PJ Harvey wins the prestigious Mercury Prize for best British album of the year.
Late yesterday it was announced that PJ Harvey is this year’s recipient of England’s prestigious Mercury Prize for best British album of the year, reinforcing the notion that basically all developed nations have better national music awards than America. Or at least classier.
PJ Harvey’s “Let England Shake” beat out the likes of Adele, James Blake, Elbow, and others to earn the vaunted award. Last year’s prize went to The xx for their celebrated breakthrough debut. Canada’s Polaris Prize is will be announced in twelve days—nominees include Arcade Fire for “The Suburbs” (duh), Austra, Braids, Destroyer, Timber Timbre, The Weeknd, and more. You’ll notice that noted Canuck Justin Bieber did not make the nominees’ list.
Can you imagine if the Grammys or the MTV VMAs were this high-brow? Then again, if that were the case, we wouldn’t be a country who was maybe considering electing Rick Perry as president.
Below, take a listen to “The Words That Maketh Murder,” a track from the Mercury Prize-winning “Let England Shake.” And keep an eye out for the Polaris Prize winner announcement later this month.
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[...] shares on her post-relationship longing in a manner so public, only Nick Cave‘s pining for Polly Jean Harvey on “Black Hair” springs to mind when thinking of something as candid. You actually feel [...]