Embed and breakfast man: Lisa Hannigan

With big thanks to iD magazine's i-N Session, here's Lisa Hannigan on a boat:



[Buy: Passenger]

Embed and breakfast man: Lisa Hannigan

Lisa Hannigan is punting a digital-only live album collection of quite stunning value. Four dollars, six tracks.

If you need further persuasion, PopWreckoning.com have got this reminder of how good she is:



[You might also enjoy: The Lisa Hannigan weekend]

Mercury shortlist: Effort undermined by presence of Kasabian

No, seriously: what's the point of a shortlist for an award for the best album which features Kasabian at all? Sure, there's lots of names on the list which stand up to critical consideration: The lovely Lisa Hannigan album; La Roux's debut; Friendly Fires of course. You can see The Horrors have earned a place there - even if the early claims that they'd totally reinvented themselves were a little overstating the case, there's enough evidence of a band thinking things through to make them worth considering.

But Kasabian?

Their response to being shortlisted says, pretty much, where the band are creatively:

Kasabian's Tom Meighan said: "I like making music but it's really nice to get the recognition. I think it's deserved, why not, eh?"

It's like someone reading an abandoned Noel Gallagher thought of the back of a napkin, isn't it?

The BBC insist that La Roux are leading the nominations, although bookies seem to think that Kasabian and Florence and The Machine are.

Here's the shortlist in full, with - excitingly - latest betting odds:

Florence and the Machine, “Lungs.” 5/1
Kasabian, “West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum.” 5/1
Bat for Lashes, “Two Suns.” 6/1
La Roux, “La Roux.” 6/1
Glasvegas, “Glasvegas.” 6/1
Speech Debelle, “Speech Therapy.” 8/1
Friendly Fires, “Friendly Fires.” 8/11
The Horrors, “Primary Colours.” 8/1
Lisa Hannigan, “Sea Sew.” 8/1
The Invisible, “The Invisible.” 10/1
Led Bib, “Sensible Shoes.” 10/1
Sweet Billy Pilgrim, “Twice Born Men.” 10/1

More interesting than the shortlist is the change in sponsor - following on from the now-defunct Mercury, Technics and the Nationwide Building Society is Barclaycard. A credit card company? Sponsoring a music prize? (Like, erm, Mastercard's support for the Brits?) So out goes the prudent, cash-careful Building Society in favour of a debt-driving credit concern. Interesting choice.

[Related: The Lisa Hannigan weekend]

Bookmarks: Some stuff to read on the internet - Mother's Day

Today isn't mothering Sunday, but Americans are pretending it is, and so eMusic have invited some mothers to review their kids' music by choosing a favourite track:

Frances Hannigan, mother of Lisa Hannigan

*Sea Sew

Obviously being Lisa's mother, and a very proud one at that, it is difficult to pick just one; a little like Sophie's choice. Probably because we, as a family, were all involved in the making of the videos for "Lille" and "I Don't Know," I would have to pick one of these. What turns out to be a few minutes on YouTube in fact represents days and days of hard effort — but it was also a great deal of fun. During filming, the songs had to be repeated over and over again, and while some people would say that familiarity breeds contempt, I feel it is more like a comfy pair of slippers! So I will have to choose "Lille." But, then again, I don't know.

Lisa Hannigan Sunday: Free Until They Cut Me Down

Recorded live in London, at St John's Church, December 2008:



[Part of Lisa Hannigan Sunday]

Lisa Hannigan Sunday: The Man I Love

Recorded live at the Songs That Scare Children event from the Dublin Fringe Festival 2008:



[Part of Lisa Hannigan Sunday]

Lisa Hannigan Sunday: Lille

Taken from RTE2's Other Voices programme, this is Lisa Hannigan doing Lille:



[Part of Lisa Hannigan Sunday

Embed and breakfast man: Lisa Hannigan Sunday

To celebrate tomorrow's release of Sea Sew, let's spend some time with Lisa Hannigan.

This is the first track to be released out into the world from the album, with a stereotype-defying video shot in an Irish pub:



More Lisa Hannigan stuff online
Official site
On Twitter
On Last.FM
On MySpace
On Wikipedia
Lisa Hannigan posts on No Rock

More from Lisa Hannigan during the day
Lille - live
The Man I Love - live

Downloadable: Lisa Hannigan

More aural bounty, as everyone's other favourite Hannigan visits Daytrotter to deliver one of their sumptuous sessions. Five Lisa Hannigan tracks and an interview, all waiting for you and your mouse. And finger. And ears.

Meteor awards: Apparently the internet is a public place

The Meteor Awards somehow managed to publish their list of 2009 nominees online a day early. They noticed, and took them down, but not before the Irish Times had copied down the shortlist:

Best National DJ

Tony Fenton – TodayFM
Dan Hegarty – 2fm
Alison Curtis – Today Fm
Dave Fanning – RTE Radio 1
Ray Foley - Todayfm
Rick O’Shea – 2fm

Best Regional DJ

Dermot, Dave & Siobhan – Dublin’s98
Keith Cunningham - Red FM
Leigh Doyle – Beat 102.103
The Zoo Crew – Spin South West
Mark Noble - FM104
Jon Richards – Galway Bay FM

Best Irish Band

The Blizzards
Republic of Loose
Fight Like Apes
The Script
Snow Patrol

Best Irish Male

Mick Flannery
Damien Dempsey
Duke Special
David Holmes
Jape (Richard Egan)

Best Irish Female

Enya
Lisa Hannigan
Gemma Hayes
Imelda May
Tara Blaise
Camille O’Sullivan

Best Irish Pop Act

Boyzone
The Blizzards
The Coronas
The Script
Westlife

Best Irish Album

Fight Like Apes – Mystery Golden Medallion
Snow Patrol – A Hundred Million Suns
Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew
Messiah J & The Expert – From the Word Go
The Script – The Script

Best Irish Live Performance

The Coronas
The Blizzards
The Swell Season
Fight Like Apes
Republic of Loose

Barry S - who tipped us off to the fun - had a simple response:

Enya? Good grief.

Still, at least there's a smattering of mentions for Lisa Hannigan, which is encouraging, and she might just be able to benefit if there's a split 'dull band' vote between The Script and Snow Patrol in the album category.

But Dave Fanning still getting lifted on the shoulders?