Taite Prize 2016 Goes To Silicon for ‘Personal Computer’

The annual Taite Music Award, in honour of Dylan Taite, was held last night at Galatos. The grand prize of $10,000 and free studio time went to Silicon, aka Kody Nielson, for his album ‘Personal Computer’. Nielson was up against some of New Zealand’s most respected artists, including Phoenix Foundation, Marlon Williams and even his own brother Ruben Neilson for Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Of course, Neilson would’ve shared in that potential win anyway as he co-wrote and co-produced UMO’s album ‘Multi-Love’.

Named in honour of the legendary music journalist, the late Dylan Taite, the award recognises outstanding creativity in the full-length album format. As nominees are chosen due to album creativity rather than album sales, the prize is fast becoming one of the more prestigious music accolades to win in New Zealand. The prize money donated by Recorded Music NZ while the event is organised by Independent Music New Zealand.

The Independent Music NZ Classic Record award, designed to recognise albums that continue to inspire went to Upper Hutt Posse’s 1998 album E Tū. Their award was presented by Tame Iti.