Four years ago, via his blog We Write Lists, our man Stephen started what was to become an annual tradition: The Hg Prize. Completely unrelated in any way to the much more renowned Mercury Prize (honest, it’s purely coincidence that the dramatic change in dates for the award this year happens to coincide with the Mercury’s shift), the Hg Prize rewards the best in British albums.  They don’t choose the winner for the shock factor, or the hipster credibility that’ll come with it. They reward quality in music and lyrics. And this year, we’re quite excited to move the home of the Hg Prize over to Folkroom Records. Even though that does mean we can’t nominate our first release, Anthology One.

Given that, then, who does get a nomination for this year’s prize? Remember, the winner is announced on November 1st and, as ever, the prize is one whole pint of beer, courtest of Folkroom Records. We spoil them, we do. Once, someone even collected their prize. That was fun. So, to the nominees:

Alt-J – An Awesome Wave It’s a big ask for a new band, having to make a mark on the UK music scene with your debut. Alt-J seemed to have taken it in their stride though, with their stunning first album An Awesome Wave. Despite an almost entirely unique sound, Alt-J have assimilated themselves with any number of genres. Their lo-fi music fits them with the alternative rock scene, and their hooks have aligned them with the indie pop crowd – but their harmonies and vocals have seen them fit effortlessly in amongst folk acts at certain festivals. An Awesome Wave is, simply, an awesome achievement – from singles ‘Tessalate’ and ‘Breezeblocks’ through to closer ‘Hand-made’, it’s a consistently fresh approach to music, and one we’re all better for having heard.

Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow The idea, of course, is that eskimos have fifty different words for snow. It’s all bollocks, course. But it does lend itself to a certain truth – that music critics have a seemingly unlimited amount of compliments reserved specifically for Kate Bush. On this, Bush’s first album since 2005, we saw a Kate Bush Christmas. A sort of Christmas that you’d be unlikely to observe in any other house but hers. No dry turkey. No pigs in blankets. Instead, one hour and five minutes of introspective songs that challenge your expectations, but never fail to amaze you.

David Byrne & St. Vincent – Love This Giant In so many ways, this is a controversial choice. St. Vincent is an American musician. David Byrne has been based there so long, most people would forget that he’s Scottish. But hell, if Antony and the Johnsons could win the Mercury, David Byrne and St. Vincent can get nominated for an Hg. After all, this is an album so good that you want to claim it for your own country. WE DID THIS! you want to shout. I KNOW IT LOOKS LIKE A MUSIC LEGEND AND INDIE PRINCESS, BUT IT WAS DEFINITELY US. It wasn’t, but we’ll still take the credit. This is a British album, sure. But it’s also got the potential to be a new classic. This feels like Lou Reed’s Transformer. It feels like that cult classic borne from another world. And if that doesn’t get you an Hg nomination, I don’t know what does.

Dollboy – Further Excursions Into The Ulu With Dollboy If you wanted something distinctly British in music this year, you needed to look no further than Dollboy. Apparently the fifth Dollboy album, it’s a criminal shame that we hadn’t discovered them until this year. At a push, it’s possible to compare them to The Divine Comedy or perhaps previous Hg-nominee Matt Berry, but neither of those quite do justice to the richness of what’s on offer on Further Excursions… There are songs, yes. But there are pop hits in limbo. The sort of songs that in another time, another place, might have had a legacy beyond all expectations. ‘Alice in Clearwater’ sounds like a Kinks single. Not a Kinks album track, but a Kinks single. Complete with recorders. Perhaps, in sound, Further Excursions… is this generation’s Village Green Preservation Society. If it isn’t, then may we suggest that Dollboy’s next project should be just that?

Field Music – Plumb It’s been a good year for Sunderland, as our next two nominations demonstrate. First up – Field Music’s terrific album Plumb. It’s been a strange few years for those guitar bands that were worshipped by the NME towards the end of the last decade. Their genre has fallen away from them, and each act has had to find its own way to deal with the changing landscape of the British music scene. Some bands, like the Kaiser Chiefs, decided to keep on trucking, no matter who is (or isn’t) listening. Others, like Mystery Jets and Bloc Party, have attempted to move with the times – usually to some success. But our favourites are the ones who turn out to have been real musicians all along. The ones who change, but on their own terms. Those who have developed their sound in the direction that made the most sense to them. Field Music’s Plumb is a perfect example. A strange, delirious and absolutely terrific record that feels like a 21st century ‘second side of Abbey Road’. Flowing from one track to another, exploring new worlds of music and harmonies, Plumb is something new and special and endlessly listenable.

Futureheads – Rant Another of the seemingly ailing guitar bands, Futureheads took possibly the most interesting of all routes in reacting to the changing world around them. We can admit that when first we heard the band were going to release an album of acapella and acoustic songs our mind leapt to the word ‘gimmick’. It seemed like a shameless ploy and cry out for attention. How wrong we were. What we were forgetting was that Futureheads’ music always relied on their unique harmonies and broken music. Translated to an acapella sound, and paired with the band’s clear passion for traditional folk songs, Rant becomes one of the most unexpected pleasures of recent years.

Richard Hawley – Standing At the Sky’s Edge Big sounds from Sheffield’s finest. And right now, with Pulp an echo of the past and Arctic Monkeys… well… pretty much just that too, Richard Hawley truly is Sheffield’s greatest export. Standing At the Sky’s Edge is a name that sounds big, and brash, and a little arrogant. As it happens, the album is most of those things. It feels huge. We’re not talking length here, but pure size. Hawley’s album is one of those rare occasions in which the word ‘epic’ is truly deserved. From beginning to end, Standing At the Sky’s Edge feels like the end credits of the most credible apocalyptic drama you’ve ever seen. No Roland Emmerich here. This album is the end of the world, as seen by Terrence Malick. As seen by Roman Polanski. Hell. This is Scorsese’s sort of an album. And we can’t think of a compliment much more badass than that.

Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know With her second album, Laura Marling won her second Mercury nomination and her first Hg Prize. That’s right. When Mercury were rewarding The XX’s (admittedly pretty good) debut, we were celebrating the true winner – Britain’s first great new songwriter since… who? Jarvis Cocker? Stephen Morrissey? It’s impossible to choose here. What is clear – now, in the aftermath of her devastatingly terrific third album – is that Laura Marling is an unprecedented talent. Someone who writes not as though she were from another time, but as though she never knew time at all. It’s unlikely that songs such as The Muse, Salinas or Sophia will ever feel dated. They just don’t have that connection to a time or a place. Rather, they seem connected to the very soul of mankind itself. And that, I imagine, is probably a good thing.

The Milk – Tales from the Thames Delta From timeless to timely – no one could accuse The Milk’s relentlessly energetic debut album as being anything less than of the moment. This is your antidote. To TOWIE. To riots. To England, right here, right now. Tales from the Thames Delta is a tour de force. Endlessly exciting and filled with so much passion you’d be forgiven for thinking lead singer Rick Nunn bleeds vitriol. It’s a pop album at heart – singalong song after singalong song, beer held high over your head, lyrics yelled back by the crowd. ‘(All I Wanted Was) Danger’ and ‘B-Roads’ are the big soul pop hits hiding out amongst nine other soul pop hits, one of which features the effortlessly cool Idris Elba. In fact, that should tell you everything you need to know about ‘Tales…‘. This album is Idris Elba, in musical form.

Noisettes – Contact We’re actually a little surprised to have Noisettes feature on the shortlist. Just as we were two years ago, when they were lasted nominated. We never expect to enjoy a Noisettes album as much as we do, and we’ve no idea why. They’re like the first Pirates of the Caribbean, or Doctor Who. Somehow your mind is tricked into thinking they aren’t brilliant when actually, upon revisit, they never let you down. The exist to entertain, and they do so with flawless precision. Contact is a pop album. It knows it, and as long as you know it too, you’ll struggle to have more fun over the course of one album this year.

Saint Etienne – Words and Music It’s fitting that Saint Etienne’s eighth album finds a place on this list. Just like this award itself, Words and Music is a tribute to pop music at its finest. If we were to award the Hg over premise or artwork alone, Saint Etienne would be walking away with it right now. Words and Music is a beautiful album, though, incredible for combining its concept with danceable down-tempo pop music and Sarah Cracknell’s husky little vocals.  Not content with simply celebrating all the best things about music, Saint Etienne chose to make an album that actually demonstrates all the best things about music too.

Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light It’s always been difficult to put a finger on exactly what Spiritualized are. The natural successors to Pink Floyd? The thinking man’s Muse? Britain’s best working rock band? None of these questions are answered by Sweet Heart Sweet Light, which instead decides simply to throw more options into the ring. ‘Hey Jane’ reminds of Britpop’s heyday. ‘Get What You Deserve’ reminds a little of Magnetic Fields, but also of Elbow. But then you think back, and realise that Spiritualized have existed longer than almost all of these acts, and perhaps then, it will be impossible ever to fully understand them and that it’s best just to sit back and enjoy the album for what it is – one massive moment of brilliance.

So that’s it. The fourth annual Hg Prize. Who will follow in the footsteps of Emmy the Great, Laura Marling and Elbow? It’s up to our crack panel of judges who will walk away with this year’s pint of beer! Come back on November 1st to find out our winner!