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How to feel about another dubious music award being added to the mix these days? It’s hard to argue with the logic of wanting to recognize those who did something significant over the last year, but there’s a tendency to just keep dropping accolades on the same acts over and over. UK paper The Guardian made some effort to try something slightly different, offering an award to an act releasing its first album (excluding acts with members that have already achieved fame elsewhere). Will this year’s winner—announced today—be forgotten along with the award, or have the Brits managed to accomplish something here?
Manchester’s Courteeners took the prize, dominating the readers poll portion of the competition and apparently doing well enough with the Guardian’s staff to take away the award, beating out Fuck Buttons, Late of the Pier and the Ting Tings, among others. Do they deserve the accolade? Decide for yourself.
“Acrylic”:
“Smiths Disco”:
if nothing else, Morrissey loves them, and that has to count for something. The whole flaw of the process seemed to be introduced when readers were given the vote. Sure, the paper claimed they would weed out organized get out the vote campaigns, but how would the Courteneers manage to take over 50% of the vote—over more popular acts like Duffy and Glasvegas, mind you—without some sort of trickery? Oh well. If I’ve added another Britrock act to my stack of well-produced-but-forgotten CDs from years past, there are surely worse things that can happen to me today.
The Courteneers [MySpace]
The 2008 Guardian First Album award winner [Guardian]
“if nothing else, Morrissey loves them, and that has to count for something”
As a long-time, dedicated Morrissey fan, I have to respectfully disagree. My music collection is littered with mid to late 90s Moz-tipped albums that received a collective handful of spins on my stereo.
I’m partial to them because That Kiss, a really lovely Richard Hawley-type ballad, was released as a stand-alone single and not as a Deluxe Edition album reissue thing. It’s one of my favorite songs right now.
@Audif Jackson Winters III: Heh, reading my comment again made me think back to when Britpop fans in the U.S. like me had to regularly buy stuff without even hearing a single. Sometimes it paid off (Supergrass’ first album), sometimes it didn’t (Marion, Menswe@r, Echobelly).
@Audif Jackson Winters III: i remember those days! and that menswe@r album!
@Audif Jackson Winters III: Stop the Mesnwe@r hating! I’ll Manage Somehow is still good. As is Daydreamer. And Piece of Me. Among others.