ARIA Nominees 2010

It's ARIA prize time once again, and for 2010 the spread of nominees is wider and more sonically diverse than ever. Among our opening selection of standout tracks we've included those contenders with chances in the most categories, which can only be a reliable measure of their creative excellence over the past 12 months. So, standing proud at the head of the pack are Angus & Julia Stone, here delighting with the happy/sad folk-pop of "Big Jet Plane"; Birds of Tokyo, making euphoric headway with "Plans"; Sia and her groovesome "Clap Your Hands"; Washington, arriving in style with "How to Tame Lions"; and Guy Sebastian, gettin' diggy-down with "Like It Like That." ARIA's 2010 rhythm-mongers share space with the country crowd, in Next Steps.

Here we wander, entranced and thoroughly entertained, through the various ARIA 2010 categories, pausing for a while with Art vs Science, and their invitation to crack open a chasm in the dance floor, "Magic Fountain" — one of the tracks that has put them into contention from indie/dance honours — and Basement Birds, who channel just the right amounts of charm and whimsy into "Bus Stop" (featuring the versatile Julia Stone) from their self-titled debut album. That last track's alt-country leanings makes a nice bridge to Catherine Britt's "Can't Change a Thing" and Lee Kernaghan's fizzing ute-scootin' country rocker, "Planet Country." It's going to get hard, heavy, and urban, in Deep Cuts.

Listeners, prepare your delicate ears, for you are about to be mightily rocked, right into the molten core of the hard 'n' heavy category, where for 2010 the rowdy throwback riffage of Airbourne on "No Way But the Hard Way" does battle with the likes of Parkway Drive's eviscerating undead anthem "Sleepwalker," and the Amity Affliction's scatter-bombed firestorm "Youngbloods." Rounding out our selection is a representative batch of cuts from ARIA's urban category, including Urthboy's soulful and mellow "Shruggin" (feat. Jane Tyrell), Bliss n Eso's righteous and uplifting "Addicted," and Lowrider's brassy party-starter "Here We Go."

There are more ARIA awards than ever before in 2010 — 31 in total — and more is not just merrier: it's more diverse, more dynamic and more sonically splendiferous . . . which makes our selection of standout tunes from the nominee roster a true feast for your ears. We've supplied a taste of pretty much everything, from the hugely affecting, intricately textured title track on Powderfinger's final album Golden Rule, to the unstoppable, irresistible twangery of Eddie Current Suppression Ring's "Anxiety"; and from Kylie's mighty club-conquering "Aphrodite" to Violent Soho's gripping fuzz-blaster, "Jesus Stole My Girlfriend." Sure, the sentiment "You're all winners" is a cliché, sometimes a bogus cliché, but in this case it really does apply.