BATTLES, JUSTICE, ARCADE FIRE, OF MONTREAL, THE NATIONAL, SPOON, BAND OF HORSES, EL-P AND MORE RECEIVE MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS
PLUG BALLOT LIVE ONLINE FOR FAN VOTING THROUGH FEBRUARY 8
The PLUG INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARDS--founded to highlight outstanding accomplishments within the independent music community--are pleased to announce the nominees for the 2008 Awards. Voting is now open to fans everywhere online at www.plugawards.com and will continue until February 8, 2008. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony and concert Thursday, March 6, 2008 in New York City.
This year’s selections throughout the 30 categories--ranging from ‘Best Female Artist’ to ‘Album Of The Year’ for indie rock, electronic, Americana, metal, hip-hop and avant releases, along with label, live music venue, festival and more--were chosen by the PLUG Advisory Board (a/k/a “PLUG Cartel”). The Cartel consists of key tastemakers recognized by the music community as those who fight most to raise the voice of independent artists and releases in every medium (complete list of 2008 PLUG Cartel members here: http://plugawards.com/cartel.php).
2007 marks a significant year as independent music accelerates its rise from the underground into greater mainstream consciousness. Many of this year’s nominees have been profiled in major national publications including Rolling Stone, Spin and Blender, received airplay on commercial radio and appeared on late night shows including the famed stage of Saturday Night Live. They include New York City’s Battles and France’s Justice--who lead the pack with seven nominations--Arcade Fire and Of Montreal with six nominations, and Band of Horses, EL-P, The National and Spoon, who raked in five each.
Other notable artists who received multiple nominations include Radiohead, with their groundbreaking and much publicized release In Rainbows, Beirut, Panda Bear, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Bat For Lashes, Liars, Jose Gonzalez and Devendra Banhart. Music legends tapped for a potential PLUG Award include Nick Cave’s Grinderman, late country music great Porter Wagoner, ex-Swans’ Michael Gira and his Angels of Light and Steve Albini’s Shellac. Emerging talent who received their first ever PLUG nomination include Annie Clark, Dan Deacon, Gogol Bordello, HEALTH, Menomena, No Age and comedian Patton Oswalt.
A sampling of the 2008 PLUG Independent Music Award nominees are:
Album Of The Year:
† (Ed Banger/Vice) - Justice
100 Days, 100 Nights (Daptone) - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Boxer (Beggars Banquet) - The National
Cease To Begin (Sub Pop) - Band Of Horses
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge) - Spoon
Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (Polyvinyl) - Of Montreal
I'll Sleep When You're Dead (Definitive Jux) - El-P
In Rainbows (self-released) - Radiohead
Mirrored (Warp) - Battles
Neon Bible (Merge) - Arcade Fire
Person Pitch (Paw Tracks) - Panda Bear
The Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing) - Beirut
Artist Of The Year:
Animal Collective
Arcade Fire
Band Of Horses
Battles
El-P
Justice
Of Montreal
Okkervil River
Panda Bear
Radiohead
Spoon
The National
New Artist Of The Year:
Bat For Lashes
Battles
Dan Deacon
Deerhunter
Justice
Los Campesinos!
No Age
Sea Wolf
St. Vincent
Vampire Weekend
White Rabbits
Yeasayer
Female Artist Of The Year:
Annie Clark (St. Vincent)
Bettye LaVette
Emily Haines
Emma Pollock
Katrina Ford (of Celebration)
Marissa Nadler
Marnie Stern
Natasha Khan (of Bat For Lashes)
Nina Nastasia
Sally Shapiro
Scout Niblett
Sharon Jones
Male Artist Of The Year:
Andrew Bird
Dan Deacon
Devendra Banhart
El-P
Jens Lenkman
John Vanderslice
José González
Kevin Barnes (of Of Montreal)
Nick Cave
Noah Lennox (Panda Bear)
Sam Beam (Iron & Wine)
Zach Condon (Beirut)
Song Of The Year:
"Atlas" - Battles
"Beautiful Life" - Gui Boratto
"Bros" - Panda Bear
"D.A.N.C.E." - Justice
"Fake Empire" - The National
"Four Winds" - Bright Eyes
"Keep The Car Running" - Arcade Fire
"No Pussy Blues" - Grinderman
"Suffer For Fashion" - Of Montreal
"The Underdog" - Spoon
"Wet And Rusting" - Menomena
"You're A Wolf" - Sea Wolf
Other categories include:
Indie Rock Album Of The Year
Americana Album Of The Year
Metal Album Of The Year
Hip-Hop Album Of The Year
Punk Album Of The Year
Electronic/Dance Album Of The Year
DJ Album Of The Year
Avant Album Of The Year
Live Act Of The Year
Music Video Of The Year
Album Art/Packaging Of The Year
Label Of The Year
Live Music Venue Of The Year
Music Festival Of The Year
Music Website Of The Year
Music Blog Of The Year
Magazine Of The Year
Online Radio Station Of The Year
Record Store Of The Year
Zine Of The Year
Online Record Store Of The Year
College/Non-Comm Radio Station Of The Year
Specialty Show Of The Year (Commercial Radio)
For the complete list of nominees, log on to: www.plugawards.com
PLUG/OurStage 2008 Social & Economic Justice Campaign (http://www.ourstage.com/go/grameen)
This year, PLUG will be partnering with OurStage.com to raise money and awareness for the Grameen Foundation. For each PLUG voter who registers for the Ourstage.com community, $2 will go to the Grameen Foundation’s unique fight to end poverty. Grameen Foundation’s mission is to empower the poorest of the poor to lift themselves out of poverty through its support of microfinance, commonly known as "banking for the poor.” With tiny loans, savings and technology, the foundation helps the poorest of the poor, mostly women, start self-sustaining businesses, to escape poverty. As a borrower’s business grows, so does her self-esteem and her family’s well-being. Grameen Foundation was founded in 1997 by individuals inspired by Professor Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank, Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.
About PLUG Independent Music Awards:
Founded in 2001, with its first annual awards ceremony in 2005, the PLUG Independent Music Awards embrace and honor the independent music community and its fans. Past PLUG Awards participants include Stephen Malkmus, TV On The Radio, The Flaming Lips, Sufjan Stevens, Matisyahu, The National, Aesop Rock, Deerhoof, El-P, Silversun Pickups, Laura Cantrell, Saul Williams, Ted Leo, Dillinger Escape Plan, and many more, plus 2007 PLUG Awards ceremony host David Cross.
It has become a laureate of a vast and vibrant community coming together to recognize their own including a broad spectrum of artists, writers, DJs, websites, bloggers, artists, filmmakers, managers, indie retailers and most importantly fans who gather together each year to celebrate the artists who live and flourish in the margins.
Independent music now represents more than 30% and $3billion of overall music market share, and growing.
* PLUG Awards Ceremony & Concert will be produced by GenArt (www.genart.org)
PLUG About OurStage, Inc. (www.ourstage.com)
OurStage is the only purely democratic online competition where fans decide who’s the best in emerging music, film and video. The OurStage mission is to help talented artists achieve critical exposure by solving the greatest challenge on the Internet today: sorting quality content from the sea of mediocrity online. OurStage provides a neutral, trusted, game-free platform, in which the true judgment of the fans drives the best content to the top. Through its wealth of partner programs, including Bonnaroo, Virgin Festival, Bumbershoot, Paste, CMJ, PLUG Independent Music Awards, Pops on the Edge Fest, Slamdance, Relix, Gen Art, Noise Pop, Videomaker, IFFBoston and many others, OurStage offers worthy artists real opportunities to actually launch their careers.
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