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UNCUT MUSIC AWARD 2009 - SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED
October 27, 2009
Uncut magazine today announces the shortlist for this year's coveted Uncut Music Award.
Among the eight finalists, Southern rockers Kings of Leon will go head to head with the legendary Bob Dylan.
Joining Kings of Leon and Bob Dylan in the final eight are an array of genre-spanning acts - Wilco, Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear, The Low Anthem and Tinariwen.
Only in its second year and already gaining a reputation as the most credible award in music, the Uncut Music Award rewards the most inspiring album of the last twelve months. The artists' nationality, age and sales figures are completely irrelevant as a judging panel of industry figures come together to decide on the winner.
Ben from The Low Anthem says of being in the shortlist 'Milk, eggs, cheese, ginkgo biloba...I was in the dairy aisle when I heard about Uncut's selection. Imagine my surprise. Ever since we dreamed up "Oh My God, Charlie Darwin," we knew it was a good record with good ideas on it, but we did not realize that anyone but our friends would hear it. We're honoured that our strange little record is keeping fine company on the Uncut short list'.
Noah (aka Panda Bear) from Animal Collective says of being in the shortlist 'We're honoured to be chosen and very grateful to everyone who has helped us and grateful to those who continue to help us on our way. It's been a good year for new music I think, and we're glad if we've been a part of it. Thanks for thinking of us, and I hope everyone is having good times.'
US folk rock band, The Low Anthem began in 2006 when they released a self titled debut album with Grammy-nominated producer John Paul Gauthier. Oh My God, Charlie Darwin is their third album and since its release they have played over 100 shows, supporting artists such as Bon Iver.
Animal Collective, are a genre-bending co-operative who originally are from Baltimore, Maryland but now based in New York. The band's ninth studio album, Merriweather Post Pavillion, was released in January 2009 to generally ecstatic reviews.
Bob Dylan's new album Together Through Life is his 46th release, and follows on from his 2006 Platinum album Modern Times, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200.
Dirty Projectors are a Brooklyn-based six piece experimental rock band led by one of the most prolific indie singer/songwriters of the early 2000s, Dave Longstreth. Bitte Orca, is the fifth album by the band and has been described as their most seductive and elusive.
US, Brooklyn-based Grizzly Bear returned in May 2009 with the breathtaking album Veckatimest. Following a sensational year in 2008, which saw the band support Radiohead and Paul Simon, Vecktamist has now sold over 20,000 copies in the UK and has hit the 100,000 mark in the US, resulting in critical acclaim across the world.
Nashville four-piece, Kings Of Leon have achieved world-wide success with their fourth album Only By The Night, which reached the top five in the UK album chart and finally achieved album success in their native United States.
Tinariwen are a band of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. Formed in 1979, they rose to prominence in the 1980s as the musical voice of a new political and social conscience in the southern Sahara. In the early 2000s Tinariwen started to gain a following outside Africa, first in the world music community, and then in the wider rock scene, thanks to frequent tours and appearances at major festival in Europe and the USA.
US based alternative rock group Wilco released Wilco (the album) in June 2009 - the band's seventh studio recording. In the US it debuted at no.4 and gave the band the best first-week result of their 15-year career.
The distinguished judging panel of eleven key industry figures headed by Uncut's editor, Allan Jones, and includes Robin Pecknold, the leader of 2008's Uncut Music Award winner, Fleet Foxes, have diligently whittled down the final eight from a list of twenty five key albums of 2009. The panel will come together to thrash out which album they will eventually crown as the best of the last twelve months in the coming weeks.
Allan Jones Uncut's Editor says of the Award '“If there's one thing at this stage that I think the judges can agree on it's that 2009 was another brilliant year for music, which of course just makes our job that much harder. It was difficult enough to pick eight albums from our original long-list of 25, and the task now of choosing a winner and runners-up from our short-list is going to be even more daunting. Every one of these albums would make a worthy winner of this year's Uncut Music Award and I am sure the final judging session will be full of passionate debate as the judges put forward their cases for their favourite albums. It promises to be an exciting afternoon and I look forward to hearing the views of the other judges on these exceptional records.”
The men and women who have compiled the shortlist are: last year's winner, Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes; Uncut editor Allan Jones; Billy Bragg and Rachel Unthank; broadcasters Mark Radcliffe, Christian O'Connell, Danny Kelly and Bob Harris; BBC Head Of Music Entertainment Mark Cooper; Stiff founder Dave Robinson; and Tony Wadsworth, chair of the BPI.
Christian O'Connell, Absolute Radio Presenter says of the Award: 'The final contenders for Uncut's album of the year make for an impressive list. All of them punch above their weight and show what a great year it's been for real music. It's going to be some job picking just one winner. The downside is that none were up for payola. I had hoped being a judge would see me taking some backhanders but nothing! I called Kings of Leon saying how nice it would be to see them make the shortlist. They agreed. Then I said how nice a new 48 inch TV would be for me. They hung up.'
Radio Broadcaster Bob Harris says '2009 has been an amazing year for new music and this shortlist represents the wonderful diversity that makes my work so enjoyable and so exciting.'
The eight records on the Uncut Music Award shortlist are, in alphabetical order:
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
Bob Dylan – Together Through Life (Columbia)
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca (Domino)
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (Warp)
Kings of Leon – Only By The Night (Columbia)
The Low Anthem – Oh My God Charlie Darwin (Bella Union)
Tinariwen – Imidiwan: Companions (Independiente)
Wilco – Wilco (Nonesuch)
Stiff Records founder Dave Robinson says 'Genius does what it must, talent does what it can.'
BBC Head of Music Entertainment Mark Cooper says 'It's a great list combining some brilliant, original breakthrough albums by newish bands with really strong work by career artists. God only knows who will win but it will be fun listening to the work more deeply still and chatting enough with the rest of the panel to find out!'
Artist Rachel Unthank says "I'm really pleased to see that my own favourite has made it to the final eight, plus a few others on my shortlist. There is some exciting and quality music there, I can't wait to begin the deciding discussion. Music brings the passion out in people, it should be fun!"
-ends-
For further information please contact Katy Emami on katy_emami@freelance.ipcmedia.com or 020 3148 26771 / 07811 216 245
NOTES TO EDITORS
Quotes from Judges:
Stiff Records founder Dave Robinson says 'Genius does what it must, talent does what it can.'
BBC Head of Music Entertainment Mark Cooper says 'It's a great list combining some brilliant, original breakthrough albums by newish bands with really strong work by career artists. God only knows who will win but it will be fun listening to the work more deeply still and chatting enough with the rest of the panel to find out!'
Artist Rachel Unthank says "I'm really pleased to see that my own favourite has made it to the final eight, plus a few others on my shortlist. There is some exciting and quality music there, I can't wait to begin the deciding discussion. Music brings the passion out in people, it should be fun!"
