Cat Power's 'The Greatest' has been given the nod as the best American album of the last year.
The Shortlist Prize, sister award to the Mercury Music Prize, have announced their 2007 winner. Chan Marshall, known as Cat Power, has won with her 2006 album 'The Greatest'. The album is her seventh, and achieved her highest US chart position debuting at number 34. She recorded it in Memphis with an all-star line-up including Al Green's guitarist Teenie Hodges and others, dubbed the Memphis Rhythm Band.She is the first woman to win the award, which has been running since 2001. Judges included members from Franz Ferdinand, Panic at the Disco, Snow Patrol, The Killers and Flaming Lips, as well as Sufjan Stevens and KT Tunstall. Tunstall said, "Cat Power's album quickly got under my skin. She has one of the most beguiling voices around. 'The Greatest' is an immediate classic that will never age."
'The Greatest' beat out albums from Band of Horses, Beirut, Bonnie Prince Billy, Girl Talk, Hot Chip, Joanna Newsom, Regina Spektor, Spank Rock and Tom Waits. Previous winners of the Shortlist Music Prize include Sigur Ros, N*E*R*D, Damien Rice, TV On The Radio and Sufjan Stevens.
