Bat for Lashes
Kasabian and Florence & The Machine have been installed as early favourites for the 2009 Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize after the shortlist was announced this afternoon. Both come in with odds of 5/1, with the next favourites being Bat For Lashes, La Roux and Glasvegas, who all have odds of 6/1. Kasabian’s tag as favourites continues the trend of traditional guitar-led bands winning the prize after a string of solo acts came out on top between 1998 and 2004.
The full list of nominations is as follows:
Bat For Lashes – Two Suns
Florence And The Machine – Lungs
Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires
Glasvegas – Glasvegas
The Horrors – Primary Colours
La Roux – La Roux
Led Bib – Sensible Shoes
The Invisible – The Invisible
Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew
Kasabian – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Speech Debelle – Speech Therapy
Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Twice Born Men
As ever, the list has sparked wide debate, with one of the most surprising ommissions being Doves‘ recent release ‘Kingdom Of Rust‘, which was widely tipped to be nominated.
The annual event was established in 1992 by the British Phonographic Industry and British Association of Record Dealers. The shortlist is decided by a panel consisting of musicians, critics, journalists and industry executives, who also meet on the night of the award ceremony to decide a winner. Primal Scream’s classic album ‘Screamadelica‘ was the first to win the prize, which has also been awarded to the likes of Suede, Pulp and Franz Ferdinand.
The prize, which was won last year by Elbow’s ‘The Seldom Seen Kid‘, will be awarded at a presentation on September 8th.
Here’s more on Mercury prize contenders Florence and the Machine :