July 18, 2006

Only eight days after its release, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke’s solo debut “The Eraser” (XL) was installed today (July 18) as the bookmakers’ joint favorite for the 2006 Nationwide Mercury Prize alongside alternative rock quartet the Arctic Monkeys’ “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” (Domino).

The two albums were named as 5/1 favorites by bookmaker chain William Hill when the shortlist for the annual British/Irish album of the year award was announced this morning at London’s Commonwealth Club.

The 12 shortlisted albums were chosen by 12 judges from an entry of more than 200 albums submitted by labels. To qualify, an album had to be recorded by a British or Irish artist and released between July 25, 2005 and July 17, 2006.

This year’s shortlist contains fewer long-shots than in previous years; odds vary from 5/1 to 10/1, according to William Hill. As always, the list includes artists covering a variety of genres, ranging from jazz pianist Zoe Rahman to electropop quintet Hot Chip or the Roy Orbison-styled stylings of U.K. critics’ favorite Richard Hawley.

The winner will be announced in London on Sept. 5, with broadcast coverage being shared between BBC Radio 1, national TV network BBC 2 and digital TV channel BBC 4.

The 12 albums make up a “pretty classic Mercury nominees list,” says HMV U.K. & Ireland head of music Gary Rolfe. “Two nominees that particularly stand out for me as seemingly ticking all the judges’ boxes are Richard Hawley and the Guillemots, so I’d look out for these as potential winners come September.”

The shortlist, with William Hill odds, is:

Arctic Monkeys, “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” (Domino), 5/1
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, “Ballad of the Broken Seas” (V2), 10/1
Editors, “The Back Room” (Kitchenware), 6/1
Guillemots, “Through the Windowpane” (Polydor/Universal), 6/1
Richard Hawley, “Coles Corner” (Mute/EMI), 8/1
Hot Chip, “The Warning” (EMI), 8/1
Muse, “Black Holes & Revelations” (Helium 3/Warner), 8/1
Zoe Rahman, “Melting Pot” (Manu), 10/1
Lou Rhodes, “Beloved One” (Infinite Bloom), 10/1
Scritti Politti, “White Bread Black Beer” (Rough Trade), 10/1
Sway, “This Is My Demo” (Dcypha) 8/1
Thom Yorke, “The Eraser” (XL), 5/1

Source billboard.com.

Rare concerts from jazz legends Thelonious Monk, Count Basie, Art Blakey, Chet Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Buddy Rich and Louis Armstrong will be released for the first time on DVD Sept. 26 via Reeling in the Years Productions and TDK Recording Media Europe S.A.

The shows were filmed in Europe between 1957-1978 both in TV studios and traditional concert venues, and in many cases, have never been broadcast, even in excerpts. They are being issued under the heading “Jazz Icons,” with distribution by Naxos of America.

Among the highlights of the first batch of titles are a 1958 show with Blakey and a lineup of his Jazz Messengers that only played together for six months, Fitzgerald concerts from 1957 in Belgium and 1963 in Sweden, Monk shows in Norway and Denmark from 1966 and two Jones concerts from 1960, featuring an 18-piece band.

Baker is featured in a 1964 performance for Belgian television and a 1979 performance in Norway, while the 1959 Armstrong show is one of his only known complete filmed performances from this era.

“From an educational standpoint this series is a gift to our culture,” Jones says. “I’m honored to be a featured part of it, but I’m more thrilled just to sit down and watch it with my grandkids.”

Source billboard.com.

Sublime’s self-titled 1996 album, released a few months following the drug-related death of frontman Brad Nowell, will be reissued in a deluxe edition Aug. 15 via Geffen/UME. The double-disc set features what the label describes as Nowell’s intended but unused sequence for the original album, which now begins with an unreleased cover of Bob Marley’s “Trenchtown Rock.”

The album also now includes the original mix of “Doin’ Time,” which was edited just before the original set’s release due to a flap over sampling clearance. That track was just one of four huge rock airplay hits from “Sublime,” joining “Santeria,” “What I Got” and “Wrong Way.”

The second disc of the upcoming release sports eight previously unreleased tracks, including “I Love My Dog,” a tribute both to Nowell’s Dalmation and the Bad Brains staple “I Love I Jah.” An acoustic version of “Zimbabwe,” instrumental runs through “April 29th, 1992” and “Caress Me Down” and Wyclef Jean’s remix of “Doin’ Time” are also included.

Rounding out the album are videos for “What I Got,” “Wrong Way,” “Santeria,” “What I Got (Reprise)” and an unreleased alternate version of the clip for the original mix of “Doin’ Time.”

On Oct. 24, UME will issue a Sublime boxed set, but details have yet to be announced

Source billboard.com.