Barclays Mercury Music Prize 2011 – King Creosote and Jon Hopkins ‘Diamond Mine’

So the Mercury Music Awards 2011 are approaching us and sorry to spoil the ending for you but Adele wins. We all knew that though, right? I was planning on listening to all the albums that were nominated and writing a bit about each of them but I decided against it because it would take up a lot of time, cost a lot of money/downloading points and would involve me listening to the whole of Metronomy’s album (don’t know what it’s called; probably Jejune); I couldn’t put myself through all that. Instead I listened to only two of the nominated albums; James Blake’s ‘James Blake’ and King Creosote & Jon Hopkins’ ‘Diamond Mine,’ the latter of which I will now blog about.

It seems that ‘Diamond Mine’ contains mainly old, unreleased King Creosote songs that have been re-recorded by Jon Hopkins who has also added his own piano and percussive sounds where he deemed necessary. There is a theme of growing old throughout the album (not growing old like becoming an adult but growing old like becoming bald and forgetful) and the feelings that surround that. Listen with no background noise whatsoever and prepare to be taken hand in hand with Creosote and Hopkins into their own wee world.

This may seem off topic but hopefully it has a point – I was leaving my granny’s nursing home the other day and a wonderful thing happened – I put ‘Diamond Mine’ on in the car and while the opening song ‘First Watch’ was playing, an old couple walked past. I had bumped into them sitting on a bench earlier but this time the lady was helping her husband across the path and back to the nursing home entrance while each note from ‘First Watch’s’ piano hauntingly echoed over every step the pair took like a real life music video. It was a beautiful moment.

I really wanted King Creosote and Jon Hopkins’ ‘Diamond Mine’ to win the Mercury Music Prize but I don’t begrudge Adele her victory; her vocals are  outstanding and she seemed really nice on that new Jonathon Ross show. Don’t know why she didn’t get more talking time; must have been because Sarah Jessica Parker and Lewis Hamilton are so interesting.

Anyway, why not buy ‘Diamond Mine’ here.

Or if you haven’t heard it yet here’s a video of the pair playing a couple of songs from the album and a couple that aren’t, live in some store. I thieved it from another blog that is probably much more interesting and better written than this one. Actually why not read it here?

Noooo I cannot work with embed codes for much longer; they are driving me crazy. Just follow the link above if you want to see that video, here’s a different video for their single ‘Bubble’:

I’ll leave you with a list of the nominated artists and albums. Good luck to you all, especially King Creosote & Jon Hopkins and congratulations to Adele.

Adele – 21

Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi

Elbow – Build A Rocket Boys!

Everything Everything – Man Alive

Ghostpoet – Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam

Gwilym Simcock – Good Days At Schloss Elmau

James Blake – James Blake

Katy B – On A Mission

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mine

Metronomy – The English Riviera

PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

Tinie Tempah – Disc-Overy

‘The English Riviera’ – that’s it.