A massive year for Australian and New Zealand music was capped off over the weekend with the announcement of the nominees for the 56th Grammy Awards. Among the big, international names is some of our own homegrown talent including Lorde, Tame Impala and Hiatus Kaiyote.
Last year Gotye exploded onto the world stage with his hit ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ and album Making Mirrors for which he won three Grammy’s including gongs for Record of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Alternative Music Album. The fact that Australian and New Zealand music is once again being recognized shows the world is really taking notice of the talent we are producing down here.
17-year-old beauty from New Zealand, Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O’Connor, also known as Lorde, is nominated for 4 awards including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for ‘Royals’ as well as Best Pop Vocal Album for Pure Heroine.
This continues an amazing year for Lorde whose achievements so far include becoming the first woman in 17 years to top the U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs chart and winning the 2013 Silver Scroll Award for excellence in songwriting.
Tame Impala’s second album Lonerism is once again being celebrated with a nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. Lonerism recently took out the 2013 ARIA Album of the Year Award, Best Rock Album and the band scored the award for Best Group. The band is up against Vampire Weekend, Nine Inch Nails, The National and Neko Case.
Tame Impala have cemented themselves as one of Australia’s more dynamic and successful groups in recent years with a number of awards to their name. They are currently the only band to win a J Award for every album they’ve released and the first to win more than one J Award. They also won the Rolling Stone Award for Album of the Year in 2011 and 2012. Both Lonerism and their debut album Innerspeak reached gold status in Australia.
Tame Impala are known for their psychedelic sound and spectacular live performances and will be playing around the country in January as part of the Big Day Out festival.
The most surprising Australian nomination comes from Melbourne R&B project Hiatus Kaiyote. Renowned for their energetic live shows and eccentric lead singer, Nai Palm, the four piece has already racked up an impressive list of achievements after only forming in 2011.
Accolades include Best Breakthrough Artist Of The Year at Gille’s Peterson’s Worldwide Awards, album of the week on Gilles Peterson’s show on BBC Music 6, and props from industry icons such as Eyrkah Badu, Questlove, Shafiq Husayn, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, James Poyser, Pharaoh Monch and Jean Grae.
Nominated for Best R&B Performance for single ‘Nakamarra’ featuring A Tribe Called Quest legend Q-Tip, Hiatus Kaiyote is the first Australian band to be recognized in an R&B category at the Grammy’s. They will be back in Australia at the end of the month for a performance at Falls Music & Arts Festival.
The only other Australian to get a nod at this year’s awards is Keith Urban who is up for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.
As well as being nominated, Lorde will be performing at the 2014 Grammy Awards ceremony along side acts Macklemore & Ryan Lewis; Miguel and Keith Urban; Katy Perry; Taylor Swift; and Robin Thicke.
The awards will take place on January 26 in Los Angeles and could very well be a happy Australia day for these acts!
SELECTED GRAMMY CATEGORIES AND NOMINEES
SONG OF THE YEAR
Just Give Me A Reason, Pink
Locked Out Of Heaven, Bruno Mars
Roar, Katy Perry
Royals, Lorde
Same Love, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
POP PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Get Lucky, Daft Punk & Pharrell
Just Give Me A Reason, Pink
Stay, Rihanna
Blurred Lines, Robin Thicke
Suit & Tie, Justin Timberlake & Jay-Z
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
The Blessed Unrest, Sara Bareilles
Random Access Memories, Daft Punk
Good Kid, Mad City, Kendrick Lamar
The Heist, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Red, Taylor Swift
BEST NEW ARTIST
James Blake
Kendrick Lamar
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Kacey Musgraves
Ed Sheeran
RECORD OF THE YEAR
Get Lucky, Daft Punk
Radioactive, Imagine Dragons
Royals, Lorde
Locked Out Of Heaven, Bruno Mars
Blurred Lines, Robin Thicke
BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM
The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You – Neko Case
Trouble Will Find Me, The National
Hesitation Marks, Nine Inch Nails
Lonerism, Tame Impala
Modern Vampires Of The City, Vampire Weekend
BEST R&B PERFORMANCE
Love And War, Tamar Braxton
Best Of Me, Anthony Hamilton
Nakamarra, Hiatus Kaiyote Featuring Q-Tip
How Many Drinks? Miguel Featuring Kendrick Lamar
Something, Snarky Puppy With Lalah Hathaway
BEST COUNTRY DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
From This Valley, The Civil Wars
Don’t Rush, Kelly Clarkson Featuring Vince Gill
Your Side Of The Bed, Little Big Town
Highway Don’t Care, Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift & Keith Urban
You Can’t Make Old Friends, Kenny Rogers With Dolly Parton
BY: ANNA WALSH
