With Grammy week in full swing, we present to you the REAL best of the best in music from the past year
This Sunday, the Grammy Awards return to honor what they perceive to be the best in music in the past year. But let’s be real. The Grammys aren’t the be-all-end-all arbiter of quality in music. Mostly, it’s a self-congratulatory industry love-fest, a popularity contest, and not actually a true reflection of the best songs and albums to come out in the last year.
A major awards show is first-and-foremost designed to honor what’s popular on a mass, mainstream scale, punctuated by live performances aimed to one-up each other in all the gaudy ways possible. Sometimes they get it right with the actual winners! Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour for Album of the Year! Dua Lipa for Best New Artist! You bet. But they also miss frequently. Macklemore over Kendrick for Best Rap? Jethro Tull over Metallica for Best Metal!!?? Incredible.
In any case, taking the Grammys word for it is not the move. Sometimes the best music is released by the biggest artists on the planet. Sometimes, it comes from DIY acts who self-release their stuff to Bandcamp. It runs the gamut. With that in mind, we’ve decided to play a bit to the common musician and launch our own yearly awards. Here we introduce our inaugural Imposey Awards, aka, the Imposeys.
We’ve decided to take into account the genres, sub-genres, and micro-scenes that go ignored during Grammy season. We’re introducing four broad categories: Best Album, Song, New Artist and Music Video, followed by a myriad of hyper-specific alt and experimental-leaning categories that we feel represent the best albums released in the last year. Our Editorial board will be holding some spirited debates in the coming days to decide on the winners, and when we do eventually make our picks, you can tune into our socials on Grammy Sunday to find out where we landed. Until then, you can scroll through below to check out our first-ever Imposey nominees!
Nominees:
Best Album
Alex G – God Save The Animals
Alvvays – Blue Rev
Black Country, New Road – Ants From Up There
black midi – Hellfire
Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
billy woods – Aethiopes
Denzel Curry – Melt My Eyez See Your Future
Jockstrap – I Love You, Jennifer B
Mindforce – New Lords
Rosalía – MOTOMAMI **WINNER**
Best Song
Alex G – “Cross The Sea”
Alvvays – “Belinda Says”
Black Country, New Road – “The Place Where He Inserted the Blade”
Crack Cloud – “Afterthought (sukhi’s Prayer)”
Ethel Cain – “Thoroughfare”
Hatchie – “Quicksand”
Oso Oso – “describe you”
Rosalía – “CANDY”
Soccer Mommy – “Shotgun”
Weyes Blood – “God Turn Me Into A Flower” **WINNER**
Best New Artist
Chat Pile
CMAT
GloRilla
Horsegirl
Jockstrap
L.S. Dunes
Scowl
Shygirl
Speed
Two Shell **WINNER**
Best Music Video
Björk – “Ancestress”
Denzel Curry – “Walkin”
Magdelana Bay – “All You Do”
Rosalía – “SAOKO” **WINNER**
Speed – “One Blood We Bleed”
Best Techno or House
DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ – Bewitched
D. Tiffany & Roza Terenzi – Edge of Innocence
Hi Tech – HiTech
Naked Flames – Miracle in Transit **WINNER**
Slikback – CONDENSE
Best Jungle, Drum and Bass, or Breakbeat
Daniel Avery – Ultra Truth
Machine Girl – Neon White OST Pt. I: The Wicked Heart **WINNER**
Nanoray – Toy Box
Skee Mask – B
Vitesse X – Us Ephemeral
Best IDM or Progressive Electronic
Huerco S. – Plonk
Loraine James – Building Something Beautiful For Me
Overmono – Cash Romantic **WINNER**
Rat Heart – Ratty Rids The Clubs From The Evil Curse Of The Private School DJs
Two Shell – Icons
Best Ambient or New Age
Bitchin Bajas – Bajascillators
Claire Rousay – everything perfect is already here
Smoke Point – Smoke Point
Tengger – Earthing
Whatever The Weather – Whatever The Weather **WINNER**
Best Vaporwave
christtt – A.D.
death’s dynamic shroud – Transcendence Bot
desert sand feels warm at night – 夢の砂漠 **WINNER**
Luxury Elite – Ocean Pacific
TUPPERWAVE – Hooked on Aesthetics
Best Experimental, Glitch, or Futuristic Pop
death’s dynamic shroud – Darklife
Jockstrap – I Love You Jennifer B **WINNER**
Let’s Eat Grandma – Two Ribbons
Sweet Trip – Seen/Unseen
yeule – Glitch Princess
Best Dream Pop
Beach House – Once Twice Melody
Caroline Loveglow – Strawberry
Ethel Cain – Preacher’s Daughter **WINNER**
Hatchie – Giving The World Away
Sobs – Air Guitar
Best Shoegaze
Alvvays – Blue Rev **WINNER**
Deserta – Every Moment, Everything You Need
For Tracy Hyde – Hotel Insomnia
Loop – Sonancy
Knifeplay – Animal Drowning
Best Slowcore
40 Watt Sun – Perfect Light
Codeine – Dessau
deathcrash – Return
Duster – Together **WINNER**
Maria BC – Hyaline
Best Indie Folk
40 Watt Sun – Perfect Light
Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
caroline – caroline
Silvana Estrada – Marchita
Weyes Blood – And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow **WINNER**
Best Alternative Country
Angel Olsen – Big Time
CMAT – If My Wife New I’d Be Dead **WINNER**
Orville Peck – Bronco
PLAINS – I Walked with You a Ways
S.G. Goodman – Teeth Marks
Best Indie Rock
Alex G – God Save The Animals **WINNER**
The Beths – Expert in a Dying Field
MJ Lenderman – Boat Songs
The Orielles – Tableau
Soccer Mommy – Sometimes, Forever
Best Psychedelic Pop or Rock
Animal Collective – Time Skiffs
Kikagaku Moyo – Kumoyo Island
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava *WINNER*
Spiritualized – Everything Was Beautiful
Toro y Moi – MAHAL
Best Post-Punk or Experimental Rock
Black Country, New Road – Ants From Up There
black midi – Hellfire **WINNER**
Crack Cloud – Tough Baby
DITZ – The Great Regression
Just Mustard – Heart Under
Best Punk or Hardcore
The Chats – Get Fucked
End It – Unpleasant Living
Mindforce – New Lords **WINNER**
Soul Glo – Diaspora Problems
Speed – Gang Called Speed
Best Emo or Pop Punk
Anxious – Little Green House *WINNER**
Camp Trash – The Long Way, The Slow Way
Oso Oso – Sore Thumb
Pool Kids – Pool Kids
Prince Daddy and the Hyena – Prince Daddy and the Hyena
Best Metal/core, Screamo, or Post-Hardcore
The Callous Daoboys – Celebrity Therapist
CANDY – Heaven Is Here
Chat Pile – God’s Country **WINNER**
L.S. Dunes – Past Lives
Static Dress – Rogue Carpet Disaster
Best HexD or Cloud Rap
999 Heartake Sabileye – A Boy Named Hexd
Bladee & Ecco2k – Crest **WINNER**
Fax Gang – Dataprism
Team Mekano – mekanoworld.xyz
Thaiboy Digital – Back 2 Life
Best Major Label Rap
Denzel Curry – Melt My Eyez See Your Future **WINNER**
J.I.D – The Forever Story
Lil Durk – 7220
Pusha T – It’s Almost Dry
Vince Staples – Ramona Park Broke My Heart
Best Underground or Experimental Hip Hop
billy woods – Aethiopes **WINNER**
Elucid – I Told Bessie
Little Simz – NO THANK YOU
Moor Mother – Jazz Codes
redveil – learn 2 swim
Best Alternative Jazz
Binker and Moses – Feeding The Machine **WINNER**
The Comet Is Coming – Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam
Ezra Collective – Where I’m Meant To Be
Makaya McCraven – In These Times
Sun Ra Arkestra – Living Sky
Best Alternative R&B
Brent Faiyaz – Wasteland
FKA twigs – CAPRISONGS
Ravyn Lenae – Hypnos
Shygirl – Nymph
Sudan Archives – Natural Brown Prom Queen **WINNER**
Best Reggaeton, Urbano, or Latin Pop
Anitta – Versions of Me
Bad Bunny – Un Verano sin Ti
Becky G – Esquemas
Rauw Alejandro – Saturno
Rosalía – MOTOMAMI **WINNER**
