Tonight is the night you've all most of you a few of you have been waiting for; it's the night when the 2006 Mercury Music Prize winner is announced, and what a heady group of albums are in the running.
In all, 12 albums are up for the Mercury Music Prize, from crap jazz to crap folk to a few surprisingly well-chosen albums. Don't forget that there's still a few hours for you to place a bet on who you think will win the Mercury Music Prize, too. And because we have trouble even counting to 12, we've got a Mercury Music Prize betting odds double header today, where we'll look at the two Mercury Music favourites.
So here are the Mercury Music Prize betting odds for Through The Window Pane by Guillemots and Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not by Arctic Monkeys…
Guillemots: Through The Window Pane – Here at hecklerspray we've been long-term admirers of Guillemots, and – like most things – our early frothing has started to turn into actual success for the band. If you've never heard of Guillemots, think of The Feeling but without the all-encompassing blandness of that band. Guillemots and The Feeling share the same love of big, unashamedly emotional love songs, but on Through The Window Pane Guillemots manage to imbue their tunes with a wayward experimentalism that gives the songs a wonky humanism that The Feeling just don't have. Take Made Up Love Song 43; it'd be a huge mainstream epic ballad if it wasn't for all the shaky recordings of fanfares, cheap keyboards, drum n bass interludes and snatches of accordion. Is it good? First time round, yes. After a few listens, a bit less so. This is called The Athlete Effect. Will it win the Mercury Music Prize? According to these odds Guillemots are second favourites, although we think that's a bit optimistic. Current Mercury Music Prize betting odds – 11/4
Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not – Psst, come here… we've discovered this band which might get quite big. They're called Arctic Monkeys. Don't call them The Arctic Monkeys, though, or their fans will get shitty with you. Oh, who are we kidding – Arctic Monkeys are massive, and NME readers have already voted it The Most Important Piece Of Music In The History Of Sound. In years to come churches will play Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not on a loop after theological scientists realise that it is the only thing that God ever listens to. Is it good? No, not really. Will it win the Mercury Music Prize? Once the Mercury Music Prize panel realise that Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is the favourite to win the Mercury Music Prize, they're almost guaranteed to shun it. Current Mercury Music Prize betting odds – Evens
[story by Stuart Heritage]