Important things and other things that aren't as important

1. Mercury 'Music Prize'

Adele - 19
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
Burial - Untrue
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Estelle - Shine
Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement
Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim
Neon Neon - Stainless Style
Portico Quartet - Knee Deep in the North Sea
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Rachel Unthank & The Winterset - The Bairns
Robert Plant & Alison Kraus - Raising Sand

All consistent 8/10 albums, no hip-hop, no grime, a fairly dull list of uninspiring 'nice' music. Where is the punch? Where is MIA? 'Representing the British music scene at the moment' doesn't necessarily mean drawing up a list of fairly popular, fairly alright bands with fairly alright albums because that is boring and music right now isn't boring, it is fun and exciting and makes you want to jump up and/or down because it is really, really Good.
ON THE OTHER HAND....

2. Popjustice £20 Music Prize

'A&E' - Goldfrapp
'About You Now' - Sugababes
'Bleeding Love' - Leona Lewis
'Call The Shots' - Girls Aloud
'Dance Wiv Me' - Dizzee Rascal feat Calvin Harris
'Flux' - Bloc Party
'Money' - Daggers
'That's Not My Name' - The Ting Tings
'Valerie' - Mark Ronson feat Amy Winehouse
'Ready For The Floor' - Hot Chip'
Song 4 Mutya (Out Of Control)' - Groove Armada feat Mutya Buena
'Stuck On Repeat' - Little Boots

!!!!!!!!!!!! All classics, I mean, Song 4 Mutya's even in there. And Bleeding Love. And Hot Chip. Ting Tings, though...well, at least the Ting Tings will never write a post punk 'masterpiece', which is admirable.

3. Lack of NME // V*ce magazines, general exhaustion and low literary self esteem, long list of 'To Do's and falling out of favour with mentors. Dead batteries and broken dictaphones, annoyance at not seeing Interpol, Lovefoxx from CSS talking really fast and Brazillian and incoherently. Blah, blah, and also, blah.