The Choice Music Prize for the best Irish album of 2008 takes place on March 4th in Vicar Street. TONY CLAYTON-LEA– a judge for the inaugural award in 2006 – looks at the shortlist announced this week, who is likely to win, and whether the winner will truly deserve the prize

WHO’D be a judge? Well, me for one. Now in its fourth year, the Choice Music Prize – Irish Album of the Year (of which Irish Times writer Jim Carroll is a co-founder and organiser) has whipped up enough storms in teacups to keep Barry’s and Bewley’s in business for decades to come.

I was one of the 12 judges at the inaugural event, when I threw my slight weight behind Julie Feeney’s 13 Songs. The album won, which surprised many people whose job or hobby it is to predict the outcomes of awards such as these.

Feeney won and the pundits were wrong because – certainly on that occasion, and I think in subsequent years – the Choice Music Prize operates on a level of critical integrity far above most prize-giving affairs. The 2006 jurors all loved music to the point where we would argue the merits of one album over another for over two hours in a cold room with only a few bottles of beer for comfort.

The competition’s rules are well thought out and, in my experience, scrupulously applied. They are:

1.All albums nominated must have been made available to the public (sold or given away for free in shops, at gigs or on websites) for the very first time in the Republic of Ireland and/or Northern Ireland between January 1st and December 31st in the given year.

2.Re-issues, multi-artist compilations, live albums and "best ofs" are ineligible.

3.The albums can be from any genre.

4.Artists must have been born in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland and/or hold an Irish passport. Bands are eligible to be nominated if the majority of members were born in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland and/or hold Irish passports.

5.An album must contain six or more tracks or be more than 33 minutes, 20 seconds long.

6.There is no formal application process. Once an album meets the above criteria, it is eligible to be considered by the judges.

The final judging takes place on the night the prize is announced, in an upstairs room in Vicar Street, while each of the nominees plays a short set to the waiting crowd in the auditorium.

My emotions on that night in 2006 were a mixture of apprehension and determination that the best album (in my mind) would make its way to the top of the pile. The atmosphere in the room was tense, wavering between humour and deadly seriousness.

There was debate and shouting, sighs of exasperation by people whose voices sound so calm on the radio, and exclamation marks scrawled all over the place by journalists. Two or three albums were quickly discarded. After that it got interesting. The fun really began when half the list had been eliminated.

Does the judging process actually work? 2FM presenter Jenny Huston, also a former judge, has some doubts. “It’s hard to know if it’s possible to make it fairer,” she remarks, “but I wonder somehow by the nature of the voting process whether it’s possible for a major band or an indie band to win in those situations.

“I really felt last year that the winner wouldn’t be a daytime radio act, so Super Bonus Extra Party’s win didn’t surprise me in the slightest, even though it wasn’t necessarily my favourite album of 2007. It was the most unlikely, and therefore it was the most likely to win.”

Huston has a point. In the inaugural event, Julie Feeney was the wildcard that won, to much surprise. There was no sense (or none that this judge could detect) of strategic voting. Feeney’s album won fair and square. But it’s easy to imagine how – in that room, given that atmosphere – a surprising decision could be made.

Regardless of the outcome, drama is nearly always guaranteed at the Choice Prize. The release of this year’s shortlist has been like placing a bag of hungry cats into the middle of an aviary (just look at the blog comments opposite to get a sense of the reaction). Such controversy is part of the event. Its purpose is to raise awareness of new Irish music.

The selection has drawn criticism from: a) people who think the panel comprises left-of-centre musical nerds (ie those who voted in Messiah J the Expert, R.S.A.G., Oppenheimer and Halfset); and b) those who think the panel mostly consists of people who like a nice tune during the middle of the day as they sip their Darjeeling and listen to RTÉ Radio One’s Ronan Collins (ie those who voted in Mick Flannery and The Script).

As for this year’s nominees, my heart says Fight Like Apes or Lisa Hannigan should win. My head says Jape or Mick Flannery will win. But mostly, I’m just looking forward to being a spectator.

• The Choice Music Prize winner will be announced in Vicar Street, Dublin on March 4th. www.choicemusicprize.com

Choice comments
Since the Choice shortlist was released on Wednesday, comments have been flying on our On the Record blog. Here's a selection

Bar nods to the mainstream (The Script) and mainstreamish (Mick Flannery), that's a pretty fair list. Particularly pleased for R.S.A.G, Halfset and Oppenheimer. My money's on the boy Holmes. – Padraic

Delighted to see Lisa Hannigan and Messiah J the Expert there. Surprised, though, that One Day International aren't there.
– Darragh Doyle

I am not a Script fan, but I am delighted Mjex, R.S.A.G., Oppenheimer and Mick Flannery nominated. – Dani

Really disappointed that Burning Codes/Spook of the 13th Lock/The Gorgeous Colours all missed the boat. Surely The Script is a joke though? U2 must be a shoo-in for next year. – Hugger

When will the organisers of this wake up and cast their net a bit wider? A few people mentioned Hayes and Cahill, and it's a bit sad that there isn't even a token trad album here. It is, after all, the top IRISH album.
– Scutch

Aside from moaning about who didn't make it on there, congrats on keeping this going for four years. I think the best thing about it the Choice Award is that people are given another reason to think about all the great music being produced in Ireland, shortlisted or not.
– Bren

Shouldn't judges listen to a proper array of albums before ousting decent, hard-working musicians in favour of twee Los Angeles feckwits? What have The Script done for Irish music? How have they proved inspirational to anyone other than schoolgirls lamenting their rebuff of Josh in sixth form? I think this batch is disrespectful to one of the most powerful eras of Irish music we've ever known. And the judges should be bloody ashamed of yourselves. Disgraceful lack of passion and imagination.

– Naomi

Funny to see so much bitching that all 10 artists weren't taken from the obscure end of the spectrum. Most of those 10 names would be unknown to the majority of people in Ireland. If the readers of this blog had their way, the prize only would be of interest to a couple of hundred blogging counterculture types.
– Dermot

Read more comments or add your own at www.irishtimes.com/ blogs/ontherecord

The Nominees

Band:Fight Like Apes

Album:Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion

Listen:www.myspace. com/fightlikeapesmusic

Odds:5-1

Band:Halfset

Album:Another Way of Being There

Listen:www.myspace.com/ halfset

Odds:10-1


Musician:Lisa Hannigan

Album:Sea Sew

Listen:www.myspace.com/ lisahannigan

Odds:9-2

Musician:David Holmes

Album:The Holy Pictures

Listen:www.myspace.com/ davidholmesofficial

Odds:9-1

Musician:Jape

Album:Ritual

Listen:www.myspace.com/ richiejape

Odds:4-1

Band:Messiah J the Expert

Album:From the Word Go

Listen:www.messiahj andtheexpert.com

Odds:12-1

Musician:Mick Flannery

Album:White Lies

Listen:www.mickflannery.com

Odds:8-1

Band:Oppenheimer

Album:Take the Whole Mid-Range and Boost It

Listen:www.myspace.com/ oppenheimer

Odds:12-1

Band:R.S.A.G.

Album:Organic Sampler

Listen:www.myspace.com/ rarelyseenaboveground

Odds:6-1

Band:The Script

Album:The Script

Listen:www.myspace.com/ thescript

Odds:3-1