.K. and the early MP as well. To Americans, the term “Britpop” was largely meaningless, so forgive me if I’m offending you with too sweeping a definition. I remember being aware that there were several single- word named British bands- Suede, Keane, Pulp, Gomez, etc. It was all just a Blur (sorry).
Those bands, of course, had a small cadre of American fans, but only among the most diehard anglophiles still smoking clove cigarettes. The bands had a certain sound that just didn’t resonate here, not to the absolute negative extent of Robbie Williams, who probably has never sold a single album in the U.S., but it was still definitely a niche sound. If you were in a certain scene in the U.S., which incredibly became THE scene, you were listening to Mudhoney.
The Britpop bands (apologize again for the label, but I didn’t make it up) sounded out of touch to what was going on here. This was a strange but not a new phenomenon for English rock bands that had historically led the charge in its old colonies for decades. For example, The Jam, a very good band, did not ride the wave created by The Clash and the Sex Pistols, and never caught on here. My working theory is that there was too much an element of English pub rock that we didn’t get. I’m not sure. As Pete Townsend remarked, I can’t explain.
I do remember buying Parklife at the time and not liking it. The best band out of this lot was Super Furry Animals. I kind of dig the Gomez album, the 1998 winner. But, that’s in retrospect and with the benefit of streaming. Parklife represented money better spent on beer. We had to make hard decisions in record stores that had immediate economic and psychic consequences.
There was Oasis though. What’s The Story… ruled then and it rules now. That was a CD you purchased. In the 1996 MP, Oasis inexplicably lost out to Pulp, a terrible, almost unlistenable band who once rhymed “baby” with “baby.”
The MP in its first decade had the look of a prize that was a bit out of touch or, perhaps, more accurately, reflective of a scene that had not yet caught up to the revolution raging stateside. In 1993-1994, we had Exile in Guyville, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, Gentlemen, Dookie, Live Through This. I assume that Damon Albarn was, years later, still smarting from Blur losing out in 1994 to something called M People who unremarkably did what Deee-Lite had already done four years before. At least Blur was trying. In 2001, Gorillaz declined its MP nomination.
An aside, but an important point. I don’t mean to suggest that the MP should have been giving trophies to American artists in this time or ever. I like the insularity in a non-Brexit context. I’m a big fan of the Booker Prize as a resource and lament its recent inclusion of American novels. I’m just saying the MP was off to a weird start.
I would guess that the U.K. was taking longer to break out of the ‘80’s. (Music that attracted significant public attention in that decade was generally bad and don’t let people tell you otherwise without an argument. Unless you liked it, which is fine—it’s music– and you are probably hanging out with the right people for you.) We were all exhausted by Reagan and Thatcher. She had an extra year of toxic rule, which helps explain the lag.
Here is where you might get mad, if you are not already: There are five artists– love, hate, or be indifferent–from this volatile time that remain the most influential today on most of the music we review now. I’m not including hip-hop (that’s 2000 more words) or electronica; I mean girls and guys with guitars, drums, and the occasional keyboard.
First, Pixies (and esp. Kim Deal) and loud/quiet/loud. Pixies had already passed the baton to Nirvana, who ran it to glory and tragedy. There is Pavement, a modern The Velvet Underground in its outsized effect. And, Liz Phair, wielding brutal honesty and coolness in impressively equal measure. All American artists.
That’s four. The fifth is an English band called Radiohead.
III. The Curious Case of the Mercury Prize and Radiohead.
Radiohead certainly cut through the fog of Britpop bands and into the American consciousness. A foot was in the door with “Creep” popular early, but maybe just a novelty song. Five years later, the glorious ‘Karma Police’ and its beautifully creepy video, Thom Yorke all lazy- -eyed and lazily tracking down his prey from the plush back seat of a big American car. That video hits hard.
In between, waiting to be discovered: The Bends, one of the best albums of 1995 or any other year and in the top ten best sophomore albums ever. (If you were to now, as a fun experiment, blast ‘Just’ from The Bends to Matty Healy in an empty room, he would curl into a fetal position, be disintegrated into a powder, and blown through the HVAC ducts.)
In the U.S. we knew Radiohead. The band was exciting.
What did you think of Radiohead, Mercury Prize judges? [Elaborate yawn and stretch] ‘Oh those guys? They’re o.k., I guess.’
1995. The Bends (see above). Not nominated. Portishead’s Dummy was a strong winner that year. Elastica a solid nomination. Eight other places on the shortlist though.
1997. O.K. Computer. A monumental record. Time to award “this famous island’s” most prominent edgy and important band. And the winner is……Roni Size & Reprazment, I kid you not, never heard from before or since. I listened to one song (‘Brown Paper’) and they were ripping off the Beastie Boys’ ‘Car Thief.’ At least give the award to Spice Girls.
2008. In Rainbows. Another doozy. The MP goes to Elbow, an E.L.O. tribute band formed in a depression clinic. One song was enough for me to consider performing a realistic Virginia Woolf impression.
The passive aggressiveness of the MP is now becoming its own performance art piece. The judges should win a special Olivier Award at this point for commitment to a bit.
More nominations, more snubs followed. A regional prize created ostensibly “to recognize and celebrate artistic achievement, provide a snapshot of the year in music and to help introduce new albums from a range of music genres to a wider audience” was cold shouldering a band at the phalanx of a musical revolution. Radiohead is thinking it could put out London Calling and would lose to an Amy Winehouse impersonator doing Ian Dury covers.
IV. The Later Years. A Small Unsolicited Suggestion.
It might seem from the above that I have been following the MP since its inception. I have not. I was trying to figure out when I first became aware of the prize, and I’m embarrassed to admit it was probably when Wolf Alice won in 2018. I found the results that year because I was googling Lily Allen. My wife, daughter and I were going to see her in Oakland that year because she’s a legend. Alright, Still is one of the great albums of this century, but another one the MP judges missed (deserving winner that year though, see below). I’m assuming her nomination in 2018 was a make up call. I liked that Wolf Alice album.
So then, once aware, I got into the MP. 2019 was a solid year. I could watch black midi perform ‘bmbmbm’ from that year’s MP award show awards again and again. And I do (just did) to watch Morgan Simpson’s ferocious, time signature messing drumming. The band is art school Primus. You wouldn’t see that performance at The Grammys.
Little Simz enters the conversation. So does The 1975, reminding you of the distinction between hard earned authenticity and easy fraud. I’ll give you one guess as to which path is the more lucrative.
Does the Mercury Prize, perhaps, lean towards conservatism? Well, of course it does. It is still an industry prize. The unfortunate collision of art and commerce is a tale as old as time. But, while the Grammys have long been a train wreck, the MP is at least only a fender bender. The MP has also recognized soul and hip-hop, especially in recent years, to a remarkable and admirable degree.
But, may I make a suggestion? The U.K. birthed punk or at least midwifed it, depending on what origin story you believe. Dream Wife and Big Joanie were right there, and this year’s selections were a bit bland overall.
Fly your freak flag, MP. Now at least some of us are paying attention over here.
V. Mercury Prize Marginalia
Most deserving winners: (1) Arctic Monkeys 2006; (2) The xx 2010; (3) Little Simz 2022 (make up call); (4) Portishead 1995; (5) P.J. Harvey, multiple (the Meryl Streep of the awards).
Most WTF moments: (1) Spurning Radiohead again and again and again; (2) No nomination for Lily Allen’s Alright, Still 2006; (3) Pulp over Oasis 1996.
Most deserving unawarded nominees other than Radiohead (not necessarily a criticism of the winner.) (1) Super Furry Animals 2001; (2) The Go! Team 2005; (3) The Darkness 2003; (4) Kae Tempest 2014; (5) Fontaines D.C. 2019.
Worst nominees this year: (1) Artic Monkeys. Just give me a 45-minute version of ‘When the Sun Goes Down’ please if we are going to keep doing this, Alex. I also have an old piano. (2) Jessie Ware. Beyoncé did this same album last year and did it better. 3) Shygirl. I feel like I’m completely missing something.
Who should win this year: Jockstrap.
Words by Rick Larson
Picky Bastards 