And so ends another Independent Music Awards presented by the fine people who also brought you That Night In Christchurch You Can’t Remember, Jagermeister. The big winner of the night was Sydney band The Jezabels who claimed the title of ‘Best Independent Artist’. Exactly what ‘Independent’ means is pretty vague in music industry discourse, but the IMA website define it as “Australian artists released by Australian independent labels. You won’t find music from majors here.” That definition is again pretty vague since quite a few of the nominated artists are signed to labels that are owned and distributed under one of the ‘big four’ Majors (Sony, Warner, EMI or Universal) – something that the Awards have been criticised about in the past. In the end though, it’s an event that’s all about celebrating Australian music which is always a good thing.
Here’s the full list of winners:
BEST INDEPENDENT ARTIST
The Jezabels
BREAKTHROUGH INDEPENDENT ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Emma Louise
BEST INDEPENDENT ALBUM
Adalita: Adalita (Liberation Music)
BEST INDEPENDENT SINGLE OR EP
The Jezabels: Dark Storm (Independent)
BEST INDEPENDENT BLUES AND ROOTS ALBUM
Gurrumul: Rrakala (Skinnyfish)
BEST INDEPENDENT COUNTRY ALBUM
Wagons: Rumble Shake and Tumble (Spunk)
BEST INDEPENDENT HIP HOP ALBUM
Drapht: The Life Of Riley (The Ayems)
BEST HARD ROCK AND PUNK ALBUM
My Disco: Little Joy (Shock Entertainment)
BEST INDEPENDENT DANCE / ELECTRONICA ALBUM
Pnau: Soft Universe (Etc Etc)
BEST INDEPENDENT DANCE / ELECTONICA OR CLUB SINGLE
Tie between:
Seekae: Blood Bank (Rice Is Nice/Popfrenzy)
and
Tommy Trash and Tom Piper: All My Friends Featuring Mr. Wilson (Ministry Of Sound)
BEST INDEPENDENT JAZZ ALBUM
Sandy Evans: When The Sky Cries Rainbows (ABC Music)
MOST HUNTED AWARD
360
Title Image by Rachel Tinney
