Eddie Vedder, M.I.A, Spoon make Shortlist long-list

The long-list for the 2008 Shortlist Music Prize includes 54 albums, ranging from releases by Arcade Fire, Bad Religion, Justice, LCD Soundsystem, M.I.A., Spoon, Eddie Vedder, Peter Bjorn and John, and Wilco, among others.

The 54 albums were chosen by five listmakers -- Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, the Killers’ Ronnie Vannucci, journalist Rev. Moose, KCRW DJ Chris Douridas and the hosts of Hunnypot Internet Radio.

The list (below jump) will be narrowed to 10 artists and a winner will be crowned sometime early next year, according to a low-on-info press release.

The Shortlist began in 2001 as a sort of U.S. competition similar to Britain's Mercury Prize, which places a high emphasis on lesser-known acts and artistic achievement. This year's Mercury winner was the dance-pop of the Klaxons. The main qualifying rule for the Mercury Prize is that the winner must hail from England or Ireland.

But unlike the U.K.'s Mercury Prize, the Shortlist puts the emphasis on sales over nationality. It recognizes albums released between January and November 2007 that have yet to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Assn. of America for U.S. shipments of 500,000 units.

The 2007 Shortlist winner was singer/songwriter Cat Power for "The Greatest." The year before, the award went to Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois."

Some quick thoughts on this year's field:

The good: Looking a bit like a mix of Plug: Independent Music Awards and a year-end critic's list, there are some inspired choices up for the Shortlist. Check the Nick Cave-led Grinderman (pictured), whose self-titled debut was a scorching blues-rock effort, its songs fighting off death and kissing away youth. Also of note is one of the most tunefully experimental hard rockers around, Parts & Labor.

The bad: Lots of the usual suspects, as well as past Shortlist nominees. Wilco and Feist? They haven't won before, so it's time to move aside. As long as the Shortlist is using sales as a barometer, organizers should avoid repeat nominees, as there's plenty of small-selling acts in need of press. By that same token, if you're in a mega-selling act, such as Eddie Vedder, you should be ineligible, as should acts who have passed the 500,000 shipment mark before, a la Bad Religion. Sorry. And also, where's the hip-hop? M.I.A. and Swizz Beatz are nice, but the entire underground hip-hop field is virtually ignored this year.   

Finally: As record sales keep dwindling from year to year -- 2007 sees another double-digit decline in CD sales -- will the Shortlist soon have to lower the bar? Today, shipping and/or selling more than 500,000 copies of an album brings you to near-superstar status.

Full 2008 Shortlist nominees below, courtesy of the Shortlist Organization:

Long-list of nominations for seventh annual Shortlist Music Prize:

A Fine Frenzy -- "One Cell in the Sea"

Against Me! -- "New Wave"

Animal Collective -- "Strawberry Jam"

Arcade Fire -- "Neon Bible"

Bad Religion -- "New Maps of Hell"

Biffy Clyro -- "Puzzle"

Bjork -- "Volta"

Blonde Redhead -- "23"

BrakesBrakesBrakes -- "The Beatific Visions"

Burial -- "Untrue"

Calvin Harris -- "I Created Disco"

Dead Heart Bloom -- "Chelsea Diaries"

Digitalism -- "Idealism"

Dollyrots -- "Because I'm Awesome"

Eddie Vedder -- "Into the Wild Soundtrack"

Feist -- "The Reminder"

Fionn Regan -- "The End of History"

Future of the Left -- "Curses"

Gogol Bordello -- "Super Taranta"

Grinderman -- "Grinderman"

Gui Boratto -- "Chromaphobia"

Iron and Wine -- "The Shepherd's Dog"

Jesca Hoop -- "Kismet"

Josh Ritter -- "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter"

Juliette and the Licks -- "Four on the Floor"

Justice -- "Cross"

Keren Ann -- "Keren Ann"

Kings of Leon -- "Because of the Times"

Klaxons -- "Myths of the Near Future"

LCD Soundsystem -- "Sound of Silver"

Le Loup -- "The Throne of the Third Heaven"

Les Savy Fav -- "Let's Stay Friends"

M.I.A. -- "Kala"

Maps -- "We Can Create"

o'Death -- "Head Home"

Of Montreal -- "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?"

Parts and Labor -- "Mapmaker"

Peter Bjorn and John -- "Writers Block"

PJ Harvey -- "White Chalk"

Puscifer -- "V is for Vagina"

Robert Francis -- "One by One"

Robert Pollard -- "Standard Gargoyle Decisions"

Scout Niblett -- "This Fool Can Die Now"

Serj Tankian -- "Elect the Dead"

Spoon -- "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga"

Stars -- "In Our Bedroom After the War"

Swizz Beatz -- "One Man Band Man"

The Bird and The Bee -- "The Bird and The Bee"

The Hives -- "Black and White Album"

The Thrills -- "Teenager"

Underworld -- "Oblivion with Bells"

Wheat -- "Everyday I Said a Prayer"

Wilco -- "Sky Blue Sky"

Working for a Nuclear Free City -- "Businessmen and Ghosts"

(Photo courtesy Anti-)