Joe Kavanagh's Music News

The nominees for this year's Mercury Music Prize were announced last week, with an Irish band once again figuring among the ten musical acts vying for what has long been considered as one of the most prestigious prizes in music. Having already garnered high praise on both sides of the Atlantic, Conor O'Brien and his band The Villagers confirmed their place as one of the most exciting acts in Irish music, with the inclusion of their debut album, Becoming A Jackal, among the nominees for the best album released in Britain or Ireland during the past year. The winner will be announced at a lavish ceremony on September 7, as organizers attempt to inject a little excitement into an award that has lost some of its luster in recent times, particularly due to the hugely disappointing public response to last year's winner, Speech Debelle. Many speculate that the inclusion of established names such as Paul Weller and Corinne Bailey-Rae among this year's nominees are evidence of an effort to prevent the prize descending toward irrelevance. The full list of nominees is as follows: Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More, Dizzee Rascal - Tongue n' Cheek, Paul Weller - Wake Up the Nation, Corrine Bailey Rae - The Sea, I Am Kloot - Sky at Night, Wild Beasts - Two Dancers, Kit Downes Trio -Golden Biffy, Clyro - Only Revolutions, Villagers - Becoming a Jackal, Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can, Foals - Total Life Forever...

Speaking of Irish musicians and awards, Feargal Sharkey will reportedly be given a life peerage by the Queen, having been put forward for the title by current British Prime Minister, David Cameron. The former Undertones singer is reputedly being rewarded for his service to the British entertainment industry, with a spokesperson for the UK leader telling the Daily Mirror: "David Cameron is deeply impressed with Feargal and his knowledge, leadership and commitment when it comes to representing the music business." He definitely wasn't getting it for A Good Heart or You Little Thief anyway, because he should be thrown in a dungeon in Chateau d'If for those tracks... Bob Geldof also found himself the toast of his local town last week, when he was handed an honorary Master of Arts degree by the University for Creative Arts in Canterbury, Kent, for his contribution to the arts and humanitarian work. A genuinely pleased Geldof told those on hand: "I live up the road, so to be recognized by a local university, in the region that I love, adds even greater significance for me. I wouldn't have accepted this award if it didn't mean anything to me."...

In other Irish music news, Sinead O'Connor tied the knot for the third time, with the announcement that the sometimes controversial singer had married Australian musician Steve Cooney, in a private ceremony last week. The Nothing Compares 2 U singer was previously married to writers John Reynolds (with whom she also has a son) and Nick Sommerland, and the 44-year-old also had a further two children with two other fathers. Phew, this lady's love life is more complicated than some of the more colorful guests on the Maury Povich Show. Although details of the service had not emerged at the time of going to press, a message on the singer's website read: "We who run this site are very happy to announce the marriage of Steve Cooney and Sinead O'Connor has taken place this morning. Thanks be to the Great Lord Jah. Rastafarai. Dread I. Conquering lion I. One love." I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that the ceremony involved beads and bongs somewhere along the way...

Pete Doherty may have finally steered his life onto a path that at least bears a passing resemblance to normality, but his success has not come without sacrifice, mainly by others around him. Like some kind of musical version of Phil Collins - who allegedly informed one of his wives of his decision to divorce her with a fax - Doherty made his Babyshambles bandmates aware of his decision to move on without them in April of this year, when he performed a gig surrounded by all new members. Having kept his powder dry since being replaced, former drummer Adam Ficek made known his displeasure at the hands of Doherty last week, when he left a post online, which read: "Where do I start, It's been a very dark, miserable and upsetting time regarding the band. Something I feel is an intrinsic part of me, has been lost. It's very difficult to go into detail about the situation - it's all a bit wobbly but, I'll do my best when things settle a little, apologies, I know you're all waiting for the gossip!" You know, I'll bet that I could seek out the most powerful electron telescope in the galaxy and spend the next six months searching the entire known universe, with a pen and paper beside me, and I wouldn't come up with much more than a dozen names of people that are actually waiting to hear gossip about Adam Ficek...

Staying with embittered rockers, Joe Elliot ranted gently to London newspaper Metro recently about the lack of respect afforded by UK music critics to he and the rest of Def Leppard. The husky-voiced metal man exclaimed: "We don't get the credit we deserve in Britain... It's nice to walk down Oxford Street without being recognized but then again when music magazines write about us they take the p*** (mock us) because we're not as cool as Johnny Marr, who isn't as successful as us by a million miles... How many more front covers do Paul McCartney and Morrissey need? Our album will sell more than Morrissey's so why don't we get the same kind of respect? There are more people than Bono and Michael Stipe to put on the cover of a magazine... There are more musicians out there... Bands who have sold s***loads of records, whether it be us or Depeche Mode, are becoming footnotes." Alright, let's examine the evidence, shall we. On one hand, we have artists whose creative peaks stretched through decades, as they built a robust body of legendary albums, occasionally through wildly disparate genres, often adorned with some of the most creative, intelligent and downright beautiful lyrics ever committed to paper. On the other hand we have a band whose creative peak - such as it was - lasted approximately through two albums recorded four years apart, as they stuck rigidly to one musical formula, even as it dragged them toward musical irrelevance, all the while singing about how they would like to get laid. It isn't a total whitewash though, because they definitely have the upper hand in terms of volume of hairspray used...

Speaking of rants, John Lydon has rounded on those critics of his decision to play a concert in Israel next month. The Public Image Limited (PiL) singer has come under heavy fire upon refusing to partake in a quasi-boycott of Israel, which has seen artists like Elvis Costello, the Pixies, Klaxons and Gorillaz, all recently refuse to perform in the Jewish state as long as the blockade of Gaza remains in place. Protesters in the UK have even taken to picketing PiL gigs over the past several weeks, but an unrepentant Lydon fired back last week, snarling: "I really resent the presumption that I'm going there to play to right-wing Nazi jews. If Elvis-f***ing-Costello wants to pull out of a gig in Israel because he's suddenly got this compassion for Palestinians, then good on him. But I have absolutely one rule, right? Until I see an Arab country, a Muslim country, with a democracy, I won't understand how anyone can have a problem with how they're treated." I guess he hasn't heard of the democracy project in Iraq, or the established ones in Lebanon, Algeria, Morocco etc. etc. Give it up John and just admit you're doing it for the money...

Speaking of which, Robbie Williams' father claims that his decision to reunite with former band mates Take That, will help him to overcome his crippling stage fright. According to Pete Conway: "With the boys there the stage fright won't be an issue. I know he suffered from that earlier on. But he'll have all that support of his band of brothers. It's so wonderful that he has joined Take That again." I'd imagine the $100 million they'll reportedly divvy up between them for the 54-date tour will go a long way to curing that stage fright. I'm a shy enough guy but for that kind of money I would play the entire collected works of Rachmaninoff on a kazoo, while standing on my head, naked and in front of all my relatives...

It looks like someone has let the stake slip out of the heart of the Spice Girls, with word that the girl group is currently in the process of arranging a follow-up to their 1997 movie Spice World. According to various reports, the wildly successful girl band are attempting to emulate the success of Abba's Mamma Mia, which broke records as both a musical and a movie, though the Spice Girls are possibly the only five people this side of an asylum that could truly compare themselves to one of the most venerable pop bands of all time. The Spice Girls musical is expected to open in London's West End this November, and all of the members of the group are reportedly intimately engaged in the auditioning process. Logically speaking, I suppose who is better qualified to look for five marginally talented slappers than five marginally talented slappers. Despite the best efforts of critics, music lovers and the band themselves, there is apparently no killing this beast called the Spice Girls. In the immortal words of Ripley, during the movie Aliens: "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure"...

From marginally talented slappers to those with no discernible talent whatsoever, tawdry pin-up Katie Price (a.k.a. Jordan) has made a thoroughly unwelcome return to music, with the release of her single, Free To Love Again. The brash British media creation maintains that she is not being given a fair shake by the vast majority of radio deejays who will not play her single under any circumstances, while she hails her decision to resume singing as a critical success because her children all love the song. Several things strike me about this. Firstly, saying your music is good because your kids say so, is like saying that you were a huge success on Valentine's Day because your ma sent you a dozen cards. Secondly, having heard Katie Price "sing", I laud deejays for not playing her "music" because in this case they are not so much purveyors of music, as a last, desperate line of defense. If you don't believe me, just type "Katie Price, A Whole New World Live" into the search bar in YouTube, because Jordan's "singing" sounds a lot like a hippopotamus getting a prostate exam from Freddie Kruger... Only worse...

Tom Jones is set to begin recording with the Killers in the near future, after revealing that he and the Las Vegas act have some kind of mutual admiration society going on. The Welsh crooner told a reporter last week that he had struck up something of a bond with the band's singer, Brandon Flowers, saying: "There's a connection there because he's from Las Vegas, and of course I've performed there so many times over the years." That's kind of like me saying that I've a connection with Bono because I do my shopping in Dublin, or that I've developed an affinity with Thomas Edison because I've turned on so many lights during my life, but there you go. Jones also divulged that he is being compelled to take his driving test again, due to the fact that he recently turned 70-years-old, declaring: "I feel prepared. I've been driving since I was 25 and I've re-read the book. There's not much more I can do. They'll certainly have a shock when I get in the car." I wouldn't be so sure. Depending on their age, they might just think 'Holy cow this old guy has had more work done on him than Manhattan.'