Cat Power has been nominated as a one fo the finalists up for this year's Shortlist Music Prize.

According to Wikipedia: The Shortlist Music Prize is a music award given annually to an album released in the United States within the last year, as chosen by a panel of musicians, producers and journalists, known as the "Listmakers". Albums are eligible only if they have not been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America by the time of nomination. The Shortlist Music Prize was first given in 2001.

The full list of finalists, whittled down from 61 nominations, is as follows:

The Band of Horses - 'Everything All The Time'
Beirut - 'Gulag Orkestrar'
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - 'The Letting Go'
Cat Power - 'The Greatest'
Girl Talk - 'Night Ripper'
Hot Chip - 'The Warning'
Joanna Newsom - 'Ys'
Regina Spektor - 'Begin To Hope'
Spank Rock - 'YoYoYoYoYo'
Tom Waits - 'Orphans, Brawlers, Bawlers And Bastards'

This year's listmakers include Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, The Killers' Ronnie Vannucci, Franz Ferdinand, Panic! At The Disco and The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne, Billboard reports.

The Shortlist Prize was first launched in 2001, when it was won by Sigur Ros. Subsequent winners have included NERD and Damien Rice.

Cat Power's nominated album, The Greatest, was recorded at Ardent Studios.

Memphis, TN. (Top40 Charts/ Ardent Studios) - Al Kapone, one of the originators of the Memphis underground rap explosion and known as a pioneer of the Dirty South Crunk/Buck style of Hip-Hop, has been mixing at Ardent Studios with engineer Jason Latshaw. Kapone, who is a 2006 Critic's Choice Award-winner, previously mixed material at Ardent for the hit film 'Hustle and Flow.'

For his new album, with the working title 'What About the Music?', Kapone has been experimenting with a number of different styles, including Rock, Soul, and R&B. Kapone revealed during sessions at Ardent that he's interested in incorporating the music of Memphis in its earlier days into the album, referring to Stax artists and the unforgettable soul music that came out of the 50's and 60's. His vision includes a new sound that utilizes the legacy of Elvis, B.B. King, Al Green and Isaac Hayes with the crunk energy of the Memphis rap scene developed by Three-6 Mafia, 8Ball & MJG, Yo Gotti, and Project Pat. The album is expected for Fall release.

(Source)

From left: George Thorogood, Producer Jim Gaines.

George Thorogood and the Destroyers were in the studio this month working on cutting some new songs and re-cutting some classic material for the best-of album they have coming out soon. Jim Gaines was the producer on the sessions, with Sean Burman engineering and Jason Gillespie assisting. The material they were working on included the classic "Bad to the Bone."

George and the Destroyers played in Memphis at the Beale Street Music Festival on May 5, and have returned to Ardent to finish up the work they've started. They've got some guitar and sax overdubs left, and will then mix the material with Ardent engineer John Hampton. Look for the new release on EMI sometime in the future.

From Left: Studio owner John Fry, Assistant Adam Hill, John and Korey Cooper, engineer Curry Weber, Lori Peters, and Ben Kasica.

Ardent Records artists Skillet were in the studio this month recording an acoustic set for radio station 93X. They stopped by before playing a gig in downtown Memphis as a part of their national tour. Curry Weber was the engineer on the session with Adam Hill assisting. Look for them in the Midwest throughout May and on into the summer.

Skillet's most recent release, Comatose, is being picked up by radio stations all over the country with help from our friends at Atlantic Records. Congrats go out to everyone in the band! For more information, check out www.skillet.com.

From left: Andrew Day, Pete Matthews, Kevin Day

Tacoma, WA based Top Heavy Crush will finish up recording their debut record with producer Pete Matthews this week. Matthews was passed their demo CD by a friend in Memphis and immediately knew he wanted to work with the band, who describe their sound as stright-forward rock and roll.

Lead by brothers Andrew and Kevin Day, the band was excited to travel to the River City to record their album.

"We're huge fans of soul music and really thought it was essential to record down here because of the vibe" says Kevin Day.

Speaking of soul music, Ardent Studios founder John Fry took the guys on a personal tour of the Stax Museum. What a treat!

See more pictures here.

Kevin Nix of L. Nix Mastering began mastering the new Crunchy Black album today. The record was mixed by Ardent Studio's Carter McHann.

According to Rapbasement.com, the former Three 6 Mafia member is set to release a solo album entitled From Me To You on June 12. This album will be released through the Hypnotize Minds/Asylum imprint and will feature new songs as well as "chopped and screwed" cuts from the Memphis rapper.

Crunchy is also finishing up another record with all new material that has been recorded since his split with Three 6. That record is the one Kevin Nix is working on and is rumored to be his first release after signing with Universal Records.

From left: Engineer Matt Mitchell, Maynard James Keenan, and Jason Gillespie


Singer Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle) came to Ardent's Studio C this week with engineer Matt Mitchell. Jason Gillespie (of Ardent Studios) assisted on the session. The guys were in for two days cutting vocals for Maynard's current solo project, called Puscifer.

Tool has been on the road for a while now, and they had a couple days off before their show tonight (5/15/07) at the Desoto Civic Center in Southaven, MS. Ardent is the first actual studio that's been used for this new material, which has mostly been recorded on the road between shows. According to Maynard's blog on the Puscifer Web site, he may be shooting for a fall release.

For more information on the project, check out http://www.puscifer.com.

Ardent Studios is proud to announce our sponsorship of The Pink Palace this summer. The museum will be featuring a traveling exhibit called "Access All Areas: Your Backstage Pass to the Music Industry" (opening Saturday, May 26). From the brochure:


"Music is a part of the fabric of life, both an art and a science, and something we all participate in, either as producers, performers, or listeners. Tourwest's Access All Areas explores this universal, mysterious subject from different angles: it's physics, its technology, its history, its artists, and ourselves, the audience."


The "stations" of the exhibit are pretty interesting: Everything from "Where are the harmonics on your guitar?" and "Who 'invented' stereo?" to "How do you mix tracks?" and "How does tape work?"


Ardent is one of the official sponsors of the exhibit, which will also feature monthly live performances from local artists and monthly discussion panels hosted in the luxurious Mansion Theater at The Pink Palace Museum.


Ardent Studios has been selected to be featured as the first panel. John Fry, Jody Stephens, John Hampton, Jason Latshaw, Jeff Powell, and Pete Matthews will speak on behalf of the industry and of course Ardent Studios. The panel will take place on Tuesday, May 29 at 6:00 PM. Admission is free, so please encourage all your friends to come and listen to (as we're calling it) "An Evening with Ardent."


Many thanks!

John Fry with The Clientele

London-based band The Clientele visited Ardent Studios last week while in town to perform a show at the Hitone Cafe. The band is curently on tour promoting their latest release God Save The Clientele. Lead singer Alasdair MacLean is a huge Big Star fan and was especially excited to discuss the production of their first two albums with John Fry.