MIDDLE KIDS, GURRUMUL,
KWAME and MOJO JUJU
take home 2018 J Awards
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This afternoon, the Australian music industry gathered at Howler in Brunswick as triple j, Double J, triple j Unearthed and Rage celebrated the very best achievements in Australian music at the 14th annual J Awards.
Recognised for their outstanding originality, creativity, technical excellence and contribution to Australian music, the J Awards highlight the major musical moments over the last 12 months, and boy were there a lot in 2018! We can’t overstate the significant impact of all the nominees but in the end Middle Kids, Gurrumul, Kwame and Mojo Juju deservingly took home the 2018 J Awards.
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triple j Australian Album of the Year
Middle Kids, Lost Friends
Drawing on their experience across multiple projects, Lost Friends possesses a chemistry that can’t be faked. ‘Mistake’, ‘On My Knees’, ‘Bought It’, ‘Never Start’; each broil with intensity and insecurity before exploding into cathartic, celebratory choruses. Tim Fitz and Harry Day bring a wealth of energy and inventive production but it’s Hannah Joy’s vocals that are the heart and soul of their music. Her shiver-inducing voice ranges from beautifully controlled to heedlessly raw as she renders the drama, confusion, and honesty in Middle Kids’ lyrics. After delivering one of the year’s most powerful debut releases, and with another sensational single already in the bag, the most exciting thing is what Middle Kids do next.
triple j Music Director, Nick Findlay, says of the album: “From Middle Kids first Unearthed upload through to their incredible debut album and beyond, their song-writing is instantly familiar while being refreshingly original. This is nowhere more evident than on their J Award winning album Lost Friends. Most records have peaks and troughs, but it’s all peaks on this release. At the heart of every song is Hannah Joy’s golden voice; combined with Hannah, Tim and Harry’s instrumentation it creates a rich sonic palette that traverses anthemic rock, alt-country and bitter sweet indie ballads.”
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Double J Artist of the Year
Gurrumul
Gurrumul’s final album Djarimirri (Child Of The Rainbow) brought together the tradition of Yolngu culture and Western classical music, resulting in a rich, nourishing and meditative piece of art. Gurrumul, the astounding documentary about his life, career and unique approach to music, culture, stardom and family, was one of the year’s most engrossing films, giving an insightful look inside a culture that is so key to the heart of our country. The sadness of Gurrumul’s passing has not abated, but these two dynamic works have helped us know a little more about one of our country’s greatest ever artists. Gurrumul wins this year’s Double J Australian Artist of the Year for his bold and unwavering vision in creating something truly unique, immensely beautiful, and unmistakably Australian. We are so lucky to have these gifts he left us.
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Unearthed Artist of the Year
Kwame
The Sydney rapper got everyone’s attention early on in 2018 with the release of ‘WOW’, an instant hit brimming with bounce, lyrical spark and charisma. triple j Unearthed quickly locked him in as the opening act of Splendour in the Grass, and there was no stopping him after that. As well as dropping his second EP, Endless Conversations, Kwame flexed it live, touring around the country with Peking Duk, Tkay Maidza and Skepta — not to mention dropping in to the triple j One Night Stand in St Helens. And how did Kwame celebrate his 21st birthday? On stage at the triple j Unearthed BIGSOUND showcase in Brisbane. Fittingly, this J Award for Unearthed Artist of the Year is the icing on the cake for Kwame.
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Australian Music Video of the Year
Mojo Juju ‘Native Tongue’
Director: Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore
Raw, vulnerable, and fiercely powerful. It’s a striking visual treatment of the title track from Mojo Juju’s most intensely personal album yet, which explores her Wiradjuri and Filipino heritage, and themes of identity, displacement, and belonging. Those complex ideas are beautifully rendered in the video, which radiates creativity through the simplest of set-ups. Mojo slowly marches towards the camera, a commanding representative giving voice to segments of Australian culture and history that don’t always get the spotlight. Shot in a paddock in regional Victoria, ‘Native Tongue’ is a collaboration between Mojo, the Djuki Mala Dancers, The Pasefika Victoria Choir, and director Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore, who met Mojo during the making of her documentary Her Sound Her Story. The result of this meeting of creative minds is just stunning.
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triple j, Double J, triple j Unearthed and
Rage congratulate all the winners and
nominees for their achievements this year.
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2018 J Award nominees:
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triple j Australian Album of the Year
WINNER
Middle Kids, Lost Friends
NOMINEES
Amy Shark, Love Monster
Camp Cope, How to Socialise & Make Friends
Courtney Barnett, Tell Me How You Really Feel
DMA’S, For Now
Hockey Dad, Blend Inn
Ocean Alley, Chiaroscuro
Polaris, The Mortal Coil
RÜFÜS DU SOL, Solace
Tash Sultana, Flow State
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Double J Artist of the Year
WINNER
Gurrumul
NOMINEES
John Butler Trio
Mojo Juju
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
Sampa the Great
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Unearthed Artist of the Year
WINNER
Kwame
NOMINEES
Angie McMahon
G Flip
Kian
Slowly Slowly
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Australian Music Video of the Year,
co-presented by Rage
WINNER
Mojo Juju ‘Native Tongue’
Director: Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore
NOMINEES
B Wise ‘Feel Something’
Director: JÁEN Collective
DZ Deathrays ‘Like People’
Director: Guss Mallmann
Golden Vessel ‘Bigbright {Ft. Elkkle, E^st & Duckwrth}’
Director: Harry Deadman
Sampa The Great ‘Black Girl Magik {Ft. Nicole Gumbe}’
Director: Sanjay De Silva
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