Do you ever get the feeling that Australian music awards ceremonies have categories that are just too damn broad?
Like, Best Album? Out of everything? Best Artist? Out of everyone? Heck, even when you get into slightly more detailed areas like Best Pop Release or Best Rock Release, it’s like… both are very wide spectrums, y’know? There’s just no way to whittle it down to just five or so nominees – it always ends in heartbreak.
It’s something we here at Music Feeds have thought about a lot, and so we’ve decided to really get into the thick of it and give recognition where it’s deserved – no matter how weirdly specific it gets.
Without any further ado, welcome to the first (and probably last) annual Music Feeds Weirdly-Specific Australian Music Awards (or the MFWSAMAs, for short) for 2021.
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The Obligatory Genesis Owusu Award For Genesis Owusu Because It’s 2021 And It’s Genesis Owusu: Genesis Owusu
Best Live Loophole: Concrete Surfers, for doing a tour as the entertainment for a bunch of footy games because it was the only way they could tour in Queensland
Best Studio Loophole: Amyl & The Sniffers, who were allowed to record an album because they were also filming a documentary
Best Paul Kelly Rework: Ziggy Ramo, for “Little Things”
Weirdest Paul Kelly Rework: Ben Lee, doing “Dumb Things” on The Masked Singer
Tallest Guitarist: A tie between Spacey Jane‘s Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu and Eliza & The Delusionals’ Ashley Martin – and Paul Dempsey of course, but he wins every other year
Best Short King Energy: Tasman Keith, posing for a photo alongside seven-foot giants Peter Garrett, Troy Cassar-Daley and Richard Wilkins
Biggest “Go Get ‘Em, Tiger” For US Achievement: The Kid LAROI
Biggest “Go Get ‘Em, Tiger” For UK Achievement: Gang of Youths
Biggest “Go Get ‘Em, Tiger” For Australian Achievement: Gretta Ray
Most “Grab the Tissues” Cover: The Teskey Brothers doing INXS’ “Never Tear Us Apart” in tribute to the late Michael Gudinski
Most “Who Is This For?” Cover: A tie between Birds of Tokyo doing Silverchair’s ‘Straight Lines’ and Drapht doing Lime Cordiale’s ‘Robbery’
Best Debut Album: Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth
Best Debut EP: Barkaa – Blak Matriarchy
Best Second Album: Amyl and the Sniffers – Comfort to Me
Best Third Album: Courtney Barnett – Things Take Time, Take Time
Best Fourth Album: Big Scary – Daisy
Best 18th Album: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Butterfly 3000
Best Podcast: Who is Daniel Johns?
Best Podcast Guest: Ben Lee
Best Mind-Numbing Music-Related Lockdown Go-To: The Masked Singer
Most Nightmare-Inducing Costume On The Masked Singer: Baby (AKA Ella Hooper) – those eyes
Rawest Deal: Hockey Dad, for being pulled off stage by Queensland Police during their Brisbane show and forced into hotel quarantine due to last-minute border changes
Luckiest Break: Amy Shark, who managed to complete almost an entire national tour and was the first Australian artist to play arenas in over 18 months
International Achievement Award For Timing: Thurston Moore, who got in and out of Australia literally a week or so before a national round of lockdowns
Best Spoonerism: Tropical Fuck Storm, for ‘Bumma Sanga’
Best Backronym: Ruby Fields, for ‘R.E.G.O.’
Best Expletive Use: Amyl and the Sniffers’ Amy Taylor, for the “FUCK!” in ‘Guided by Angels’
Best Adlib: Allday, for the whispered “bang bang” in ‘Stolen Cars’
Best Command Song Title/Most Common Phrase Uttered During Lockdown: King Stingray, for ‘Get Me Out’
Best Question Song Title/Most Complicated Question To Actually Ask People After Lockdown: Holy Holy, for ‘How You Been’
Best Lockdown Reference In A Song Lyric: Noah Dillon, for “Sourdough warrior/Australia’s Jamie Oliver” in ‘That’s Just How I Feel’
Best Rhyming Of “Airbnb” With “The Fucking OC” In A Song Lyric: Ali Barter, ‘Chocolate Cake’
Best Airhorn: Speed, for ‘We See U’
Best Number-Related Band Name: 1300
Best Pun-Related Band Name: The Buoys
Most Frustrating Grammatical Error Band Name: Between You & Me (It’s “between you and I!”)
Best Supergroup: Springtime
Best Guest Verse: Kwame, on Tasman Keith’s ‘ONE’
Best Unexpected Cameo: Uncle Jack Charles, on Baker Boy’s ‘Survival’
Worst Unexpected Cameo: The Delta variant
Best Unexpected Collab: Briggs and Troy Cassar-Daley, on ‘Shadows’
Worst Unexpected Collab: Bliss N Eso and Kasey Chambers, on ‘Good People’
Best Trojan Horse For Australian Musicians: Bluey
Best Musician Turned Actor: Kate Miller-Heidke in Preppers
Best Influencer Turned Musician: Abbie Chatfield in Candy Moore’s ‘I Know You Do Ketamine’
@candymoore.mp3Giddy up @abbiechatfield ##abbiechatfield ##remixAbbie Chatfield special k remix – Candy Moore
Trippiest Music Video: RUFUS DU SOL, for ‘Next to Me’
Best Aus Music Doco: Going Countryhttps://iview.abc.net.au/show/going-country
Worst Album Cover: Polish Club – Now We’re Cookin’
Best Album Cover: Polish Club – Now We’re Cookin’
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Best Beard: Brett Jansch, Dune Rats
Best Seedy Mo: Ruel
Best Mullet: Amy Taylor
Best Act To Dance To: Haiku Hands
Best Dancer: For the 45th consecutive year, Peter Garrett
