21:01 – It’s Take That’s turn to take to the stage. And they clearly need no introduction, coming straight on after Kings of Leon finish their acceptance speech. They descend from the ceiling singing Greatest Day. They’re all wearing spectacles and look like geeks. Have I missed something?
21:06 – James Corden looks like a penguin in his suit, while Matthew Horne looks like he belongs in the 1980s. Nick Frost arrives on stage with very long, straggly hair to present the award for ‘British Live Act’. If Scouting for Girls win it, I swear I’ll scream. And the winner is… …read more

2009 has arrived so I’m actually overdue in rounding up my best of Brit Music Scene from 2008. Here we find out what the biggest stories and talking points between the months of July and September.
July
Most bands now love having their songs featured in video games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero, but Led Zeppelin made a stand against the grain by refusing permission for their songs to be used. Meanwhile, Mani claimed that Ian Brown was the main thing stopping a Stone Roses reunion from happening.
There were claims that John Lydon AKA Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols …read more

Elbow are a long-standing British group who have kind of passed me by so far, hence I’m only just reviewing this single, One Day Like This, even though it’s been out a few months. I’m sure I’m not alone in only really taking notice of the band after they won the 2008 Mercury Music Prize in September.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve actually been aware of Elbow for years now, partly because they hail from Manchester, where I currently reside, and partly because they have flirted with mainstream success without fully achieving global fame.
The band have been around an incredible 18 …read more

Elbow have won the 2008 Nationwide Mercury Music Prize, beating the likes of Radiohead, Adele, Estelle, and bookies favourite Burial. The Manchester band won the annual music industry award for their fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid.
The prize was contested by 12 of the best of British acts from this year, all of whom were considered to have released the best albums from the past 12 months. The nominees were announced back in July, when I expressed my desire for Radiohead to win for In Rainbows. But it wasn’t to be.

The Mercury Music Prize, sponsored by Nationwide, is the annual award given to the best album by a British or Irish artist released in the previous 12 months. The ceremony isn’t until later in the year, but a short-list is first released, with the name of the 12 artists, and their albums, on it which the judges think are the best of British.

Having said that, the Mercury Music Prize has a history of choosing albums by up and coming artists, rather than necessarily widely known artists, and certainly not the best-selling ones. Which means there are always some huge surprises …read more