Celebrating and cultivating the growth of independent Australian artists of all genres, the AIR Awards have supported the likes of local talents to homegrown superstars since their formation in 1996, with previous award winners including The John Butler Trio, The Avalanches, Flume, Gurrumul, Courtney Barnett, and The Go-Betweens.
Featuring a diverse range of artists, the AIR Nominees for Best Independent Artist this year includes Stella Donnelly, Alex Lahey, Jen Cloher, Baker Boy and The Jungle Giants, while nominees for the Best Independent Album features RVG, Methyl Ethel and Alex The Astronaut, with Jen Cloher, Alex Lahey and The Jungle Giants copping nominations in both keynote categories. Other nominees include Confidence Man, The Teskey Brothers, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Northlane and Winston Surfshirt. Check out the full list of nominees below.
BEST INDEPENDENT ARTIST
ALEX LAHEY
BAKER BOY
JEN CLOHER
STELLA DONNELLY
THE JUNGLE GIANTS
BEST INDEPENDENT ALBUM OR EP
RVG – A Quality Of Mercy
METHYL ETHEL – Everything Is Forgotten
ALEX LAHEY – I Love You Like A Brother
JEN CLOHER – Jen Cloher
THE JUNGLE GIANTS – Quiet Ferocity
ALEX THE ASTRONAUT – See You Soon
BEST INDEPENDENT SINGLE
RVG – ‘A Quality Of Mercy’
ALEX LAHEY – ‘Every Day’s The Weekend’
THE JUNGLE GIANTS – ‘Feel The Way I Do’
BAKER BOY – ‘Marryuna Feat. Yirrmal’
METHYL ETHEL – ‘Ubu’
BREAKTHROUGH INDEPENDENT ARTIST OF THE YEAR – PRESENTED BY PPCA
ANGIE MCMAHON – Slow Mover
BAKER BOY – Marryuna
RVG – A Quality Of Mercy
STELLA DONNELLY – Thrush Metal
THE JUNGLE GIANTS – Quiet Ferocity
BEST INDEPENDENT HIP HOP ALBUM
HORRORSHOW – Bardo State
BLISS N ESO – Off The Grid
ALLDAY – Speeding
WINSTON SURFSHIRT – Sponge Cake
BIRDZ – Train Of Thought
BEST INDEPENDENT COUNTRY ALBUM
HALFWAY – Live At The Triffid
FANNY LUMSDEN – Real Class Act
CAITLYN SHADBOLT – Songs On My Sleeve
LEE KERNAGHAN – The 25th Anniversary Album
BEST INDEPENDENT BLUES AND ROOTS ALBUM
THE TESKEY BROTHERS – Half Mile Harvest
THE WAIFS – Ironbark
DAN SULTAN – Killer
ALL OUR EXES LIVE IN TEXAS – When We Fall
CAITI BAKER – Zinc
BEST INDEPENDENT HARD ROCK, HEAVY OR PUNK ALBUM
RVG – A Quality Of Mercy
BAD//DREEMS – Gutful
SLEEPMAKESWAVES – Made Of Breath Only
NORTHLANE – Mesmer
THE SMITH STREET BAND– More Scared Of You Than You Are Of Me
KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD – Murder Of The Universe
BEST INDEPENDENT DANCE/ELECTRONICA
ALBUM OR EP
PNAU – Changa
CROOKED COLOURS – Vera
THRUPENCE – Ideas Of Aesthetics
SLUMBERJACK – Fracture
BEST INDEPENDENT DANCE, ELECTRONICA OR CLUB SINGLE
TOUCH SENSITIVE – ‘Lay Down’
PNAU – ‘Go Bang’
BANOFFEE – ‘Ripe’
BENSON – ‘Trying (Feat. Yeo)’
MOTEZ – ‘The Future (Feat. Antony and Cleopatra)’
CONFIDENCE MAN – ‘Bubblegum’
BEST INDEPENDENT JAZZ ALBUM
THE VAMPIRES – The Vampires Meet Lionel Loueke
JAMES MORRISON/BBC CONCERT ORCHESTRA – The Great American Songbook
JEREMY ROSE – Within and Without
MY NAME IS NOBODY – My Name Is Nobody
JOSEPH TAWADROS – Live At Abbey Road
BEST INDEPENDENT CLASSICAL ALBUM
GRIGORYAN BROTHERS – Songs Without Words
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA/RICHARD TOGNETTI – Jonny Greenwood Water/Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Night Music
SLAVA GRIGORYAN – Bach: Cello Suites Volume II
SYDNEY CHAMBER CHOIR/PAUL STANHOPE – Paul Stanhope: Lux Aeterna
KATE MILLER-HEIDKE/SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA/BENJAMIN NORTHEY – Kate Miller-Heidke Live with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
The 12th AIR Awards is set to go down at Adelaide’s Queen’s Theatre on Thursday July 26 2018.
Images: Baker Boy / Jen Cloher via Grandstand Media / Stella Donnelly via George Foster
