Mercury Music Prize 2010

I love the Mercury Music Prize. It tends to make me simultaneously angry and happy at the same time - usually angry because I disagree with a lot of it and happy because I usually uncover some hidden gem that I would never have heard of otherwise.

This year, dare I say it, has been a really good list I think and I think its wide open. A lot has been said of The XX - from myself included because I was calling them a shoe-in for this prize ever since last summer - but I can't see them winning it simply because of them being the bookies favourites. It's typical of the Mercury to pass over albums just because they're the favourites - the most glaring recent one was Bat For Lashes losing out to the Klaxons who I'm still not sure can quite believe that they won.

Anyway to this years list. While I would've liked to have seen Noah and the Whale's The First Days Of Spring as opposed to Mumford and Sons, I don't think I would really change much about the list. It has a certain integrity to it and I don't think that there's any really stupid albums included.

Me being a betting man and all that, I've had a few small wagers on the event. My biggest bet was £10 on Laura Marling to win for her album I Speak Because I Can and I've had a couple of little £2 sniffers on Wild Beasts and Villagers.

Why Marling then? Well, as anyone who knows me will testify, I think that she is perhaps the most talented songwriter around in the world at the moment. I've been a big fan since I first saw her perform New Romantic aged 16 and her development in the ensuing four years has been fantastic. Her recent album is as good a folk album as I've heard for a long time and contains all that is great about her style and songwriting. And at 8-1 she's a hell of a bet.

I actually think that the album that's most deserving of victory is Wild Beasts, which is why I've put a couple of quid on them too. It seems like a classic mercury album too - completely different and of its own creation, there are very few bands around that sound even close to Wild Beasts. Furthermore, the album is excellent and is very much a grower in that you will still be listening to it many months after the first. It's inventive and melodic and would be a fine winner.

My other bet is on Villagers but to qualify this, I don't think that they'll (or he, as its the work of mainly one man) win. However, the album is a genuinely interesting listen and if the judges fancy going for something really left field then it stands a chance. I also think that although the performances on the night are not supposed to be a factor, there's a very real chance that Conor O'Brien could blow everyone out of the water with his amazing live show. At 12-1 he's an outsider but an interesting choice and I like the record.

Of the other challengers - and I've only heard 8 of the 12 albums - I like Mumford and Sons without really loving it, I think that if they win it will be purely on the back of wanting to award the prize to someone commercial successful after the Speech Debelle Debacle last year. There is a number of excellent songs and a number of songs that aren't quite as good. The nomination is enough.

It's great to see Paul Weller commended for what seems to be a very furtive period for the great man. That said, I kinda preferred his previous effort 22 dreams from last year more than Wake Up The Nation but still, I'm not going to argue with his nomination. That said, he has virtually no chance of winning.

Corinne Bailey-Rae's The Sea is a touching record and another worthy contender although it lacks a little consistency at times. The same can be said of I Am Kloot's Sky At Night which has some absolutely unbelievably good songs but doesn't quite nail it all the way through.

I haven't heard the token jazz album, the Dizzee Rascal album (not my cup of tea), the Foals record or the Biffy Clyro effort (although I'd quite like to hear that one) so I can't judge in full but for my money the winner should come from either The XX, Wild Beasts or Laura Marling.

And for everything I've written over the course of this article, I think that The XX would be deserving of the prize. It's a fantastic record - sparse and melodic and beautiful, but at the same time has had a little too much commercial exposure (how many adverts/sporting montages has it been used on now? It's the new One Day Like This).

So Wild Beasts for me. Or Laura. Yes, Laura - get in there and net me my £80 dear.