2. Field Music - Plumb (2012)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbXHOuBrDOA There's really not a lot to say about 2012's winners Alt-J, who mark a second coming of The New Boring. Their album, An Awesome Wave, was met with pretty universal acclaim, yet very quickly people turned on the band for being, not to put too fine a point on it, dull as hell. That their record walked away with the Mercury Prize was a surprise to precisely no-one, after it was installed as clear favourite by the bookies as soon as the shortlist was announced. But that was not as impressive as it sounds, as 2012's list of twelve albums was overwhelmingly uninspiring, apart from one ray of sunshine in a world of drizzle. That chink of light came from Sunderland's Field Music, a band who when you think about it really shouldn't have had to wait until their fourth album to garner a Mercury Prize nomination. Since their eponymous 2005 debut, they've been making inventive and imaginative indie rock, and each album has been a quantum leap from what has come before. Field Music mainstays Peter and David Brewis meticulously crafted an ambitious yet accessible set of songs on Plumb, which cemented their status as "the cherished eccentrics of British guitar music", as Uncut called them.