AIM Independent Music Awards 2022 celebrate talent and diversity – live review

AIM Independent Music Awards
The Roundhouse, London
28th September 2022

Across an awards ceremony and a live show, the AIM Independent Music Awards 2022 celebrated talent, diversity, change, and tenacity in a challenging industry. Nils van der Linden was there.

The AIM Independent Music Awards 2022, held last night at the Roundhouse in London, was more than a celebration of talent. Across 20 categories, including Best Live Performer, Innovator Award, and Best Independent Album, the event also celebrated diversity, change, and tenacity in an industry that more than one winner described as challenging.

Cleo Sol, winner of best Independent Album for Mother, said: “We do things our way and it’s not always easy, but it’s very rewarding.” And [PIAS] founders Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot (Independent Champion winners) offered some inspiration as they detailed some of the struggles they’ve overcome during the past 40 years. 

With other winners ranging from relative newcomers like Nia Archives (One To Watch) and Wet Leg (UK Independent Breakthrough) to festival headliners like The Libertines (Special Recognition), few matched Stormzy for superstar status. The rapper, winner of the Diversity Champion award for the work of his charity #Merky Foundation and #Merky Books, was especially eloquent in victory.

“I encourage everyone in the room today to not just use diversity as a buzzword,” he said. “Whatever position you lot are in, whatever roles you might play, try to be a real driving factor for it and not just see it as a quota or a box to tick and really see the worth and value in being diverse.”

TAAHLIAH, winner of Best Independent EP/Mixtape for Angelica, was equally articulate on the subject of transgender rights. “Since Angelica is such an autobiographical record and was my way of accepting and sharing my own experience of the world, I hope that by winning this award, does not only reflect me as an artist but also shines a light on how important it is for our marginalised identities to be recorded, cherished, and recognised,” she said.

“Diverse” could also be used to describe the evening’s live music performances. Pixey and her three-piece backing band got it all going with a four-song miniset of bright indie pop big on dreamy guitars, summery melodies, and (for tonight) synth drums. There’s a touch of the mid-’90s (think Dodgy meets Natalie Imbruglia at the Cornershop) to her music that’s as playful as her performance: big on smiles and Kylie sashaying.

Lethal Bizzle, celebrated for his Outstanding Contribution to Music during the awards show, turned up the heat with a stage setup big on reds, smoke, and some pyrotechnics — plus a range of tracks celebrating his two decades in the industry. The chatty, relaxed MC playing his first live gig since the pandemic, took us all the way from Oi!, his breakout hit as a member of More Fire Crew (“You might have seen us on Top of the Pops”) to the debut performance of a quiet, introspective track written during lockdown. It was a moment of calm in a high-impact hands-in-the-air show that even packed in guest appearances from JME and Giggs and culminated in an audience moshpit.

That riotous energy was harnessed by the night’s headliners, The Libertines. Twenty-five years have passed since they formed, but the quartet’s fantastically rough around the edges live sound and feeling that everything could fall apart at any second are proudly still there. Ramshackle, but clearly rehearsed, they put on a superlative performance built around the obvious bond between frontmen Carl Barât and Pete Doherty. Whether trading lead vocals, noodling together on their guitars between songs, or sharing a microphone cheek to cheek, the duo were clearly having as much fun as the crowd surfers up front.

Rollickers Up The Bracket and What A Waster set the tone, while other standouts included the still unpredictable What Katie Did, catch-a-breath ballad You’re My Waterloo (with Barât on piano), and what must rank as the happiest-sounding document of a band in turmoil: Can’t Stand Me Now. That turmoil seemed like ancient history, as a feeling of celebration filled the Roundhouse once more — only fitting for a day that honoured independent music.

AIM Independent Music Awards 2022 winners
Diversity Champion: Stormzy
Best Independent Album: Cleo Sol  – Mother
Best Independent Track: Nova Twins – Antagonist
UK Independent Breakthrough: Wet Leg
International Breakthrough: Blxst
Best Live Performer: Mitski
Best [Difficult] Second Album: Nilüfer Yanya – Painless
Innovator Award: Rina Sawayama
Outstanding Contribution to Music: Lethal Bizzle
Special Recognition: The Libertines
Best Independent EP/Mixtape: TAAHLIAH – Angelica
Best Independent Remix: Champion remix of Ibeyi – Lavender & Red Roses ft. Jorja Smith
One To Watch: Nia Archives
Best Independent Video: Jeshi – 3210
PPL Award for Most Played New Independent Artist: D.O.D.
Best Creative Campaign: Maylee Todd – Maloo
Best Independent Label: Rough Trade Records
Best Boutique Label: Local Action
Independent Champion: Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot of [PIAS]
Music Entrepreneur Of The Year: Corey Johnson – CEO & Founder of Defenders Ent.

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Words by Nils van der Linden. You can visit his author profile for Louder Than War here. He tweets as @nilsvdlinden and his website is www.nilsvanderlinden.com.

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Source: louderthanwar.com