Nadia Reid is one of the eight finalists for the Taite Music Prize. Photo: Josh Yong
Eight finalists are in the running for the Taite Music Prize, which aims to award the best album from a New Zealand artist over a calendar year.
Now in its seventh year, this year's nominees include SJD, Nadia Reid, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Princess Chelsea, The Phoenix Foundation, Anthonie Tonnon, Marlon Williams and Silicon. Like previous years, the winning act will take home a cash prize of $10,000, to spend as they wish, along with recording time at Red Bull Studios.
The award, which aims “to recognise outstanding creativity for an entire collection of music contained on one album”, was named after the late Dylan Taite, one of New Zealand’s most renowned music journalists, and previous winners include Jakob, SJD, Lorde, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Ladi6, Lawrence Arabia.
Matthew Davis, chairperson of Independent Music NZ, said it was a chance celebrate “the extraordinary musical and artistic expression to be found in New Zealand”.
“This year’s finalists (and the impressive list of nominees) for the Taite Music Prize show that creativity, diversity and imagination within the New Zealand recording sector is thriving, and we look forward to the award ceremony which is sure to be a great night,” he said.
The winner will be announced at a media event in Auckland on Wednesday April 20 along with the recipient of this year’s NZ Classic Record.
Here are the nominees:
SJD - Saint John Divine
Nadia Reid - Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love
Princess Chelsea - The Great Cybernetic Depression
The Phoenix Foundation - Give Up Your Dreams
Anthonie Tonnon - Successor
Marlon Williams - Marlon Williams
Silicon - Personal Computer