After going from bookies favourites to being pushed aside by Paul Weller in the odds race The xx have tonight (September 7th) taken home the Mercury Prize for their debut album xx.

Released over a year ago now the album became a sleeper hit and took a while to break into the mainstream but once it did there was no looking back.

Upon collection their award Oliver Sim had this to say,

“Wow! We’ve had the most incredible year. It’s like we’ve woken up every day to something incredible we weren’t expecting. It’s felt a bit like a haze. Just being here has been like a weird moment of clarity of what’s happened, it just means so much”

Congratulations to The xx for a well deserved win, here’s hoping their next album is just as good if not better.

(via TIFDIY)

Although I’m sure anyone who wanted to listen to The Suburbs already has you can now stream the album in it’s entirety thanks to NPR.

The Suburbs, which seems to have seen a flurry of generally positive reviews so far, is quite possibly the most anticipated album of the year thanks to the band’s already ethereal reputation and the two previously previewed track ‘Month Of May’ and ‘The Suburbs’.

You can now make up your own mind on the album by streaming it in full over at NPR.

So, as I’m sure many of you have already heard, this years Mercury Prize nominees have now been announced.

After the shock win by Speech Debelle last year it’ll be interesting to see who the panel of critics decide upon from this years collection of albums, which are;

Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions
Corinne Bailey Rae – The Sea
Dizzee Rascal – Tongue N’ Cheek
Foals – Total Life Forever
I Am Kloot – Sky at Night
Kit Downes Trio – Golden
Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
Paul Weller – Wake Up the Nation
The xx – xx
Villagers – Becoming a Jackal
Wild Beasts – Two Dancers

The general consensus seems to be swinging towards The xx with Dizzee Rascal a close second, personally I’m backing either Laura Marling or Wild Beasts to scoop the illustrious prize. Who are you backing?

The Mercury Prize winner will be announced September 7th.

The first acts for this years Tramlines Festival in Sheffield, which will be taking place between Friday 23rd and Sunday 25th of July, have recently been announced.

Headliners for the multi-venue event will so far include the likes of Echo & The Bunnymen, Mystery Jets, Simian Mobile Disco (DJ set), Future of the Left, Blood Red Shoes, Craig David, Darwin Deez, The Hoosiers, The King Blues and Toddla T.

Other acts already announced which are of some interest include Sheffield band Rolo Tomassi, Dum Dum Girls, Chapel Club, Joe Carnall & The Book Club and Radio 1 DJ’s Annie Mac and Mary Anne Hobbs. More acts are set to be announced in the run up to the festival.

Tramlines, which only began last year, will include a number of new venues in its lineup for 2010. Amongst the 40 or so venues already signed up both the O2 Academy and The Leadmill will be amongst the new names for the festival.

Once again the festival will be totally free, an amazing feat considering the number of great acts already confirmed.

Keep an eye out for more detail on the festival in the next couple of months and be sure to let us know if you’re planning to attend. I know I will be!

For more details head to the official Tramlines website.

After all the controversy surrounding the ‘Born Free’ video M.I.A is back with another teaser as well as fresh details on her upcoming new album.

Now officially titled as ‘/\/\/\Y/\’ (MAYA) the album has been pushed back a couple of weeks and will now be released July 13th (most likely 12th here in the UK).

Yup, that’s the album art up there, somehow it makes me inclined to want to stab my eyes out. Also, anyone notice the mistake with it? Leave a comment below if you can spot the mistake I can…

Finally, M.I.A shared a new track from the album with Annie Mac (Standing in for Zane Lowe) last night. Titled ‘XXXO’ it’s rather a step away from the aggressive nature of ‘Born Free’ and a venture into a much more accessible sound straight from the off.

So after my article looking for some more contributors here at Indiescreet it gives me great pleasure to fully introduce the great new contributors we have on board.

First up we have Philadephia based photographer and interviewer Taylor Farnsworth who has been sharing some great articles with us for a few months now. Check out here latest articles, including a great interview with Titus Andronicus, here and some of her older stuff here.

Zac Camagna also hails from Philadelphia, meaning we have a more transatlantic feel to Indiescreet these days. Zac is the founder ofThe Styrofoam Drone a music blog where he shares his views on some of the latest releases, some of which will be published here on Indiescreet. Check out Zac’s first post on Indiescreet, a review of Mi Ami’s ‘Steal Your Face’, here.

Last but not least we have Lee Allen hailing from the same not so sunny shores as myself and based near London. Lee has already written a great review of the latest Kitsuné compilation which you can check out here. Lee has a wide range of musical tastes and will be expanding Indiescreet’s musical coverings by reviewing acts from the likes of Crystal Castles to B.o.B in the near future.

Be sure to give each of these guys a warm welcome, check out some of their articles and give feedback whenever possible.

Finally, thanks goes out to you guys, the readers of Indiescreet. Without you Indiescreet wouldn’t be where it is today. So give yourself a man hug from me and keep it up!

With Indiesceet’s first birthday just around the corner it’s time to step things up with the help of you guys.

Whether you’re an avid reader or a first time visitor if you’ve got a passion for music and a creative flair for putting your thought onto paper (or a computer screen in this case) then Indiescreet could be just what you’re looking for.

Specifically, but not exclusively, were looking for a few different contributors, we’d love to be able to cover the following with the help of you guys;

Gig photography in the UK
Gig reviews
Album reviews
Latest news

So if you like the thought of your musings being published here at Indiescreet drop me an email at indiescreet.com@googlemail.com either with an example of your work or a link to one and a quick blurb of who you are and how you’d like to contribute and I’ll be sure to get back to you.

Record Store Day, which took place on Saturday (April 17th), aims to get music fans back into their local record store and back buying physical music media. It’s a great way to promote the independent stores which are struggling more and more as music downloads become bigger and bigger.

As an incentive to get fans into the stores Blur released a brand new track titled ‘Fool’s Day’ and limited it’s release to 1000 physical copies.

The track itself, which is the first single release from the band in seven years, sounds as good as ever from a band who really should still be making music together. Here’s hoping that the reception from this track will give Albarn and co. the push they need to record another album as Blur.

You can download the track for free here or you can stream it below.

If you want to get hold of a physical copy of the track then head over to eBay now and be prepared to part with at least £150. See Strangeglue for more information.