LWM AWARDS 2021 – THE WINNERS
So here we are, the end of the road (for this year), the best of the best,
the coolest of the cool. There is nothing left to say other than to thank you for
making the music, thank you for reading my ramblings and let’s do it all again
in 2022, yeah? Now, without further ado, I give you the Listen With Monger
Awards 2021 winners….
Best Band (UK) 2021 Winner
Pattern Pusher – This is
always a tough category and that has never been truer than in 2021 but the
Exeter trio have hit all the right buttons this year. Pattern Pusher’s evolution
from exciting prospects to nationally recognised new kids on the block has been
rapid but then great songwriting, outstanding musicianship and excellent visual
style tends to bring success.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/patternpusher
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Erotic Secrets of Pompeii
2019 Winner – Dinosaur Pile-Up
2018 Winner – Black Futures
2017 Winner - Rews
2016 Winner – Narcs / Berries
2015 Winner - Allusondrugs
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Best Band (South West) 2021 Winner
Long For The Coast – Totnes
based duo released an album of high quality and high emotion this year. Sublime
harmonies, moving folk melodies and story telling of the highest order all
combine to make them a serious but subtle force to be reckoned with.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/longforthecoast
Previous Winners
2020 Winner - Moriaty
2019 Winner – Pattern Pusher
2018 Winner – The Velvet Hands
2017 Winner – The Malthusian Trap
2016 Winner – Wildwood Kin
2015 Winner – Lost Dawn / Sound
of the Sirens
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Best Band (International) 2021 Winner
Monowhales – This Canadian
trio blew me away early in 2021 and their punchy, edgy and downright infectious
pop-rock tunes have stayed with me all year. The energy, attitude and, most
importantly, songwriting is all excellent but it’s the vibe that really sets
this band apart.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/MONOWHALES
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Larkin Poe (USA)
2019 Winner – Fontaines D.C.
(Republic of Ireland)
2018 Winner – The Nectars (USA)
2017 Winner – Parekh & Singh (India)
2016 Winner – The Watanabes
(Japan)
2015 Winner – Failure Machine
(USA)
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Best Solo Male (UK) 2021 Winner
Mrley – Proud Londoner
Mrley brought a fresh and raw sound to our ears this year and it was like
nothing else being offered by other artists in the UK. Punk, reggae, indie,
grunge and even a little pop are all in the mix but it’s the spirit, energy and
sheer fun that I love about Mrley.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/mrleymrleymrley
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Riaz Ahmad
2019 Winner – Xam Volo
2018 Winner – Joshua Kyeot
2017 Winner – Jamie Lenman
2016 Winner – Jake Morley
2015 Winner – Cosmo Sheldrake
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Best Solo Male (South West) 2021 Winner
Jamie Yost – He’s been in
the running in previous years but 2021 was the year that Jamie Yost’s infamous
soulful voice moved to another level alongside some inspiring songwriting. With
the right push and getting into the right ears, I can see this guy going
national before very long.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/jamieyostmusic
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Ollie Dixon
2019 Winner – Samantics
2018 Winner – Matthew Gordon
Price
2017 Winner – Gozer
Goodspeed/Martyn Crocker
Best Solo Male (International) 2021 Winner
Yves Paquet – Belgian
singer-songwriter Yves Paquet is one of those talents that creeps up on you and,
before you know it, you’re looping his album day after day. Throw in some
dangerous good looks and the kind of voice you can just drift away on, and
you’ve got yourself the full package.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/YvesPaquetMusic
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Jacknife Lee
(Republic of Ireland)
2019 Winner – Duckwrth (USA)
2018 Winner – Simon Lynge
(Greenland)
2017 Winner – Noah Gundersen
(USA)
Best Solo Female (UK) 2021 Winner
Penfriend – Formerly known
as She Makes Ware and even more formerly known as Laura Kidd, Bristol’s
Penfriend is another reinvention and one for the digital age. Her album ‘Exotic
Monsters’ is superb as are her podcasts and, so I hear, live shows so Penfriend
is a worthy winner of this category.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/penfriendrocks
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Tina Boonstra
2019 Winner – Lauran Hibberd
2018 Winner – Pip Hall
2017 Winner – Poppy Ackroyd
2016 Winner – Joanna Cooke / Lulu
James
2015 Winner – Malka
Best Solo Female (South West) 2021 Winner
Maisy Grace – Jeez but this was a hard category to call. There are A LOT of talented
women making music in the South West at the moment but, for me, Cornish
singer-songwriter Maisy Grace presents something different and special. No
small achievement for someone just at the start of career which makes Maisy
Grace an exceedingly exciting artist.
More
information: https://twitter.com/maisygracemusic
Previous
Winners
2020
Winner - Yazzy
2019
Winner – Rise
2018
Winner – Joanna Cooke
2017 Winner – Rosie the Crow
Best Solo Female (International) 2021 Winners
Chaii/UPSAHL – I couldn’t split this award this year so I’m sharing it between the pioneering New Zealander Chaii and the ace alt-pop song writer from Phoenix, UPSAHL. Two different backgrounds and two different approaches but two artists at the cutting edge of their game producing great music and having fun doing it. Now, if only I could get them on the same bill in the UK…..
More information:
Chaii – https://www.facebook.com/CHAIIMUSIC
UPSAHL – https://www.facebook.com/upsahlmusic
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Madison Beer (USA)
2019 Winner – Tami Neilson
(Canada/Australia)/Mavis Staples (USA)
2018 Winner – Grace Inspace (USA)
2017 Winner – Deqn Sue (USA)
Best Single 2021 Winner
Fickle Friends ‘Love You To Death’ – A tough category as always but the blend of alt-pop, rock, clever
lyrics and 100% bop energy makes this the stand-out track of 2021 and Fickle
Friends have more to come with an album due in January 2022.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/FickleFriends
Previous
Winners
2020
Winner – The Clockworks ‘Enough Is Never Enough’
2019
Winner – Ferris & Sylvester ‘I Dare You’ / Bicuruious ‘I Don’t Do Drugs, I
Just Sweat A Lot’
2018
Winner – X Ambassadors ‘Joyful’
2017 Winner – She Makes War ‘I
Want My Country Back’ / Moses ‘King Size’
2016 Winner – Mowbeck ‘Vaseline’
/ Childcare ‘Cinema Club’
2015 Winner – Azu Yeche ‘Lagos’
Best EP 2021 Winner
Wooze ‘Get Me To A Nunnery EP’
– I got a little bit fanboy obsessed over London based duo Wooze this year
and this EP was the cherry on the icing on the cake. Art school style,
incredible musicianship and so many influences it’s impossible to pin them down
– it’s a heady and intoxicating brew that I urge, nay, demand that you try.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/Woozeband
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Tina Boonstra ‘City
of Doubt EP’
2019 Winner – Sick Joy ‘Them Days
EP’
2018 Winner – Jones ‘New York EP’
2017 Winner – Mux ‘Can You See
Who? EP’
2016 Winner – Joanna Cooke ‘Wound
Up EP’ / Bare Hunter ‘Dry Rot EP’
2015 Winner – Alex Gregory
‘Critical Perfection EP’
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Best Album 2021 Winner
Zuzu – ‘Queensway Tunnel’/UPSAHL
– ‘Lady Jesus’ – Yet again, I’ve failed to boil this down to fewer than two
albums but then these are two particularly special albums. Firstly, Liverpool’s
newest musical hero Zuzu released her debut album ‘Queensway Tunnel’ which is a
superb example of song writing and story telling set to infectious melodies.
Then there was UPSAHL’s ‘Lady Jesus’ coming out of Arizona with astoundingly
good alt-pop anthems full of attitude, confidence and emotion. These are both
break-up albums and neither artist is feeling sorry for themselves so why not
pick them both up and ride that energy in to the new year.
More information:
Zuzu – https://www.facebook.com/thisiszuzu
UPSAHL – https://www.facebook.com/upsahlmusic
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Nana Adjoa ‘Big
Dreaming Ants’/Moriaty ‘The Die Is Cast’
2019 Winner – William the
Conqueror ‘Bleeding on the Soundtrack’ / X Ambassadors ‘Orion’
2018 Winner – The Nectars ‘Sci-Fi
Television’ / Henge ‘Attention! Earth’
2017 Winner – Noah Gundersen
‘White Noise’ / Rews ‘Pyro’
2016 Winner – Narcs ‘A Thinking
Animal’ / Jake Morley ‘The Manual
2015 Winner – Lost Dawn / Malka
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Best Video 2021 Winner
Middle Kids ‘Questions’ – Sydney’s
Middle Kids wowed me with this intricately choreographed piece of film for
their single ‘Questions’. Hand claps, marching bands, horses and live
performance all come together inside a restaurant in what feels like one take.
It’s a joyous song on its own but the video really makes it jump out at you.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/middlekidsmusic
Watch the Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VchylRsWmcQ
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Spang Sisters
‘Eddie Murphy’
2019 Winner – Penguin Café
‘Chapter’
2018 Winner – Calva Louise ‘Tug
of War’ / LibraLibra ‘Tongues’
2017 Winner – Vei ‘Rolling on You
Romeo’
2016 Winner – Michelle O Faith
‘Lemonade’
2015 Winner – Husky ‘I’m Not
Coming Back’
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Best Live Show 2021 Winner
Bailey Tomkinson @ Panda Fest – I’d been wanting to hear St Ives
singer-songwriter live for sometime but getting to do it in a hidden away field
in Cornwall with low lying clouds was the perfect setting for her country
infused nu-folk sounds backed by a full band as well. An honourable mention to
the sound crew that day too, they made it a perfectly balanced experience.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/Baileytomkinson13
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Wille Edwards &
Andy Quick @ the Village Hall, Downderry
2019 Winner – Shihad @ the
Thekla, Bristol
2018 Winner – Looe Saves the Day
Festival, Looe
2017 Winner – Wildwood Kin @ The
Brook Inn, Plymouth
2016 Winner – Blogtober 2016
feat. Berries / Pattern Pusher / Seaker / Jamie Yost / Rosa Belle
2015 Winner – Tankus the Henge @
Looe Music Festival
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Best Band Name 2021 Winner
Mandrake Handshake – The
Oxford collective are joining the ranks of superbly monikered bands from down
the years that would make an awesome festival line-up. The fact that they come
armed with tambourines and a sack of psychedelia just makes sure that the music
lives up to the name.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/mandrakehandshakeband
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Death By Unga Bunga
2019 Winner – Those Fucking
Snowflakes
2018 Winner – Have You Ever Seen
the Jane Fonda Aerobic VHS?
2017 Winner – Playboy Manbaby
2016 Winner – Yes Babez! / Taco
Hell / Queen of Jeans
2015 Winner – Get Inuit /
Rangleklods
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Best Debut 2021 Winner
DEJA ‘Intro EP’ – British
R’n’B artist DEJA strutted on to the scene in 2021 and immediately let everyone
know who she was and what she was about. Her ‘Intro EP’ and a series of singles
were all perfectly put together and introduced an artist ready to take on the
world. Ambitious doesn’t even come close.
More information: https://twitter.com/dejadejaaaa
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Nana Adjoa ‘Big
Dreaming Ants’
2019 Winner – Gazel ‘Gazel’s Book
of Souls’
2018 Winner – Georgia Fearn
‘Perfect on Paper’
2017 Winner – Black Futures
‘Karma, Ya Dig?’
2016 Winner – Berries ‘Siren’
2015 Winner – Vanessa Forero
‘Heaven Knows’
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Best Year 2021 Winner
Cherym – If anyone managed
to tame 2021 then surely it was Northern Irish trio Cherym. Powerful lyrics, a
fearless approach to song writing and melodies to die for have been backed up
with some relentless live performances and profile that’s rising faster public
hatred of Boris Johnson. Cherym owned 2021 and 2022 had better watch out too.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/cherymofficial
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Lack of Afro
2019 Winner – Deux Furiesues
2018 Winner - Idles
2017 Winner - Cassels
2016 Winner – Wildwood Kin
2015 Winner – Sound of the Sirens
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Best PR 2021 Winner
Wall of Sound PR – It’s
about time the excellent Wall of Sound PR won this award but I have to say 2021
has been a particularly fine vintage for them. Working with bands like Beach
Riot, Bears in Trees, Cherym, Cheerbleederz, Peaness, the Subways, Tokky Horror
and loads more means that they are at the cutting edge of new talent and when
they speak you had better pay attention.
More information: http://wallofsoundpr.co.uk/
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Sonic PR
2019 Winner – Prescription PR
2018 Winner – Fine Company
2017 Winner – Cannonball PR
2016 Winner – Wilful Publicity
2015 Winner – Hannah Gould Music
PR
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Best Label 2021 Winner
Tantrum Records – This
small but perfectly formed Scottish label look after the iridescent Malka and
were the driving force behind the Hen Hoose movement and album this year. This
is certainly a quality over quantity arrangement but I think the world could
benefit of taking that approach a little more often, don’t you?
More information: https://twitter.com/tantrum_records
Previous Winners
2020 Winner – Alcopop! Records
2019 Winner – Say Something
Records
2018 Winner – Integrity Records
2017 Winner – Cooking Vinyl
2016 Winner – Superfan 99
2015 Winner – Clue Records