Nothing new among Choice Music Prize shortlist

TWO weeks ago, the Choice Music Prize shortlist for best Irish album of 2013 was announced — how many can you name?

The award is in its ninth year and news of the shortlist is usually accompanied by incredulous music fans crying out that at least one deserving artist or act has been ignored.

That’s usually what we hear anyway. Last year, Steve Wall, of the Walls, for example, was unhappy not to be considered, as was David Kitt a few years ago.

But, this year, there were only a few groans, mostly on Twitter, and little coverage of the shortlist announcement. The prediction pieces will likely come closer to Feb 27, when the winner is announced at an event at Vicar Street, where as many of the nominees as possible will play a short set.

Great reaction to the shortlist yesterday, keep an eye on the website as well between now and 27th Feb for updateshttp://t.co/3toVkkF2Me

— RTÉ Choice Music (@choiceprize) January 9, 2014

Of the tutting that greeted the announcement, the loudest groan regarded the fact that, again, it was mostly guitar-driven alt-rock/pop that dominated the shortlist. Recent winners have also come from this genre. Last year’s winners, Delorentos, had been favourites for the award and there was little surprise when they won. Two Door Cinema Club won in 2011, for their debut album, Tourist History.

This time round, eight of the 10 nominees wield electric guitars and would probably be classed as in the rock/pop categories.

Meanwhile, Lisa O’Neill, up for the idiosyncratic Same Cloth Or Not, is closer to folk-pop, while the DJ/producer, Mano Le Tough, is the only nominee who would likely turn his nose up at the six-stringed instrument. That isn’t to say the guitar-wielding acts on the shortlist didn’t make good albums, just that, well, variety and new ideas have never been a bad thing, have they?

But, nah, verse, chorus, verse has always worked, so why change? Only three albums of the 10 are debut releases: Le Tough, for Changing Days, Little Green Cars, for Absolute Zero, and Kodaline, for In A Perfect World. You could have made a good shortlist of 10 debut albums if you wanted, but maybe it’s easier returning to bands that you’re already familiar with, acts who have grown in confidence and stature.

Thirteen judges decided on the shortlist, up from 10 last year (of whom I was one; it was a good experience, though many minds were not for turning once discussions began). Four judges have done it before, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised to see the Choice continue down the same path it has been happy to tread since 2005.

On its website, the Choice Prize states that its aim is “to highlight those albums that deserve some extra time in the spotlight and, ultimately, to select the album which best sums up the year in Irish music”.

It’s a curious statement, one that seems at odds with the idea of the Choice representing the ‘Irish album of the year’, which it is most certainly marketed as.

Kodaline, for example, hardly “deserve extra time in the spotlight”. They’re playing the O2 in March, the album spent seven weeks at number one in Ireland during 2013, and its singles, such as the current ‘Brand New Day’, are on constant radio rotation.

Little Green Cars also benefit from heavy radio play, as do Villagers. And So I Watch You From Afar, Bell X1, and My Bloody Valentine regularly sit atop festival bills, both at home and abroad. Are any of these bands in need of more of the spotlight?

But, hopefully, the Choice Prize will act as a starting point for someone to discover the great music that is being made on these shores. Some of the nominees are certainly worth hearing, if you haven’t heard them already.

The shortlist is completed by Girls Names, for The New Life, and O Emperor, for Vitreous, two of my favourite releases last year. The former is probably the album I’ve returned to most over the past two years, each listen revealing something new.

Both bands have redefined their sounds for their second albums, with Waterford’s O Emperor delving into the realms of psychedelica, ditching the ho-hum sound that Bell X1 have made a killing on over the last decade. Either would be a worthy winner of the Choice Prize.