Turns out I was wrong (like most people, which makes me feel a little better) with my prediction of a Mercury Music Prize win for Burial. Somehow, Elbow–a British outfit that no one on this side of the ocean seems to feel much passion for, despite their Destiny’s Child cover–took home the honors and a giant check for the best British album of the year, with The Seldom Seen Kid besting offerings from the likes of Radiohead, Adele, The Last Shadow Puppets, and Estelle. Shows the power of a 7.8 review in Pitchfork, at least. [Mercury Music Prize]
everybody's a winner
Elbow Joins The Ranks Of M People And Gomez
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everybody's a winner
everybody's a winner
Oh good lord god. This almost makes me want to like Burial.
You know what? Fuck it, I’ll say it: Big ups Elbow! Why? Cause I had that album of theirs titled Cast of Thousands in heavy rotation a few years back. It’s good shit. Guess I’ll go ahead and give this one a chance too.
M People were excellent, so eff that.
2008 must be “Opposites Year”. I’ll ask Nancy Drew.
Um, I like Elbow! Good for them. Guy Garvey is a lovely teddy bear of a man and he plays Ride on his BBC Radio 6 show “Guy Garvey’s finest hour”. I’m really happy for them. “Grace Under Pressure” is a brilliant song, and “The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver” off this album almost reaches that brilliance.
So There.
Fucking fantastic for Elbow! And their excellent album!
Who knows, maybe if “The Seldom Seen Kids” sees the five-fold Mercury bump in sales even more people on this side of the ocean will share in our enthusiasm.
So there. 2x.
I love Elbow (Leaders of the Free World is THE SHIT) and I hope this gets them at least some of the recognition they deserve. Guy is the coolest, you know he’s the kind you can hang out with in a bar and have a hell of a time drinking a lot!
Nobody this side of the ocean seems to feel much passion for Elbow? Poppycock. Every Elbow show I’ve been to the crowds have been of decent size, and VERY passionate about the band.
I’ll say it- if you can explain to me a universe where Coldplay is more widely known than Elbow, I’m all ears.
And for the record @mexiback- I have hung at a bar w/ Guy and crew, and they’re really excellent people to boot. Congrats to them- I for one feel the honor is well deserved.
Wonderful, wonderful record. Very few records will I play all the way through, and then restart it.
Burial was ok, the Adele record was really nice, but she needs time…
@Dan Gibson: You Burial fans can be so sensitive. Stated differently, who the fuck are you to label me, or any of one of us, anything? Truth is, I have spent some time thinking about it, the rhetorical question is: have you?
Simply stated: your pissy blurb holds no water, you wrote, and I’m paraphrasing when I write this, that “no one on this side of the Atlantic cares” about Elbow. Already a few, I’ll assume, stateside Elbow fans have, above, corrected the patent ignorance of your statement; all I did was use concrete examples of sold-out shows to debunk the “no one” bullshit you were/are peddling.
Nowhere did I or anyone else, “use [their sold-out shows] as an example of their overall success Stateside, or their quality” - I, and others, used various examples to show that you’re full of it on the “no one” tip. But then you’re probably still coming to terms with having the unimaginable idea of “giving an award to Elbow” come to fruition.
Although this is back ‘n’ forth is kinda fun. See, I deliberately mentioned that Elbow’s recent Stateside jaunt was a “club” tour b/c there was a part of me that thought it’d invite a rebuttal from you as irrelevant and/or ignorant as your original post. But another little part of me that audaciously hoped, “He wouldn’t… He can’t be…”
But then, well, there you are.
@hangoverblack: Just wondering, how do you feel about the Doors?
Two notes: One, I’m not a Burial fan, I just thought (like the oddsmakers) that he/they/it/whatever would win. Two, it’s somewhat odd that none of you Elbow types came out of the woodwork when I made my earlier somewhat petulant statement, but now that they’ve won an award of some perceived importance, here you all are! Huzzah!
If it makes you feel better, I’m sorry I don’t share the same enthusiasm that propelled Elbow all the way to number 109 on the charts. I’m sure they’re going to be just as big as Radiohead (or whatever reference you prefer) before I know it.
@Dan Gibson: “…it’s somewhat odd that none of you Elbow types came out of the woodwork when I made my earlier somewhat petulant statement…”
Elbow types? FFS! The next thing out of your keyboard will be “you people.” You mean it’s odd that the world’s not breathlessly hanging on every one of your self-important prissy remarks? You’re right. Very odd. Very, very odd that.
Watch as we all click that “Follow Commenter” button so we never again miss your “brilliantly illuminating and life-changing” commentary.
Oh, and that the whole, parting shot, last word, ultimatlely meaningless chart thing above (sad that, music for you, is nothing more than a popularity contest), all I can say is that again you’ve (likely deliberately) missed the point, but then, I’m not surprised.
Not one to see the forest for the trees, are ya?
@Dan Gibson: @hangoverblack: Can you guys keep fighting until this thread gets up to 40 comments or so? We need the pageviews. Thanks!
I love Elbow, and try to be part of the crowd in SF when they come through, but they aren’t exactly selling out sheds and arenas here. Hell, after their last swing through a couple of years ago it wasn’t a lock they’d be back at all. What it comes down to is the Mercury Prize has zero effect on stateside sales or popularity. The people paying attention to the award are no doubt already aware of the band. I doubt the average TI fan is going to run out and but Elbow’s back catalogue after this news. That said, the original news post is typical of a blog spending most of its time on Kanye’s every move or who the Jonas Brothers angered today. This is a mainstream music site, not My Old Kentucky Blog. OK, that’s a bad example….thank god it isn’t.
@Dan Gibson and most people: Had you been right, would your headline have read, in part, “…Burial Joins The Ranks of PJ Harvey and Pulp”? Or would you have cherry-picked prior Mercury winners you deem “cooler.”
@hangoverblack: For a Burial win, I probably would have gone with Talvin Singh and Roni Size.
@JReed: Yeah, I’ve seen them twice in Chicago to fairly large crowds (O.K so the first time was at the Double Door, 20 people in there seems like a crowd!)
I am happy that they are finally getting some recognition, and the use of “Grounds For Divorce” on that new Coen Brothers movie trailer is pretty cool too.
@Dan Gibson: “…probably…” Meh.
As for “…no one on this side of the ocean seem[ing] to feel much passion for” - Elbow sold-out four of the nine stateside gigs of their recent club tour to the passionless inhabitants of NYC, DC, SF and LA.
Fucking amazing band that just gets better and better with each album, AND they put on a helluva live show. Good for them, and fie on this pissy blurb.
@hangoverblack: Hey, I didn’t say the band was awful, just that they haven’t done terribly well over here, as compared to the ecstatic hype surrounding burial or say, the sales success of Radiohead or Adele. You anglophiles can be so sensitive.
Anyhow, I think if you spent a small amount of time thinking about it, you’d agree that any vaguely popular British act can sell out club dates in NY, LA and SF. Travis sell out the Gibson Amphitheatre in LA, but I wouldn’t use that as an example of their overall success Stateside, or their quality.
@JReed: That makes me like them even more.