The 10 finalists for the Taite Music Prize 2022 have been announced. As always it’s a creatively diverse and musically inspiring line-up that’s sure to stir up passionate debate amongst New Zealand music fans.
It’s also a brilliant showcase of some of the best albums to come out of Aotearoa in the last cursed year, proving that while we may have been physically locked down, our artists creatively soared. If any of these releases passed you by then be sure to check them out.
With albums ranging in style from hip-hop to alt-country to electro-pop from a mix of household names, indie outsiders and new faces the judges certainly have their work cut out for them.
It'll be hard to ignore past winners Reb Fountain (2021) and Troy Kingi (2020), who are both once again in contention with their respective albums Iris and Black Sea Golden Ladder.
Having been nominated four times with his band The Phoenix Foundation, Luke Buda will be hoping to end that missing-out streak with his solo record Buda.
The other returning name to look out for is Anthonie Tonnon, who's art-pop album Leave Love Out Of This marks his second appearance amongst the finalists. Tonnon made the Top 5 of the APRA Silver Scroll Awards last year with the record's title track so you have to rate his chances here.
The other finalists include the dream-folk duo French for Rabbits (The Overflow), Silver Scroll-winning synth-pop outfit Lips (I Don't Know Why I Do Anything), prolific singer-songwriter Dianne Swann (The War On Peace of Mind), experimentalist Sheep, Dog & Wolf (Two-Minds), Flying Nun rocker Vera Ellen (It's Your Birthday) and award-winning hip-hop outfit Team Dynamite (Respect The Process).
The Taite Music Prize is named after the late Dylan Taite, one of our most influential and respected music journalists. Rather than focusing on commercial success or the merits of a single song the award recognises outstanding creativity across a whole album. The prize winner receives a cash prize of $12,500.
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Also announced are the three finalists for the 2022 Auckland Live Best Independent Debut Award. They are 22-year-old Otepoti songwriter Adelaide Cara with the dreamy How Does This Sound?, alt-folk's Jazmine Mary with The Licking of a Tangerine and Proteins of Magic with her artfully experimental self-titled album.
It’s long been an irony of the awards that they were named after a music journalist but they ignored Aotearoa’s own music journalism. Pleasingly that is no longer the case as the 2022 ceremony introduces the inaugural NZ On Air Outstanding Music Journalism Award. The shortlist for this award will be announced in the next few weeks.
Good luck to all the finalists. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Tuesday, April 20.
The 10 finalists for The Taite Music Prize 2022
Anthonie Tonnon – Leave Love Out Of This (Slow Time Records)
Dianne Swann – The War On Peace of Mind (Bads Music)
French For Rabbits – The Overflow (AAA Records)
Lips – I Don't Know Why I Do Anything (Independent)
Luke Buda – Buda (Buda Records)
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Advertise with NZME.Reb Fountain – Iris (Flying Nun Records)
Sheep, Dog & Wolf – Two-Minds (Aphrodite)
Team Dynamite – Respect The Process (Independent)
Troy Kingi – Black Sea Golden Ladder (AAA Records)
Vera Ellen – It's Your Birthday (Flying Nun Records)
