Arctic Monkeys win the Mercury Prize
The Times September 06, 2006
The Artic Monkeys, led by their lead singer Alex Turner, right, receive the Mercury Prize (BEN GURR)
Mercury falls for Arctic Monkeys' tales of street life
By Adam Sherwin, Media Correspondent
FOR once the critics and the public are united. Arctic Monkeys last night took the Nationwide Mercury Prize for their record-breaking debut album.
The Sheffield group accepted the Album of the Year award for Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. Their acerbic tales of Sheffield street life have sold one million copies and even made inroads into the American chart.
This year’s Mercury Awards was the most competitive yet, with all 12 contenders appearing at the Grosvenor House ceremony. Radiohead’s Thom Yorke even gave his first televised solo performance in support of his entry, The Eraser.
The jury of music experts could not see beyond the Arctic Monkeys, describing their album as: “Great songs, astonishingly performed. Essential.”
The band, which is normally shy of award ceremonies, attended because they believed the Mercury Prize rewarded good music. However, only three original band members took the stage, with the departure of Andy Nicholson, their bassist, reflecting the strain that stardom has brought.
The band said that they would donate the £20,000 prize to charity but would ask Nicholson what he would like to do with his share.
They were keen to demonstrate that they were not as moody as they have been portrayed by the media. Matt Helders, the Monkeys’ drummer, praised the award’s sponsors saying: “I’ve got a bank account at Nationwide. Thanks for the support.”
Alex Turner, the Arctic Monkeys’ lead singer, said: “This award doesn’t normally go to a band which has sold as many records as we have. But we are very pleased with it because it’s really about cool tunes. That’s what we try to do. Not tricks, too many people try to do tricks.”
The Mercury award caps a successful year for the Arctic Monkeys. They have already won Best New Act at the Brit Awards and the NME Awards for Best New Band and Best British Band.
Despite the critical acclaim there have been questions asked about the band’s long-term future. Their current single, Leave Before the Lights Come On, failed to match its predecessors, I Bet You Look Good On the Dance Floor and When the Sun Goes Down, which both went straight to No 1 in the singles chart.
Even though the Arctic Monkeys found a replacement bassist, Nick O’Malley, to perform at their headline show at Reading Festival, the NME wondered whether they had been overstretched by the demands of international touring and needed to take time off to refresh their musical output.
This is the fourth consecutive year that an independent label has beaten the big corporations to take the prize. The Arctic Monkeys are signed to the Domino label, which triumphed two years ago with Franz Ferdinand. The award has been used traditionally to boost sales of records that had failed to match the global success of Arctic Monkeys. The jury had opted for the clear favourite after last year choosing a rank outsider, the gender dysmorphic balladeer Antony and The Johnsons.
Previous winners, such as Gomez, Ms Dynamite and drum and base artist Ronisize failed to capitalise commercially on their success, leading some to call the BBC televised awards a curse.
Also nominated for the Mercury Prize were Guillemots for Through the Windowpane, Hot Chip for The Warning, Muse for Black Holes and Revelations and Editors for The Back Room.
The Nationwide Mercury Prize 2006 will be broadcast on BBC Two on Friday at 11.35pm.
thetimesonline.co.uk
The Times September 06, 2006
The Artic Monkeys, led by their lead singer Alex Turner, right, receive the Mercury Prize (BEN GURR)
Mercury falls for Arctic Monkeys' tales of street life
By Adam Sherwin, Media Correspondent
FOR once the critics and the public are united. Arctic Monkeys last night took the Nationwide Mercury Prize for their record-breaking debut album.
The Sheffield group accepted the Album of the Year award for Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. Their acerbic tales of Sheffield street life have sold one million copies and even made inroads into the American chart.
This year’s Mercury Awards was the most competitive yet, with all 12 contenders appearing at the Grosvenor House ceremony. Radiohead’s Thom Yorke even gave his first televised solo performance in support of his entry, The Eraser.
The jury of music experts could not see beyond the Arctic Monkeys, describing their album as: “Great songs, astonishingly performed. Essential.”
The band, which is normally shy of award ceremonies, attended because they believed the Mercury Prize rewarded good music. However, only three original band members took the stage, with the departure of Andy Nicholson, their bassist, reflecting the strain that stardom has brought.
The band said that they would donate the £20,000 prize to charity but would ask Nicholson what he would like to do with his share.
They were keen to demonstrate that they were not as moody as they have been portrayed by the media. Matt Helders, the Monkeys’ drummer, praised the award’s sponsors saying: “I’ve got a bank account at Nationwide. Thanks for the support.”
Alex Turner, the Arctic Monkeys’ lead singer, said: “This award doesn’t normally go to a band which has sold as many records as we have. But we are very pleased with it because it’s really about cool tunes. That’s what we try to do. Not tricks, too many people try to do tricks.”
The Mercury award caps a successful year for the Arctic Monkeys. They have already won Best New Act at the Brit Awards and the NME Awards for Best New Band and Best British Band.
Despite the critical acclaim there have been questions asked about the band’s long-term future. Their current single, Leave Before the Lights Come On, failed to match its predecessors, I Bet You Look Good On the Dance Floor and When the Sun Goes Down, which both went straight to No 1 in the singles chart.
Even though the Arctic Monkeys found a replacement bassist, Nick O’Malley, to perform at their headline show at Reading Festival, the NME wondered whether they had been overstretched by the demands of international touring and needed to take time off to refresh their musical output.
This is the fourth consecutive year that an independent label has beaten the big corporations to take the prize. The Arctic Monkeys are signed to the Domino label, which triumphed two years ago with Franz Ferdinand. The award has been used traditionally to boost sales of records that had failed to match the global success of Arctic Monkeys. The jury had opted for the clear favourite after last year choosing a rank outsider, the gender dysmorphic balladeer Antony and The Johnsons.
Previous winners, such as Gomez, Ms Dynamite and drum and base artist Ronisize failed to capitalise commercially on their success, leading some to call the BBC televised awards a curse.
Also nominated for the Mercury Prize were Guillemots for Through the Windowpane, Hot Chip for The Warning, Muse for Black Holes and Revelations and Editors for The Back Room.
The Nationwide Mercury Prize 2006 will be broadcast on BBC Two on Friday at 11.35pm.
thetimesonline.co.uk
