Arctic Monkeys Win Mercury Prize! |
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Twenty thousand pounds, people. That's £20,000!
Arctic Monkeys have been awarded the Nationwide Mercury Prize 2006 for their debut album 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' despite stiff competition from the likes of Thom Yorke, Guillemots, Hot Chip and others.
The three original members were present at the ceremony to pick up the award and the accompanying cheque for twenty thousand pounds. Alex Turner must have seemed most surprised with the win as he quipped: "Somebody call 999, Richard Hawley's been robbed!", referring to the fellow Sheffield musician who was also nominated - and tipped by Alex Turner - for the prize.
Turner added:
"Thanks to everyone that's helped us. Normally it (the award) doesn't go to a band that's sold so many records, to put it bluntly, but we're pleased. They're good tunes, that's what we do and there aren't any tricks, people are trying to do too many tricks."
The full nominations for this year were as follows:
Arctic Monkeys - 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan - 'Ballad Of The Broken Seas'
Editors - 'The Back Room'
Guillemots - 'Through The Windowpane'
Richard Hawley - 'Coles Corner'
Hot Chip - 'The Warning'
Muse - 'Black Holes & Revelations'
Zoe Rahman - 'Melting Pot'
Lou Rhodes - 'Beloved One'
Scritti Politti - 'White Bread Black Beer'
Sway - 'This Is My Demo'
Thom Yorke - 'The Eraser'
Click Here To View The Acceptance Speech, courtesy of the BBC. |
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This Week (And Last), In Arctic Monkeys |
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An Update, Finally!
Yes, we haven't updated in nearly 10 days but we're sill here, ready to indulge you with all of the goings-ons from the world of Arctic Monkeys in the past week or so.
As reported the latest single 'Leave Before The Lights Come On' reached number 4 in the UK single charts, sarcastically being labelled the "black sheep of the family" by Alex Turner, as it is the only Arctic Monkeys single not to enter the charts at number 1. The single is now number 8 in its second week in the charts (as of 27 Aug) and hopefully can stay in the top 10 for as long as possible.
So, starting with last Monday. 9pm came on BBC Radio 1 when Steve Lamacq announced details of a secret Arctic Monkeys warm-up gig, preceeding the Carling: Reading and Leeds festivals. This show would be on 24 August at the London Forum supported by great new-wave/rave/indie band Klaxons. Tickets sold out in minutes, despite being exclusive to arcticmonkeys.com mailing list subscribers.
The band were in NME last week, in which they [apparently] revealed why the band split. Of course everyone expected them to let it all out to the NME but they didn't. They said this:
Alex: "We sorta found ourselves in a situations where we wanted to move forward.
"It weren't like us wanting to carry on like this as punishment for him wanting to opt out."
Cookie: "Everyone might say we're wankers and we shit on him, but they don't know. We know, Andy knows and that's all that really matters."
Don't give away too much, boys!
Come Wednesday evening the buzz of the London Forum show was almost gone, unless of course you had tickets. Nevertheless, Arctic Monkeys being Arctic Monkeys didn't bother telling anybody they had something else up their sleeve. All of a sudden, arcticmonkeys.com was gone, replaced with "Arctic Monkeys, Tonight at The Citrus Rooms, Barnsley, Support from Gas Club, Doors 7.30pm". It wa another secret gig. You get the picture, right? Because about 800+ Arctic Monkeys fans who checked the website did. The capacity in this venue is apparently around 500-650 and I've heard reports that a lot of people were turned away from the gig. Of course, there's those lucky bastards who got to go to both the Barnsley and London secret shows, which saw the lads add old fan favourite "Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts' to the setlist. Drummer [Matt] Helders claimed it was "wonderful to play local" at the Barnsley show since the band don't get to do it very often anymore. At the London gig the band were joined on stage for 'Fake Tales Of San Francisco'. "This is our friend Scott" said Alex.
All of this and the festivals hadn't even began.
The band played Reading first and reports suggest it was their biggest ever gig. 'Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts' was kept in the setlist along with the usual, [obviously] including new single 'Leaving Before The Lights Come On' which, as we mentioned earlier, Alex Turner labelled the "black sheep of the family" but insisted that they still "love it all the same" to which the crowd's response was credible.
The band played:
'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'
'Still Take You Home'
'You Probably Couldn't See For The Lights But You Were Looking Straight At Me'
'Leave Before The Lights Come On'
'Cigarette Smoker Fiona'
'Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But...'
'Dancing Shoes'
'The View From The Afternoon'
'Bigger Boys And Stolen Sweethearts'
'From The Ritz To The Rubble'
'Fake Tales Of San Francisco'
'Mardy Bum'
'When The Sun Goes Down'
'A Certain Romance'
Arctic Monkeys at Leeds festival made the news for one reason really. The band reunited backstage with former bassist and still good friend, Andy Nicholson who watched on as the band played another great show.
It's true that the band have been looking refreshed and happier than they've been in a while in recent performances, a lot of fans have been saying it reminds them of the "good old days" but this isn't to say we don't miss Andy. Good luck again with whatever you choose to do man. According to one great reporter who shall remain nameless the band are apparently changing their tune from "straight" to "prog". We're not even going to comment on that bullshit.
Actually, the "reunion" wasn't the only thing that made the headlines. A certain Mister Jamie Cook was seen kicked out of the VIP area at Leeds after trying to throw his backstage pass over a fence to some friends. Ha!
So... Hope you've all enjoyed reading this unusual blog-style update. We've been really busy analysing the site and big changes are hopefully going to be implemented soon and we'll keep you updated with all the latest news as usual. Keep checking back. |
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Leave Before The Lights Come On is Number 4 |
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Arctic Monkeys' new single 'Leave Before The Lights Come On' last night charted at number 4 in the UK singles chart. The third single released by the band is the only one not to have reached the number one spot, unlike debut single 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor' and 'When The Sun Goes Down'.
The single was still highest new entry, beating the likes of Christina Aguilera who came closest at number seven.
The top 10 singles are as follows:
1. Shakira Ft Wyclef Jean - Hips Don't Lie
2. Chamillionaire Ft Krayzie Bone - Ridin'
3. David Guetta Vs The Egg - Love Don't Let Me Go (walking Away)
4. Arctic Monkeys - Leave Before The Lights Come On
5. Cascada - Everytime We Touch
6. Cassie - Me & U
7. Christina Aguilera - Ain't No Other Man
8. James Morrison - You Give Me Something
9. Rihanna - Unfaithful
10. Micky Modelle V Jessy - Dancing In The Dark |
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Fake Tales of San Francisco is New US Single |
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Domino Records have announced that the new single released in the US will be 'Fake Tales Of San Francisco'.
No official release date has been set as of yet but we will be sure to update you with the information as soon as we get it.
For now, though, you can watch the video on Domino's website - QUICKTIME | WINDOWS | REAL
And for some reason, this is the "old" version of 'Fake Tales...' which you may remember from the 'Five Minutes With Arctic Monkeys' EP, released back in May 2005 in the UK. The video is also the same.
Meanwhile, all of you UK fans should be buying your copies of 'Leave Before The Lights Come On' which has been out since Monday.
Domino Mart sales are currently not counting towards the official charts but you can Click Here to download the single via 7 Digital. |
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