Announced...Mercury Music Prize Shortlist 2002

will win - turgid arse like the doves

shame but then at the end of the day i dont really care too much because it doesnt dictate what music i buy

DAVID BOWIE?????? GEMMA HAYES? THE ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE????? (Scream that last one with outrage, for full effect).

Streets or Doves are the only two I'd like to win, what's with their sudden "we like um.......r and b" trip? Decent bet on Bev Knight or Ms Dynamite maybe?

And not a dance album in the lot, oh well.

As Kevin Keegan might say, I'd LOVE IT if Joanna MacGregor won. More realistically, if the Streets don't win the terrorists will have...

Guy Barker = the Beverley Knight of British jazz.

The Streets will win by a landslide. Hooray!

The biggest surprise for me is no Cinematic Orchestra in the shortlist.

Biggest turkey of the year to make the shortlist: Electric Soft Parade - one of their songs sounds like a whining cat that has been stepped on by mistake ! (last year the turkey was the awful Turin Brakes), and Gemma Hayes is so bland.

Good things about the list: the Coral are good, Gemma Hayes is slightly better than most of the female folky singer-songwriters they have every year. And at least they nominated acts which haven't been on the list before (bar Doves). In '99 they had 5 or 6 acts that had been previously nominated. And these acts were pretty much all past their best. They've taken steps in the right direction since then, but still plenty of room for improvement. Can do better.

What I really hope is that this is the year a classical release wins because I think Joanna McGregor is completely fantastic.

Minor quibble re the mighty Joanna nomination: since when are Bach, Ligeti, Ives and Moses Molelekwa british? And isn't this supposed to be a 'new' music prize?

Much as I like Gemma Hayes (and I do believe I'm standing alone on that one), she'll be following the typical Source records path, I fear - Radio 1 C-list, Jo Whiley single of the week or something, minor top 40 placing if she's lucky, Mercury Music Prize nomination, 5 for £30 at Virgin while Ronan does his evil laugh thing. So no chance there.

For the reference: 2001 Basement Jaxx - Rooty Turin Brakes - The Optimist Susheela Raman - Salt Rain PJ Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea (*) Zero 7 - Simple Things Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain Radiohead - Amnesiac Ed Harcourt - Here Be Monsters Super Furry Animals - Rings Around The World Elbow - Asleep At The Back Tom McRae - Tom McRae

2000: Helicopter Girl Badly Drawn Boy - Hour Of The Bewilderbeest (*) Kathryn Williams - Little Black Numbers MJ Cole - Sincere The Delgados - The Great Eastern Nicholas Maw - Violin Concerto Richard Ashcroft - Alone With Everybody Death In Vegas - The Contino Sessions Nitin Sawhney - Beyond Skin Coldplay - Parachutes Leftfield - Rhythm And Stealth Doves - Lost Souls

1999: Beth Orton - Central Reservation Talvin Singh OK - (*) Blur - 13 Faithless - Sunday 8pm Stereophonics - Performance and Cocktails Manic Street Preachers - This is my truth tell me yours Kate Rusby - Sleepless Black Star Liner - Bengali Bantam Youth Experience! Chemical Brothers - Surrender Denys Baptiste - Be Where You Are Underworld - Beacoup Fish Thomas Adès - Asyla

1998: Asian Dub Foundation - Rafi's Revenge Cornershop - When I Was Born For The 7th Time 4-Hero - Two Pages John Surman - Proverbs & Songs Robbie Williams - Life Thru A Lens Eliza Carthy - Red Rice Catatonia - International Velvet The Verve - Urban Hymns Massive Attack - Mezzanine Gomez - Bring It On (*) Pulp - This Is Hardcore Propellerheads - Decksandrumsandrockandroll

1997: The Prodigy - The Fat Of The Land The Spice Girls - Spice Beth Orton - Trailer Park Roni Size/Reprazent - New Forms (*) Mark-Anthony Turnage - Your Rockaby John Taverner - Svyati Suede - Coming Up Primal Scream - Vanishing Point The Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole Radiohead - OK Computer

1996: Black Grape - It's Great When You're Straight Courtney Pine - Modern Day Jazz Stories Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go Mark Morrison - Return of the Mack Norma Waterson - Norma Waterson Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory? Peter Maxwell Davies/The BBC Philharmonic - The Beltane Fire / Caroline Mathilde Pulp - Different Class (*) Underworld - Second Toughest In The Infants Artists for War Child - Help

1995: Oasis - Definitely Maybe James MacMillan - Seven Last Words From The Cross Leftfield - Leftism Elastica - Elastica Tricky - Maxinquaye Van Morrison - Days Like This PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love Portishead - Dummy (*) Guy Barker - Into The Blue Supergrass - I Should Coco

1994: Blur - Parklife Shara Nelson - What Silence Knows Therapy? - Troublegum Paul Weller - Wild Wood Michael Nyman - The Piano Concerto and MGV The Prodigy - Music for the Jilted Generation Take That - Everything Changes Pulp - His 'n' Hers Ian McNabb - Head Like A Rock M People - Elegant Slumming (*)

1993: New Order - Republic Apache Indian - No Reservations Sting - Ten Summoner's Tales Suede - Suede (*) Stan Tracey OBE - Portraits Plus Dina Carroll - So Close Gavin Bryars - Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet The Auteurs - New Wave P.J. Harvey - Rid Of Me Stereo MC's - Connected

1992

Jah Wobble - Rising Above Bedlam U2 - Achtung Baby St Etienne - Foxbase Alpha John Taverner & Steven Isserlis - The Protecting Veil Primal Scream - Screamadelica (*) Bheki Mseleku - Celebration Jesus & Mary Chain - Honey's Dead Simply Red - Stars Barry Adamson - Soul Murder The Young Disciples - Road To Freedom

I'd forgotten that it went back so far. I arbitrarily declare 1998 the best year ever, and 2000 the worst. Though 1992 deserves a mention for the worst album (STARS!?!?!)

The appearance of Talvin on JM's LP gives me the fear somewhat. His piece late last year conducted by JM was not so hot.

Thanks Andrew for confirming to me that I've never before liked more than 2 records on a shortlist. Best year EVAH!

how long before the album is re-released with the beedle remix on it i wonder ?

Because you yanks will laugh at us, I mean look at some of the muppets: Badly Drawn Boy, Turin Brakes and Electric Soft Parade.

No wonder it is reported recently yanks don't want to buy the brit music that is pushed at them !

As Ned will testify - the new Peter Murphy album - Dust - is absolutely stunning, the music is highly absorbing and inventive - I would put up alongside the classic status of: David Sylvian - Gone to Earth.

I will be running my version of Mercury Music Prize as per usual on my weblog:

2000: Zan Lyons - Desolate 2001: Ed Rush & Optical - The Creeps 2002: TBA

Peter Murphy is definately one of the front runners at the mo !

Yup. Still pretty much the album of the year for me -- quite involving and entrancing as a listen. The man is on form and then some.

Guardian today: Merucry panel it say: "This LP articulates what it's like to be young and British in 2002"

I am no longer young but I know that there are millions of young people in UK whose lives this crap does not articulate

Whoever said it should FUCK OFF

"the only serious omission among the nominations is hard rock band Hundred Reasons' superb debut Ideas Above Our Station..."

No. But the new Primal Scream album is utterly thrilling and it's out next week. Second best album of the year! Death, drugs, femmes fatales, more death, suicide, chainsaw guitars, motorik Kraftwerk bliss, gutter rock & roll, and even more death! I'm getting the hang of it, thanks Bobby!

seriously, the only thing that irks me about the Guardian piece is the "three blacks, four solo women" angle. This had not even occurred to me before; now I won't be able to overlook it.

I have to disagree with Job here -- it's defiantly all right rather than defiantly great. I'm especially annoyed with the production on most of the songs, they all sound like they'll be ten times better live, or so I rather hope. I'm used to all of Bobby's 'last real band' rhetoric by now but the gap between intent and realization is especially bleh here. I am terribly amused by the one motorik/Neu! song, though!

I don't understand what you're getting at here. Are you making an accusation of tokenism? If so, it seems tenuous to say the least.

And this is coming from a fan.

How so? Let's say the shortlist was made up completely of white men. Would you somehow not find that just a little bit wrong? A Mercury shortlist should have some diversity. To what extend, is something you can have a legitimate opinion on. The Guardian writer wasn't happy with the list re this matter. Surely that is entirely possible?