Chet Faker has another chance to add to his bulging collection of industry awards for Built On Glass, which has made the shortlist for the 10th annual Australian Music Prize.
The electro-soul singer’s debut album is one of nine records which will progress to the final of the AMP, with the winner announced March 4 in Sydney.
Organizers on Wednesday said its longlist of 65 recordings had been pared-back to a list that also features About Face by #1 Dads, Gon’ Boogaloo by C.W. Stoneking, Grassed Inn by Blank Realm, Laura Jean by Laura Jean, Raw X Infinty by REMI, Tales by The Peep Tempel, The Sleeper by Caitlin Park and Typical System by Total Control. The winner will receive A$30,000 ($25,000) in prize money donated by the PPCA collecting society.
Sia, Chet Faker Win Big at ARIA Awards
Faker (real name Nicholas Murphy) saw his career hit another gear when Built On Glass opened at No. 1 on the ARIA albums chart following its release through Future Classic last April. In October 2014, the Melbourne singer won all three ARIA Artisan awards on offer (producer of the year, engineer of the year and best cover art) and the following month, he took out best male artist and best independent release at the ARIA Awards. The album is now platinum-certified Down Under and, recently, he performed the album track “Gold” on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
The AMP is modeled on Britain’s Mercury Music Prize and Canada’s Polaris Prize and is decided by a music industry panel, whose single goal is to identify and reward the outstanding creative Australian album of the past year. This year, more than 300 albums were submitted. Each was released during the period of Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2014.
American Music Prize to Launch in 2015
The nomines for the Coopers-sponsored prize this year includes some faces familiar to AMP-observers. Tom Iansek, one half of last year’s winners Big Scary, features again this time under the guise of his solo act #1 Dads. Total Control member Mikey Young was a member of Eddy Current Suppression Ring, which won the 2008 AMP for Primary Colours and was shortlisted again in 2010 for Rush to Relax, while C.W.Stoneking featured on the 2008 shortlist with his album Jungle Blues.
AMP founder and prize director Scott B. Murphy will this year launch the American Music Prize, to recognize the year’s best debut American album. The ambition of the new award is to “encourage, discover, reward and promote new music of excellence by USA artists.”
The 10th Coopers AMP shortlist:
“About Face” by #1 Dads
“Built On Glass” by Chet Faker
“Gon’ Boogaloo” by C.W. Stoneking
“Grassed Inn” by Blank Realm
“Laura Jean” by Laura Jean
“Raw X Infinty” by REMI
“Tales” by The Peep Tempel
“The Sleeper” by Caitlin Park
“Typical System” by Total Control