The Cold Cut

Update: So the list has been announced in a ceremony today, with some notable absences. Duffy, Coldplay and Lightspeed Champion were all left off the list, whilst Laura Marling and Burial both look like serious contenders for the prize. Official list as follows:

Adele - '19'
British Sea Power - 'Do You Like Rock Music?'
Burial - 'Untrue'
Elbow - 'The Seldom Seen Kid'
Estelle - 'Shine'
The Last Shadow Puppets - 'The Age Of The Understatement'
Laura Marling - 'Alas I Cannot Swim'
Neon Neon - 'Stainless Style'
Portico Quartet - 'Knee-Deep In The North Sea'
Robert Plant And Alison Krauss – 'Raising Sand'
Radiohead - 'In Rainbows'
Rachel Unthank And The Winterset – 'The Bairns'

Tomorrow morning, the shortlist for the 2008 Mercury Prize is announced. Who should be on the list? NME's potential shortlist was as follows- my selections of their expanded list are highlighted in red. I've included a track of each of my selected albums for you to sample. Download the whole mix below as a zip, take a long listen to my picks, add your own and submit your personal list in the comments.

I'm voting for Lightspeed Champion and Laura Marling as the dark horses that will come and pull the rug out from underneath everyone else.

Who should be on the list?

Mercury Prize Shortlist Sampler.zip (Link 2)

Adele – '19'
Babyshambles – 'Shotter's Nation'
British Sea Power – 'Do You Like Rock Music?' ... Atom
Burial – 'Untrue' ... Archangel
Coldplay – 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends' ... Lovers In Japan (Acoustic)
Duffy – 'Rockferry'
Elbow – 'The Seldom Seen Kid' ... Bones Of You
The Enemy – 'We'll Live And Die In These Towns'
Estelle – 'Shine' ... You Are (ft. John Legend)
Foals – 'Antidotes' ... Hummer
Future Of The Left – 'Curses'
The Futureheads – 'This Is Not The World'
Hot Chip – 'Made In The Dark' ... Wrestlers
Jamie Lidell – 'Jim'
Johnny Flynn – 'A Larum'
Kate Nash – 'Made Of Bricks'
Kids In Glass Houses – 'Smart Casual'
The Kills – 'Midnight Boom' The Last Shadow Puppets – 'The Age Of The Understatement' ... Two Hearts In Two Weeks
Laura Marling – 'Alas I Cannot Swim' ... You're No God
Lightspeed Champion – 'Falling Off The Lavender Bridge' ... Dry Lips
Los Campesinos! – 'Hold On Now Youngster' ... You! Me! Dancing!
MIA – 'Kala' ... Paper Planes Mystery Jets – '21' ... Hideaway
Neon Neon – 'Stainless Style' ... I Told Her On Alderaan
The Pigeon Detectives – 'Emergency'
Portishead – 'Third' ... We Carry On
Radiohead – 'In Rainbows' ... House Of Cards
Spiritualized – 'Songs In A&E'
These New Puritans – 'Beat Pyramid'
The Ting Tings – 'We Started Nothing'
Tricky – 'Knowle West Boy'
Wiley – 'Grime Wave'
The Wombats – 'The Wombats Proudly Present... A Guide To Love, Loss And Desperation'

This is a daunting post. Not only am I walking an exceedingly well trodden path, I'm also aware that my top 20 might not fit with your idea of great albums. Oh well- blogging is about opinion, so here we go. This will take the form of 4 posts, each with 5 albums. I should be done before Christmas... If you want to buy the album, click on its title. If you want to see a bit more about each artist, click their name.

After I've got through the top 20 there will be a round-up, with some notable mentions, my top tracks of the year, top films and a general 'best of the year' feature. Enjoy, and have a merry Christmas. As usual, leave comments, both good and bad. I like to read what you think.

20. Foo Fighters- Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
I've debated long and hard as to whether this deserves a place in my top 20, but I was bowled over by its simplicity and balance between anthemic rock and intimate ballads. If you are willing to take this album for what it is- a balls to the wall stadium rock album with a few soft moments- I'm sure you'll feel the same way.

Favourite Track: The Pretender

When coupled with its explosive video, 'The Pretender' becomes my favourite rock song of the year. No contest...

19. Bright Eyes- Cassadaga
Before Cassadaga, Coner Oberst had never really met my expectations. I mean, come on, being proclaimed a 'musical prodigy' ramps up the pressure a bit, doesn't it. Well, Cassadaga finally fulfilled what he, and Bright Eyes, were capable of. You could say he came of age, although he is already 27.

Favourite Track: Four Winds

Has to be 'Four Winds', for its provocative lyrics concerning religion. Folk at its most enjoyable.

18. Jay-Z- American Gangster
At the time, Jay-Z coming out of retirement was a massive mistake in my eyes, and he put fuel to the fire by releasing 'Kingdom Come', which seemed superficial and over-produced. American Gangster, on the other hand, has put my mind at rest: a concept album such as this is just the medium required for Jay to show what he is still capable. It's one of the few solid rap albums of this year, and it fully deserves its spot in my top 20.

Favourite Track: Roc Boys (And The Winner is...)

Roc Boys is a celebratory track, and Jay is obviously enjoying the fruits of his efforts. Thankfully, this song is so good that we can enjoy the moment with him. Rolling Stone's favourite track of the year, and for a good reason.

17. Klaxons- Myths Of The Near Future
So the Klaxons brought "new-rave" back to life? I don't really know what new-rave is, and to be honest, I don't really care. What's really important is that Klaxons are a weird (in the good way), revolutionary band, and Myths Of The Near Future is a fantastic debut album. Winning the Mercury award was a lovely present to cap off a brilliant year, and hopefully they will capitalise on their popularity and release some new material soon.

Favourite Track: Golden Skans

Golden Skans, a song which simultaneously invaded your conscience with its ah-wooh-ah-wooh-ah-wo-oh's and inventive video. After they released this, they became contenders.

16. Interpol- Our Love To Admire
Interpol have pulled the sneaky trick of writing the same album, three times in a row. It doesn't bother me though, and whilst 'Turn On The Bright Lights', 'Antics' and 'Our Love To Admire' are all very similar, each album is better than the last. Next time round I'd like to see a bit more progression, but you can't help loving an album with great songs such as 'Pioneer To The Falls' and 'Mammoth'.

Favourite Track: Pioneer To The Falls

A song which they now open live performances with, this song says more about Interpol than 'Turn On The Bright Lights' and 'Antics' bundled together. Looking for a chilling, atmospheric composition? Look no further...

Well, thats it for now. Parts 15-11 will be up tomorrow.

Over the last few months I have been waiting anxiously for any news concerning Lowlands Music Festival, which takes place in Amsterdam during late August every year. Lowlands is a festival with a lineup not dissimilar to Reading or Leeds, but also features more variety in terms of World Music; this year C.S.S, M.I.A and Interpol to name a few bands from afar. The first names playing this year have only just been announced: go to the bottom of this post to have a look at the promo posters.I went last year with about 10 other people and I really enjoyed it... it was a great place to go for your first festival: the atmosphere is really good (Dutch people are really nice, and most speak excellent English), the lineup is amazing and the facilities are traditionally Dutch. Now when most people think of festivals they get an image in their mind of shitty food, grotty showers and a general feeling of dirtiness. The toilets and showers at Lowlands are really clean and there a lot of them, which is good... I can't help recalling stories I have heard of overflowing bogs in Reading and Glastonbury.

Another huge difference at Lowlands is the quality of the food: most people don't eat much at festivals, because its all fast food. Well, at Lowlands, things are different; I can honestly say that the food at this festival must be the best out of all the festivals in the world, even though I haven't been to any others- there is a massive selection of fresh food on offer all day long, from falafels to pancakes and pizza and pretty much anything you could ever want. Its all pretty good value, and this also applies to the alcohol; everything at Lowlands is paid for with their unique currency, unfortunately named 'munten', and generally at low cost. I came back 100 euros poorer last time, which isn't bad considering I was there for 4 days. There is a supermarket where you can buy loads of fresh food each day, and you can trade a crate of any beer for a crate of cold Heineken. Not bad, hmm?

Lowlands is a superior experience in many respects; you only have to look at the ticket prices to get things into perspective. A full ticket, allowing you to stay there from the opening of the site on the 16th to the afternoon of the 20th, will set you back 125 euros, or £80. Compare this to the costs of Reading- a one day ticket to Reading can set you back upwards of £60... you do the maths. I suppose you have to factor in the cost of the plane journey over here, but there is nothing stopping you spending 2 or 3 days in Amsterdam beforehand and making it into a holiday. Also, the size of the festival site is way more convenient; all 8 stages are within 10 minutes walk of each other, so there is much more likelihood of you seeing lots of different bands on different stages.

So, to recap, Lowlands is an extremely cheap festival with a great lineup and brilliant facilities.... what more could a budding music fan want? Is anyone reading this going to Lowlands this year? Who are you looking forward to seeing?