It's the Nationwide-sponsored, no sorry, Barclaycard-sponsored Mercury Music Prize 2009 Nominations...

For those of you who haven't been paying attention, the Mercury Music Prize, or the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize, as it is SO eloquently named, is an annual prize of round-and-about 20,00 quids, awarded to the best album in the whole of the British land. It's chosen by a group of sexperts, who presumably all go into a dark room and argue fervently about the cultural importance of the Pigeon Detectives vs. that of Mutya Buena.

There used to be something people wrote about called the Mercury Music Prize CURSE, which supposedly meant that anyone who was ever nominated, or even won, was thereafter shit and disappeared into the netherworld, never to release music again. This curse was invented by journalists to explain why big white elephant and Mercury Prize winner, Ms. Dynamite, never made good on her promise to be the biggest and most commercially successful artist in the whole world, which was never going to happen anyway. The curse is now pretty much null and void, because Dizzee Rascal has won it, who is now a huge British chart star, as have The Arctic Monkeys, the most critically acclaimed band EVER, as well as established rock acts with huge cult followings like Elbow and PJ Harvey, who aren't exactly struggling to get music released.

Of course, things like this always fail to please everyone... it's in their nature. In the past, fantastic albums by Siobhan Donaghy and Róisín Murphy have been ignored, because they are by Irish ladies and are therefore not qualifiable and hugely successful and critically acclaimed bands like Radiohead have missed out on the prize, whilst lesser known, and now forgotten, artists have snatched the prize. But does it really matter? Sort of. The Mercury Prize, although not extending to having the influence of a curse, does increase album sales of artists that might otherwise disappear completely, and anything that is a celebration of raw and innovative music talent is worthwhile. So who are this years nominees and what does it all mean?

In amongst the usual chart success stories, bands we've never heard of, and talented oddballs who will never release an album on an imprint of a major label ever again, there is a TRAGIC STORY OF LOSS in here. Little Boots is not nominated. Of course, we're joking. Whilst a nomination would have been a nice jesture, there are more important things in life. Whilst we're on the subject, however, there are some other people we feel were overlooked. Blue Roses, for one. Patrick Wolf, for another, who despite his arrogance, immaturity and temper, is so talented, he really should have been nominated at least once, after 4 albums. Antony and the Johnsons, whose last album won it, has also been overlooked this time. But that's just the way it goes, isn't it? Those nominees then:

• Florence and the Machine - Lungs
• Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
• Speech Debelle - Speech Therapy
• Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
• La Roux - La Roux
• Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
• The Horrors - Primary Colours
• Glasvegas - Glasvegas
• Led Bib - Sensible Shoes
• Sweet Billy Pilgrim - Twice Born Men
• The Invisible - The Invisible
• Lisa Hannigan - Sea Sew