and lo it is January and so it is time to argue about the Choice award nominees.  Since it started in 2005 the Choice Music Prize has conspired to declare the album that sums up the previous year in music, in its own words “with the aim to highlight those albums which deserve some extra time in the spotlight”.

I think it’s that last sentence that causes all the arguments. While the creation part of the irish music industry in rude health  (180 releases were considered for this year’s prize), actually making a living from those creations has never been more difficult. So a prize that offers €10,000 to the winner, and  publicity to the 9 other nominees is a welcome addition any musician’s year.

The founders say they welcome the debate; at least people are talking about those on the list, and those who should have been on the list, so everybody wins. While I agree in theory, and I know you’ll never please everyone, if you set out to declare the album that sums up a year in music, a year when so many independent, unusual, alternative, new sounding albums are created, and you end up with a list that doesn’t reflect the spectrum of those sounds then something is not right.

That it’s a horribly difficult judging system I have no doubt, and many a decent music critic has bemoaned the impossibility of the task before them, but something is awry when so many stand-out albums each year seem to fall off the list. Last year I was shocked that Chequerboard (Penny Black) didn’t make it on there, and this year it’s the turn of Patrick Kelleher (You Look Cold) and David Kitt (Nightsaver) to trigger my astonishment.

As always there are choices on the list I agree with wholeheartedly, and others who’s inclusion I question – not as artists but as the creators of the album that best sums up the year. 2009 is no different.  While all are excellent artists in their own right, there is an increasing feeling of sound deja vu for me, with the most interesting soundmakers falling off the list- which is probably just the way they like it

So make up your own mind: Here’s the 2009 list (thanks to Nialler9 for doing all the hyperlink work)

  1. And So I Watch You From Afar – And So I Watch You From Afar
  2. Bell X1 – Blue Lights on the Runway
  3. CODES – TreesDreamInAlgebra
  4. Adrian Crowley – Season of the Sparks
  5. Dark Room Notes – We Love You Dark Matter
  6. Duckworth Lewis Method – Duckworth Lewis Method
  7. Julie Feeney – Pages
  8. Valerie Francis – Slow Dynamo
  9. Laura Izibor – Let the Truth Be Told
  10. The Swell Season – Strict Joy
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