Hazar! The Dead Albatross Music Prize has officially rolled around for 2017! The season for the award show launched on Wednesday night with Paul Ackroyd aka Kamikaze announcing this year’s shortlist inside a three-hour special on Reel Rebels Radio.
For the uninitiated the Dead Albatross Music Prize was kicked off by Paul in 2013 to recognise the best records to come out of the UK across a 12 month period. Submissions are taken throughout the year by the panel and then shortlisted accordingly. The panel lives with the records for about a month and a half, and then the voted are tallied culminating in a few hours worth of radio covering the nominees and ending with the winner.
The winner is then sent a Dead Albatross.
You can take a look at previous year’s winners below.
2013 – https://awkmo.co/the-dead-albatross-music-prize-2013/
2014 – https://awkmo.co/the-dead-albatross-music-prize-2014/
2015 – https://awkmo.co/the-dead-albatross-music-prize-2015/
2016 – https://awkmo.co/the-dead-albatross-music-prize-2016/
There’s been different formats and different categories tried out over the years, but 2017 sees us simply weighing in on the best albums to come out of Britain and Ireland.
Big ups to the Albatross family as always – Paul especially for pulling it together every year, but really the whole panel and all participants who pull together mail outs, show specials and take the time to listen to all the records.
You can get a replay of Paul’s ‘shortlist show’ below, or for spoilers just read the list underneath it. And a cracking list it is, can’t wait to dig in.
Basic Rhythm – The Basics [Type]
Broken English Club – The English Beach [L.I.E.S.]
Children Of Alice – Children Of Alice [Warp]
Ectopia – Life/Section [Wysing Polyphonic]
Gnod – Just Say No To The Psycho Right-Wing Capitalist Fascist Industrial Death Machine [Rocket]
Hannah Peel – Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia [Society of Sound / My Own Pleasure]
Jane Weaver – Modern Kosmology [Fire]
Japan Blues – Sells His Record Collection [Japan Blues]
Laurence Guy – Saw You For The First Time [Church]
Lone Taxidermist – Trifle [MemeTune]
People Like Us – Abridged Too Far [Discrepant]
Pessimist – Pessimist [Blackest Ever Black]
Regis – Gymnastics [Downwards]
Richard Dawson – Peasant [Weird World]
Sacred Paws – Strike A Match [Rock Action]
Shackleton / Anika – Behind The Glass [WTTSH]
Shirley Collins – Lodestar [Domino]
Strange U – #LP4080 [High Focus]
The Caretaker – Everywhere At The End Of Time [HAFTW]
The Moonlandingz – Interplanetary Class Classics [Transgressive]
The Scorpios – The Scorpios [Afro 7]
Total Leatherette – For The Climax Of The Night [Milk]
T Q D – UKG [Butterz]
Wiley – Godfather [CTA]
Yussef Kamaal – Black Focus [Brownswood]
Reel Rebels Radio in Hackney will be hosting a whole season of Dead Albatross shows throughout September and October, including interviews with many of the shortlisted artists and labels, exclusive mixes, and radio features about each of the albums on this year’s list.
You will be able to stream all the shortlisted albums via deadalbatross.com. If you would like to get involved with the project in any capacity, please get in touch with us on deadalbatrossmusicprize@gmail.com, we look forward to hearing from you.
The Dead Albatross finale/award show will be live on Reel Rebels Radio on Wednesday 25th October 2017.
Happy listening, enjoy the musical journey… x
reelrebelsradio.com
deadalbatross.com
