It’s my favorite time of the year, indie award season! While independent artists dominated the GRAMMY nomination list and evening taking top awards home, nothing beats A2IM’s Libera Awards.
The Libera Awards is the largest Independent music award show in the world and celebrates the successes of the independent music community, from the artists that create the music to the labels that release and promote it. Although this year’s ceremony will be held virtually on Thursday, June 18th, that doesn’t diminish my excitement.
Full details of the ceremony’s broadcast have not yet been released but while we wait, view the full list of nominees for this year’s Libera Awards below along with my predicted winners!
Album of the Year (sponsored by The Orchard)
• FKA twigs – Magdalene (Young Turks) – my pick
• Angel Olsen – All Mirrors (Jagjaguwar)
• Brittany Howard – Jaime (ATO Records)
• Orville Peck – Pony (Sub Pop Records)
• Big Thief – U.F.O.F (4AD)
Video of the Year
• Aldous Harding – “The Barrel” (4AD)
• Flying Lotus – “More” (Warp Records)
• FKA twigs – “Cellophane” (Young Turks)
• Orville Peck – “Dead of Night” (Sub Pop Records) – my pick
• Fontaines D.C. – “Big” (Partisan Records)
Breakthrough Artist/Release (sponsored by Ingrooves)
• Sudan Archives – Athena (Stones Throw Records)
• Black Pumas (ATO Records) – my pick
• Fontaines D.C. (Partisan Records)
• Orville Peck (Sub Pop Records)
• Julia Jacklin (Polyvinyl Record Co. [US])
Label of the Year (Large) (sponsored by ADA)
• Warp Records
• Jagjaguwar
• Domino Recording Co
• Polyvinyl Record Co.
• Partisan Records – my pick
Label of the Year (Medium)
• 4AD
• Saddle Creek – my pick
• ATO Records
• Sacred Bones
• Drag City
Label of the Year (Small)
• Innovative Leisure
• Father / Daughter Records
• Oh Boy Records
• Hardly Art – my pick
• Wichita Recordings
Best Hip-Hop/Rap Album (sponsored by Songtrust)
• Chance the Rapper – The Big Day (Chance the Rapper/Ditto Music)
• Danny Brown – uknowhatimsayin¿ (Warp Records)
• Clipping. – There Existed an Addiction to Blood (Sub Pop Records)
• Denzel Curry – ZUU (Loma Vista Recordings) – my pick
• Megan Thee Stallion – Fever (300 Entertainment / 1501)
Best R&B Album
• Sudan Archives – Athena (Stones Throw Records) – my pick
• FKA twigs – Magdalene (Young Turks)
• Blood Orange – Angel’s Pulse (Domino)
• Jamila Woods – Legacy! Legacy! (Jagjaguwar)
• Durand Jones & the Indications – American Love Call (Dead Oceans)
Best Dance/Electronic Album
• Holly Herndon – PROTO (4AD)
• Thom Yorke – Anima (XL Recordings)
• Tycho – Weather (Mom+Pop Music) – my pick
• Hot Chip – A Bath Full of Ecstasy (Domino)
• Flying Lotus – Flamagra (Warp Records)
Best Alternative Rock Album
• The National – I Am Easy To Find (4AD)
• Fontaines D.C. – Dogrel (Partisan Records)
• Big Thief – U.F.O.F (4AD)
• Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow (Jagjaguwar)
• Angel Olsen – All Mirrors (Jagjaguwar)
Best Latin Album
• Juan Wauters – La Onda de Juan Pablo (Captured Tracks)
• Rodrigo y Gabriela – Mettavolution (ATO Records)
• Y La Bamba – Mujeres (Tender Loving Empire Records) – my pick
• Preservation Hall Jazz Band – A Tuba to Cuba (Sub Pop Records)
• Sech – Sueños (Rich Music)
Best World Album
• Afro B – Afrowave 3 (AfroWave Digital / EMPIRE) – my pick
• Mdou Moctar – Blue Stage Sessions (Third Man Records)
• Altin Gün – Gece (ATO Records)
• Tinariwen – Amadjar (Anti Records)
• Sinkane – Dépaysé (City Slang)
Best Indie Rock Album
• Crumb – Jinx (Crumb Records)
• (Sandy) Alex G – House of Sugar (Domino) – my pick
• Jay Som – Anak Ko (Polyvinyl Record Co.)
• Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising (Sub Pop Records)
• Charly Bliss – Young Enough (Barsuk Records)
Best Mainstream Rock Album
• Melissa Etheridge – The Medicine Show (Concord Records / Concord)
• The Raconteurs – Help Us Stranger (Third Man Records)
• Desert Sessions – Volumes 11 & 12 (Matador Records)
• Reignwolf – Hear Me Out (Reignwolf/Ditto Music)
• Cigarettes After Sex – Cry (Partisan Records) – my pick
Best Blues Album
• Christone “Kingfish” Ingram – Kingfish (Alligator Records)
• Various Artists – Ann Arbor Blues Festival 1969 Vol. 1 & 2 (Third Man Records)
• North Mississippi Allstars – Up and Rolling (New West Records) – my pick
• Delbert McClinton and Self-Made Men – Tall Dark and Handsome (Thirty Tigers)
• Mavis Staples – We Get By (Anti Records)
Best Americana Album
• The Lumineers – III (Dualtone Music Group)
• Keb’ Mo’ – Oklahoma (Concord Records / Concord)
• Calexico and Iron & Wine – Years to Burn (Sub Pop Records)
• Cass McCombs – Tip Of The Sphere (ANTI Records)
• Steve Gunn – The Unseen In Between (Matador Records) – my pick
Best Jazz Album (sponsored by Qobuz)
• Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science – Waiting Game (Motéma Music)
• Hiromi – Spectrum (Telarc / Concord)
• Nerija – Blume (Domino)
• Nat King Cole – Hittin’ The Ramp: The Early Years:1936-1943 (Resonance Records) – my pick
• Eric Dolphy – Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions (Resonance Records)
• Bill Evans – Evans In England (Resonance Records)
Best Country Album
• Hayes Carll – What It Is (Dualtone Music Group)
• Robert Ellis – Texas Piano Man (New West Records)
• Orville Peck – Pony (Sub Pop Records) – my pick
• Kelsey Waldon – White Noise / White Lines (Thirty Tigers)
• Jim Lauderdale – From Another World (Yep Roc Records)
Best Folk/Bluegrass Album
• Bedouine – Bird Songs of a KillJoy (Spacebomb Records)
• Patty Griffin – Patty Griffin (Thirty Tigers)
• Julia Jacklin – Crushing (Polyvinyl Record Co.)
• Jake Xerxes Fussell – Out of Sight (Paradise of Bachelors)
• Jessica Pratt – Quiet Signs (Mexican Summer) – my pick
Best Classical Album
• Paul Cardall – Peaceful Piano (Stone Angel Music / CD Baby)
• Florence Price – John Jeter/Fort Smith Symphony – Symphonies 1 & 4 (Naxos American Classics)
• Beth Gibbons – Henryk Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 (Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs) (Domino)
• Rachel Fuller – Animal Requiem (Wistler Records/Bob Frank Entertainment)
• Benny Gebert – Triptych (Arts & Crafts) – my pick
Best Metal Album
• Boris – LφVE & EVφL (Third Man Records)
• Cattle Decapitation – Death Atlas (Metal Blade)
• King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Infest The Rats’ Nest (ATO Records) – my pick
• Babymetal – Metal Galaxy (Cooking Vinyl)
• Periphery – Periphery IV: Hail Stan (3DOT Recordings)
Best Live Act
• Flying Lotus (Warp Records)
• Courtney Barnett (Mom+Pop Music)
• Mavis Staples (Anti Records)
• Fontaines D.C. (Partisan Records)
• IDLES (Partisan Records) – my pick
Best Outlier Album
• Cate Le Bon – Reward (Mexican Summer) – my pick
• King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Fishing For Fishies (ATO Records)
• Various Artists – Thank You, Mister Rogers: Music & Memories (BFD/Bob Frank Entertainment)
• Kim Gordon – No Home Record (Matador Records)
• Alex Cameron – Miami Memory (Secretly Canadian)
Best Punk/Emo Album
• Amyl and The Sniffers – Amyl and The Sniffers (ATO Records)
• The Menzingers – Hello Exile (Epitaph Records)
• Empath – Active Listening: Night On Earth (Fat Possum Records / Get Better Records) – my pick
• American Football – American Football (LP3) (Polyvinyl Record Co.)
• Bad Religion – Age Of Unreason (Epitaph Records)
Best Re-Issue
• Various Artists – Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990 (Light In The Attic Records)
• Ray Charles – Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music, Volumes 1&2 (Concord Records / Concord)
• Superchunk – Acoustic Foolish (Merge Records)
• Stereolab – 2019 Reissue Campaign (Warp Records)
• Fela Kuti – Music Of Many Colours (Knitting Factory Records) – my pick
Best Sync Usage
• IDLES – Peaky Blinders (Partisan Records)
• Bon Iver – “Naeem” – Nike ‘Beginnings: LeBron’ (Jagjaguwar) – my pick
• Kamasi Washington – Apple (Young Turks)
• Perfume Genius – Goldfinch trailer (Matador Records)
• Cigarettes After Sex – “Opera House” – Killing Eve (Partisan Records)
Creative Packaging
• Various Artists – VMP Anthology: The Story Of Ghostly International (Ghostly International)
• Flying Lotus – Flamagra (Warp Records) – my pick
• Various Artists – WXAXRXP Boxset (Warp Records)
• Various Artists – Sub Pop Singles Club (Sub Pop Records)
• IDLES – A Beautiful Thing: IDLES Live at Le Bataclan (Partisan Records)
Independent Champion (sponsored by Merlin)
• Bandcamp
• SoundExchange
• Spotify – my pick
• Redeye
• The Orchard
Marketing Genius
• Thom Yorke – Anima (XL Recordings)
• black midi – Schlagenheim (Rough Trade Records)
• Megan Thee Stallion – Hot Girl Summer (300 Entertainment) – my pick
• FKA twigs – Magdalene (Young Turks)
• Better Oblivion Community Center – Better Oblivion Community Center (Dead Oceans)
The 2020 Libera Awards is presented in partnership with Merlin and sponsored by SoundExchange.
For up-to-the-minute updates regarding the 2020 Libera Awards, be sure to follow A2IM on social media, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram or visit their official website liberaawards.com.
