2008 : SOME MUSICAL HIGHLIGHTS : BRITISH SEA POWER

2008 was a year when a number of acts who had been around for a while finally got decent recognition and acclaim, none more so than Elbow whose The Seldom Seen Kid picked up the Mercury Music Prize.

This award has lareday, in afew short months, catapulted the band to new heights in terms of album sales and folk going to see them in concert. Now I'm not a huge fan of Elbow, but I don't grudge them all that's come their way over since September given that they are a band who have genuinely 'served their time' in that they haven't been an overnight success, nor have they tried to become well known by indulging in exploits associated with tabloid celebrity/notoriety.

But I just wish that the Mercury prize had been given to another nominee on the 2008 list - British Sea Power.

It was back in January 2008 that Do You Like Rock Music? was unleashed upon the public . It's the third LP released by the band, and in interviews they were giving around this time last year, it was clear the band had high hopes for it. It certainly got a lot of critical acclaim on release for the marriage of complex, theme-driven lyrics with tunes that range from the thumping and triumphant to the hauntingly gorgeous and moving. And deservedly, 12 months on, its still an LP popular among the music writers, with high placings in almost every end of year poll.

And yet......

......the success and profile enjoyed by Elbow could, and in my view, should, have been enjoyed by British Sea Power.

There's a great review of the LP by Andrew Harrison in the end-of-year edition of The Word magazine, which I'm not ashamed to crib from.

BSP.....moved sharply into focus on this exhilarating third album. Here, primarily-howling guitars and Bronte-esque naturalism are just two sides of the same pre-decimilisation coin. By marshaling subjects as diverse as migrant Europeans, arctic seabirds and quantum physics into a whole, BSP demonstrated heroic imaginative scope plus a mastery of the most important bit : sheer, animal excitement. Are they now our best rock band?

The answer to the last question should be quite obvious...

As a live act, they are unsurpassed, with every show tottering on the edge of insanity during the encores as one band-member dons goggles and a hat to dive into the crowd, while a 12 foot high bear wrestles with the others. Some lazy journalists have pigeon-holed them as our local Arcade Fire. Believe me dear readers, they are far superior to the Canadian superstars....far superior (and I say that as a huge admirer of t'Fire)

mp3 : British Sea Power - Waving Flags

Best single of 2008, as voted for by me.

mp3 : British Sea Power - No Lucifer

Best sing-a-long at gig in 2008, as voted for me.

mp3 : British Sea Power - Atom

Best mp3 given away by any official site, as voted by me.

Happy Listening.