Rusangano Family win the Choice Music Prize for Irish album of the year
Rusangano Family were crowned the deserved winners of the Choice Music Prize for Irish Album of the year last night, receiving a €10,000 cheque and an award from RAAP.
Godknows, MurLi and MynameisJohn, the creators of the Nialler9 Irish album of 2016, Let The Dead Bury The Dead, were chosen by the judges (below) over the 9 other albums in the shortlist. 9 of the nominated acts played live.
In their excellent speech, MynameisJohn said “we can’t bring ourselves to even say thank you because when you’re an independent group in Ireland, you have to say thank you to absolutely everyone,” while MuRli said “I guarantee you, if it’s up to me and my brothers here, Irish music will never be the same again.”
The winning act receives €10,000, a prize fund which has been provided by The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) and The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). All of the shortlisted acts received a specially commissioned award.
Congrats to @RusanganoFamily the winners of the #RTEChoicemusic for 2016. A snap I got when their name was announced. @choiceprize pic.twitter.com/blR7AoHjYn
— Graham Keogh (@grahamkeogh) March 10, 2017
Also on the night, Picture This took home the Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the Year in a public vote.
The €10,000 prize was provided by Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) and the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA).
Shortlisted albums
All Tvvins – IIVV (Warner Music)
Bantum – Move (Self Released)
Wallis Bird – Home (Mount Silver / Caroline International)
The Divine Comedy – Foreverland (Divine Comedy Records)
Lisa Hannigan – At Swim (Hoop Recordings)
Katie Kim – Salt (Art For Blind Records)
James Vincent McMorrow – We Move (Faction Records)
Overhead, The Albatross – Learning to Growl (Self Released)
Rusangano Family – Let The Dead Bury The Dead (Self Released)
We Cut Corners – The Cadences Of Others (Delphi)
A Spotify playlist of all albums
Judges for this year
Louise Bruton – Freelance & Irish Times
Brian Coney – Editor, The Thin Air
Maire Dineen – Súgradh Productions (Imeall TG4/Body & Soul)
Suzanne Doyle – Music, Film & Television Consultant
Dan Hegarty – RTÉ 2FM
Paddy McKenna – Editor, Joe.ie
Cathal Murray – RTÉ Radio 1
Barbara Nic D – Classic Hits 4FM
Colm O’Regan – Hot Press
Niall Power – Head of Music Beat FM
Eva Short – Deputy Editor, Trinity News
Previous winners of the Choice Music Prize
2005: Julie Feeney – 13 Songs (Julie Feeney)
2006: The Divine Comedy – Victory for the Comic Muse (Parlophone)
2007: Super Extra Bonus Party – Super Extra Bonus Party (Alphabet Set)
2008: Jape – Ritual (Co-op Records)
2009: Adrian Crowley – Season of the Sparks (Chemikal Underground)
2010: Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History (Kitsune)
2011: Jape – Ocean of Frequency (Music Is For Losers)
2012: Delorentos – Little Sparks (Delo Records)
2013: Villagers – {Awayland} (Domino)
2014: The Gloaming – The Gloaming (Real World)
2015: Soak – Before We Forgot How To Dream (Rough Trade)
