THE MUSICALLY FRESH AWARDS OF 2014!
It’s finally here! It’s been and gone and you missed it…
After a year of reviews, interviews and features, Musically Fresh brings you the Musically Fresh Awards of 2014, a lame-ass attempt to rip off other, much more popular and meaningful awards ceremonies, in an attempt to capitalise on the New Year feels and bring an increased traffic to the website and additional social media followers.
No, but seriously, today we are celebrating all the acts we’ve featured throughout our debut year, and awarding a host of honours, including the illustrious, ‘Musically Fresh Act of 2014’!
Personally, we’d like to thank every act that we’ve ever featured, because without the new crop of talent standing tall and refusing to give up on their love for music, we would have nothing to love or promote. We LOVE music here at MF. We cannot stress how important and thrilling it is to discover a band or artist that is still touring around the country in a mates painting and decorating van, playing a pub gig in front of 25 people and giving away an EP for free, just so they can be heard by someone.
And it’s even more of an honour to pass on this discovery to others, and watching their loyal fanbases grow.
But lets get to it, keep refreshing this page throughout the day and night to keep up with all the categories, nominees and winners!
So, what exactly is up for grabs today… Here are the categories:
Click on the bands for a link to their article!
Here are your winners for the Musically Fresh Awards of 2014:
EP of the Year
WINNER: Lone Wolf – Profile Me
When it came down to it, we all loved the vibe this collection of songs gave us, especially the warm and fuzzy feeling ‘Memory Lane’ through at us. Right in the Feels. This is a cracking throwback to the traditional 90’s Punk-Rock; melodic, yet thoroughly engaging. As our original review stated, if you’re a fan of 90′s Pop-Punk/Skate Punk, then get it. If you like the Tony Hawk games… then get it!
Nominees:
Brassknuckle Lullabies – Step Right Up
Split EP Release – UGLYBoNES/Step Right Up
Through Vacant Eyes – Highlives
Almost Over (Special Edition) – Tuskens
Steroid City – Deadlines
Crash – Hora Douse
International Act of the Year
WINNER: GoRampage
Hailing from Frankfurt, Germany, this four-piece were described in their original review as a ‘hard working and versatile band’, and have certainly released some of the best Alternative-Rock we’ve ever heard here on MF. They’re latest EP, Perspective Lights, displayed the band’s ability to create a sound cocktail, consisting of the aforementioned Alt-Rock, along with aspects of Punk, Metal and Prog. It’s such a unique sound that combines perfectly with well-written lyrics.
These guys are adaptive and progressing further and further!
Go GoRampage! Go!
Nominees:
Best Live Act of the Year
WINNER: Ghost Of The Avalanche
Hands down victory for these home-town heroes of ours! Nick Wiltone and Miles-Per Hour are Ghost Of The Avalanche, two guys that put on one of the greatest, stripped-down, loud as fuck gigs you’ll ever see! Tracks like ‘Nasty Wolves’ and ‘Hide the Truth’ demonstrate this duo’s own version of Punk-Rock to a tee – Hardcore-esque verses expertly leading into faster, sing-along choruses, with no shortage of dirty noise!
Go to a gig and you’ll be forced to dance and headbang. And when your neck starts to hurt, just grab a beer!
Nominees:
Alternative Act of the Year
WINNER: Jesus Hooligan
Our original introduction to Jesus Hooligan was, ‘think Stomp, but without the budget and all the theatrical bullshit.’ This group of guys utilise chains, oil drums and DIY tools in order to strip back their sound and create something primal and authentic. It’s certainly ‘Alternative’. Sure, loud noises and rhythmic banging isn’t for everyone, however, after learning more about the band, you discover how inspiring they are. These guys entertain everybody, from young children joining in with a stick, to visiting the elderly in residential homes. It’s amazing how a group of guys that look as hard and gritty as Jesus Hooligan, can engage so emotionally with a live crowd, and build such a dedicated fanbase.
Single of the Year
WINNER: ‘Speak’ – Hora Douse
There’s a reason Hora Douse were the only band to have two nominations in this category. Their ability to pen and produce an incredible track seems to come to them almost as if it were instinct.
Dare we compare ‘Speak’ as the modern day ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – well, parallels can be drawn. From their EP, Crash, this was such a unique and wonderful track that hit us all emotionally on so many levels. It truly is one of those songs you hear and wish you wrote yourself. Hora Douse, we applaud you for penning this one!
Nominees:
‘Sugar’ – Yawning Dog
‘Stay Here With Me’ – Polar Maps
‘Bored’ – Hora Douse
‘Smoke & Art’ – The Bear Social
‘Another One’ – Inlaze
‘Eleven Thirteen Thirtyfive’ – CapeFox
‘Under The Big Sky’ – Claydon Connor
‘Feed My Brain’ – Radkey
‘Without a Doubt’ – False-Heads
‘Always There’ – Tuskens
‘Tyrants’ – Guardian
Breakthrough Act of the Year
WINNER: Yawning Dog
Never have we seen such an incredible debut year since Brock Lesnar debuted in WWE.
When Yawning Dog approached us to see if we wanted to review their latest EP, well, we had to review two. Then we found out that these guys had released three EPs since their incarnation in February 2014! We were nothing short of impressed! These ‘‘STONER GRUNGE PUNKY MONKEYS’ knocked us back with superb tracks like ‘Sugar’, and have displayed a debut year like no others!
Nominees:
Clem McGillicutty and The Burnouts
The 2014 Cameron Rawson Award
WINNER: Polar Maps
Cameron Rawson was one of the co-founders of Musically Fresh, who displays a love for Music, and a passion and thirst to succeed in the industry. To win this award, the act must have impressed him, and share in the love and passion that he does for great music.
Your winners are Polar Maps, a band that impressed Cameron all the way back to the early days of MF, who have since gone on to release EPs and singles that continue to knock us back! ‘Stay Here With Me’ is certainly one of the greatest tracks we’ve ever heard here on MF, and it hopefully wont take long before these Isle of Wighters escape from the Island and conquer the rest of the UK.
Solo Artist of the Year
WINNER: Claydon Connor
Both of these artists deserve to win. Both are incredibly talented and are a credit to their genre.
But it is down to Pop-Country artist Claydon Connor’s incredible and polished album, Under The Big Sky, for the reasoning to why he has narrowly won this award from CapeFox. Claydon is such a recognisable talent who laces each track with passion and emotion. He encompasses that trait that all Country artists need – not heartbreak or whiskey – but the ability to write a fantastic song about it.
Claydon Connor is helping revive a genre which is overlooked by many people these days, especially in the UK, and it certainly made us at MF feel that love for Country again. It wont be long until more people know this guy’s name.
CapeFox, it simply came down to the number of tracks between you.
Nominees:
Album of the Year
WINNER: Dawn Of The Dog – Riskee And The Ridicule
It was pretty much unanimous. Not only does the album artwork speak volumes, but RATR created an album here that would appeal to ANYONE regardless of tastes. Combing Punk with Grime-esque vocals, Ska, Spoken Word, Funk, and a deep spoon of reality and honesty, you are left with a strong Punk sound that is laced with catchy hooks and fresh wit.
The sooner this album in your life, the better.
Nominees:
Under The Big Sky – Claydon Connor
Life at Midnight – Strength In Blunders
Consequences – Dead Town Nothing
The Wakes – Dischord
One to Look Out For in 2015
WINNER: CapeFox
A LOT of overruling was involved in awarding this award, because all of these acts have displayed the potential have an incredible year in 2015, and we all are desperate to hear more from all of them.
But CapeFox has remained with me personally since I first heard his work. CapeFox’s TripHop singles and EP make for hypnotic and pacifying music, and his talent has only been held back by the brief amount of time he’s been around. Give this man a year, give him 2015, and he will deliver more music that will impress.
Nominees:
Band of the Year
WINNER: Riskee And The Ridicule
They’ve done it again! The very first MF double-award winning band from Kent, England have continued to impress us all here at Musically Fresh. They are definitely one of the most unique and exciting Punk bands around today, and their passion and critique of whatever the fuck they want to sing about is what makes them so popular with us, and many of their fans!
A voice for the voiceless. Riskee and the Ridicule.
Nominees:
Musically Fresh Act of 2014
WINNER: Ghouls
They did it! Ghouls are Musically Fresh’s Act of 2014! They are therefore the act that impressed us most last year, and the act that we felt offered the best sound we’ve heard!
We reviewed both Ten Thousand Words On and Great Expectations, and were blown away by the amount of talent showcased in each EP. They can pen tracks which get the message across in a simple and effective manner, never compromising the integrity of their music.
And within each EP the tempo and pace flowed fluently. Nothing feels out of place with these guys, it seems everything from the lyrics to the track placement have been done with surgical precision.
These London lads provide well-written and fun music that, sits so well on the Punk and Pop-Punk spectrum and that it deserves it’s own big rubber stamp.
Ghouls are currently the cream of UK talent, and have the potential to continue to grow into something incredible. And we can’t wait. Put simply, we love them!
Nominees:
There we have it.
Thank you to all of the nominees and congratulations to all of the winners! It’s been a great day, and we hope you’ve enjoyed spending it with us. We’re looking forward to hearing what all of these acts put out in 2015, and more importantly, we’re looking forward to what fresh new acts are going to come along to impress to the point where we feel we have to share them with you!
The time to start impressing us for the Musically Fresh Awards 2015 starts NOW! Let’s hear what you’ve got…
#StayFresh – From the entire Musically Fresh Team.
