Opinion on 2005 Mercury Music Prize nominations

I meant to blog about this yesterday but I guess the piss poor second London bombing of the year diverted some of my attention.

Anyway the 2005 Mercury Music Prize nominations is up:

Antony and the Johnsons - I Am a Bird Now
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Coldplay - X&Y
The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike
Hard-Fi - Stars of CCTV
KT Tunstall - Eye to the Telescope
Kaiser Chiefs - Employment
The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers
Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger
MIA - Arular
Polar Bear - Held on the Tips of Fingers
Seth Lakeman - Kitty Jay

Looking at the list, with the exception to Coldplay, this year has been one hell of a quality year. Favourites to win at 4/1 (odds by William Hill) is Kaiser Chiefs for their amazing debut album.

I am aware that Bloc Party has been compared to the slightly hyped up Franz Ferdinand many times (including in this very blog), but with Silent Alarm, the bar has been raised ten-fold. I wish British Sea Power's Open Season was included in the short-list but it seems that the judges prefered nominating 'new' bands and/or those with 'debut' albums. That would be my choice for winning the prize had it been nominated.

Maximo Park's A Certain Trigger deserves a nod as well. The northern lads' debut album is a great find. So many to root for... including KT Tunstall and The Magic Numbers.