On February 15th, 2011 the annual Brit Awards music show was held in the O2 Arena in London presenting awards and gaining publicity for artists and bands renowned enough to be nominated for the most distinguished British Music awards. This ceremony can be compared to America's Grammy Award show but on a more global level reaching out to countries that may have otherwise missed out during these artists' rise to fame. The winners of this year's show were numerous but the three who walked away with the most coveted awards were Tinie Tempah, Mumford & Sons, and Arcade Fire.
Mumford and Sons
The winner of the MasterCard British Album (the sponsor of the evening) was none other than folk musicians Mumford and Sons. Their album "Sigh no more" walked away with the award but what do we know about the band themselves? The band was formed in 2007 by Marcus Mumford and friends and it got its name because Mark took care of securing gigs, promoting scenes, and putting together the list of songs they were going to perform at every concert. He appeared in the spotlight more than the others based on a technicality. The albums they produce are considered English folk by some but Marcus doesn't want to be seen as specific to any genre of music as he is a fan of all of it and wants to present his band in a variety of ways. As for the band's album "Sigh no more" it is presented as folk in the twenty first century as many of the album's lyrics are about current world issues and their effects on humanity. Many of the issues we would face in real life are heard in the album but shown in a way that makes it feel more light hearted and joyous thus giving you a false sense of perception, testing your very fabric of musical intrigue.
Tinie Tempah
Tinie Tempah, an English rapper, won two awards during the course of the evening, the first was for "Best British Single" and the other was "Best British Breakthrough Act". A kid straight out of southern London he started quite young "spitting" rhymes for many even younger kids to hear and overall just showing everyone a good time. It was because of these rapping skills he had that someone took notice and in 2009 noticed he was. Before that he released his own Independent EPs which would become the blueprints for his later records. To date his most well known album and the one recognized as sending him into super stardom was his album "Disc-Overy" with the single "Pass Out" reaching number one in the UK charts almost instantaneously cementing his future as one of the greats.
Arcade Fire
Perhaps the most prestigious awards of the night were given to Indie Rock Group Arcade Fire. They would go home, or to their hotel, with two awards one being "Best International Album" and the other "Best International Group". Arcade Fire are a group formed in Canada in the early 2000's and they would go on to take Indie music by storm creating a sound both reminiscent of "Depeche Mode" as well as quite a few other influential Indie acts that have gained much success through the years. Their debut album "Funeral" was released in the year 2004 and much like the acclaim they get today, following the release of Funeral was no different. They would travel internationally playing many shows often to sold out venues and eventually they began touring with none other than the likes of David Bowie and U2. They would break until 2007 when they released the album "Neon Bible" which utilised orchestral sounds, the likes of which no one had heard before in an Indie album. Finally, three years later they would release their most prolific album to date "The Suburbs" which would go on to not only win awards but gain some of the highest critical acclaim imaginable. What other tricks will this band show us next?