Focus Music Notes. "Out of the Blues". Popular music through the decades

Today Sports Team's debut album 'Deep Down Happy' is announced as one of the 2020 Hyundai Mercury Prize 'Albums of the Year'. The prestigious accolade celebrates and promotes the best of British music, recognising artistic achievement across a range of contemporary music genres. The shortlist was chosen by an independent judging panel and was revealed this morning on Lauren Laverne's show on BBC Radio 6 Music. The news comes after Sports Team released their critically acclaimed debut album 'Deep Down Happy' on 5 June and achieved number #2 in the Official Album Charts, which holds the highest first week sales for a debut album by a British band in four years, and is the fourth highest selling debut of 2020. The band also became the biggest seller of the week, leading on physical sales (10K), digital downloads, and scoring the biggest vinyl sales of a debut record by a British artist in 2020, with a #1 on the Official Vinyl Chart. The six piece also...

Alt-J are a British alternative indie band. Their debut album An Awesome Wave, was recorded in Brixton, released in May 2012, and has just won  the 2012 British Barclaycard Mercury Prize . Gwil Sainsbury (guitarist/bassist), Joe Newman (guitar/vocals), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards) and Thom Green (drums) formed the band when they met at Leeds University in 2007. http://altjband.com/ Check out Top Tracks for Alt-J here

Congratulations to PJ Harvey who was recently announced as winner of the 2011 Barclaycard Mercury Prize Album of the Year with her eighth studio album, Let England Shake (Island) . When it was nominated. Harvey said, “I am thankful for this recognition of my work, and look forward to finally being able to attend the event in person in September.” This was Harvey’s fourth nomination; she was previously nominated for Rid of Me in 1993 and To Bring You My Love in 1995, and in 2001 she won the award with Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. She accepted the award from her hotel room in Washington DC on September 11, 2001. This latest nomination also marked 10 years since she became the first female to win the Mercury prize and Harvey now stands alongside Radiohead as the most nominated artist in the prize’s history. Released in February, Let England Shake is the fastest selling record of Harvey’s career featuring long-standing collaborators Flood, John Parish, Mick Harvey and Jea...