Other People's Awards
Indies making all the right noises | 2011-02-02 04:26 | Written By: by AIR
Earlier this week Liberation, Ivy League and Illusive put out a joint press release. It was titled "We might not be the biggest record labels in Australia but we make all the right noises."
The three Australian indie labels that make up The Mushroom Group were boasting that they shared 8 releases in the triple J's hottest 100 and had 5 of the Australia's highest selling singles in 2010. It made them easily the best performing record label releasing Australian music in Australia.
The Mushroom Groups's success is indicative of a wider trend in Australia. Triple J's Hottest 100 produced 48 Australian entries, 26 of which were independently released and todays shortlist for the AMP (Australian Music Prize) consisted entirely of albums released by independent labels.
The AMP is an important award and it is building an impressive back-catalogue of winners. In just 6 years It has a notable history of successes and controversies. Sure Lisa Mitchell rasied eyebrows when she won it last year and there are disgruntled hip hop fans outraged that the genre failed to get a single nomination but these awards create an incredible focal point for the discussion of music. It's a good thing.
In the case of the AMP, the evidence just suggests that the judging panel just chooses their favourite album, regardless of genre. That ain't a bad criteria. One day their favourite album will be by a dance, hip hop or metal artist and we'll stop hearing conspiracy theories.
For the record, the nominees include the complex and challenging debut solo album by Gareth Liddard, The twisted psychadelia of Richard in Your Mind, Pikelet's underrated 'Stem' and Dan Kelly's pop-armegeddon concept album. Not a bad selection at all.
They are:
Cloud Control – Bliss Release
Dan Kelly – Dan Kelly’s Dream
Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Rush To Relax
Gareth Liddard – Strange Tourist
Pikelet – Stem
Richard In Your Mind – My Volcano
Sally Seltman – Heart That’s Pounding
Tame Impala – Innerspeaker
The Holidays – Post Paradise
Finally, we wanted to congratulate The Holidays for winning the Red Bull Award for best Australian Debut Album, in recognition of outstanding potential... "Post Holiday" is gorgeously produced modern pop, and the video of broken bones above is an album highlight. Easily one of the albums of 2010.
