Congratulations to Mike Nock for MIKE NOCK TRIO PLUS – which took out the award for the Best Independent Jazz Album for “Hear And Know”. With an already remarkable repertoire, and as vibrant and capable as ever at 72 MIKE NOCK’S latest release features two outstanding emerging talents, saxophonist Karl Laskowski and trumpeter Ken Allars.
The 2012 JAGERMEISTER INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARDS have wrapped up their seventh year bestowing 12 Awards on some of Australia’s finest talent.
CHET FAKER (aka Nick Murphy) well and truly made his mark on the evening, not only with a surprise unannounced live performance, but also by picking up the awards for Best Independent Single / EP for the critically acclaimed “Thinking In Textures” and the award for Breakthrough Independent Artist. A Subtle slice of Soulful electronica, the debut ep has gathered a groundswell of interest both here and internationally, and proved to be a worthy and popular winner on the night.
The hotly contested Best Independent Album category was taken out by Sydney garage punk band ROYAL HEADACHE for their self-titled debut album. Championed by the likes of Pitchfork amongst other noteworthy media around the globe, ROYAL HEADACHE’S self-titled debut is a paragon of garage power pop that manages to capture the energy and antics of the band’s much lauded electric live show.
Last year’s only dual award winners THE JEZABELS backed it up again in 2012, and repeated the success by taking out the award for Best Independent Artist, the award they won in 2011. This award sees the band capping off yet another massive year for them both locally and internationally.
2011’s Peoples choice award winner 360 won the JAGERMEISTER INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARD for Best Independent Hip Hop Album for the epic release, “Falling and Flying”. An inspired mix of rap’s traditional down-to-earth grit and indie electro’s atmospheric heights, this second album for 360 has reached Platinum plus status, achieved critical acclaim, and been the catalyst for sell out tour dates across the country in the past 12 months.
One of the most hotly talked about bands of the past year, Brisbane two-piece DZ DEATHRAYS took out the award for Best Independent Hard Rock or Punk Album for their debut album “Bloodstreams”. A 14 track assault vehicle, the album represents the duo’s last four years of hard work and is a deserving recipient of this year’s award.
This year also saw the Awards expanding into new territory, with the introduction of the Best Independent Label category, which was voted for by their Record Label peers. The inaugural awards was taken home by ELEFANT TRAKS, the Sydney Hip Hop collective who in the past year have released albums from The Herd, Urthboy, Hermitude, Sietta, The Last Kinection and Sky’High.
On the dance front, TOM PIPER also achieved back to back wins, taking out the award for Best Independent Dance / Electronica or Club single with his collaboration with DANIEL HARLEY, for their single “LGFU”. And after a stellar live performance of their hit single “Speak Of The Devil” – which mirrored their exceptional award winning video – HERMIITUDE took out the award for Best Independent Dance / Electronica album with “HyperParadise”.
The Award for the Best Independent Blues and Roots Album went to LANIE LANE for her debut album “To The Horses”. Exploding onto the scene in the past 18 months singer-songwriter and guitarist LANIE LANE not only brought her unique talent and charisma to the stage with her performance at this year’s Awards, but her debut album with its collection of 11 songs that mix early rock ‘n’ roll, blues, and rockabilly took home her first JAGERMEISTER INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARD.
JESS RIBEIRO & THE BONE COLLECTORS took out their first JAGERMEISTER INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARD for the Best Independent Country Album with their release “My Little River”. Former triple j unearthed winners, their debut album is full of dark and dusty ballads that has seen them compared to the likes of Karen Dalton, Cat Power, Neil Young and Johnny Cash.
