Liverpool Music Awards 2013 Nominations Revealed

The Liverpool Music Awards sponsored by Liverpool City Council hosted their annual nominations party at Eric’s on Mathew Street last night.

The night was hosted by BBC Radio Merseyside's Dave Monks and showcased some of the most exciting emerging artists from the city including Stevie Banks, Me and Deboe, UkeBox, Coffee and Cakes For Funerals, The Ragamuffins, Rumjig and Taylor Fowlis.

The awards nominations were also revealed and voting is now open to the public. Awards director Ellie Philips said; "We're very excited about the nominations which are just as eclectic as last year. We've got a real mix of well known names like Ian Broudie and Clinic to new talent like Tyler Mensah and Lumin Bells."

The awards are part of the inaugural Liverpool International Music Festival. Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said: “It’s fantastic that these awards are part of what is already shaping up to be a hugely exciting music festival. The aim of this inaugural event is to celebrate all things music – and this ceremony honours the outstanding talent which can be found in the Liverpool music scene. To have such an eclectic mix of music involved in the nominations party is a taste of what you can expect from the festival itself which caters for mainstream as well as more diverse tastes.  Without a doubt, if you’re a music lover, Liverpool is the place to be in August.”

The Liverpool Music Awards ceremony itself takes place on Sunday 25 August at St George’s Hall. To find out more about the awards and to vote visit www.liverpoolmusicawards.com.

To find out more about the Liverpool International Music Festival or to book tickets, visit www.limfestival.com

LIVERPOOL MUSIC AWARDS 2013 NOMINATIONS:

THE MICHAEL MOLLOY YOUTH MUSIC AWARD (age 16-21)
MIC LOWRY
KATIE NICHOLAS
TYLER MENSAH

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
BILL RYDER-JONES
ESCO WILLIAMS
MILES KANE

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
NATALIE MCCOOL
EVA PETERSON
ANNA CORCORAN

BAND OF THE YEAR
THE HUMMINGBIRDS
BY THE SEA
CLINIC

ONE TO WATCH (no age restriction)
JETTA
LUMIN BELLS
JOHN ROSS JUNIOR

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
JETTA – START A RIOT
HIGHFIELDS – THE CHASE (OH LORD)
MICHAEL MOLLOY – RISE and FALL

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
CUT FROM A STAR – IAN SKELLY
DON’T FORGET WHO YOU ARE – MILES KANE
TOWERS – BALTIC FLEET

LIVE MUSIC NIGHT OF THE YEAR
LIVERPOOL ACOUSTIC
HARVEST SUN
EVOL

LIVE MUSIC VENUE OF THE YEAR
LEAF
CAMP AND FURNACE
LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
IAN BROUDIE
AL GROVES
CAHILL

DJ OF THE YEAR
ANTON POWERS
GHOSTCHANT
RICHIE VEGAS

MUSIC BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
ELEVATOR STUDIOS
EIGHTIES VINYL RECORDS
3 BEAT RECORDS

Review - Day two of Sound City

Day two is upon us and we're off to tread the streets again in search of bands dotted all over the city centre in venues wide and varied. Tonight's first port of call was to St Georges Hall for some pre Miles Kane music by Morning Parade, a five piece band from Essex. On entering the magnificent venue, you were blasted out with the sounds of guitar rock riffs and a very mature sounding lead singer, Steve Sparrow. All in all a very good start to what was meant to be a good night in the Hall, unfortunately, the bureaucratic security at St Georges Hall were to scupper us, as after popping out for some fresh air, they decided press had to re queue to enter and by now the queue was pretty big. So massive apologies to Mr Kane, but blame St Georges Hall for the lack of media attention from us.

So onto the Bombed Out Church instead for us, to catch Outfit, who were warming up for Clinic, I have to admit the first few songs were a little lacklustre for me and seemed to never end and I did find my attention wandering around the atmospheric surroundings. Once the lead singer had stopped staring off into space during songs and the upped the tempo with synthesised sounds and a catchy bass line, they did actually sound pretty impressive.

Then came Clinic, a band who apparently, rarely play Liverpool, even though they are based here, and who I've only seen on the Letterman Show, a few months back, so I was still fairly undecided about them. With rhythmic lyrics and heavy guitar riffs during the chorus of the opening track, "Lion Tamer" made me think this looked to be a promising set. The set carried on in this form, with lead singer, Ade Blackburn's vocals drifting across the Bombed Out Church in a crystal clear way that everybody in there was enthralled by them. I have to admit, I found them a lot better than anticipated but I really don't think the surgical look does much for them!!!

Unfortunately we didn't have time for the entire performance as we had to head of to one of favourite venues in Liverpool, the Kazimier, where the sounds bounce of the walls and reverberate around this fab little venue. First up were Pop Levi. I have to admit I really didn't know what to expect from these guys, but from the very first strum of lead singer, Johnathon Pop Levi, guitar, I was enthralled. I haven't seen such a showman in a very very long time. From the opening track, "WannaMama", which opening sounded like Led Zep's," Whole Lotta Love" I was hooked as where the rest of the crowd. With a mix of rock, funk, blues and psychedeliac thrown in for good measure, this set had so much energy it was contagious. Pop Levi cavorted around the stage like Mick Jagger, plays almost as well as Jimi Hendrix and cavorts with his guitar like Prince. With other little gems like,"Police Sign", "Blue Honey" and "Plastic Wrap" this had to be the best band of the night by far and I cannot wait to see them again.

After Pop Levi, came Kurt Vile and the Violaters, from Philadelphia, a four man collective that look like an early 1990's rock band or extras from Wayne's World. With a name like that and the look, i was expecting them to be sounding like Extreme or Pearl Jam, so it came as a bit of a surprise that appeared to more influenced by The Stone Roses or Inspiral Carpets. Even though they were plagued with sound issues during the set, which resulted in one member lighting up on stage to relieve his frustration, to the amusement of the crowd, they certainly did a stirling job and are a band full of musical surprises.

Here's hoping that the final day, will result in even more gems of music for us to let you know about and check out, but one final word, "Go and check out Pop Levi immediately!!!