Following on from announcing that the Australian Recording Industry Association’s night of nights would be moving into The Star casino complex in Sydney, the first nominations for the ARIA Awards 2013 have been revealed.
The likes of Sydney producer and robot-wrangler Flume, legendary Bad Seeds ringleader Nick Cave, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, and nu-folk sensation Boy & Bear lead the first round of ARIA Award nominees announced, in the nominations for this year’s Fine Arts & Artisan Awards.
Recognising the achievements of artists and music industry figures, the shortlist for the Fine Arts & Artisan Awards covers seven categories that act as a warm-up for the complete ARIA Awards 2013 ceremony, including jazz, world music, classical, soundtrack, as well as producer and engineer awards, and Best Cover Art, with the winners continuing the legacy of last year’s Fine Arts & Artisan Awards winners (where The Jezabels cleaned up).
Nick Cave and long-term cohort Warren Ellis are nominated in the Soundtrack category for their score to Lawless, while Paul Kelly is in the mix for his Conversations With Ghosts collaboration, the category also features David Bridie for Satellite Boy, singer Tina Arena for Symphony of Life, and curiously, Triple J for their One Night Stand compilation.
The Producer Of The Year category is set to be the most hotly contested. Competing for the gong are Harley Streten (aka Flume) for his eponymous debut album, Empire Of The Sun’s Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore for sophomore effort Ice On The Dune, Kevin Parker of Tame Impala for the kaleidoscopic Lonerism, legendary desk jockey Wayne Connolloy for his work on Boy & Bear’s Harlequin Dream, and Virginia Read for her part in producing Sally Whitwell’s All Imperfect Things, a solo piano tribute album to deceased composer Michael Nyman.
Virgina Read and Kevin Parker also reappears in the Engineer Of The Year nominees as well as Peter Mayes for Empire Of The Sun’s Ice On The Dune, alongside Evermore’s Dann Hume for Alpine’s ‘Seeing Red’, Melbourne Ska Orchestra leader Nicky Bomba with Robin Mai.
The Best Cover Art category has named legendary children’s illustrator Graeme Base, for his work on The Cat Empire’s latest, Steal The Light, artist Justin Maller for his work on Bliss N Eso’s Circus In The Sky, as well as Kevin Parker yet again, the Tame Impala frontman nominated with Leif Podhajsky for the Lonerism album sleeve.
The winners of the Fine Arts & Artisan Awards will be announced at a special ceremony hosted at the Art Gallery of NSW on Tuesday 15th October, where the final list of ARIA Awards 2013 nominations will be revealed ahead of the 27th Annual ARIA Awards ceremony at The Star Casino on Sunday 1st December.
Prior to the 2013 ceremony, the ARIA Week of special events and live music will return this year, kick-starting from Monday 25th November. Last year’s inaugural ARIA Week – which featured a series of concerts from the likes of The Rubens, Alpine, Bertie Blackman, and The Trouble With Templeton – also injected $1.4 million into local economy, according to Minister For Tourism, Major Events and the Arts, George Souris.
ARIA Awards 2013 Fine Arts & Artisan Nominees
BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM
Amy Dickson, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra – Catch Me If You Can
David Hansen – Rivals - Arias for Farinelli & Co.
Jane Sheldon – North + South
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Nigel Westlake – Missa Solis: Requiem for Eli
Sally Whitwell – All Imperfect Things: Solo Piano Music of Michael Nyman
BEST JAZZ ALBUM
Andrea Keller – Family Portraits
Jonathan Zwartz – The Remembering & Forgetting of the Air
Renee Geyer – Swing
The Idea Of North – Smile
Tommy Emmanuel & Martin Taylor – The Colonel & The Governor
BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM
Airileke – Weapon of Choice
Joseph Tawadros – Chameleons of the White Shadow
Rasa Duende – Improvisations
Shellie Morris & The Borroloola Songwomen – Together We Are Strong – Ngambala Wiji Li-Wununga The Song Peoples Sessions
Various – Melodie Francaise
BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK/ CAST/ SHOW ALBUM
David Bridie – Satellite Boy
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis Present – Lawless - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Paul Kelly, James Ledger, Genevieve Lacey, ANAM Musicians – Conversations With Ghosts
Tina Arena – Symphony of Life
Various – Triple J’s One Night Stand
ARTISAN AWARD NOMINEES:
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Wayne Connolly and Boy & Bear – Boy & Bear, Harlequin Dream
Luke Steele/Nick Littlemore/Peter Mayes/Jonathan Sloan – Empire Of The Sun, Ice On The Dune
Harley Streten – Flume, Flume
Virginia Read – Sally Whitwell, All Imperfect Things: Solo Piano Music of Michael Nyman
Kevin Parker – Tame Impala, Lonerism
ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
Dann Hume – Alpine, Seeing Red
Peter Mayes – Empire Of The Sun, Ice On The Dune
Nicky Bomba, Robin Mai – Melbourne Ska Orchestra, Melbourne Ska Orchestra
Virginia Read – Sally Whitwell, All Imperfect Things
Kevin Parker – Tame Impala, Lonerism
BEST COVER ART
Justin Maller – Bliss n Eso, Circus In The Sky
Aaron Hayward and Dave Homer (Debaser) – Empire Of The Sun, Ice On The Dune
Glen Hannah – Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson, Wreck and Ruin
Kevin Parker & Leif Podhajsky – Tame Impala, Lonerism
Graeme Base – The Cat Empire, Steal The Light
