Nine contenders for this year’s Australian Music Prize have been announced, with organisers calling the field “as strong as we have ever seen”. They’re not wrong. Nine acts will vie for this year’s $30,000 cash prize including triple j darlings Abbe May, Adalita, Boy & Bear, Gotye, Gurrumul, Jack Ladder, Kimbra, The Jezabels and now defunct Queensland outfit The Middle East.
Australian Music Prize Director Scott B. Murphy says “2011 was a big year for Australian artist album releases – The 7th Amp produced a long list twice as long as most of the previous prizes highlighting how many great albums were released in this country. It was tough on the judges – they had to spend their festive season listening to over 50 albums and making experienced judgments on each. It was tough to determine the top 9 of these and many artists – like The Panics, Oh Mercy and The Orbweavers – were very close to the final cut. Some of the other albums singled out by the judges were by: Skipping Girl Vinegar, Oscar & Martin, Ben Salter, Big Scary, Eagle & The Worm, Grace Woodroofe, Husky, Leader Cheetah, Phrase, Teeth & Tongue, Josh Pyke and Drapht. We congratulate all entrants for their efforts and especially the nine which are now shortlisted for The 7th Amp,”.
Last year’s winner was Bliss Release by Blue Mountain four-piece Cloud Control.
This year’s winner will be announced March 8th at a forum featuring US Rolling Stone Editor David Fricke.
