The xx win Mercury Prize, the oOoOO next year?

The Arts Desk has been in two minds about Mercury Award winners The xx, who picked up the £20,000 cheque last night. Joe Muggs loved them, Bruce Dessau was sceptical. Singer and bass player Oliver Sim told the audience at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London that they weren't expecting to win.

"Wow," he said. "Thank you so much. We've had the most incredible year and it has just felt like every day we've just woken up to something incredible we just weren't expecting." Everyone else rather did expect them to win, including the bookies, although grizzled ex-mod Paul Weller made a late run.

Watch video of "Chrystalised" (YouTube):



The band only released their first album in the last year so their rise has been swift. A good tip for next year's prize is to check out the up-and-coming bands at Manchester's In The City shindig next month, known for its unerring radar for the Next Big Thing. Consider the time that went into coming up with these names, let alone any actual music.

Sky Larkin, Is Tropical, Porcelain Raft, Oh No Ono, O Children, Team Ghost, Chad Valley, D/R/U/G/S, Hype Williams, Mz Bratt, Ruff Diamondz,
American Men, Fiction, Breton, Brown Brogues, Ellen and the Escapades, Eagulls, Scorcher, Jodie Conner, Dog Is Dead, Slow Motion Shoes, Lissi
Dancefloor Disaster, Beaty Heart, The Bewitched Hand On The Top Of Our Heads, Mujeres, Youthless, Bright Light Bright Light.

They will be joining the already announced No Age, Mount Kimbie, Male Bonding, Yuck, Crystal Fighters, Factory Floor, oOoOO, White Ring,
Skepta, Kisses (debut UK shows), Ital Tek, Teeth, Andreya Triana, Mazes, John Weise, Spectrals and "many more".

We quite like Christopher Dexter Greenspan, also known as oOoOO: with his haunting beats and ghostly sounds it’s not a surprise that some people are categorising his work under "Witch house", “Drag” and “Haunted House" - it's goth meets disco, sort of. If only The xx and oOoOO could have a battle of the bands, or, failling that, at least a friendly game of draughts.

Watch oOoOO video (YouTube):