Waits, Newsom in running for Shortlist Prize
Veteran singer Tom Waits and New Age harpist Joanna Newsom are among the 10 finalists for the Shortlist Music Prize, modelled after the U.K.'s Mercury Prize.
A list of finalists, gleaned from an original list of 61 nominations, was released Monday.
It was put together by a jury of high-profile industry figures, including Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, the Killers' Ronnie Vannucci, Franz Ferdinand, KT Tunstall, Panic! At The Disco, the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne, Sufjan Stevens and music journalists Touré and Rev. Moose.
The $10,000 US prize recognizes albums thatsold fewer than 500,000 units in the U.S. in 2006.
Gravel-voiced singer Waits is recognized for his Orphans and Newsom for Ys.
The other finalists:
- Band of Horses for Everything All the Time.
- Beirut for Gulag Orchestar.
- Bonnie Prince Billy for The Letting Go.
- Cat Power for The Greatest.
- Girl Talk for Night Ripper.
- Hot Chip for The Warning.
- Regina Spektor for Begin to Hope.
- Spank Rock for YoYoYoYoYo.
"This is the year of the storyteller," said Shortlist co-founder Greg Spotts. "More than half of our 10 finalists are wordsmiths who create unique characters and narratives, interpreting our complex world in new ways."
The list includes nine albums recorded on indie labels.
The Shortlist Prize waslaunched in 2001 and has recognized artists such as Sigur Ros, N*E*R*D, Damien Rice and TV On The Radio.
Shortlist partners Tom Sarig and Spotts had a falling-out in 2005 and Sarig started therival Pantheon Award. Last year,Spotts reached an agreement withSarig toshut down the Pantheon and resurrect the Shortlist.
The winner will be announced in May.
TheMercury Prize, on which the Shortlist is patterned, has brought recognition to new artists in the U.K. such as the Arctic Monkeys.