Taite Prize: We've got their numbers

The annual Taite Prize, which is awarded to the best album in New Zealand - as judged by a panel of critics - and comes with $10,000, is being given out next Wednesday, April 15.

Past winners include Lawrence Arabia, Ladi6, SJD, UMO, and Lorde, and this year's finalist list is full of equally excellent albums.

In preparation, we thought we'd do a little data analysis of the top 10 finalists, and see how they stack up.

• There is 1 debut album in the top 10 (the self-titled gothic fairytale folk album by Lyttelton lass Aldous Harding); half the finalists have released 3 albums or more.

• 2 acts have been nominated before (this is the 3rd time @Peace have been nominated, and the 2nd time for Tiny Ruins), and 4 acts have won other local music awards (Delaney Davidson, Kimbra, Tiny Ruins, and Tami Neilson).

• There are 7 solo albums in the list, and 3 albums by groups (@Peace, Electric Wire Hustle, Jakob). Of the solo records, 4 are by female artists (Tiny Ruins, Kimbra, Tami Neilson, and Aldous Harding), and 3 by males (Delaney Davidson, Grayson Gilmour, and Mulholland).

• There is 1 instrumental album in the list (Sines by Jakob).

• 6 of the albums have charted in the NZ top 40 (@Peace and the Plutonian Noise Symphony reached number 3, The Golden Echo by Kimbra reached number 5, Dynamite! by Tami Neilson reached number 10, Sines by Jakob reached number 10, Brightly Painted One by Tiny Ruins reached 19, and Aldous Harding reached number 35).

• The longest running act on the list is Jakob (they started in 1998), the newest is Aldous Harding (2014), and the most prolific is Delaney Davidson (who has released 5 solo albums and 4 collaborative records).

• There's 1 act that has have broken up since the list was announced, which is @Peace, and significantly @Peace are also the only act who have been nominated for all their releases, over 3 consecutive years.

- TimeOut