Little Dragon chose to create a familiar environment for their Toronto fans, opening with Please Turn and My Step. The band’s lead singer Yukimi Nagango was bouncing around on stage, shaking her tambourine. Colorful digital waves and patterns on the backdrop, together with Nagango’s emotion-soaked vocals, entranced the audience. Honoring the year’s best in independent music, SiriusXM indie show awarded artists in over 35 categories, including: Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Artist of the Year and SiriusXM Emerging Artist of the Year in both English and French categories. Article and photos by Alexandra Sharova.
The full list of winners is below.
2014 SIRIUSXM INDIE AWARDS WINNERS
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Arcade Fire – Reflektor (Merge Records)
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
City and Colour – The Lonely Life (Dine Alone Records)
GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Half Moon Run (Indica Records)
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
City and Colour (Dine Alone Records)
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Basia Bulat (Secret City Records)
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Sebastien Grainger (Last Gang Records)
LIVE ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Hollerado (Royal Mountain Records)
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Mother Mother (Last Gang Records)
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Arcade Fire – Reflektor (Merge Records)
MUST FOLLOW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Born Ruffians (Paper Bag Records)
COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
Classified – Inner Ninja ft. David Myles (Half Life Records)
MOST PLAYED INDEPENDENT ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
City and Colour (Dine Alone Records)
BEST-SELLING INDEPENDENT RELEASE OF THE YEAR
Arcade Fire – Reflektor (Merge Records)
ALTERNATIVE ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
July Talk (July Talk / Sleepless Records)
BLUES ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
MonkeyJunk (Stony Plain Records)
CHILDREN’S ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Splash’N Boots (Independent)
COUNTRY ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Dean Brody (Open Road Recordings)
DANCE ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Rosette (Ultra Music)
ELECTRONIC ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
A Tribe Called Red (Pirates Blend Records)
FOLK/ROOTS ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
The Strumbellas (Six Shooter Records)
FRANCOPHONE ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Karim Ouellet (Coyote Records / Abuzive Muzik)
JAZZ ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Colin Stetson (Constellation)
METAL ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Kataklysm (Nuclear Blast / Fontana North)
POP ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Fast Romantics (Pipe & Hat)
PUNK/HARDCORE ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
PUP (Royal Mountain Records)
RAP/HIP-HOP ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Shad (Black Box Recordings)
ROCK ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Wildlife (Wax Records)
SOUL/R&B ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Chloe Charles (Athena Music International)
WORLD ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Sultans of String (Independent)
INTERNATIONAL GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Vampire Weekend (XL Recordings)
INTERNATIONAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Janelle Monáe (Wondaland Art Society / Bad Boy Records)
INTERNATIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Arctic Monkeys – AM (Domino)
INTERNATIONAL SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Arctic Monkeys – Do I Wanna Know? (Domino)
INTERNATIONAL BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
CHVRCHES (Glassnote Records)
INTERNATIONAL VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Can’t Hold Us (Macklemore)
SIRIUSXM EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR
(English)
Mounties (Light Organ Records)
SIRIUSXM EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR
(French)
Ponctuation (Bonsound)