Independent Music NZ announces the 2023 recipient of the IMNZ Classic Record which aims to acknowledge Aotearoa New Zealand’s rich history of making timeless albums that continue to inspire us and define who we are.
This annual award acknowledges one Aotearoa New Zealand record released over 20 years ago on an independent label. Whether a 12”, a compilation, EP, or full-length album, these records have become quintessential gold nuggets of our musical history. Like the Taite Music Prize main prize the Independent Music NZ Classic Record is a critically judged award for originality considering the artistic merit, creativity, innovation and excellence of an album in its entirety irrespective of album sales, artist popularity, previous awards or international achievements.
This year’s judging panel has recognised the album; micronism – inside a quiet mind (Kog Transmissions 1998). The recording artist ‘micronism’ – also known as Denver McCarthy, was a mysterious electronic music act who emerged as part of the burgeoning ‘90’s electronic scene in Auckland that gathered around the collective label Kog Transmissions. inside a quiet mind was initially released by Kog on compact disc in 1998, and then re-issued by Loop Recordings twenty years later for vinyl and digital platforms.
The record was made over two years from 1996 to 1998 on outboard equipment and without computer assistance. Touches of acid, breakbeat, and glitchy ambient abound, but the album never sticks to any one clear genre. Instead, micronism uses genres as a tool, employing elements from dub techno, acid, house, and ambient to form a sound built for both introspection and movement.
Su Baykal of Bandcamp Daily describes the album tracks as being “…woven together, creating a single, seamless musical experience. Taken in full, micronism has created a universe of energy and lightness—it’s an album just as effective in solo listening as it is on the dancefloor.”
Around the time of the reissue, Grant Smithies of the Sunday Star Times said: “inside a quiet mind remains a cultural taonga, a musical time capsule that sends the listener hurtling straight back to the earliest flowerings of the New Zealand rave scene. It is the best electronic album ever made in this country.”
When advised of the honour McCarthy responded, “This acknowledgment of my small contribution to NZ music is wildly misplaced- so it is received with great shock and even greater humility and gratitude. Looking forward to trying to fire up the machines once again, to journey into the land of Electronica, forgive me if I take a few wrong turns…it has been a while…”
To celebrate the Independent Music NZ Classic Record Award, micronism will be performing a special one-off and first headline show in over 20 years just prior to the awards ceremony at Tāmaki Makaurau’s Neck Of The Woods on Saturday April 15. Plans are underway to repress the now celebrated album with details available at loop.co.nz.
Listen to micronism – inside a quiet mind
on Apple Music HERE
on Spotify HERE
The NZ On Air Outstanding Music Journalism Award is the first of its kind for Aotearoa New Zealand and comes with a $2500 cash prize. The ground-breaking addition to the Taite Music Prize in 2022 celebrates special individuals who made a creative contribution and significant impact with coverage of Aotearoa music in the previous year. For the award’s second year, finalists have been shortlisted by a selection of industry experts.
The finalists for the NZ On Air Outstanding Music Journalism awards are:
Gareth Shute – AudioCulture – Feature Writer
Jess Fu & Amanda Jane Robinson – Amplified
Chris Cudby – Undertheradar – Music News
Namnita Kumar & Nadia Freeman – Eastern Sound Stories Podcast produced by Eastern Sound Collective in conjunction with Radio Active.FM
The Independent Music NZ Classic Record Award and the NZ On Air Outstanding Music Journalism Award will be presented at the official Taite Music Prize 2023 ceremony on April 18th, 2023.
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The 2023 Taite Music Prize finalists are:
Aldous Harding – Warm Chris (Flying Nun Records)
Avantdale Bowling Club – Trees (Years Gone By)
Erny Belle – Venus Is Home (Flying Nun Records)
Fazerdaze – Break! (Flying Nun Records)
Hans Pucket – No Drama (Carpark Records)
Marlon Williams – My Boy (Marlon Williams Music Limited)
Princess Chelsea – Everything Is Going To Be Alright (Lil Chief Records)
Tami Neilson – Kingmaker (Neilson Records)
TE KAAHU – Te Kaahu O Rangi (Theia Music Ltd)
The Beths – Expert In A Dying Field (Ivy League Records)
The three albums nominated for the 2023 Auckland Live Best Independent Debut Award are:
Wiri Donna- Being Alone (Independent/DRM)
TE KAAHU – Te Kaahu O Rangi (Theia Music Ltd)
Erny Belle – Venus Is Home (Flying Nun Records)
Listen to a playlist of all Taite Music Prize 2023 albums on Spotify HERE, and all Auckland Live Best Independent Debut albums on Spotify HERE.
