Behind the Mercurys

Find out more about the 12 Mercury nominees by listening to a special series of reports by 6 Music

08 September 2008 - In the twelve days leading up to the Mercury Music prize ceremony 6 Music have been running special reports giving a more detailed insight into the twelve acts shortlisted for the prestigious prize.

You can listen to them again by following the links below.

ADELE , 19

Persistently tagged ‘the next Amy Winehouse’, Adele Adkins was propelled into public consciousness hot on the heels of Lily Allen and Kate Nash. But the former Brit School student lived up to the hype by winning the critics choice Brit Award in February.

“There has been a lot of hype, and I think hype is the worst thing, but the hype has come from hometown glory, so it’s not like people are talking about me and they haven’t heard my music.”

Listen to the full story here .


ALISON KRAUSS & ROBERT PLANT , Raising Sand

The Led Zeppelin singer has a longer recorded history than any other nominee this year, but has put aside his rock legend status to team up with bluegrass vocalist Alison Krauss.

“When I first got a call from him I was trying to put the baby to sleep so I had to talk really quietly and not sounded excited at all, so I wouldn’t wake the baby up. And he said ‘Well, I’ll be going now.’”

Listen to the full story here .


BURIAL, Untrue

Radio One’s dubstep queen Mary Ann Hobbs was one of the only people who knew the real identity of the anonymous producer Burial.

She told 6 Music: “This is what people have found so enchanting about Burial, the fact that he is such an incredibly mysterious character. He guards his privacy very, very closely and even within the dubstep scene itself, nobody really know what he looks like. There’s only about four of us in the world who know.”

However, soon after the nominations were revealed, the musician came forward and revealed his identity on his Myspace page with a message and a photo.

His statement read: “Over the last year the unknown thing became an issue so I’m not into it any more. I’m a low key person I just want to make some tunes and nothing else. My name’s Will Bevan I’m from south London I’m just keeping my head down and I’m just gonna go and finish my next album.”

Listen to the full story here .


ESTELLE, Shine

The female UK MC Estelle sprang from performing in London clubs with the likes of Roots Manuva.

She exploded onto the scene this year with her album Shine but unbeknown to most, she’s been knocking on the doors of the big wigs for years.

Her big break came in 2004 when she released her solo debut album, The 18 ^th Day but it is only really now that she is getting full recognition.

And it’s about time, says Dizzee Rascal: “Her story is good because she’s another one from the underground, upwards, working for so long. She’s been doing this for years and the world is watching her now, finally.”

Listen to the full story here .


ELBOW, The Seldom Seen Kid

We explore Elbow’s standing as a ‘band’s band’, looking into their commitment to songwriting which has earned them respect from other artists.

The self-depreciating vocalist Guy Garvey told 6 Music about the first time he heard that they were considered a ‘band’s band’: “When you’re a bass player out of work, or a drummer out of work or whatever, you put a sign up in the local guitar shop and if a band put one of those signs up saying, ‘influences include’ - its got to be bands that all of the members of the group agree on because you don’t wanna send out the wrong single. We always appeared on those which is great, and really flattering.”

Listen to the full story here .


LAURA MARLING, Alas I Cannot Swim

This talented female was just 16 when she started to get noticed and told us: “I started writing when I was a nipper and I started playing guitar when I was even more a nipper, when I was about 5, my dad plonked a guitar in my hand and I very willingly started playing it. And then I released two EP’s, one of which wasn ’t very good and one which was alright and then that album’s out.”

Recorded in a month and a half in West London, the stunning offering Alas I Cannot Swim was produced by the Noah And The Whale frontman Charlie Fink and Laura Marling’s one-time boyfriend.

Fink sang her praises when speaking to 6 Music: “It was just amazing seeing her progression over that year, the way she went from writing the songs she had at the start to writing the songs that got put on the album. It was phenomenal the distance she covered and it was great to be part of that, to have helped and been part of that process, it’s definitely something I’m gonna be very proud of for a while.”

Listen to the full story here .


NEON NEON , Stainless Style

One of the least conventional releases on this year’s list comes from a collaboration between Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys, and American producer Boom Bip. The duo’s cosmic, electronic affair follows the life story of John De Lorean, maker of the De Lorean car featured in the Back to the Future films.

Rhys explained how De Lorean came about: “Boom Bip presented me with these rather glassy sounding beeps and I couldn’t really project anything from my life onto those beeps and make it sound in any way credible.”

Listen to the full story here .


PORTICO QUARTET , Knee-Deep In The North Sea

These four Londoners give Jazz gets a very modern twist on record, but also gained a lot of attention and a dedicated fanbase by busking outside the National Theatre on the capital’s South Bank.

Milo from the band said: “We offer something different and maybe that plays a part in it. We’ve gone more of an indie way by playing bars and student venues, it isn’t really very normal for a jazz quartet to go that route.”

Listen to the full story here .


RACHEL UNTHANK & THE WINTERSET , The Bairns

All but unknown outside the folk scene, the four women from Northumberland led by Rachel Unthank are seen as the bright lights for a new folk generation. They’re bidding to be the first artists from the genre to win the prize.

Rachel said: “As far as music awards go, it’s one of the best because it’s about albums, it’s about music and not about how popular you are. It opens it up to the public at large to have a listen and see if they like what they hear.”

Listen to the full story here .


RADIOHEAD , In Rainbows

Denied the prize three times in the past, the Oxfordshire quintet’s seventh album boasts not only critical acclaim but also the unique claim to have allowed listeners to choose the price they paid for it. In Rainbows’ unconventional online release caused a stir and prompted a huge number of artists to rethink the way they release music.

Bassist Colin Greenwood said: “Our background is art school. We’re not music players, we’re inspired the music around us.”

Listen to the full story here .


THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS , Age of the Understatement

Alex Turner already has one Mercury prize under his belt as part of Arctic Monkeys, but his side project with Rascals’ singer Miles Kane had an even more meteoric rise to prominence than the Arctics. The album also had a more complex musical style, employing an orchestra and the services of Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford as producer and drummer.

Matt Helders from the Arctic Monkeys said: “It’s obviously different to what we do. It’s more epic, it sounds instantly more classic, like a big album.”

Listen to the full story here .


Rodrigo Davies and Georgie Rogers