Shortlist Announces 2007 Nominees

The Shortlist Organization has revealed the Long List of nominees for the sixth annual Shortlist Music Prize, a peer-selected award that recognizes the most creative and adventurous albums of the year.  The 61 nominees were selected by a panel of nine Listmakers: recording artists Gary Lightbody (Snow Patrol), Ronnie Vannucci (the Killers), Franz Ferdinand, KT Tunstall, Panic! at the Disco, Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips), Sufjan Stevens, and journalists Toure (BET, Rolling Stone) and Rev. Moose (Vice President of Content, CMJ Network; Editor-In-Chief, CMJ New Music Report).

Nomination to the Long List is the first step towards the Shortlist Music Prize.  Ten Finalists will be announced in April, and the winner will be announced later in the spring. Any album released in the US in 2006 was eligible for nomination, so long as it had not been certified gold for domestic sales of 500,000 units.

Listmaker Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol calls this year’s Long List “an incredible list that looks like my own iPod.” Lightbody describes Regina Spektor’s “Begin to Hope” as “a gorgeous record which is simple and devastating in equal measure.”  Also among Lightbody’s favorites are the “sublime, blissed out elegance” of Band of Horses, the “sweeping swooning carnival” of Beirut, and the “twisted, warped pop” of Mates of State.

Nominees range from established rock bands like the Decemberists, Belle and Sebastian, the Strokes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs to innovative beatmeisters like The Knife, Hot Chip, Spank Rock and CSS. Beginning a new tradition, the Shortlist Organization invited last year’s winner Sufjan Stevens to serve as a Listmaker.  Stevens’ picks include harpist Joanna Newsom, rapper Dabrye and two international artists, Norway’s Serena Maneesh and Japan’s OOIOO.  

In all, artists from ten countries were nominated, including five Scandinavian and five English artists.  The 61albums on the Long List were released by more than 45 different record labels.  In chronological order, the five previous Shortlist winners are Sigur Ros, N*E*R*D, Damien Rice, TV on the Radio and Sufjan Stevens.

Music fans can find information on this years nominations at the Official Shortlist website.

Author: FutureMusic

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