WRITERS’ POLL RESULTS
THE 2011 WRAP-UP
BALL PARK MUSIC
PHOTO BY BRAD MARSELLOS
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
1. Royal Headache 2. Kanye West 3. Ball Park Music 4. Mogwai 5. Gotye PREVIOUS WINNERS: Kanye West (2010), Kid Cudi (2009), The Drones/Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (2008)
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
1. Royal Headache ROYAL HEADACHE 2. Bon Iver BON IVER 3. Watch The Throne JAY-Z AND KANYE WEST 4. Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will MOGWAI 5. Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs BALL PARK MUSIC 6. Unknown Mortal Orchestra UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA 7. Vacation BIG SCARY 8. Arabia Mountain BLACK LIPS 9. Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming M83 =10. Nova Scotia NOVA SCOTIA =10. James Blake JAMES BLAKE =10. The Hunter MASTODON PREVIOUS WINNERS: The Suburbs ARCADE FIRE (2010), Veckatimest GRIZZLY BEAR (2009), Havilah THE DRONES (2008)
KANYE WEST @ SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS PHOTO BY STEPHEN BOOTH
INTERNATIONAL ARTIST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR 1. Kanye West 2. Les Savy Fav 3. Mogwai 4. Die Antwoord 5. The Hold Steady PREVIOUS WINNERS: Muse (2010), The Hold Steady (2009), Wilco (2008)
CUSTARD @ FLOAT ON, THE HI-FI PHOTO BY STEPHEN BOOTH
AUSTRALIAN ARTIST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
1. Ball Park Music 2. Custard 3. Royal Headache 4. Jinja Safari 5. The Drones PREVIOUS WINNERS: Tame Impala (2010), The Drones (2009), The Drones (2008)
MISCELLANEOUS ALBUM OF THE YEAR
1. Nevermind 20th Anniversary Edition NIRVANA 2. Smile Sessions THE BEACH BOYS 3. Everything Else PREVIOUS WINNERS: Inaugural year for this category.
C
rap, what a year! Everything got off to a relatively normal, albeit very wet start – Sunset Sounds for example was great fun for those who dressed for the deluge, not so for people with nice shoes, but was still a cracking couple of days – before all hell broke loose with the floods that devastated SEQ and beyond. The outpouring of community support and altruism which followed almost (but not really) made up for the devastation, and the lives of many Queenslanders haven’t been the same since. We dug deep and there were a couple of fantastic flood benefits, including the massive Float On which packed out The Hi-Fi and raised a ton of scratch for the worthy cause. We’re nothing if not a sturdy lot though, and before long we’d resumed business as normal, and that of course included our music scene. On the festival front it was a fine year, Soundwave in particular putting on a killer line-up (although they struggled later in the year with the ill-fated Soundwave Revolution follow-up) as well as crackers from Big Day Out, Laneway, Good Vibes, Bluesfest (who added an extra day to accommodate Mr Dylan), Splendour In The Grass, Parklife, Stereosonic, Future Music Festival, plus the newest addition to the calendar, the well-received Harvest festival. After last year’s immense farewell for the much-loved Powderfinger, this year it was all about bands from that era reforming, with us seeing double shows from prodigal sons Custard (one for the aforementioned Float On flood benefit and one for the excellent Brisbane Festival, which also had a great program), a couple from Pangaea (who got back together originally for Ric’s Big Backyard bash) and a cracker from The Screaming Tribesmen (who headlined the inaugural The Gathering festival at Old Museum), although we also (possibly) said goodbye to the much-loved Screamfeeder towards the end of 2011. Brisbane’s own industry conference BIGSOUND just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and not only was this year’s conference a cracker and completely sold out – with much worldwide
ONLINE DESTINATION OF THE YEAR
THE WALKING DEAD
attention being dragged our way due to the rantings of main keynote speaker Alan McGee – but the showcase aspect was a ripper, with local acts and bands from all over the country (plus a smattering from overseas) turning every nook and cranny of the Valley into a mid-week festival, with a slew of non-official parties adding to the massive party vibe. Speaking of live music venues 2011 was a mixed bag: we lost the Step Inn for live music midway through the year and seem to have likewise lost the Globe Theatre towards the tail-end of ‘11, but on a positive note Woodland really stepped up to the plate and became a popular place to see live music, and we added places like The Waiting Room, The Bridge Club, Between The Walls and Dowse Bar to the fold (plus the great Sun Distortion Studios, which has already come and gone). Of course it was great to see old haunt The Troubadour re-open in its new guise as Black Bear Lodge, but basically we don’t care where you’re all seeing your live music, as long as you’re out there supporting the scene. Ah, the scene. Where would we be without all of the amazing Brisbane bands? There were some incredible albums released this year by Queensland bands and artists – long-players by Ben Salter, Nova Scotia, The Grates, Undead Apes, Ball Park Music and Little Scout (to name but a few) in particular floated our collective boats – and it was awesome to see local bands like The Amity Affliction, DZ Deathrays, emma louise and Busby Marou really slay it on the national and international stage. We stand by our oft-repeated adage that SEQ has pound-for-pound the best music scene in Australia, and given the esteem with which Australian music is held on the world stage that makes us a pretty important hub, one that we need to do our utmost to support and nurture. So thanks heaps for your readership and support during 2011, we look forward to bringing you the best in all things music once again in 2012! Have a Merry Xmas and keep on rockin’, The Time Off team
MELANCHOLIA
1. Twitter 2. Facebook 3. Mess+Noise 4. YouTube 5. Cracked PREVIOUS WINNERS: Facebook (2010), Facebook (2009), YouTube (2008)
TOM AND ALEX
SONG OF THE YEAR
1. Somebody That I Used To Know GOTYE FEAT KIMBRA 2. Down The Lane ROYAL HEADACHE =3. No Church In The Wild JAY-Z AND KANYE WEST =3. Will Do TV ON THE RADIO =3. Ain’t Hungry LANIE LANE PREVIOUS WINNERS: Runaway KANYE WEST (2010), Sweet Disposition THE TEMPER TRAP (2009), The Minotaur THE DRONES (2008) 22
RADIO SHOW/PODCAST OF THE YEAR
1. Wake And Bake 4ZZZ 2. Unnecessary Knowledge 4ZZZ 3. Short.Fast.Loud TRIPLE J =4. Tom And Alex TRIPLE J =4. The Racket TRIPLE J PREVIOUS WINNERS: 2010 TRIPLE J (2010), Short.Fast.Loud TRIPLE J (2009), Full Metal Racket TRIPLE J (2008)
MOVIE OF THE YEAR TV SHOW OF THE YEAR
1. Breaking Bad 2. Community 3. The Walking Dead 4. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 5. Curb Your Enthusiasm PREVIOUS WINNERS: South Park/Eastbound & Down (2010), Dexter/It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (2009)
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1. Drive 2. Melancholia 3. Submarine 4. Super 8 =5. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes =5. Black Swan =5. Moneyball PREVIOUS WINNERS: Inception/The Social Network (2010), Inglourious Basterds (2009)