Following on from announcing the emerging bands and artists nominated for the annual Unearthed J Award, Triple J has revealed another batch of Aussie musicians up for the coveted J Awards for 2013.
Another five artists have joined the already announced likes of Big Scary, The Drones, Jagwar Ma, Flume, RÜFÜS, and Cloud Control for the national youth broadcaster’s annual Album of the Year gong.
The heavier side of the music spectrum is represented in the new list of J Awards 2013 nominees by two leading Aussie artists. First off the rank is Karnivool, with the Perth prog powerhouse’s Asymmetry putting them in the mix.
The band’s third studio album debuted at the top of the ARIA charts upon release in July, making chart history for vocalist Ian Kenny, and led to a successful national tour.
Karnivool are set to team up with Dead Letter Circus early next year for another national trek off the back of Asymmetry, a “multi-dimensional accomplishment that’s exhausting, but more so enthralling,” according to our Tone Deaf reviewer; “If it’s not one of the best records you’ll hear this year, then it’s one of the most ferociously grand and memorable – guaranteed.”
Sydney five-piece and UNFD stars Northlane have cause to celebrate, in addition to the nearly $20k they pocketed in Arts Grants recently, with the metalcore band’s second album Singularity up for a J Award, which would be a wonderful boost ahead of their tour as part of the Big Day Out 2014 lineup.
Abbe May’s Kiss My Apocalypse has earned a nod, displaying a sharp turn away from the dirty blues of her debut towards alluring, electrofied pop, which also earned the Melbourne-via-Perth muso a nomination for next year’s Australian Music Prize.
Fellow AMP nominees, Sydney duo Horrorshow are the sole Aussie hip hop artist in the J Awards 2013 pool, for their King Amongst Many LP, and the fifth and final new nominee to the list is nu-folk favourites Boy & Bear, for their much-anticipated second studio album, Harlequin Dream.
The additional Album of the Year J Award nominees follows just after the announcement of the J Unearthed nominations, placing seven artists – including Jeremy Neale, Tigertown, and Remi – in the running for the honours of best unsigned artist of the year.
Sydney beatmaker and award-monger Flume was the winner of last year’s J Unearthed award and has graduated to an Album of the Year nomination, which last year went to Tame Impala for Lonerism, making it two for two for the Perth psych rock specialists, claiming the J Award in 2010 for Innerspeaker.
Other J Award winners have included Gotye (for Making Mirrors in 2011), The Presets (Apocalypto in 2008), and the recently reunited Wolfmother (with their eponymous debut for the inaugural J Award in 2005).
The nominations for this year’s Australian Music Video J Awards category are still to be announced, but are expected to be revealed in the coming days, (UPDATE 14/11: Triple J have revealed the Music Video of the Year nominations, view the full list here) with the winners of all three major categories to be announced on 22nd November.
The J Awards 2013 follows what’s been a successful year for the national youth broadcaster, which recently revealed they’d be adding a third station to their portfolio; rebranding and relaunching ABC digital radio station Dig Music as a destination for the “30+ discerning music lover.” Designed to deliver music for an older audience that have ‘outgrown’ the youth broadcaster’s music tastes.
The same week as the Dig Music news, Triple J made Aussie chart history, with the ninth edition of the popular Like A Version series becoming the first-ever ARIA #1 for ABC Music and the first compilation release to top the charts in 13 years.
J Awards 2013 Album Of The Year Nominees
Karnivool – Asymmetry
Northlane – Singularity
Abbe May – Kiss My Apocalypse
Horrorshow – King Amongst Many
Boy & Bear – Harlequin Dream
Joining the already announced nominees:
Big Scary – Not Art
Cloud Control – Dream Cave
The Drones – I See Seaweed
Flume – Flume
Jagwar Ma – Howlin’
RÜFÜS – Atlas
