THE SCOTTISH ALBUM OF THE YEAR LONGLIST IS ANNOUNCED
24 April 2014 - Press releaseToday (Thursday, 24th April 2014) The Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) is delighted to announce the longlist for theScottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award. Returning for a third year, the list is one of the strongest to date and shows the abundance of exceptional music released in Scotland between January and December 2013. The list is nothing short of compelling, crossing genres from jazz to hip hop; folk to classical and rock to electronic. Artists making this year’s longlist include Scottish legends and luminaries, some releasing their first album and some who have released a dozen; the uniformly high calibre of artist providing a great insight to Scotland’s extraordinary musical landscape.
Music fans will get their chance to vote for their favourite album following a four-week promotion of the longlist which, from Monday 28th April, allows the public to stream one of the twenty longlisted titles each week day. The promotion concludes with a 72 hour public vote starting on Monday 26th May. The album with the most public votes will secure an automatic place on The SAY Award Shortlist of ten; with the other nine titles being chosen by an independent panel of judges (see Notes for Editors for full list of judges).
SAY AWARD LONGLIST 2014 (in alphabetical order)
Adam Holmes and the Embers Heirs and Graces
Adam Stafford Imaginary Walls Collapse
Biffy Clyro Opposites
Boards of Canada Tomorrow's Harvest
Camera Obscura Desire Lines
CHVRCHES The Bones Of What You Believe
Dunedin Consort (Dir. John Butt) J. S. Bach: Six Brandenburg Concertos
Edwyn Collins Understated
Frightened Rabbit Pedestrian Verse
Hector Bizerk Nobody Seen Nothing
Kid Canaveral Now That You Are a Dancer
Mogwai Les Revenants
Rick Redbeard No Selfish Heart
RM Hubbert Breaks & Bone
Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire
Scottish Chamber Orchestra (R. Ticciati) Berlioz: Les Nuit D’été
Scottish National Jazz Orchestra In The Spirit Of Duke
Steve Mason Monkey Minds In The Devil's Time
The Pastels Slow Summits
Young Fathers Tape Two
Artists’ Quotes
Adam Holmes: “It is a privilege to be longlisted for this prestigious award, alongside such a wealth of exceptional musicians.”
Adam Stafford: “I am delighted to be longlisted for this year’s SAY Award, there have been so many great Scottish albums released in the last twelve months, so it is an honour to be included among the many. In this increasing culture of music as a disposable commodity, events like the SAY Award give us a chance to debate and discuss the importance of the Album as a collected work of art and give little or esoteric artists like me the chance to reach a wider public.”
Biffy Clyro: “We’re delighted to be longlisted for The SAY Award, alongside some of our favourite Scottish artists!”
Camera Obscura (Tracyanne Campbell): "It's great to know we can be on our fifth album and be considered for awards like this. We're very pleased."
CHVRCHES: "As is generally the case, it has been a wonderful year for Scottish music. We're genuinely honoured and thrilled to see our album in the mix for The SAY Award."
John Butt, Director of the Dunedin Consort: “It is wonderful that Dunedin is getting this sort of recognition in Scotland, which will hopefully raise our profile both here and abroad. It is also a great privilege to be considered for this award among all genres of music, beyond the purely classical scene. Hopefully it will help to show the richness and range of musical production and performance now coming out of Scotland.”
Edwyn Collins: “I'm flattered and delighted, immensely so, for 'Understated' to be selected. This album was important to me, I felt full of confidence once more. Hooray for SAY!”
Frightened Rabbit: “It's a great honour for “Pedestrian Verse” to be included on the SAY Awards longlist alongside Scotland's finest artists and bands. We're very proud of the album and it's wonderful for it to be recognised in this way. Scotland's music scene is amongst the most productive, creative and energetic of any country in the world and this award list serves to highlight that fact.”
Hector Bizerk: “We are absolutely delighted to be on the longlist for the SAY Award! Nobody Seen Nothing is an album that we are immensely proud of. We don't have a label or management so to get this sort of recognition is really special for us.”
Kid Canaveral: "Given the quality of the albums that have been nominated in the past, we are delighted to be selected this year. Taps aff!”
Mogwai: “It's an honour to have Les Revenants long listed for the SAY award. We've been really taken aback by how people have taken to the record and know that we'll be in esteemed company as last year was a really special year for Scottish music.”
Rick Redbeard: “It’s a real surprise and pleasure to have been voted onto the longlist for The SAY Award. Music isn’t about competition but it’s cool that folk liked the record enough to vote for it as one of their favourites from what was a great year for Scottish music. I’m touched and grateful. Cheers!”
RM Hubbert: “I’m really delighted to have Breaks & Bone longlisted for this year’s SAY Award. It’s a very pleasant surprise and a real privilege to be included with so many of my favourite albums from 2013.”
Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire: "We are thrilled to make the longlist for the Scottish Album of the Year Award. It's particularly pleasing in a year that has seen so many strong Scottish releases, and to be alongside a number of the albums that we all respect and admire as music fans is very special. This is our first proper band record, one we worked hard to make, and to have it recognised in this way is exciting for us all."
Caroline Dooley, Scottish Chamber Orchestra: “We are really pleased to have made the longlist for the SAY Awards with music French composer Hector Berlioz wrote in the 19th century, inspired by Shakespeare. We are joined by Scottish singer Karen Cargill on this album. She’s up there among the best sopranos in the world so we are delighted this nomination will bring her more attention here in her home country. As a classical group we are delighted to even be considered for this award, and going by last year’s nominations, the standard of competition for the prize will be very high.”
Tommy Smith, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra: "I'm ecstatic that 'In the Spirit of Duke' has finally been recognised."
Steve Mason: “Having never won an award for any music I have made, it’s a great privilege to be considered for the SAY Award, it would be amazing if the only award I ever won for music came from the country of my birth.”
The Pastels: “We’re extremely happy to have made the SAY Award longlist. We put everything we could into making the record that we wanted to make and appreciate the support we’ve had. It’s been a very strong year for Scottish music, and it feels good to be part of it.”
Young Fathers: “This is a good thing. We thank you.”
Vic Galloway, BBC Scotland Broadcaster & SAY Award Host said:
"In its third year, the SAY award and the 100 nominators who have helped choose the long-list have shone a deserving light on 20 world-class albums from contemporary Scotland. This is possibly the strongest list the award has seen yet, and proves the diversity and quality across a range of rock, indie, pop, hip-hop, electronica, jazz and classical music. All 20 deserve your attention and investigation, representing the artistic 'cream of the crop' from this extremely talented land."
Caroline Parkinson, Director of Creative Development, Creative Scotland, said:
“The SAY Award is a fantastic way of supporting and raising the profile of Scotland’s talented musicians, of which there are many. It’s great to see such a diverse range of genres on the long list and we hope that each nominee will see an increase in fans and sales as a result.”
Jonathan Morrish, Director of PR and Corporate Communications at PPL, said:
“Scotland has an incredibly rich music history and is home to thousands of very talented performers as today’s longlist clearly demonstrates. It is a huge honour for PPL to continue our support of the SAY Award as it massively helps to recognise and reward Scotland’s artists. PPL works hard to support Scotland’s music community, be they a session musician, a member of a budding band or established singer and we strongly believe that everyone who invests their time in making recorded music should be paid fairly for the use of their recordings. On behalf of everyone at PPL, I would like to wish all performers and artists who made the longlist the best of luck and look forward to celebrating Scotland’s musical success at the Award Ceremony in June.”
Ian Manson, Chief Executive, Clyde Gateway, said:
"The East End of Glasgow is becoming increasingly popular as a home to many wonderful and creative talents across all forms of the visual and performing arts, and so it is very fitting that the Barrowland Ballroom will again be the location for the SAY Awards in 2014. This is one of the most important and eagerly-awaited cultural events in Scotland and I'm delighted it will again help highlight the different ways that Clyde Gateway is creating and delivering all sorts of legacy across our communities in the east end."
Stewart Henderson, Chair, Scottish Music Industry Association said:
“2013 has been another extraordinary year for Scottish music and the SMIA, through The SAY Award, is delighted to be playing a role in the promotion of so many wonderful albums.”
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