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Damien Rice Wins Shortlist Award

added 07 October 2003 at 10.41

Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice has won the third annual Shortlist award (the US equivalent of Mercury Music Prize) for his album ‘O’ and taking home $5,000 after performing at the event.

The result was announced on Sunday (October 5) night at the Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles. The Shortlist is essentially a stateside version of the Mercury Prize, aiming to champion more adventurous and alternative music than is usual at US music awards, by only honouring albums that have sold fewer than 500,000 copies (gold).

On the night, Rice beat off competition from debut albums by The Streets (‘Original Pirate Material’), Interpol (‘Turn On The Bright Lights’), Cody Chesnutt (‘The Headphone Masterpiece’) and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (‘Fever To Tell’), as well as Bright Eyes' ‘Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil Keep Your Ear To The Ground’, the Black Keys' ‘Thickfreakness’, Cat Power's ‘You Are Free’, Sigur Ros' ‘()’ and UK Mercury Music Prize nominee Floetry’s album, ‘Floetic’.

Other live performances came from The Streets, Black Keys, Bright Eyes and Interpol.

"I felt like the record we made was selfish and really just for us," Rice explained to MTV after being given the prize, “It's odd being selected or nominated, but very nice, I guess. The main thing for me that I want to continue is to forget about everybody else and make the next record that we're making just for ourselves again, because there's something about being in a space where you're not thinking of other people.

“You're just in a moment creating music and emotion and in a space with people you feel comfortable with. And that for me is the essence of what it is that we've done and what it is we do."

The heavily attended, 5 hour ceremony  event is a strong indicator of the burgeoning interest in left-of-centre acts in America’s music industry this year. The prize selection panel this year included Chili Pepper Flea, Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction, Coldplay’s Chris Martin and directors Cameron Crowe and Spike Jonze.

Previous winners of the award are Sigur Ros and N*E*R*D, and past finalists have included Ryan Adams, Bjork, Aphex Twin, Doves, The Flaming Lips, DJ Shadow and PJ Harvey.

Tagged as Damien Rice, archive

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