Now in its 8th year, The J Awards have gained a reputation for earmarking the best talent this country has to offer. Previous winners of the Australian Album of the Year include: Wolfmother (2005), Hilltop Hoods (2006), The Panics (2007), The Presets (2008), Sarah Blasko (2009), Tame Impala (2010), Gotye (2011).
The J Awards include Australian Album of the Year, Australian Music Video of the Year and Unearthed Artist of the Year. Nominees for all three awards are chosen by triple j experts, including the Music Directors, Program Director, triple j presenters and music producers. Nominees were selected on quality and what defined that year in music, with an eligibility period from 1 November 2011 to 31 October 2012.
Australian Album of the Year : Tame Impala – Lonerism
Lonerism is the second long-player from Perth’s Tame Impala (pictured). The album which has earned them critical acclaim worldwide, comes two years on from their debut album Innerspeaker, which won them a J Award in 2010. With both their debut and sophomore albums taking out the J Award for Australian Album of the Year, Tame Impala are the only artists to win two J Awards. Lonerism is another collection of tracks written and recorded by front man and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. This time round they shared the song-writing duties, with guitarist Jay Watson co-writing singles ‘Apocalypse Dreams’ and ‘Elephant’. The songs were recorded in home studios and hotel rooms around the world, and mixed with American producer Dave Fridmann. Together Parker and Fridmann took the band’s classic psychedelic sound into a new sonic space, brighter and dreamier than ever before.
Richard Kingsmill says of the album: “The second album from Tame Impala is remarkable for many reasons. Following up their debut with such a powerful and impressive statement wouldn’t have been easy. It shows that Innerspeaker was no fluke. It also confirms that the band’s main visionary Kevin Parker is a truly inspired musical mind. It’s great to see how the rest of the world is now realising just how special Tame Impala are.”
Unearthed Artist of the Year – The Rubens
The Rubens’ journey to the J Awards began at the start of 2011 when brothers Zaac, Elliot and Sam Margin teamed up with their childhood friend Scott Baldwin to form a band in the NSW country town of Menangle. Just months later they wowed us with their song ‘Lay it Down’, scoring them the triple j Unearthed opening slot at Homebake in December last year. ‘Lay it Down’ immediately proved popular with fans and won a place in the 2011 Hottest 100 – no mean feat for a band less than a year old. That same month, now one of Australia’s hottest bands, The Rubens headed to New York to record their debut album with legendary producer David Kahne. The album was shortly featured and debuted at #3 on the ARIA album charts. On the live front, in just a year The Rubens have played festival Splendour in the Grass and sold out two national headline tours.
Australian Music Video of the Year – Kris Moyes for Kirin J Callinan’s ‘Way II War’
Kris Moyes is a now Melbourne-based director and producer who’s worked on a stack of memorable and ingenious music videos. His resume includes names like Franz Ferdinand, Sia, The Presets, Beck, Bag Raiders, Alpine and Birds of Tokyo. This year he teamed up with one of Australia’s most innovative musicians Kirin J Callinan, former guitarist of Mercy Arms. ‘Way To War’ is the first single from Callinan’s debut solo album. It’s dark and unsettling, just like Kris Moyes’ inspiring and nightmarish video. The imagery captures the essence of the song perfectly and is an incredible example of harmony between music and video – if harmony had an evil twin.