BARBELITH underground
 

Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.


Underground > Radio & Music >

Miss Dynamite - Mercury Prize Winner. Does it matter?

  
 
Shortfatdyke
10:50 / 24.09.02
I've been looking through the nominees and winners of the Mercury music prize over the last few years, and although it's not quite as dominated by rock as I thought it was, there are a hell of a lot of white blokes with guitars present.

This year's winner was north London garage/rnb singer (if I've got the genre wrong, please correct me - there's no website for Miss D and I'm in unknown territory here) Miss Dynamite. Not a white bloke with a guitar.

Is this important? Is it a breakthrough? Or is the Mercury Prize irrelevant anyway?
 
 
No star here laces
11:13 / 24.09.02
The mercury prize is irrelevant anyway.

It would be great if it felt like they'd given her the prize because they felt her entry was the best. But they didn't. They gave her the prize because they've been accused of ignoring urban music in the past, and with Niomi they get to have two for the price of one cos she's a girl too. And don't get me wrong, I think she's a great artist (although Booo! is her best record and isn't, I don't think, on the album), but that isn't why she won.

The whole credibility of the Mercury was destroyed by Talvin Singh winning a couple of years back...
 
 
angel
11:39 / 24.09.02
Lyra, at the risk of being really dumb ...

Why was it undermined by awarding the prize to Talvin Singh?

(Damn, I feel like I'm supposed to know the answer to this one, but I just don't )
 
 
Our Lady of The Two Towers
11:49 / 24.09.02
The Mercury Music Prize is awarded by a panel of music fatbeards and is fairly pointless. They've yet to explain how how the different genres could be judged equally and as yet no-one in the 'posh peoples category's of jazz or classical music have ever won, because that would be too elitist.

Plus every artist or group that wins immediately has problems on their follow up, pace Portishead, Stone Roses (IIRC), Pulp, Roni Size...
 
 
No star here laces
12:11 / 24.09.02
Well, the general consensus on Talvin Singh was that he had made a mediocre record that, despite a huge amount of hype in the press, had failed to acheive any notable commercial success. It was, however, an ideal piece of tokenism for guilty liberals, being made by an asian and all, allowing them to conveniently ignore a 20 year history of modern asian music (bhangra) in favour of a distinctly watered-down and unoriginal splicing of indian instruments with drum and bass.

Come and get me, Talvin Singh fans...

Oh. There aren't any. Oh well.
 
 
rizla mission
12:26 / 24.09.02
The Mercury Music Prize is a joke.

"The Best British Album of the Year .. that's got a major label marketing budget, isn't too noisy or weird for us middleaged folks, is on at 3-for-the-shirt-on-your-motherfucking-back at HMV and got good write-ups in the Observer."

Honestly, the nominated artists this year fell almost entirely into the "too boring for me to even expend energy remembering their name" category..

PJ Harvey's still good though, of course.
 
 
No star here laces
12:33 / 24.09.02
Actually, riz, that's a bit unfair on Joanna McGregor and Guy Barker who as classical and jazz musicians respectively don't exactly get the benefit of a big marketing spend. They could however righteously protest that the Mercury committe never have any intention of awarding the prize to a jazz or classical record, for fear of being seen as elitist, so why do they bother shortlisting the requisite one classical record every year?
 
 
rizla mission
12:52 / 24.09.02
I did say almost all as a get-out clause.

Actually, I've got nothing against Ms. Dynamite or David Bowie either, although they don't exactly set my world alight..
 
 
Goodness Gracious Meme
14:25 / 24.09.02
the Mercury does manage to cram about ten types of tokenism into one award. However I'm still pleased for Ms.D.

But did anyone see Joanna McGregor's performance on the show?Fantastic stuff, innovative, exciting, noisy, not particularly marketing friendly, all in all. But, oops, classical, so not really worth much consideration.
 
 
The Strobe
15:42 / 24.09.02
The Peej award last was a desperate "hell, who shall we give it to? Oh, sod it, to the good album" attepmt.

I was relatively impressed with this year's awarding, simply because of the marvel that is Dy-Na-Mi-Tee... but to be honest, I was really rooting (if you'll pardon the pun) for Roots Manuva. However, I'm glad he didn't win, because now I don't have to feel guilty, and continually say "I heard him before he won the prize, you know".

Which is the kind of wankerish thing I do.
 
 
angel
15:44 / 24.09.02
Errrr ... [whispering] I really like the Talvin Singh album! [whispering]

*** tumble weeds pass in the night ***

I see the tokenism and indeed have wondered just how it is supposed to work, as the judging criteria are never published or made public in anyway.

Is it redeemable? Should it be redeemed? What would you have in it's place? Oh, and who pays for it anyway?
 
 
w1rebaby
17:00 / 24.09.02
angel, you make me think "who needs music prizes in the first place?" and to be honest, I can't see that any of the ones we have at the moment are at all valuable, since you can't trust the selection procedure or the judges to pick something that is of any quality. I think it's an intrinsic part of being a "major industry award" that you instantly become politically charged and open to label/industry pressure.

I'd rather see bands given publicity through championing by DJs and others whose taste you respect. I wouldn't buy anything because it had been given an award - who would? - and I can't say I'd never heard of anything that has won the Mercury, so it's not doing much good.

On the other hand, I might pick up some of the "token classical" stuff just for the hell of it. It's an area I'm not that familiar with developments in. Perhaps that's one benefit.
 
 
The Natural Way
07:49 / 25.09.02
...as for Talvin Singh, I don't know where I'm at. I just can't get a clear angle on that whole mid to late nineties beard 'n' bass/trip-beard scene.... Does my head in just thinking about it - the sheer BEARD! of it all....
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
10:15 / 25.09.02
The audacity of Aphex Beard fans calling Talvin Singh beardy is astounding... I like that album too, angel.

As for the girl from Archway... At least The Streets didn't win it.
 
 
The Natural Way
11:56 / 25.09.02
Aaah, but I'm not a big Aphex Twin fan; not anymore. I really like a lot of his old stuff, but I got into that when I was 15 - 17, and too young to really understand what bearding was all about. He used to make me RAVE and then...mmm...analoguebubblebathy chill out... Had nothing to do with beard. Anokha, The Blue Note, Straight no Chaser and TRIP-HOP have everything to do with rucksacks and beard. So there.
 
 
rizla mission
12:52 / 25.09.02
ooh, I didn't know Roots Manuva was nominated .. I like him, perhaps against my better judgement..
 
 
suds
14:12 / 25.09.02
sorry to be anal dudes, but it's ms dynamite!
i was really glad she won. i thought peej would be the only token female winner.
 
 
No star here laces
15:01 / 25.09.02
Yeah, but she sold out by not doing a garage album. 'S a shame cos she was the only MC out there with enough charisma to break garage to the hip hop/r'nb audience in the states...
 
 
Goodness Gracious Meme
15:46 / 25.09.02
*whispers* actually I have a bit of time for Talvin....
 
 
Goodness Gracious Meme
15:49 / 25.09.02
Oh come on, dallylady, the Blue Note did have its share of beard, but also ran hard drum and bass nights for about 1000 years before it became trendy... and was a lovely club space.

I still have a grudge again (spit)bluu for sullying its name
 
 
The Natural Way
08:05 / 26.09.02
Yeah, I know - I used to really enjoy the Blue Note and I was so Solid Steel at the time it hurt, but, for whatever reason, I feel bad about it all now. I think I immersed myself too completely in all that stuff, and made myself thoroughly sick of it...I overbearded. But it was that kind of scene - the kind of scene that encouraged the uberbeard. No...just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
 
 
penitentvandal
19:42 / 29.09.02
I bought John Taverner's 'Svyaati' after seeing an excerpt on the Mercury Prize ages ago. I've listened to it, oh, about five or six times since then, give or take three times.

It's not that it's a bad album - it's not - but, well, if you know Taverner, you'll know what I mean. It's intensely depressing. An hour of cellos and mourning chants...

But the point is, I did buy a classical album as a result of the Mercury prize. So it does *sometimes* happen.

Liked Ms Dynamite's first single, thought the second was pleasant in a cute way but not my thing. Sort of bored with the argument that she 'sold out' by not doing a 'proper' garage album, though. Purism - too old for it these days.
 
 
mikebee
06:36 / 30.09.02
word on the street is that she's working on an all-garage follow-up to be titled 'a little darker' with folks like ed case on the controls. if it's as good as that "Ramp" tune with Menta (of "Sounds of the Future" fame)then i'll be first in line.
 
  
Add Your Reply