Music Artist Recognition Choice Awards
"Another year over and a new one just begun"
The Music Artist Recognition Choice Awards (MARC Awards for short) 2008 winners have been
announced :
Best Solo Artist
With solo albums released by David Potts, Richard Hawley, Brett Anderson and Dave Gahan, the last year has seen alot of credible solo artists. Whilst every man and their dog are jumping on the Richard Hawley bandwagon, there could only be one Best Solo Artist winner, David Potts. We have not heard the last of David Potts.
Best Group
It was a great debut year from The Good, The Bad & The Queen. Essentially a supergroup (Damon Albarn from Blur and Gorillaz, Paul Simonon from The Clash, Simon Tong from The Verve and Tony Allen from Africa 70), TGTBTQ released one of the best albums of the entire year. Alot of other groups has a good year, notably Kaiser Chiefs, Radiohead, and The Coral.
Best Album
I told you we hadn't heard the last of David Potts. His album, Coming Up For Air, is one of the very few albums that every track is special. It sounds like a Best Of album, not a first album. Pottsy did have alot of competition: Yours Truly, Angry Mob by Kaiser Chiefs, The God, The Bad & The Queen's eponymous album, Lady's Bridge by Richard Hawley, Radiohead's formarly downloadable In Rainbows, and Gorillaz Demon Days b-sides album D-Sides.
Best Single
There were alot of good single in the last year, but one song stood out long before it was announced as a single, The Angry Mob by the Kaiser Chiefs. An almost perfect song for a Glastonbury sing along, The Angry Mob was rather questionably released after all the big fesitvals. Even a good video to back up the song.
Best Newcomer
Having won the Best Solo Artist and Best Album, the Best Newcomer award chose itself. Years in the making, David Potts' first solo outing was well worth waiting for. A mention has to go to The Good, The Bad & The Queen.
Special Mention
In the last year Radiohead made a quite controvertial decision, to allow fans to decide how much to pay to download their album. Despite being available for as little as 1p to download, when In Rainbows was released as a cd it shot straight to number 1 in the album chart. Fans and non-fans aike are still split whether it was a good move, and for this Radiohead receive the Special Mention award.
Outstanding Contribution
Peter Hook has had a long and succesful career. He started off playing bass in Joy Division, then moved onto New Order. After many years playing his distinctive bass sound as part of New Order, Hooky embarked on a side project with David Potts, Monaco. New Order reformed few a few albums and then split, with Hooky now plying his trade as a dj. Hook also had a guest apearance in this years Best Album. Many have tried to copy his unique sound, but none have managed. Here's hoping 2008 isn't a quiet one for the Hookster.
