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Showing posts with label HAPPY NEW EARS 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HAPPY NEW EARS 2010. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Happy New Ears Award 2010

... and the winnner is :

1. Undivided - The Passion


"The Passion" obtained a staggering 36% of the 1533 votes that were cast in the past week. The album collected hundreds of additional votes in the past few days, pushing it from the third to the solid first spot.

2. Dawn Of Midi - First


Dawn Of Midi's "First" obtained 29% of the votes and was in a real neck-by-neck race in the past days for the first spot.

3. Harris Eisenstadt - Woodblock Prints


"Woodblock Prints" ended in third spot with 16% of votes, after it had been leading the poll for almost five days with over 20% of the votes.


So what do we learn from all this?

1. Mobilising fans, friends, family and facebook makes a big difffference. As regular reader Guy jokingly commented: "some albums get more votes than copies were sold", and he may have a point though I hope not. In the big increase of votes of the past few days, some albums, such as Stephen Haynes' "Parrhesia", which were close to the top contenders, were pushed back significantly. That's of course the nature of the game, and percentages do not in these cases reflect the actual innovative value of the albums, but rather the competition itself.

2. It is striking that the musically most accessible albums in the list end up in the first three spots. Some of my own personal favorites ended with 0% of the votes, but that's inevitable with polls.

3. The end result is nice for the winner(s).But I do hope that all albums in the selection of fifteen will get more exposure. I also sincerely hope that somewhere, some more mainstream media will open their ears and understand that there is forceful movement of new creative and innovative musicians that bring us sounds and music as yet unheard, offering listening experiences that are fresh and highly enjoyable, even if you - as the listener - have to also actively participate in opening your ears and mind.


The HAPPY NEW EARS AWARD 2010  goes to Undivided - The Passion.

Congratulations to Wacław Zimpel, Bobby Few, Mark Tokar and Klaus Kugel for the great album they released and for the incredible campaign they set up in the past few days to defend its interest.



© stef

Monday, December 13, 2010

THE VOTE IS ON --------- HAPPY NEW EARS AWARD 2010


Dear readers, the vote is on.

Many thanks for your suggestions. I changed my initial list a little, unfortunately sticking to the CDs that I have reviewed and or know. It's a little difficult to add music I've never heard myself (yet).

Here are the fifteen selected records. Everyone can cast one vote. If you want to know more about the selected albums, you can click on the names and you will be directed to the reviews.

The vote is on till next Monday close to midnight (Central European Time), by ticking the list on the right.

The list offers a good mix of styles, line-ups, nationalities .... diversity as a key to creativity and new thoughts. 

  1. Undivided - The Passion
  2. AMM - Sounding Music
  3. Harris Eisenstadt - Woodblock Prints
  4. Vijay Anderson - Hardboiled Wonderland
  5. Chicago Underground Duo - Boca Negra
  6. John Butcher & Claudia Ulla Binder - Under The Roof
  7. Schlippenbach Trio - Bauhaus Dessau
  8. Nobu Stowe - Confusion Bleue
  9. Lapin/Poore/Schubert/Turner/Bledsoe - Seek it Not with Your Eyes
  10. Lawnmower - West
  11. Dawn Of Midi - First
  12. Clare Cooper - Hammeriver
  13. OirTrio - Kanata
  14. Stephen Haynes - Parrhesia
  15. Nate Wooley & Paul Lytton - Creak Above 33


© stef