National youth broadcaster triple j have a few reasons to celebrate this month. Not only does November mark the onset of Ausmusic Month, the station's yearly tribute to home-grown tunes, but it also heralds the arrival once more of the venerated J Awards, which this year celebrate their 10th anniversary.
To kick off celebrations in style, the J Awards have unveiled their first round of nominees for this year's prize pool, in the field of Australian Album of the Year. Getting in with a shot to take out that coveted title this year — and thus join the likes of Gotye, Tame Impala and Flume as winners of the award — are a mixture of vets and newcomers, with nods going to #1 Dads (About Face), Ball Park Music (Puddinghead), Chet Faker (Built On Glass), The Preatures (Blue Planet Eyes), Remi (Raw X Infinity), and Total Control (Typical System).
Nominees for the remaining awards — Australian Music Video of the Year, Unearthed Artist of the Year, and the inaugural Double J Artist of the Year — will be publicised over the next couple of weeks as the clock ticks down to the big day in a couple of weeks' time.
The J Awards aren't the only thing triple j's cooking up for Ausmusic Month, though, with a planned series of Aussie music specials being broadcast via its existing specialist shows (The Racket, Short.Fast.Loud, The Hip Hop Show et al), Home & Hosed host Dom Alessio will be taking guided walks around Brisbane and Melbourne with home-town bands (get to know Mansfield with Violent Soho? Hell fuck yeah), they'll be broadcasting all-Aussie Live At The Wireless sets from The Amity Affliction, Remi, Kingswood and Angus & Julia Stone, plus a raft of Like A Version performances from the likes of Thelma Plum, Client Liasion and Kim Churchill, and Peking Duk's recent acclaimed stop-in.
There'll be a showcase in collaboration with ARIA Week at Sydney's Hi-Fi on Thursday, November 27, which gives punters a free-entry chance to party with Kingswood, Meg Mac and L-FRESH The LION, plus DJ sets from KLP and Matt & Alex. If you're not Ausmusic'd out yet, rock your favourite local band T-shirt next Friday, November 14, take a picture, and tag it #AusBandTshirtDay to be a part of the joy.
The J Awards will be held in Melbourne, on Tuesday, November 18, and broadcast live on the station from 5pm.
