Couple of musiccy prizes/list lately which I shall pass brief judgement on.
Mercury Prize - I never have too much of a problem with the Mercury Prize - it generally seems quite an honourable institution which brings some decent albums to attention, and who cares who wins really, it's usually the wrong thing, but not that wrong.
This year's the first time in ages, even though I hardly ever actually agree with the winner, that I really felt it was a bad call.
Like, this year, I don't think there was really a stand-out album, of the ones I've listened to, but the Arlo Parks album Collapsed Into Sunbeams was the most hyped, the most mainstream probably, and, for me, the most disappointing.
She may make a great album in the future, but it really seemed the least deserving and least necessary this year.
The Laura Mvula album is an album I much prefer and this was her third nomination and she got dropped by her record label by e-mail and that would have just been a much more satisfying, pleasing result.
The Ghetts album, Conflict of Interest, has been far more acclaimed and is much more of a grand statement.
or Mogwai. That would have been cool too. Or Sault, or Black Country, New Road. The Arlo Parks win is a real so what. Is Dido the great influence on music in 2021 now?
And Rolling Stone updated its top 500 songs of all time this week. Don't have too much to say about it really. I didn't mind their top 500 albums from a few months ago. 500 Songs is just more impossible not to seem wildly wrong or conservative. The new orthodoxy is turning out to be as strong as the old orthodoxy, I suppose.
Respect was Number 1, which took me by surprise a bit, which i guess is a neat trick. I kind of forget Respect exists, it's such a cultural behemoth, I would never choose to listen to it, just because I never don't hear it. I mean, it's a great song. Can't complain, really,
Then Fight the Power, which is kind of cool. The other one in the top 10 that took me aback was Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. It's just never crossed my mind that that's a really really great song, and it's been around for 45 years, so why the sudden surge? Who knows ...
When I did my own 1001 songs list, 8 years ago or whatever, I was trying to be Rolling Stoney, or, at least, combine pitchfork and nme and rolling stone and everything else and just give a really orthodox list. Inevitably my own taste came through in patches, but there's a lot of the same stuff, so i can't really object.
I mean, there's no Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Joanna Newsom, Blur, Sleater-Kinney, SFA, National, Walkmen etc etc there's no sense of the stuff i really love but so be it.
But the only entry I genuinely bridled at was Heavy Metal Drummer as the only Wilco song, at, like, 420. Just so paltry. Such a minor Wilco song, just the poppy song from their greatest album, but, just seeing it there seemed a bit of an insult really.
It made me think I want to make a playlist of 500 songs that aren't on the list, but that's probably a bit pointless, as it's not like it would be mega-alternative.
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