A2IM Reveals 2019 Libera Awards Nominees: Mitski, Bad Bunny, Snail Mail & More
The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) has unveiled the nominees for its 2019 indie music-celebrating Libera Awards, and the list features a wide swath of artists from reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny to treasured singer-songwriter Mitski.
At the top of the list, album of the year contenders include Mitski along with English rock group IDLES, Brooklyn experimental musician serpentwithfeet, electronic producer Yves Tumor and saxophonist Kamasi Washington. Elsewhere on the list are top acts like Bad Bunny (best Latin album), Snail Mail (breakthrough artist) and Courtney Barnett (best rock album), along with many others.
The Libera Awards will take place in New York City on June 20, representing the culmination of A2IM's Indie Week, now in its 10th year. While the awards presented by SoundExchange were initially slated for the PlayStation Theater in Times Square as usual, a surge in demand for tickets this year led A2IM to move the festivities to the swanky Ziegfeld Ballroom.
The four-day Indie Week (June 17-20) will be held at the New York Law School in Tribeca. Tickets are available here.
Below, browse the full list of nominees for the 2019 Libera Awards:
Album of the Year (sponsored by The Orchard)
• Mitski - Be The Cowboy (Dead Oceans)
• IDLES - Joy as an Act of Resistance. (Partisan Records)
• serpentwithfeet - soil (Secretly Canadian)
• Yves Tumor - Safe In The Hands Of Love (Warp Records)
• Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth (Young Turks)
Best Live Act
• King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (ATO Records)
• Mitski (Dead Oceans)
• BADBADNOTGOOD (Innovative Leisure)
• Run the Jewels (RTJ Music, Inc.)
• Kelela (Warp Records)
Best American Roots/Folk Album
• Calexico - The Thread That Keeps Us (ANTI Records)
• Richard Thompson - 13 Rivers (New West Records)
• John Prine - The Tree of Forgiveness (Oh Boy Records)
• I'm With Her - See You Around (Rounder Records)
• Dom Flemons - Black Cowboys (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)
Best Blues Album
• Shemekia Copeland - America's Child (Alligator Records)
• Boz Scaggs - Out Of The Blues (Concord Records / Concord)
• Fantastic Negrito - Please Don't Be Dead (Cooking Vinyl)
• Deva Mahal - Run Deep (Motema Music)
• Cedric Burnside - Benton County Relic (Single Lock Records)
Best Classical Album
• Niklas Paschburg - Oceanic (7k!)
• Henrik Schwarz & Metropole Orkest - Scripted Orkestra (7k!)
• Jean-michel Blais - Dans ma main (Arts & Crafts Productions Inc.)
• London Symphony Orchestra - Fuchs: Piano Concerto "Spiritualist" (Naxos American Classics)
• Oliver Coates - John Luther Adams - Canticles of the Sky (RVNG Intl.)
Best Country/Americana Album
• Phosphorescent - C'est La Vie (Dead Oceans)
• Mary Gauthier - Rifles and Rosary BeadsI (n the Black / CD Baby)
• John Prine - The Tree of Forgiveness (Oh Boy Records)
• Jim Lauderdale - Time Flies (Yep Roc Records)
• Alejandro Escovedo - The Crossing (Yep Roc Records)
Best Dance/Electronic Album (sponsored by Symphonic Distribution)
• Leon Vynehall - Nothing Is Still (Ninja Tune)
• Jon Hopkins - Singularity (Domino Recording Co. Ltd.)
• SOPHIE - Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides (Future Classic)
• Oneohtrix Point Never - Age Of (Warp Records)
• Yves Tumor - Safe In The Hands Of Love (Warp Records)
Best Hip-Hop/Rap Album (sponsored by Songtrust)
• August Greene - August Greene (August Greene)
• Awkwafina - In Fina We Trust (Awkwafina Records / AWAL)
• Myke Bogan - Joe Fontana (EYRST / CD Baby)
• Blueface - Famous Cryp (Fifth Amendment, Inc / Entertainment One)
• Junglepussy - JP3 (Junglepussy)
Best Jazz Album
• Onyx Collective - Lower East Suite Part Three (Big Dada / Ninja Tune)
• Esperanza Spalding - 12 Little Spells (Concord Records / Concord)
• Julian Lage - Modern Lore (Mack Avenue Music Group)
• Tia Fuller - Diamond Cut (Mack Avenue Music Group)
• Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth (Young Turks)
Best Latin Album
• Cuco - Chiquito (Cuco / AWAL)
• Orquesta Akokán - Orquesta Akokán (Daptone Records)
• El Alfa - El Hombre (El Jefe Records / CD Baby)
• Bad Bunny - X 100PRE (Rimas Entertainment)
• Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles - Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)
Best Metal Album
• Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love (ANTI Records)
• High on Fire - Electric Messiah (Entertainment One)
• Underoath - Erase Me (Fearless Records)
• Thou - Magus (Sacred Bones Records)
• Sleep - The Sciences (Third Man Records)
Best Outlier Album
• Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo (Dead Oceans)
• Kero Kero Bonito - Time 'n' Place (Polyvinyl Record Co.)
• serpentwithfeet - soil (Secretly Canadian)
• Yves Tumor - Safe In The Hands Of Love (Warp Records)
• Oneohtrix Point Never - Age Of (Warp Records)
Best R&B Album
• Charles Bradley - Black Velvet (Daptone Records)
• Durand Jones & The Indications - Durand Jones & The Indications (Dead Oceans)
• Blood Orange - Negro Swan (Domino Recording Co. Ltd.)
• Kadhja Bonet - Childqueen (Fat Possum)
• serpentwithfeet - soil (Secretly Canadian)
Best Re-Issue Album
• Pixies - Come On Pilgrim...It's Surfer Rosa (4AD)
• Tom Waits - Small Change (ANTI Records)
• Bauhaus - The Bela Session (Leaving Records/Stones Throw Records)
• Liz Phair - Girly-Sound To Guyville: The 25th Anniversary Boxset (Matador Records)
• Hiss Golden Messenger - Devotion: Songs About Rivers and Spirits and Children (Merge Records)
Best Rock Album
• Mitski - Be The Cowboy (Dead Oceans)
• Shame - Songs of Praise (Dead Oceans)
• Snail Mail - Lush (Matador Records)
• Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel (Mom+Pop)
• IDLES - Joy as an Act of Resistance. (Partisan Records)
Best Sync Usage
• Gillian Welch "The Way It Will Be" in THIS IS US (Acony Records)
• Shigeto - "Ann Arbor Pt 1"— "Lady Misaki:" Japan's Decorated Trucks — Shot on iPhone — Apple (Ghostly International)
• Perfume Genius - "Eighth Grade" Trailer (Matador Records)
• Alice Merton - No Roots (Mini Cooper Sync) (Mom+Pop)
• Run the Jewels - x Black Panther (RTJ Music, Inc.)
Best World Album
• Gilberto Gil - OK OK OK (Gege Produções)
• Femi Kuti - One People One World (Knitting Factory Records)
• Angelique Kidjo - Remain in Light (Kravenworks)
• Bombino - Deran (Partisan Records)
• Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 - Black Times (STRUT)
Breakthrough Artist/Release (sponsored by Ingrooves)
• Snail Mail - Lush (Matador Records)
• Lucy Dacus - Historian (Matador Records)
• Sunflower Bean - Come For Me (Mom+Pop)
• Caroline Rose - Loner (New West Records)
• IDLES - Joy as an Act of Resistance. (Partisan Records)
Creative Packaging
• Various Artists - Brainfeeder X (Brainfeeder)
• Charles Bradley - Black Velvet Deluxe Box (Daptone Records)
• Mitski - Be The Cowboy (Dead Oceans)
• John Maus - Vinyl Box Set (Ribbon Music)
• Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth (Young Turks)
Independent Champion
• Caroline
• CD Baby
• NPR
• Redeye
• SoundExchange
Label of the Year (Big) (sponsored by ADA)
• Dead Oceans
• Domino Recording Co. Ltd.
• Polyvinyl Record Co.
• Rough Trade Records
• Warp Records
Label of the Year (Medium)
• Bloodshot Records
• Mom+Pop
• Partisan Records
• Saddle Creek
• Yep Roc Records
Label of the Year (Small)
• Brainfeeder
• Daptone Records
• Hardly Art
• Innovative Leisure
• Oh Boy Records
Marketing Genius
• King Gizzard Reissues Campaign (ATO Records)
• Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo (Dead Oceans)
• IDLES - Joy as an Act of Resistance. (Partisan Records)
• Reggae Month - Studio One (Studio One)
• Aphex Twin - Collapse EP (Warp Records)
Video of the Year
• Mitski - "Nobody" (Dead Oceans)
• Moses Sumney - "Quarrel" (Jagjaguwar)
• John Prine - "Summer's End" (Oh Boy Records)
• Aphex Twin - "T69 Collapse" (Warp Records)
• Kamasi Washington - "Street Fighter Mas" (Young Turks)