The Ironical Chronicle LoLyfe.co.uk

Snob Value

I had trouble sleeping tonight and after an hour or so of thrashing about, trying to get comfortable without success, I decided to get up. With nothing worthwhile on the TV I turned to the internet where I launched the BBC Radio 6 player just in time to hear an episode in their 'The Complete Mercurys - Adele'.
Now, I'm a bit of a music snob, so when the consensus of the worlds population starts going mental about an artist - I block it out and usually ignore it. Case in point - Adele. Before today, I was quite happy in saying that I would have trouble telling you who she is, I've kept away from the hyperbole that surrounds her and it's only that a track of hers was featured on Channel 4's Misfits that I was also able to say that I hadn't heard anything of hers at all. Being a follower of The Mercury Prize too, I still managed to stay away from the snowballing Adele by concentrating on the album I was sure was going to be overlooked - P J Harvey's Let England Shake (having won it back in 2001 for Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea - after a 3rd nomination). However, whilst living under a rock has it's perks (none that immediately spring to mind, but I think you get my gist), it also has its drawbacks. I missed out on a few years of outstanding vocal finesse that I can say unashamedly, moved me. I also found that whilst I assumed I was living under a rock, I also realised that the rock wasn't all that sound proof. The show kicked off with the first track on the 21 album, 'Rolling in the Deep'. Of course I'd heard this before - you couldn't move without hearing this song - I just never knew it was sung by Adele. As the show progressed, each track got technically better and by the end of the show, I was downloading her two albums from iTunes.
As a final note, I will reiterate what was stated on the radio show. Being nominated for a Mercury Prize usually comes with a sudden boost in record sales - this was not going to be possible for Adele - she had already sold millions of copies of this album but the nomination itself was a massive tick in the approval box from industry bigs. I would like to say that I think it was a travesty that the album didn't win but I'll be honest here and say that I think that competition from Everything Everything, Tinie Tempah, James Blake and P J Harvey - it was a tough year to be nominated. What I will say is that I remain surprised at the winner because maybe by default Harvey finally won. Yes she deserved it, but for this album? I'm not sure. With the wealth of talent available in this years nominations the real winners were the fans, the customers - the listeners - and that's how it should be.