Mercury Prize Blog

Danger Mouse is well known for his prolific output, both as a producer and an artist. In the past few years alone he’s worked with Beck, Gorrilaz, MF DOOM, The Black Keys, Martina Topley-Bird and The Good, The Bad and The Queen, as well as releasing a number of albums with Cee-Lo, his partner in Gnarls Berkley. More recently Brian Burton – to use his given name – has been concentrating on Broken Bells with James Mercer from The Shins, and has stated in numerous interviews that this latest project will take up all his energy for the foreseeable future.

Even with all his focus placed firmly on Broken Bells, there will still be new Danger Mouse release available shortly, the slightly delayed and highly anticipated ‘Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse present: The Dark Night of the Soul’. Originally the album was due for a release last year, but mysterious wranglings with various record labels meant any kind of official release was looking unlikely. These have seemingly been straightened out, as the album is out early next month and is already winning rave reviews.

Perhaps the most striking thing about the album is the roll call of artists involved: Gruff Rhys, Julian Casablancas, Iggy Pop, Frank Black, Suzanne Vega, Nina Persson, The Flaming Lips and Vic Chestnut are amongst those to contribute, and legendary director David Lynch has created a book containing hundreds of photos that act as a visual accompaniment to the album. Lynch’s involvement in the project is indicative of the watt Burton looks upon his career. He once told a journalist “I want to create a director’s role within music, I have to be in control of the project I’m doing. I can create different kinds of musical worlds, but the artist needs the desire to go into that world… Musically, there is no one who has the career I want. That’s why I have to use film directors as a model”

Having already won rave reviews prior to the original intended release, the album still being hailed by critics; one journalist wrote “Few contemporary pop albums have spoken to the human condition so eloquently, and given the listener so much pleasure in the process”. Even with such plaudits, the album’s release is made all the more pertinent with the recent passing of two of its contributors. Mark Linkous, the principle and only permanent member of Sparklehorse, took his life in March after a lifetime spent battling depression. He was a huge influence on Radiohead, with whom he toured in the mid-Nineties. Colin Greenwood said of Linkous “Mark wrote and played some beautiful music, and we’re lucky to have it. His first two records were very important to me, and I carried his music into my life, and my friends’ lives too.”

Vic Chestnut, the iconic singer and poet who appears on the albums penultimate track, was a prolific artist who despite being paralysed from the neck down released well over a dozen albums and appeared in two films (the first a documentary on his own life). Like Linkous, Chestnut was a quiet influence on a whole generation of artists, as was proven by 1986’s Sweet Relief compilation, which featured R.E.M, Madonna, Kristen Hirsch and Sparklehorse covering his songs. He died last December whilst in a coma, brought on by an overdose of muscle relaxants.

Dark Night of the Soul is out in July, for more information visit the website.

The Dirty Projectors most recent album ‘Bitte Orca’ won praise from critics and music fans alike, who readily embraced the accessibility and imagination of David Longstreth and the players he’s assembled under the banner of Dirty Projectors. Lead track ‘Stillness Is The Move’ found its way on to daytime radio, and was even covered by Solange Knowles, who famously introduced her sister Beyonce and her husband Jay Z to the band’s inventive music.

Four years previous to ‘Bitte Orca’, Longstreth ploughed a much more challenging furrow with ‘The Getty Address’. A conceptual tale that is seen as much an experimental art piece as a conventional album, the 12 song set is a fantasy based around founding member of the Eagles Don Henley. Starting off with Henley at his lowest ebb, the story follows the ‘Boys of Summer’ singer fall in love with a girl called Sacagawea.

Although at times the album comes over as being lyrically nonsensical, Longstreth cleverly covers topics such as life in a post 9/11 America and multi-national oil companies. He recorded choirs and orchestras in various locations around the US, with over 25 musicians credited, and then chopped up the recordings to create the album’s distinctive and at time dissonant sound.

Having performed the album in its entirety in New York and LA, Longstreth and the Dirty Projectors will give ‘The Getty Address’ its European debut in June when they perform at London’s Barbican. The amassed orchestra will be conducted by Alan Pierson, a young native of Chicago who’s  caused a wave of excitement in the world of Modern Classical. He first visited the Barbican when he conducted the London Sinfonietta, performing Steve Reich’s ‘Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings’ as part of the legendary composer’s 70th Birthday celebrations. He is a perfect foil for Longstreth, who is readily regarded as one of American music’s most distinctive new voices.

Every summer sees an increase in the number of festivals taking place, such is the healthy state of live music. Amongst the many events that fill up the calendar, there’s a special place for The Great Escape, which in the space of a few years,  has become a pinnacle point for both music fans and the industry alike.

The seaside city of Brighton is generally pretty lively anyway, but for a weekend in May the place is overrun by bands flying in from all over the world. Every pub, theatre, bar and backroom is given over to the Great Escape, not just for gigs but also a series of talks and conferences where the future of the music industry is discussed and debated.

If you’re heading down to Brighton this weekend, you probably have an arm-long list of bands to see already, but just in case you have some time spare here are a few things that might be worthy of further investigation…

Wild Beasts have played the Great Escape before, but this year they’re given one of the headlining slots. The band have matured into one of the UK’s most talked about acts, and if you saw their appearance on Barclaycard Mercury Prize Sessions you’ll know that they’ve more than earned their reputation as an impeccable live band.

Pulled Apart By Horses have been a permanent fixture on the live circuit over the few years, supporting the likes of Blood Red Shoes, Biffy Clyro, Foals and Future of the Left. Their intense live shows are already the stuff of legend in their native Leeds, and word will no doubt spread with the release of their forthcoming debut on Transgressive.

Warpaint are the latest group of young Americans with more than a fleeting fixation for early Eighties Shoegaze. Their mellifluous Dream Pop is winning over fans on both sides of the Atlantic. They’ll be performing at Horatio’s, the end of the pier karaoke bar that will also play host to fellow Stateside starlets Darwin Deez, Cold Cave and Theopilus London.

As well as the many official venues taking part in the Great Escape, there will be plenty of impromptu parties springing up over the weekend. One definitely worth checking out takes place in the courtyard outside the offices of Skint. The record label defined the sound of Brighton during the Nineties and early Noughties, and they’re still very much at the centre of things: there’ll be exclusive performances from Jesca Hoop, Conan Mockasin and new Skint signings Mirrors, as well as a head line set from Chew Lips.

It’s not just live shows that make the Great Escape such a special event though, there are a wealth of talks and debates taking place should the tinnitus take hold at any point. For those wishing to discuss the inner workings of the industry PRS have a number of interesting events planned, but if you’re in the mood to be entertained then two talks should prove essential: Edwin Collins will be discussing his life and career alongside his wife and manager Grace Maxwell, who’s well known to voice her opinions when it comes to the music industry. Secondly, John Niven, author of the hilarious expose of A&R in the Nineties ‘Kill Your Friends’, will take to the stage with longtime music journalist John Harris. They will be interviewed by fellow journalist and author of ‘This Is Not Cool’ Gary Mulholland.

There are literally hundreds of other bands playing, and whatever your taste there’ll be a whole host of acts worth catching. Whilst on the coast though, it’s worth taking time to explore Brighton, one of the UK’s most individual cities. Fans of the fishier things in life should take a stroll along the beach to the world famous Smoke House, where Jack and Linda Mills smoke mackerel caught on the beach that morning and serve them freshly grilled in what might be one of the South Coast’s tastiest sandwiches. For visitors wanting to capture a feel of Brighton in the Sixties, where Mods and Rockers did battle on the beach, a visit to the Heart & Hand is essential… an inspection of the pubs famed jukebox should be proof enough of the pub’s musical credentials.

For more information on the Great Escape visit the festival’s website.

Stateside super-blog Stereogum filmed an interview with Peter Gabriel and Alan Palomo a.k.a Neon Indian, and in doing so joined the dots between two generations of experimental Pop music. Gabriel is well known for his pioneering work with synthesisers and samplers during the Eighties, and the admiration held by Palomo is more than apparent (the clip is currently featured in the current video section of Mercury Prize Recommends).

Neon Indian is by no means the only artist to incorporate the ambient approach to heavily synthed Pop music, in fact he is just one of a growing scene of producers and bands who embrace the ethereal. As is usually the way, the online media quickly offered up a number of different names for this nascent scene: Glo-Fi, Chillwave… whatever you choose to call it, there are some key artists to watch out for this summer.

In the wake of bands like Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective referencing the Shoegaze sound of the early Eighties, a small collection of producers started doing likewise with samplers and bedroom studios. The first to attract attention was South Carolina’s Toro y Moi, whose album ‘Causers of This’ presaged the sun-drenched sounds that would soon be cropping up all over the States.

Dayve Hawk is another lone producer getting all kinds of attention for his various projects: Weird Tapes is an outlet for his Electro output, Memory Cassette the moniker he uses for his more hazy, wistful productions, but it’s with Memory Tapes that he combines the two to great effect. The album Seek Magic is out now.

A large part of the music’s dynamic – especially with the artists described above and with the UK’s own The xx – comes from the use of samplers. Toro y Moi, or Chazwick Bundwick to give him his full name, puts it down to limited equipment and also the creative need for a particular sound “I wanted something that sounded like My Bloody Valentine ­hip-hop. I wasn’t thinking of beaches and suns” he told the Guardian.

It’s not all about bedroom producers though. Philadelphia’s A Sunny Day In Glasgow are a six-piece band who avoid ready categorisation and deconstruct Pop music, breaking it down into its component parts and revelling in sheer analogue euphoria. They play two dates in Nottingham and Manchester later this month.

Away from America there similarly minded Europeans with an ear for expansive Pop. jj are probably the most notable, given the massive response that’s met their three releases. jj no.1, their first single, was soon followed by debut album jj no.2. Keeping it simple, their second album, jj no.3, was released recently to huge acclaim. The duo, like former tourmates The xx, also turn in some quite accomplished cover versions of R&B hits, including hits by Akon, Lil’ Wayne and Jerimih.

As ever, this is by no means a comprehensive list of bands and artists, merely a brief introduction to a very loose scene that will no doubt play a large part in soundtracking the forthcoming Summer.

David Holmes career has seen him progress from DJ to Producer, then band leader and most recently – through a hugely successful working relationship with Steven Soedeburgh – one of Hollywood’s go to music arrangers. Forthcoming retrospective ‘The Dogs Are Parading’ cover much of his eclectic output, but also features some great remixes from the likes of fellow vinyl hoarder Andrew Weatherall, My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Sheilds and … There’s also a remix from String duo Geese, which features on this weeks Recommends.

Geese comprise of Emma Smith and Vincent Sipprell, who most recently worked on the Made In The Dark EP with Hot Chip and Robert Wyatt and Hot Chip. The band had asked the Soft Machine singer to cover a number of their songs, and enlisted Geese to help make what was already an intriguing collaboration all the more special. This was not the first time the Smith and Sipprell had worked with such titans of the British underground though: as founding members of the Elysian Quartet, one of the UK’s bravest and boldest proponents of Modern Classical, they’re constantly in demand.

Well known for their diversity, Elysian Quartet are as likely to be found playing in hallowed venues like the Purcell Room or St Martin’s in the Fields as they are at Gabriel Prokiev’s challenging Nonclassical night held in pubs around Shoreditch. They’ve recorded strings with a huge number of artists from many different genres, and are as comfortable in the studio recording with the likes of British Jazz legend Keith Tippets as with Beatboxer Killa Kella, but still find the time for more of their own musical pursuits.

Emma and Jennymay Logan, worked with Ben Davis on Basquiat Strings, whose album was one of the Mercury Prize albums of 2007. They are also key members of F-Ire Collective, a visionary troupe of musicians that counts Seb Rochford, Django Bates, Dave Okumu, Leo Taylor, Tom Herbert, Julia Biel and many others besides. Vincent Sipprell leads his own band Screamer on the Hill and cellist Laura Moody is also a singer songwriter. Her debut EP is out now.

The quartet are figurative to a vibrant scene, but there are plenty of other musicians who are pushing the boundaries of Modern Classical and Experimental music. Nights in London like Nonclassical and Blank Canvas are a great place to start investigating, as is Kings Place, one of the Capital’s newest and bravest live venues. Elysian Quartet will visit Kings Place in May to play a live score to the silent film ‘My Best Girl’

The immediacy of the internet and the accessibility allowed by the digital technology have combined, creating a unique breeding ground for a new generation of producers who have reinvented the underground. In the wake of Dubstep a scene has flourished that encompasses many different styles and genres, taking elements of anything from House, Garage and Techno to R&B, Post Rock and Modern Classical and creating something completely original, but impossible to categorise.

This week’s Recommends features releases and live gigs from some of this nascent scene’s finest proponents. Mount Kimbie are a pair of young London based producers who have caused a huge stir with their mix of side-chained beats and ambient soundscapes, their two previous EP’s released on the Hot Flush label, a definite hot bed for so much new talent. The label is also home to Joy Orbison, whose ‘Hyph Mngo’ was one of 2009’s defining track.

The duo are sometimes joined by James Blake, a singer and producer who is being tipped for great things by many underground commentators. Blake has only released a handful of tracks, but they’ve been enough to excite ears around the globe: the punchy ‘Air or the Lack Thereof’ set the bar, whilst his most recent work – a collaboration with the Leeds / London based producer Airhead – pushed his sound into more experimental territories. Next up will be a four track EP called ‘CMYK’ on R&S Records, released at the end of May.

Bristol, as ever, is proving to be an epicentre for this latest chapter in underground evolution. The city boasts many distinct and definitive sounds, from the likes of Appleblim and Peverelist, who were so figurative in Dubstep’s progression from outburst in to art form, to the next generation to pick up the mantle. Guido, Joker and Gemmy are occasionally known as The Purple Trilogy, after their description of the shared musical style they were exploring was easiest described as ‘Purple’ rather than calling on the tired and ill-fitting terms often coined by music journalists. Gemmy is the first of the three to release and album; Anidea is out next month on Peverelist’s Punch Drunk imprint.

Glasgow is another hotbed, with collectives like Lucky Me and Numbers dictating the pace to the rest of the UK, and indeed the rest of the world. Lucky Me’s highest profile producers are undoubtably Hudson Mohawke and Rustie, and both are informed by a love of early 90’s R&B. Starting a a similar starting point they pursue different paths; Rustie taking things to a bass heavy conclusion, whilst Hud Mo is known for favouring the abstract. Both have helped establish Glasgow as one of the most interesting Cities in the world and are surrounded by peers making similarly important music.

There is a never ending list of artists and producers worth investigating, but like with any strand of underground music there are some key label that consistently release great music and help keep this seemingly nameless scene moving constantly forwards: Kode 9’s Hyperdub imprint was the catalyst that kicked everything  off, and is still at the forefront when it comes to innovation (check the debut longplayer from Ikonika if proof were needed); favouring the heavier side of expression, Planet Mu has released tracks by some of the most important players on the scene and is currently home to Starkey and Slugabed; Untold’s productions seamlessly fuse Garage and Dubstep, the releases on his Hemlock Recordings label are similarly impeccable; the aforementioned Punch Drunk is always a label to trust, as is Appleblim’s Applepips imprint; also running out of Bristol is Joker’s Kapsize label, home to all things Purple; finally, Werk Discs is home to Lone, Lukid and label boss Actress, whilst Rinse FM’s ambassador of all things leftfield Alexander Nut is the brains behind Eglo, the label that brought the world the excellent Floating Points and brings rising talents Funkineven and Fatima to the fore in 2010.

This year Glastonbury Festival celebrates its 40th birthday, and if the released the full line-up is anything to go by the 2010 event looks like being Worthy Farm’s biggest and best yet.

The past few years have seen some of the biggest names in the music industry take to Pyramid Stage, with the likes of Jay Z and Bruce Springsteen entertain the 200,000 strong crowd. This year sees headline slots from U2, who’ve famously never played there before, Muse and soul legend Stevie Wonder. Other acts lined up to rock the main stage include Dizzee Rascal, Vampire Weekend, Scissor Sisters, Snoop Dogg and festival favourites Faithless.

The Other Stage welcomes two acts who helped define British dance music, albeit from very different ends of the spectrum: Pet Shop Boys and Orbital will headline Saturday and Sunday respectively. The second stage will also feature Barclaycard Mercury Prize album artists La Roux, Florence + the Machine and Hot Chip, who all take the stage in succession on Friday night.

One of the big changes to this year’s billing is the inclusion of the West Holts Stage, formerly known as JazzWorld. As was the case with its previous incarnation, the stage will be the primary destination for anyone with tastes broader than Rock, Indie and Pop, but the name change will hopefully go someway to reflect the Festival’s growing diversity. A Glastonbury spokesperson explained the thinking behind loosing the JazzWorld moniker. “It was never a Jazz plus World stage, let alone a world of Jazz!”. The newly christened arena features headline spots from the mighty Mos Def, George Clinton and Rodrigo y Gabriella.

Just the list of stages is exhaustive, let alone the number of bands, artists and DJ’s performing: the Park Stage and John Peel Stage will as both showcase the freshest new bands, whilst East Dance and West Dance cover pretty much every genre under the sun. The Acoustic Stage and Avalon Stage cater for more mellifluous musical styles and The Old Queens Head features some of the Capital’s best loved Indie acts, but as everyone knows the best bit about Glastonbury is always the stuff that happens in between that makes it the best of all the many, many festivals that will be taking place this summer.

For the full line up visit the Glastonbury website

In 2007 years ago Chris Brown, an employee of Bull Moose Records in the picturesque North Eastern state of Maine, came up with an idea that would fast turn in to one of independent music retailers biggest annual events. With the help of fellow record store owner Eric Levin, founder of  legendary Criminal Records in Athens, GA, Record Store Day began the following year with Metallica playing a free show at San Francisco’s Rasputin Music. Similar events took place all over the States and at some of the UK’s best loved independents, including Picadilly, Rough Trade, Jumbo Records and Spillers in Cardiff, the worlds oldest record shop.

In a short space of time Record Store Day has become a well celebrated event, with artists and labels recognising the importance of independent retailers and music fans relishing the opportunity to avail themselves of highly limited and highly sought after vinyl editions whilst watching a wealth of bands giving intimate in-store performances. This year the list of bands, shops and labels getting involved is sprawling to say the least, promising to make Record Store Day 2010 one of the best yet.

Both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones will be involved, with The Beatles releasing ‘Paperback Writer’ with its original B side ‘Rain’, whilst Mick and the gang will unveil a previously unreleased track ‘Plundered My Soul’. Recorded during the sessions for ‘Exile on Main St.’ the track will be the first from a reissued version of the album that’s out later this year.

The Stones and The Beatles aren’t the only legends involved in this year’s event: Black Sabbath will be sharing a 12″ with aforementioned Metal icons Metallica. ‘Paranoid’ is far and away one of the Midlands band’s best known hits, but they’ll be releasing a previously unreleased version of the song with alternate lyrics. Meanwhile Hetfield and Co. will sport an UNKLE remix of ‘Frantic’ from 2003’s St Anger.

Sonic Youth will re-release their compilation ‘Hits Are For Squares’ on vinyl for the first time, with contemporaries like Radiohead and Beck selecting their favourite Sonic Youth songs. This special release with also see the band themselves pick a track, the brand new ‘Slow Revolution’. The Beastie Boys are being a little more surreptitious with their Record Store Day Release however, pressing up a 1000 white label 7″s containing brand new material.

There are going to be literally hundreds of releases specially created for this years event, and twice as many bands giving in-store performances, but the rules are simple: no Record Store Day release will be available online, so if you want to get your hands on a seriously limited edition piece of plastic, the only way you’re going to do so is to get down to your nearest independent and show your support!

Manchester has more than its fair share of cutting edge arts and culture festivals, with In The City and the biennial Manchester International Festival bringing all kinds of talent to town. One of the city’s longest running events has undergone something of a transformation: Futuresonic, the groundbreaking event that brings together the worlds of music, art, technology and social innovation has built up an international profile and a global network of artists and experimentalists over its 15 year history, but this year it becomes FutureEverything 2010.

Still welcoming in excess of 75,000 to it’s many events, exhibitions, concerts and conferences, FutureEverything now incorporates a unique international award split in to four categories spanning Artworks, Software, Social Innovations and Technology. Running alongside that though is the ever inventive festival that has brought some of the best known names in leftfield music to Manchester: Philip Glass, Murcof, Kode 9, Anti-Pop Consortium, 4hero, Battles, Graham Massey, Jamie Lidell, Ladytron, Matthew Herbert and Skream have all appeared in previous years, and the 2010 line-up is just as exemplary.

As reported in this week’s Recommends Congolese underground icons Konono No. 1 will be headlining one of the festival’s biggest shows. The band from Kinshasa formed over 25 years ago, performing their highly individual take on Bazombo Trance. Using traditional thumb pianos known as likembés the band’s signature sound derives from the rest of their set-up: using sheets of scrap metal for percussion and building their own microphones from found magnets and car parts, their sound is raw and at times atonal and is as in keeping with experimental artists like John Cage or Can as more traditional African acts. They have won over many fans over the years, including Herbie Hancock and Bjork, who have both performed with the band.

Another exciting name appearing on this years line-up is the prodigious Kyle Hall, a producer who has breathed new life in Detroit Techno over the past 3 years. Following in the footsteps of legends like Moodyman, Metro Area and Theo Parrish, Hall’s deep and distinctive productions have been hailed for the way they inventively mix the sounds of classic Detroit with elements of contemporary Dance music. What makes his progress up the ranks of international acclaim all the more impressive is his tender age: still yet to turn 20, Hall has been DJing since he was 10 years old. For an insight in to Hall’s work and a history of the Dance music that originates in his hometown of Detroit, a recent article XLR8R makes for some essential reading.

The rest of the bill is equally impressive, with appearances from prolific Syrian singer Omar Souleyman, Hyperdub’s King Midas Sound, Plaid, who present an evening of psycho-acoustic experimentalism, and an evening of Future Garage, Tropical and UK Funky featuring Roska, L-Vis 1990 and Dusk & Blackdown.

For more information visit the FutureEverything website.

Anaîs Mitchell, a singer-songwriter from Vermont, lived much of her early life as a troubadour, travelling around the Middle East, Europe and Latin America. These travels have not only gone on to influence the sound of her music, but they have also informed her lyrical style, her poetic and free-flowing delivery evoking a feeling of the literary and journalistic.

Mitchell’s latest album is easily her most conceptually ambitious: Hadestown is, in Mitchell’s own words “the story of Orpheus and Eurydice set in a post-apocalyptic Depression-era America”… no small undertaking, but one in which Mitchell, accompanied by an accomplished team of musicians, has been more than successful in retelling.

Performed originally as a Folk Opera, Hadestown now sees a full album release thanks to Ani DiFranco, the alt-icon who signed Mitchell to her label Righteous Babe Label in 2007. DiFranco, a hugely prolific Grammy winning artist herself, appears on the album playing the role of Persephone, the strong-willed subversive wife of Hades.

She isn’t the only well known name to appear on Hadestown; Justin Vernon, better known as Bon Iver takes the lead as Orpheus. In classic Greek legend Orpheus totes a lyre, singing his way in to the underworld. In this contemporary version Orpheus still sings his way through the tragic tale, but in keeping with the Amerciana theme Vermont travels through the dustbowl of Hadestown with his trusty banjo by his side.

Ben Knox Miller of The Low Anthem also contributes to the record, playing the role of the messenger Hermes, whilst god of the underworld Hades is played by gravel voiced Folk hero Greg Brown.  Brown’s name mightn’t be familiar to many, but is loved by some of the most influential artists in American music. Having appeared regularly on legendary US radio show A Prairie Home Companion, Brown’s songs have been regularly covered by the likes of Willie Nelson, Jack Johnson, Carlos Santana and Joan Baez.

The album, which Mitchell wrote and arranged with collaborator and musical director Michael Chorney, is an ambitious and atmospheric record, steeped in musical heritage and rich with drama. Melding together Folk, Bluegrass, Blues, Classical, Country and Americana, Mitchell creates an unforgettable picture of Hadestown, conveying  the bitter-sweet love story  through unforgettable melodies and plainspoken poetry.

Find out more here