Elbow Win Mercury Music Prize
By Chris Green
THE ROCK band Elbow were last night crowned the surprise winners of this years Nationwide Mercury Prize, for their fourth album The Seldom Seen Kid.
The five-piece, from Bury, fought off stiff competition from 11 other acts to win the 20,000 prize. It was the second time the band had been nominated for the award, after their debut album, Asleep In The Back, missed out in 2001 to PJ Harvey.
Accepting the trophy from the host Jools Holland, Elbows front man, a distinctly dishevelled looking Guy Garvey, said: I know Im supposed to be cool and say something coy but this is quite literally the best thing that has ever happened to us.
However, the result is likely to anger fans of Radiohead and their lead singer, Thom Yorke.
The band have been nominated for the award four times but have yet to win. This year, the Oxford outfits seventh album, In Rainbows, generated vast amounts of publicity after the band decided to let fans decide what to pay to download it. Once the hubbub died down, critics hailed it as one of their best releases.
Elbows album was one of about 240 entries submitted to the Mercury judges this year, making it the most competitive contest to date. The Seldom Seen Kid, with its epic, melancholy melodies and sparse electronica, enjoyed a warm reception upon its release in March. It is also the bands most popular album to date, reaching No 5 in the UK charts.
One of the Mercury judges, Jude Rogers, said: It is such a passionate record. Its from the heart, its from the gut. Its beautiful, its romantic, its dark, its gorgeous, its just a really wonderful record.
The awards gala at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London featured performances from many of the nominatees. The Last Shadow Puppets the side project of Arctic Monkeys front man Alex Turner opened the show with an epic orchestral backing, followed later by British Sea Power, who managed to raise a few eyebrows through their use of an onstage air raid siren.
The competition was established in 1992 as an alternative to the music industry- dominated Brit Awards, with the aim of championing British music by promoting the years 12 best albums. Judges are supposed to pay no attention to album sales or the artists perceived popularity, instead focusing purely on the music.
However, the prize always has a beneficial effect on the album sales of its short listed artists, especially the lesser-known acts.
Elbow can now expect to vast revenues in the wake of their victory, but so far this years financial success story has been Portico Quartet, a modern jazz outfit from south London. The group have already seen sales of their album, Knee-Deep In The North Sea, rocket by 105 per cent in the two months since they were nominated.
Elbow were not the only ones celebrating last night. The bookmaker William Hill had been nervous about the potential payout from an enormous bet placed on another of the nominees, the south London dubstep artist Burial, by an unknown pundit.
The wager, thought to be the biggest in the history of the Mercurys, prompted Hills to slash the odds on Burial winning from 6/ 1 to 4/7. If he had won, they company would have been facing a five- figure payout.
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