There’s a stereotype that all Scots are brash, vocal misanthropes who will call a spade a spade even if it’s a trowel. And Alan McGee is unfortunately doing nothing to change that stereotype.

OK, so I’m quite opinionated, something which has cost me many friends over the years, and on Brit Music Scene I’ve even criticized some artists for their musical output or life choices. U2, mainly, but still, I have nothing on Mr. McGee.

Speech Debelle won the Mercury Music Prize in September. Her victory over Glasvegas and Florence and The Machine was a surprise, probably even to her. The problem is that the win seems to have gone to her head a little. Thankfully, Take That fans are determined to keep her grounded.

Speech Debelle seemed to come out of nowhere to win the 2009 Mercury Music Prize. I readily admit I’d never heard of her until she was nominated. She won the award and then seemed to set about trying to flaunt her new-found success like Charlie Big Potatoes.

You may not have yet heard of Speech Debelle. I certainly hadn’t until she went and won the 2009 Mercury Music Prize in September, beating the likes Glasvegas, La Roux, and Florence and The Machine in the process. But she’s big on the British hip-hop scene and was due to take herself and her music over to the States for a tour this month.

Unfortunately, Debelle has had to cancel the gigs due to what NME calls “Visa problems.” Debelle isn’t the first artist to encounter such problems, with Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen also succumbing in recent years. Anyone would …read more

Music has long been associated with a heady lifestyle full of drink, drugs, fights, sex, and throwing television sets out of hotel windows. The British music scene is littered with such displays, from The Who to Oasis to Amy Winehouse. But it seems new retro dance group La Roux cannot be added to that list.

La Roux are one of the groups up for the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize next week but win or lose the group are unlikely to kick up much of a rock ‘n’ roll fuss. Singer Elly Jackson told The Daily Star:
“We aren’t party animals, more tech …read more

The Barclaycard Mercury Prize (formerly the Nationwide Mercury Music Prize) is an annual event which seeks to reward the newest, freshest, or most innovative British groups. 12 artists are chosen for their albums from their last 12 months. Some are big names, but most are new acts just starting to get known by the mainstream. Being shortlisted for the Mercury Prize is a surefire way to get noticed.

Last year (2008) saw Elbow win the award for The Seldom Seen Kid. They saw off the likes of Radiohead, Estelle, and Adele to win the Mercury Prize, and few could argue with …read more

It’s that time of year again when The Brit Awards reign supreme. Unlike the critics-lead Mercury Music Prize, the Brits tend to follow popularity and sales, both in nominations and the eventual winners.
Here is the full list of nominations for the Brit Awards 2009, along with my choice and my prediction for winner. They very rarely match up. There are few surprises in the list, with Coldplay and Duffy leading the fight with four nominations each. How Scouting For Girls managed three nominations remains a mystery.
British Male Solo Artist
Ian Brown
James Morrison
Paul Weller
The Streets
Will Young
My Choice: Will Young
My Prediction: The Streets
British …read more

Franz Ferdinand were, for a time, my favorite British band. And then I got over them. Big time. Their self-titled debut album worked a treat, coupling traditional guitar music with a totally new sound that lifted them above similar bands.
They therefore deserved to win the 2004 Mercury Music Prize, and the chart success they had with Take Me Out, The Dark of the Matinée, and This Fire. And then they released their second album and it left me a little cold.
I don’t know why, maybe it was the fact that Franz had been such a breath of fresh air that …read more

The Zutons were/are one of my favorite current British bands. I got into them before most people did, before they were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2004. And well before they, or at least their music, crossed over to the mainstream when Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse covered Valerie in 2006.

With so much invested in the band, having seen them live a few times and having bought all their albums, I’m gutted to hear that they’ve been dropped by their record label, Sony BMG.
The split reportedly happened over Christmas after the record label decided poor sales of their …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

You may be wondering: Why the hell is he reviewing this song when it’s been out for months? But that’s the thing, it only came out in the US months ago – us Brits have had to wait until now for our chance to buy in to the whole M.I.A. vibe. Which is why Paper Planes is getting reviewed here on Brit Music Scene today.
M.I.A is British, but her look and sound make her a perfect artist to achieve crossover and gain success in the US. Which is exactly what she has done. It’s not as though we’ve ignored her …read more