Klaxons win Mercurys 2007

Great article that sheds some good light. I've wondered about that for a while really.

I will say though, if Lauren Laverne and Conor McNicholas had not been on the panel then the Klaxons would definitely not have won. I can't help but feel that those two, no matter what their roots are, have been brainwashed into the full-time promotion of pretty bland indie music as their jobs dictate it.

I suspect that's how The View ended up in the nominations for an album that's woefully lacking in originality and cohesion. If their inclusion was a tokenistic nod North of the border then why didn't they give that to the wonderful James Yorkston or the badly in need of a break Aliens?

Even if they had to pick an album by a Scottish act that was a debut, sold well reaching the higher end of the album chart, produced top 10 singles and is loved by Radio 1 then "Costello Music" should've been up. It wipes the floor with The View's album. Not that I think it should particularly have been nominated....

Agree that it's a good article!

Hindsight is a wonderful thing......

The Klaxons, Myths of the Near Future
* (1 star out of 5)
(Rinse/Polydor)
Alex Macpherson
Friday January 26, 2007
The Guardian

Just in time for the release of their debut album, the Klaxons have distanced themselves from the term "new rave". It's just as well, for there's almost nothing on Myths of the Near Future that would suggest more than a passing familiarity with old rave. There are a few electronic sounds, less integrated into the music than taped on to it, and a heavy-handed cover of Grace's classic Not Over Yet, which drains it of its original blissful ecstasy.

For the most part, though, the album is a mess of clumsy beats that never settle into a groove, lurching shout-along chants more suited to the football stadium than the dancefloor and unpleasant-sounding, overdriven bass. The songs descend the same chords repeatedly and ponderously, as if the band were falling down the same flight of stairs over and over again.
Most unforgivably, there's the appalling production, with its curious emphasis on nasty, screaming treble. Stellar remixes from Simian Mobile Disco and Erol Alkan have shown that the Klaxons' music is redeemable - by removing all trace of the original. But, given the current creative fertility of house and techno music, indie chancers trying to pass this ropey stuff off as a dance revival is insulting and pointless.



Personally I (rather boringly) agree with Alex Turner that Amy Winehouse should have won.


Amy Winehouse - Love Is A Losing Game (Mercury performance)

I like their album a lot and I would consider it among the best of the year, but COME ON! " border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />

It's not as if they need the exposure. Instead, New Young Pony Club should have won with their brilliant, fresh and innovative album which deserves more attention.

I think your wrong TIP, Klaxons album is inotive and exciting...

But it shouldnt of won, Arctics is by far and away the best album ive heard ever

QUOTE(space @ Sep 5 2007, 04:56 PM)

i m glad they did...very good album...like it or not at least it doesnt sound like most brit indie c**p bands these days
btw,
in my opinion:
1)artics
2)amy
3)klaxons

QUOTE(J♦Ñη¥ @ Sep 7 2007, 07:52 PM)

I think your wrong TIP, Klaxons album is inotive and exciting...

But it shouldnt of won, Arctics is by far and away the best album ive heard ever

If you like a band who sound like a second rate Pop Will Eat Itself/early Jesus Jones act with a loud bass guitar then good luck, but they were appalling on the Live Mercury Music awards show, the guitarist did not even have his guitar tuned in properly ffs.

Maybe it would sound better if I took ecstacy, but I don't do narcotics.

However even Alex Turner disagrees with you

QUOTE(thisispop @ Sep 5 2007, 09:06 PM)

I applaud Alex Turner for telling it how it is (on Radio 2's Radcliffe & Maconie show, just now pre 9PM via phone - proving that he is a legend in the making on a par with John Lydon, Morrissey, Noel Gallagher & Jarvis Cocker):

"The Klaxons winning is a bit like when M-People won" (when they beat Radiohead's OK Computer in 1997)

"The album sounds alright, but the songs are a bit samey"

"Amy should have won it easily hands down, but they (the judges & sponsors - Nationwide Building Society) don't want to give it to her because of all her problems as it would send out the wrong message.."

As for the Klaxons claims that they deserved it "It's a bit rich calling Amy's album retro sounding, then claiming to try to produce something that feels like it came from the future. When it's your album that contains a f***ing cover of a 10 year old dance track".

QUOTE(Aly @ Sep 7 2007, 07:30 PM)

I like their album a lot and I would consider it among the best of the year, but COME ON! " border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />

It's not as if they need the exposure. Instead, New Young Pony Club should have won with their brilliant, fresh and innovative album which deserves more attention.

It's not supposed to "give exposure". It's supposed to reward quality...

QUOTE(RabbitFurCoat @ Sep 8 2007, 07:28 PM)

It's not supposed to "give exposure". It's supposed to reward quality...

What I said still applies then, I reckon.

Well yes, but no decision will please everyone...

There's a phrase I want but I can't think of it. URGH.