The shortlist for the 2014 Mercury Prize came out yesterday!  It’s Christmas for my ears!  I’ve heard most of these fantastic acts already, but, there are always a few that, before the Mercury list came out, I’d never heard of.
That happened this year for me with a band called POLAR BEAR.
After seeing the list, I listened to em yesterday, starting with their new album, “In Each And Every One”, and WOW!  Ears.Blown.
(note – Polar Bear was nominated for a Mercury Prize before, in 2005.  I obviously missed that year…)

This music is not for the faint of heart.
Let’s start with the obvious, if there even is such a thing with their stuff.  It’s jazz.  Experimental jazz.. But, it’s so much more than that –
It’s moody, it’s difficult, it’s tenuous, it’s electronic, it’s atmospheric, it’s profound, it’s rhythmical – and it’s WONDERFUL.

The songs on this album could be at home on a spacey, sy-fy soundtrack, as could they underscore the quirky dramatic turns of a Quentin Tarantino film.  This music is both incredibly commercial and NOT commercial at the same time.  In the right hands, it could make an amazing statement!

While everyone else is shoving their ears full with songs like “All About The Bass”, I’ll be over here, with my headphones on, listening to this complicated, intricate, focused, artistic, creative, beautiful music.
I’m rooting for you guys to win, and thank you, Mercury Prize judges, for another year of amazing selections!

LISTEN:
Here’s a link to Polar Bear’s Soundcloud, with 3 songs from the new album, “In Each And Every One”
Polar Bear

See the entire Mercury Prize 2014 Shortlist here:  Mercury Prize