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Mercury Prize winner!

Posted at 9:15 PM on September 9, 2008 by Mac Wilson

I felt it would be appropriate to follow up on the Mercury Prize, being as I published an entry about the nominees back in July. The winner is...

Elbow, for their album The Seldom Seen Kid. The Mercury Prize, awarded to the best UK/Irish album from the past year, usually throws some curveballs, but this year's result is still being regarded as an upset, considering other nominees included Radiohead, the Last Shadow Puppets, Adele, and Robert Plant & Allison Krauss. Personally, I'm thrilled with this result. Elbow have been producing melancholy, affecting, dreamy rock music for the last two decades, without ever crossing into bombast or treacle, as have many of their contemporaries. Lead singer Guy Garvey's voice is a dead ringer for that of Peter Gabriel. We've had a couple tracks from The Seldom Seen Kid in rotation this spring and summer. While these songs are at first glance a little too low-key, they've certainly worked their way into my head; the album has gradually become one of my favorites of the year. Elbow's songs are rather measured and drawn-out, yet rewarding in the end. I was pleased to see an album that requires patience, such as The Seldom Seen Kid, win recognition.

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