The Association of Independent Music revealed, last night at an exclusive launch at Red Bull Studios London, the nominees for the 4th annual AIM Independent Music Awards.

Nominees include FKA twigs, Arctic Monkeys, Bonobo, Twin Atlantic, Courtney Barnett, Gruff Rhys, Liars, East India Youth and Future Islands. London Grammar take the lead on this year’s awards with four nominations including 'Best Live Act' and 'Independent Breakthrough of The Year'.

 

Winners will be revealed at the ceremony hosted by XFM’s John Kennedy and Radio 1’s Alice Levine at London’s The Brewery, Clerkenwell on Tuesday September 2. 

The full list of nominees is:

BEST SMALL LABEL - Sponsored by Disc Manufacturing Services

Hyperdub

Kissability

Marshall Teller Records

National Anthem

Sonic Cathedral

 

BEST LIVE ACT - in association with Songkick

Bonobo 

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip

Five Finger Death Punch 

London Grammar

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

 

BEST ‘DIFFICULT’ SECOND ALBUM - in association with XFM

Anna Calvi – One Breath

Ben Watt – Hendra

Blood Orange – Cupid Deluxe

The Pretty Reckless – Going to Hell

Withered Hand – New Gods

 

GOLDEN WELLY AWARD FOR BEST INDEPENDENT FESTIVAL 

- in association with AIF and DIY

ArcTanGent

Barn on the Farm

Greenbelt

In The Woods 

LeeFest

 

HARDEST WORKING BAND OR ARTIST - in association with Jack Daniel's

Bonobo

Femme

Gabby Young & Other Animals

Ghetts

PINS

 

INDEPENDENT BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR - sponsored by 7digital

Courtney Barnett 

Future Islands

London Grammar

Sohn

Young Fathers

 

INDEPENDENT TRACK OF THE YEAR - sponsored by Spotify

Arctic Monkeys – Do I Wanna Know? 

FKA Twigs – Water Me 

Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting On You)

London Grammar – Strong

Sampha – Too Much

Twin Atlantic – Heart and Soul

 

INDEPENDENT VIDEO OF THE YEAR - sponsored by Vevo 

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip – You Will See Me

FKA Twigs – Water Me

James – Moving On

Liars – Mess On A Mission

Royal Canoe – Birthday

 

INDIE CHAMPION AWARD - sponsored by CI

Alex Baker, Kerrang! Radio

Camilla Pia, BBC 6Music

Charles Caldas, Merlin

John Doran, The Quietus

Tim Palmer & Clemence Godard, Bird on the Wire

 

SPECIAL CATALOGUE RELEASE OF THE YEAR - in association with Amazon Music

Cabaret Voltaire – Collected Works 1983 – 1985

Nightmares on Wax - N.O.W.Is The Time

Small Faces – Here Comes The Nice – Immediate Years Box Set 1967 – 1969 

The Twilight Sad: Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters (Expanded Edition)

Various – Purple Snow – Forecasting The Minneapolis Sound

 

INDEPENDENT ALBUM OF THE YEAR - sponsored by MixRadio 

Actress – Ghettoville

Arctic Monkeys – AM

East India Youth – Total Strife Forever

Fred V & Grafix – Recognise

Gruff Rhys – American Interior

Kate Tempest – Everybody Down

London Grammar – If You Wait

Mogwai – Rave Tapes

Tune-Yards – Nikki Nack

Within Temptation – Hydra

 

INDEPENDENT LABEL OF THE YEAR - sponsored by Believe Digital 

Because Music

Domino

Fearless Records

Hospital Records

Ninja Tune

Secretly Group

 

INNOVATOR AWARD – Steve Goodman, Hyperdub Records.

PIONEER AWARD - sponsored by The Orchard: Martin Mills, Beggars Group

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO MUSIC - sponsored by eMusic: Recipient TBA soon.  

The PPL Award for Most Played New Independent Act will be revealed on the night.

 

 

One of the cornerstones of the reputations of bands like Radiohead and Animal Collective is their ability to put out new records which don't just move forwards but also diagonally. Kid A, of course, is the quintessential example of a band reinventing itself, while Animal Collective have amassed a discography which plays more like a series of alternative debuts than a succession of releases – moving from whispered acoustics, to freak out rock to looped electronics without a blink. Liars – although of an altogether lower profile, despite continual critical adoration – are also masters of this shark-like mode of perpetual movement, and radical reinvention. And WIXIW is their boldest break from their own immediately preceding material of all: following two contemplative, but ultimately noisy guitar records, WIXIW unfurls as a swirling, viscous potion of electronics and emotional weariness, no guitars invited.

That's not to say that Liars have released their Merriweather Post Pavilion; they haven't pulled the recently trending avant-garde-gone-pop trick. WIXIW offers up a much colder landscape than its immediate predecessors; a decidedly tense atmosphere pervading the suite, never being permitted to explode into the post-punk freak outs which used to dissipate this element of Liars' sound. With immediate gratification always held at arm's length, the listener is forced to immerse themselves fully into the holistic feel of WIXIW as a full collection – similar sounding arpeggios and mnemonic vocal refrains giving the initial illusion of a featureless soundscape, but in actuality offering up a sequence of quiet musical revelations and intense emotional explosions.

The lyrics of the coda to 'His and Mine Sensations' (“take 'em out, take 'em out”) echoes Sisterworld highlight 'Scarecrows on A Killer Slant', and the comparison deftly highlights the difference in approaches between WIXIW and Liars' recent work: while tracks like 'Scarecrows' paid off by erupting into fist pumping energy and pounding rhythm, WIXIW provides catharsis through acts of restraint, hidden subtleties and nuance – resulting in passages like the back half of the title track, channelling a viscerally woozy despair previously untapped by Liars.

As clichéd as it sounds to have to use the tired phrase, WIXIW is undoubtedly a headphones album; one which, for all its focus on subtlety and restraint, can't be said to be operating upon any sort of 'less is more' approach. This is probably the most densely packed mix of any of Liars' records; flourishes, murmurs, glitches, and frankly unidentifiable noises buried deep, deep in the mix, ready for the discerning ear to dig for it like treasure. And so while WIXIW sounds like Liars at their most vacant and restrained, it actually finds them operating at their most emotionally fraught and hyper-creative – a fact which results in a record sounding coldly alienating to the cursory listener, but one which slowly reveals itself as being a nervous masterpiece, and probably the best LP Liars have put out to date.