I'm rather happy about that! Fair play to Divine Comedy. I thought that album was very witty, really well crafted and had a real likeability factor about it. Hannon is a lyrical master.

Although I did think Si Schroeder was gonna win because his album is excellent. Glad none of the other stuff won it!

I'll sleep well tonite ;o)

Hmmmm.... what an interesting choice!

I'm now very intrigued and will check it out. I'd written the Divine Comedy off years ago.

Pretty surprised about that.. The Divine Comedy seemed to have really faded from view in the last couple of years and I'd heard very mixed opinions on the latest album.. I had this award pegged for one of the 'up and coming' acts. Still Neil Hannon seems a very nice guy and I'm glad he's still persevering, maybe not such a bad thing he picked this up.

You'll find a free download at No.99 ... Great song. A lady of a certain age.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/40070/Staff_List_The_Top_100_Tracks_of_2006

Well I'm gonna put my head on the block - I think they are crap, always have.

emmmm..would like to have seen si s or the immediate win

PQ

I think it's a strange and terrible choice - a poor Divine Comedy album, not as good as 'Absent Friends' or 'Regeneration' or 'Casanova', almost as smug and irritating as 'Fin De Siecle'. And that's just comparing it to their own back catalogue - compared to the other nominees it's bland, unadventurous, uninspiring stuff.

"Are they just giving the prize to their drinking buddy?" one would ask if one were cynical and rich enough to pay enormous legal damages....

Definitely deserve it more and could do with the money a lot more too.

Hannon's extending his kitchen with the money..

I know you kids will go crazy but the only record deserving is that Republic of Loose album. It's something different and good in an extremely bland scene.

WTF?

Pen15, come on?! Leave that genre of music to the Americans! The Loose didn't pull it off I'm afraid! And I don't think any irish band could, it's not in the genes! I think Divine Comedy's album is, contrary to aidans thoughts, a really well thought out album. They spent a long time perfecting it and it's ingenious simplicity is really endearing!
As for The Immediate, yeah, they're unlucky. i was sure it was them or Si S. Not sure if The immediates recorded stuff comes across in the same way it does live. A great album nonetheless and nice to see something really original, Si S included!

No one seems to be interested in my Murphy's Live post :o(

You fail at life

Oh Sorry Pen15, I can't express my opinion, no? All you can come out with is childish crap? Well done, your life is a huge success. Keep it coming my dear.

dear o......

Why?

Dolly, Balls to the divine comedy, neil is a talented songwriter etc etc etc...
but that was NOT the best Irish Album regardless.....

The point people seem to be missing is that the reason and the representation of the Choice prize is at bes ambigious. It is supposed to award the best album made by an Irish artist over the twelve months, but yet because there are a)so many new acts, releasing good material, and b) the prize being 10g and publishing etc..people assume thats its dedicated to the best NEW Irish band/act's album of the year...

Obviously the divine comedy are internationally recognised and a well established group with a sizable back catelogue...10g aint a whole lot to them/him....and I suppose with the exception of snooze patrol david kitt and themselves, the reminder of the shortlist would be "up and coming"......


So what is the Choice prize about then? new band prize or best album regardless? Either way the divine comedy should not have won..good news for their pals who may have stuck money on em at 20 to one!!

can't see how u can claim the Choice Award is ambigious when u say "the best album made by an Irish artist over the twelve months"!!

its just the opinion of 12 judges, thats all. u can agree with it or u can - as i do - vehemently disagree with it.

what it does is gets people talking and buying the cds. i know i bought the si schroeder album because it was on the shortlist and i was interested to hear it. i thought it was brilliant. but i still think the immediate should have won - they made the best irish album of 2006, in my opinion

never the less, well done to the organisers for having the balls to start up something like this and stick with it. if only other people would get off their arses and DO stuff rather than moan and give out about what other people are doing.

I was never a big Divine Comedy fan.. but fair play to them. I'd have loved to be a fly on the wall in the judging room though, I was convinced Duke Special was going to win. I think it makes it very interesting for the future of this award though, as it seems if you're on the shortlist you're there because you deserve it and you genuinely are in with a shout of winning it.. rather than being there just to make up the numbers! Kudos to the organisers and judging panel..

Peejay, they just do it better. It's a bit like MJEX, they're a joke - a bit of a novelty in Ireland. Both bands even put on American accents when they sing/talk really quickly! But it's just my opinion, I'm not here to annoy anyone! If you disagree, that's cool!

PARTON: Good name btw :o)
The Choice prize aint about best new band, it's about best new album and as rockchiklet points out, it's only the opinion of 12 judges. If it was a public vote, you know full well who would have won - Snooze Patrol (love it Parton!) without a doubt!

As I've said, I'm glad DC won it because I have the album and I really like it but I'm sure The Immediate and Si S were very close to winning it! Any of the three for me and I would have been happy!

I'm not annoyed, but I do disagree. It's not the nationality that's important, it's the attitude. If you can't pull that off then everything else is exposed as a novelty and if you can pull it off then the fake aspects become less important. We should never leave it to the Americans/English/Irish etc... though. Where would that get us.

ha ha

Point taken Peejay. I'm just saying, certain countries do certain genres better and, for me, ROL and MJEX didn't really pull it off. I couldn't see through the fake aspects, particularly the American twangs coming from Dubs. In fact, some of the backing music to ROL, particularly their guitar licks/hooks are pretty catchy. I didn't really mean to try and restrict hip-hop, rap etc to America. My articulation lets me down sometimes (

I think if everyone steps back from this you will see that the standard of competition wasn't that great. We've all let it get to our heads a bit here and as much as I admire Si Schroeder et al, the other acts (with the exception of David Kitt) are threading a very average path. Fionn Regan is not without charm, but not on the verge on greatness either. The Divine Comedy were being rewarded as much for their contrinution to music as the standard of the album itself.

I'm not a huge DC fan, but I've heard all the records (except Messiah J) and I really think it's the best of the bunch

Still, with €10,000 I really thought he should of got a round in at Dave Couse on Friday night..

Agreed - it was a Scorsese-esque 'Lifetime Achievement' award. The man has made plenty of fine albums but his latest was jut not one of them.

....but you didn't like Duke Special's album, Punchbowl? It's DC-esque in its way. I really love it and it was my favourite of the shortlist (though I'm still sulking that Simple Kid didn't get shortlisted).

I WORKED AT THE CHOICE MUSIC AWARDS THIS YEAR AND ALTHOUGH I WANTED SI SCH TO WIN I WAS HAPPY FOR NEIL HANNON. HES A TOP BLOKE AND DESERVES THE CREDIT WEATHER ITS FOR THIS ALBUM OR THE BODY OF WORK HES CREATED OVER THE YEARS. ITS A GREAT IDEA FOR SHEDDING SOME LIGHT ON IRISH MUSIC EVEN IF THE WINNER MIGHT BE NOT TO EVERY ONES TASTE. ROLL ON NEXT YEAR

A Lady of a Certain Age is a great little tune alright, he still knows how to write a perfect pop song.

The Choice Music Prize is a great idea in theory, but not in reality. Unfortunately it doesn't depend on which of those was actually a "better" album...but how do you judge what is the "best" album. To these twelve people, The Divine Comedy's was the best album of the year, so the prize was fairly given. With twelve different people, the title of best album would have gone to someone else. Unfortunately, as you said, a public vote wouldn't have worked either, cos that would be the most well marketed (and my god the cheapest, musically) album, ie Snow Patrol. Awards like this don't mean a damn, only to the people who get to use the money.

By the way I thought Duke Special should have won.

I still think one of the best things that will come from the Choice Music prize over the next few years will be the exposure all the nominated bands will get, not just the winner. Especially true for the less established bands..

Something like the Choice award was definitely needed!

Pity The Immediate didn't win! They might have stayed together for now!!

yep that might have happened