Results tagged “M.I.A” from Birmingham Mail - Blog Rockin' Beats

To put it in the mildest and least controversial terms, it's been a rollercoaster past week or so. What with the threat of redundancy and an uncertain future casting a shadow over more pleasant moments such as fantastic birthday presents and catching up with family and friends I haven't seen in a while.

But, whatever is going on, I always manage to find a suitable soundtrack - a selection of songs that sum up my mood, whether it's good or bad. It lifts spirits, it comforts, it helps make sense of a crazy world. It captures a moment in your life in a way that films, TV, books, theatre etc just cannot.

I've always felt music is the most taken for granted art form. I mean, what sort of awful concept is background music? Would you put a copy of Dog Day Afternoon in the DVD player and then start doing the ironing?? But, I digress...

Once again, music has provided some much needed relief in an intense week. It wasn't quite my first love (that was probably Kylie when she played Charlene in Neighbours back in 1987), but I'm glad we met...and if the last week of my life was a movie, then this would be the soundtrack:

1. "Paper Planes" - M.I.A.
2. "Birthday" - The Sugarcubes
3. "Enjoy Yourself" - The Specials
4. "Black Swan" - Thom Yorke
5. "Mercy Mercy Me" - Marvin Gaye
6. "Their Law" - The Prodigy
7. "Career Opportunities" - The Clash
8. "Ola Kala" - I'm From Barcelona
9. "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" - The Beach Boys
10. "Once In A Lifetime" - Talking Heads
11. "Olsen Olsen" - Sigur Ros
12. "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" - REM

So this year's nominees for the Mercury Music prize have been announced and we have the usual mixture of commercial and eccentric acts completing the list.

But I have two questions for the judging panel who nominated the 10 albums chosen:

Firstly, do you really think anyone actually cares about this award (or any award for that matter) anymore?

And secondly, can one of you tell me why Portishead's "Third" and M.I.A's "Kala" were omitted from the list? Crazy, just totally crazy!