A strong selection of Australian music-makers and their highly esteemed albums are in the running for $30,000 as the first nominees of next year’s coveted Australian Music Prize (AMP) are announced.
The first 10 nominees for the 10th annual Coopers AMP longlist have been revealed, with records from Ball Park Music, Chet Faker, DZ Deathrays, Remi, Total Control, Blank Realm, East Brunswick All Girls Choir, HTRK, Straight Arrows, and Teeth & Tongue all vying for the $30,000 cash prize (courtesy of the PPCA), with a freshly arranged panel of judges charged with selecting the Australian Album of the Year.
The first album to be nominated for the 2015 AMP is Black Rats, the second full-length album from dynamic duo DZ Deathrays, which along with Brisbane cult favourites Blank Realm’s Grassed Inn and REMi’s breakout LP, Raw X Infiinty was named among Tone Deaf’s own best albums of 2014 so far. The same goes for Melbourne ‘don’t call them a supergroup’ five-piece Total Control’s Typical System, described as “the perfect post-punk mixtape.”
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Two of the bigger names in the AMP pool are this year’s ‘Most Blogged About Aussie’ Chet Faker, for his long-awaited debut album Built On Glass and recent Splendour heroes Ball Park Music, for their third studio effort, Puddinghead.
There’s also Teeth & Tongue’s Grids, which we said should be Melbourne-via-NZ songsmith Jess Cornelius’ “one-way ticket out of the ‘criminally underrated’ musical ghetto,” and Rising, the second record by Sydney rock knockabouts Straight Arrows.
Rounding out the first 10 longlisted nominees are East Brunswick All Girls Choir and their full-length debut Seven Drummers (allegedly named after the number they chewed through) and HTRK’s darkly hypnotic Psychic 9-5 Club.
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Last year’s AMP longlist eventually tallied a final list of 43 albums and 25 ‘Highly Regarded’ nods, before the $30,000 prize was awarded to Melbourne indie twosome Big Scary and their sophisticated sophomore Not Art; beating out the final shortlisted releases from Cloud Control, Beaches, Jagwar Ma, Jimblah, Jen Cloher, Kirin J Calinan, Horroshow, and Dialectrix.
Big Scary joined the long list of previous AMP winners that includes Hermitude (2012) The Jezabels (2011), Cloud Control (2010), Lisa Mitchell (2009), Eddie Current Suppression Ring (2008), The Mess Hall (2007), Augie March (2006), and inaugural winners The Drones (2005).
As previously reported, the AMP judging panel has expanded this year in response to criticisms of gender equality, adding musician Jen Cloher, journalists Sarah Smith (FasterLouder) and Bryget Chirsfield (The Music), and a fourth as-yet-unannounced member. Jet Black Cat Music’s Shannon Logan is also returning to the fold while Renee Geyer is taking time off, bringing the total judging panel to 15.
Any Australian release (with nine or more tracks and a total run time over 33 minutes released in 2014) is eligible for the 10th Coopers AMP.
Digital entrants and submissions should email [email protected].
CD copies can be sent to P.O. Box 1329, Windsor, VIC 3181, or head to the official Coopers AMP website for more deatails.
The 10th Coopers AMP Longlist Nominees
DZ Deathrays – Black Rat
Blank Realm – Grassed Inn
REMi – Raw X Infinity
Total Control – Typical System
Ball Park Music – Puddinghead
Chet Faker – Built On Glass
Teeth & Tongue – Grids
Straight Arrows – Rising
East Brunswick All Girls Choir – Seven Drummers
HTRK – Psychic 9-5 Club
