Flume and The Avalanches lead the nominations in the ARIA Awards no one gets to see
THEY are the ARIA awards you never get to see televised. But there are some big names up for the Artisan and Fine Arts categories.
THE first round of ARIA Awards nominations offer a crystal ball look at the acts who would be wise to start writing a decent acceptance speech for the November ceremony.
It is looking like electronic prince Flume will be up against comeback kings The Avalanches for the lion’s share of the dangerously pointed trophies, with pop prodigy Troye Sivan also guaranteed to figure prominently when the big categories are announced on Wednesday.
ARIA gave the industry a sneak peak at the frontrunners for the 2016 black carpet shuffle by revealing the Artisan Awards nominees.
Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker won both Producer and Engineer of the Year last year and his band went on to pick up Album and Group of the Year.
The Skin album from Flume, aka Harley Streten, and the Avalanches’ 16-years-in-the-making comeback record Wildflower scored nods for Producer and Engineer of the Year as well as Best Cover Art.
Also featured in both categories are one of Australia’s most consistent hitmakers M-Phazes for his work on the Illy and Vera Blue hit Papercuts and 22-year-old producer and composer Alex Hope for her sonic architecture on Sivan’s breakthrough debut album Blue Neighbourhood.
The awards organisers also revealed the nominees for the Fine Arts categories which were peppered with big names and one head-scratching inconsistency.
Why is the Flight Facilities and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra collaboration nominated in Best Classical recording while Josh Pyke’s concert with the Sydney Symphony (Live At The Sydney Opera House) is short-listed for Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Album?
The record label gets to choose the category, so maybe Future Classic thought Flight Facilities have a better shot of winning the classical award while ABC Music prefer the odds for Pyke contesting the Best Original Show Album.
Both artists — and their orchestras — face competition from other big names more accustomed to figuring in the Fine Arts categories, including Katie Noonan and Richard Tognetti.
The multi-faceted Kate Miller-Heidke demonstrates her genre-defying talent with a nomination in Best Cast Album for her production The Rabbits and also pops up in Best Comedy release for the catchy single I’m Growing A Beard Downstairs For Christmas (featuring The Beards).
It was a very lean year for laughs in the Australian record industry, with only four eligible recordings for Best Comedy Release entered in the nominations.
Perhaps YouTube has killed the comedy star when it comes to immortalising their talents on an MP3.
The full list of nominees for the 2016 ARIA Awards will be unveiled on Wednesday morning with the ceremony held at The Star, Sydney on November 23.
The Artisan and Fine Arts nominees are:
Producer Of The Year
Harley Streten for Flume — Skin
M-Phazes for Illy — Papercuts (ft. Vera Blue)
Tony Buchen for Montaigne — Glorious Heights
Robbie Chater and Tony Di Blasi for The Avalanches — Wildflower
Alex Hope for Troye Sivan — Blue Neighbourhood
Engineer Of The Year
Nick DiDia for Bernard Fanning — Civil Dusk
Eric J Dubowsky and Harley Streten for Flume — Skin
M-Phazes for Illy — ‘Papercuts (ft. Vera Blue)
Tony Espie and Robbie Chater for The Avalanches — Wildflower
Alex Hope for Troye Sivan — Blue Neighbourhood
Best Cover Art
Karen Lynch for Bernard Fanning — Civil Dusk
Kristen Doyle for Delta Goodrem — Wings of the Wild
Jonathan Zawada for Flume — Skin
Jack Vanzet for RÜFÜS — Bloom
Robbie Chater for Lost Art for The Avalanches — Wildflower
Best Classical Album
Flight Facilities — Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Joe Chindamo & Zoe Black — The New Goldberg Variations
Katie Noonan & Brodsky Quartet — With Love And Fury
Nicole Car — The Kiss
Richard Tognetti | Australian Chamber Orchestra — Mozart’s Last Symphonies
Best Jazz Album
Don Burrows & James Morrison — In Good Company
Emma Pask — Cosita Divina
Stu Hunter — The Migration
The Idea of North — Ballads
Vince Jones & Paul Grabowsky — Provenance
Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Album
Josh Pyke & The Sydney Symphony Orchestra — Live at the Sydney Opera House
Kate Miller-Heidke — The Rabbits (Original Live Cast Recording)
Queensland Symphony Orchestra — Gallipoli Symphony
Various Artists — The Divorce (Original Cast Recording)
Various Artists — Velvet: The Original Cast Recording
Best World Music Album
Gawurra — Ratja Yaliyali
Joseph Tawadros — World Music
Melbourne Ska Orchestra — Sierra Kilo Alpha
Paul Grabowsky | Monash Art Ensemble | David Ngukurr Boy Wilfred | David Yipininy Wilfred — Nyilipidgi
Seaman Dan — An Old Man Of The Sea
Best Comedy Release
Kate Miller-Heidke — I’m Growing A Beard Downstairs For Christmas (feat. The Beards)
Luke Heggie — You’re Not Special/Anythink is Possible
Matt & Alex — Play It Out
Roy & HG — This Sporting Life
Originally published as Flume and The Avalanches lead the nominations in the ARIA Awards no one gets to see