WORD favourites Duckworth Lewis Method have been nominated for the Choice Music Prize which, in a nutshell, is the Irish equivalent of the Mercury Music Prize. The winning album will earn its creators a nice 10,000 euro and be crowned Irish Album of the Year 2009. The DLM nod comes for their excellent self-titled album, which was released in Ireland on 1969 Records.

It's the second time Neil Hannon has been nominated. Indeed, he won it in 2006 for the excellent "Victory for the Comic Muse", something which still irks an awful lot of people who post on Choice founder Jim Carroll's blog http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/

Anyway, the shortlist for Choice Music Prize is (in alphabetical order):

And So I Watch You From Afar “And So I Watch You From Afar” (Smalltown America)
Bell X1 “Blue Lights On The Runway” (BellyUp)
Codes “Trees Dream in Algebra” (EMI)
Adrian Crowley “Season of the Sparks” (Chemikal Underground)
Dark Room Notes “We Love You Dark Matter” (Gonzo)
The Duckworth Lewis Method “The Duckworth Lewis Method” (1969/Divine Comedy Records)
Julie Feeney “Pages” (Mittens)
Valerie Francis “Slow Dynamo” (VF)
Laura Izibor “Let The Truth Be Told” (Atlantic)
The Swell Season “Strict Joy” (Plateau)

The ceremony is a live event, at which all of the nominees are invited to perform (if they're inclined to, David Holmes didn't bother last year, some just can't make it on the night). It takes place in Vicar Street in Dublin on Wednesday March 3rd. Good luck to the DLM!

Has anybody (critics and employees of the record company aside) actually bought Neil Young's mammoth Archives box-set yet? I've looked at it, longingly, in an assortment of record stores but, as yet, have not managed to convince anyone behind the counter to open one up so I can "have a proper look".

I'm a big Neil Young man, and have quite the collection of the cranky old bastard's output already, but could this years-in-the-making collection REALLY be worth the huge price tag?

For years metallers around the world have been crossing swords over who was/is better 'out front' with the mighty Black Sabbath - original singer and alleged 'Prince of Darkness' Ozzy Osbourne, or diminutive powerhorse vocalist and inventer of the metal horns hand salute Ronnie James Dio.

This summer, Dio is back fronting Black Sabbath, or Heaven & Hell as they are known for legal reasons, with original Sabs Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler and 80's Sabbath tub-thumper Vinny Appice. They have a corker of a new album on the way, "The Devil You Know", and a worldwide tour.

Meanwhile, Ozzy is doing this: