The best musicians in Taiwan and Asia’s indie scene were recognized earlier last week with nominations for the 12th Annual Golden Indie Music Awards (GIMA).
This award celebrates the freedom and originality of Taiwanese musicians, and represents the next generation of the country’s creative community. GIMA also distinguishes itself from the earlier Golden Melody Awards by catering to the indie music scene in Taiwan, allowing for more recognition opportunities across the industry.
This year, hardcore band Flesh Juicer stands out with a total of five nominations, including Best Album and Best Band for Golden Taizi Bro. The five-piece band that hails from Taichung is also nominated for Best Live Performance, Best Rock Album and Best Rock Song.
R&B singer-songwriter and bassist LINION follows closely behind with four nominations, earning a shout for Best Album for his album Leisurely, and scoring nominations for Best R&B Album, Best R&B Song, and Best Alternative Pop Song.
Other noteworthy nominations include rapper ØZI, who is nominated for the Best Album, Best Singer-Songwriter and Best R&B Album categories. Sunset Rollercoaster, which won Best Band at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, will also stand a chance to win the Best Band, Best Alternative Pop Album, and Best Alternative Pop Song awards with their album SOFT STORM.
Pop singer Shi Shi, whose album Where is SHI? scored five nominations at the Golden Melody Awards, has also been nominated three times at this year's GIMA.
One of the most special categories of GIMA is the Best Asian Creative Artist award, which was introduced last year to recognize Asian artists based outside of Taiwan. This year’s nominees include Japanese rock band CHAI, Korean-American R&B artist Audrey Nuna, Korean group CADEJO, young Singaporean singer-songwriter Shye, French-Vietnamese hip-hop producer Nodey and Japanese pianists EIKO+ERIKO.
GIMA awards are voted on by a jury of music creators and industry professionals, and this year’s jury is chaired by indigenous singer ABAO, who was a previous GIMA winner herself.
The theme of the awards this year is “GIMA Is Now”, representing the culmination of a three-year transformation plan for the awards and the idea of “living in the moment”. The theme also reflects the ongoing efforts to nurture Taiwan’s music scene, which offers an unparalleled opportunity of freedom for young artists.
The award ceremony will be held on November 6, Saturday at the Kaohsiung Music Center, marking the first time that this ceremony will be held in Kaohsiung, signifying the efforts of the organizers to nurture and cultivate music interest in southern Taiwan.
GIMA is organized annually by Taiwan's Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development, a division of the Ministry of Culture.
Full Nominee List for the 12th Annual GIMA
GENERAL FIELD
Best Album
• PEDESTAL – ØZI (produced by ØZI)
• Lady of the Ocean – Outlet Drift (produced by Kui, Putad Pihay, Wushang Pihay & Lin Ken)
• Golden Taizi Bro – Flesh Juicer (produced by Matt Hsu)
• Leisurely – LINION (produced by Yu & LINION)
• Island Catch – Fade to Blue (produced by Chung Shefong)
Best Band
• Sunset Rollercoaster – SOFT STORM
• Skaraoke – Skaraoke, Vol. 1: Greatest Hits
• Flesh Juicer – Golden Taizi Bro
• Sorry Youth – Bad Times, Good Times
• Prairie WWWW – Formosan Dream
• FORMOZA – SuperBabyFormat
Best Singer-Songwriter
• ØZI – PEDESTAL
• Panai – Love, and Yet
• YELLOW – Yellow Fiction
• žž – žž
• Shi Shi – Where is SHI?
• Mars Ma – Mama Jeans and Daddy Shoes
Best New Artist
• Shikin Rollin – Green
• Huan Huan – Water Can Go Anywhere
• žž – žž
• Chien Chien Lu – The Path
• FORMOZA – SuperBabyFormat
• wannasleep – Naked Grouse
Best Instrumentalist
• Alex Wu – Water Snowflake Goes to Market (bongos, water drums, congas, tanggu, and erhu)
• Achino Chang – The Stories (accordion)
• KITrust – Black & Toughness (synthesizer & programming)
• Chung Yufeng – Island Catch (pipa, sanxian, moon guitar, sanshin & banjo)
• David Chen – Island Catch (vocals, resonator guitar, 12-string guitar & banjo)
• Toshihiro Wakaike – Yu (tabla & esraj)
• Chien Chien Lu – The Path (vibraphone & marimba)
• Adriano Moreira - Cook the Vibe: Leo Wang Live at Meowvelous (drums)
Best Live Performance
• Smashing the Wall of an Endless Maze + Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold – Major in Body Bear
• YELLOW Live at Megaport 2021 – YELLOW
• Golden Taizi Bro – Flesh Juicer
• Leo Wang Live at Megaport 2021 – Leo Wang
• Skaraoke, Vol. 1: Greatest Hits – Skaraoke
Best Asian Creative Artist
• Cadejo – FREEBODY
• CHAI – WINK
• Shye – days to morning glory
• EIKO+ERIKO – Whoop It Up!
• Nodey – 🙂
• Audrey Nuna – A Liquid Breakfast
GENRE FIELD
Best Rock Album
• Lady of the Ocean – Outlet Drift
• Golden Taizi Bro – Flesh Juicer
• Bad Times, Good Times – Sorry Youth
• Demo III – Windmill
• SuperBabyFormat - FORMOZA
Best Rock Song
• “Desire” – Shikin Rollin (from the Green EP)
• “Painting the Trail of Whisper in Every Moment Captured” – Major in Body Bear (from the Top 3: Moment EP)
• “Lady of the Ocean” – Outlet Drift (from the Lady of the Ocean album)
• “Lucky as You” – KST (from the Alternate Moments album)
• “Golden Taizi Bro” – Flesh Juicer (from the Golden Taizi Bro album)
Best Folk Album
• Water Snowflake Goes to Market – Sheng Xiang & Band
• Island Catch – Fade to Blue
• Rambling Naluwan – Dakanow
• I Wanna Be a Countryman in the City – Johnny Tsai
• The Everlasting Bloom – Yujun Wang
Best Folk Song
• “The Tofu Guy” – Sheng Xiang & Band (from the Water Snowflake Goes to Market album)
• “How Are You, My Dear” - Syaman Macinanao (from the How Are You, My Dear album)
• “Ay Yi” – Dakanow (from the Rambling Naluwan album)
• “Heaven.zip” – LÜCY (from the Heaven.zip single)
• “The Child of Poros and Penia” – Come on! Bay Bay! (from the The Child of Poros and Penia single)
Best Hip-Hop Album
• Xiaoming and the City – TroutFresh
• Thanks <3 – Chunyan
• Angst – Patrick Brasca
• SKY – Dizzy Dizzo
• Naked Grouse – wannasleep
Best Hip-Hop Song
• “Deep Breath” (feat. Jerry Li) – Chunyan (from the Thanks <3 album)
• “Let Me Talk” – GorDoN (from the Let Me Talk single)
• “Cheap Red Mouth” – BEN (from the Cheap Red Mouth single)
• “88BARS” – Kumachan (from the 88BARS single)
• “Black” – wannasleep (from the Naked Grouse album)
Best Electronic Album
• Happy Life – ufa
• Black & Toughness – OVDS
• Paramita – Ruby Fatale
• Simulation of an Overloaded World – Sonia Calico
• Archimedes – Apio, Funguz & Kaiel Chen
Best Electronic Song
• “Happy Life” – ufa (from the Happy Life album)
• “Cheat Death” – OVDS (from the Black & Toughness album)
• “Star” – Natsuko (from the N1 / Nanguaq No. 1 album)
• “Being Emotional” – Ruby Fatale (from the Paramita album)
• “zaljum” (feat. ABAO & RFU) – Ń7ä (from the zaljum single)
Best Jazz Album
• The 13th Heron – YenTing Lo
• Whisper of the Isolated Ones – Roger Lin
• Fly By Light – Tokyo Chuo-Line
• The Path – Chien Chien Lu
• AIslanders – Island Futurism
Best Jazz Song
• “Engraved in the Moon” – YenTing Lo (from the The 13th Heron album)
• “Drawings, Pills, Chocolate” – Roger Lin (from the Whisper of the Isolated Ones album)
• “Vagabond Dance” – Tokyo Chuo-Line (from the Fly By Light album)
• “Mama’s Chattering” – žž (from the žž album)
• “The Path” – Chien Chien Lu (from the The Path album)
Best R&B Album
• PEDESTAL – ØZI
• Leisurely – LINION
• Where is SHI? – Shi Shi
• To My Penpal – Yufu
Best R&B Song
• “Post-Monologue” – YELLOW (from the Yellow Fiction album)
• “Oh Girl” – LINION (from the Leisurely album)
• “LIMO” – The Crane (from the LIMO album)
• “My Heart Is Plastic” – Robot Swing (from the My Heart Is Plastic single)
• “Tell Me” – 9m88 (from the Tell Me single)
Best Alternative Pop Album
• SOFT STORM – Sunset Rollercoaster
• Serene Reminder – The Fur.
• Mama Jeans and Daddy Shoes – Mars Ma
• Apaz – Utjung Tjakivalid
• Back to the Roots – Matzka
Best Alternative Pop Song
• “Candlelight” (feat. OHHYUK) – Sunset Rollercoaster (from the SOFT STORM album)
• “Mountain Dude” – LINION (from the Leisurely album)
• “Infected” – Shi Shi (from the Where is SHI? album)
• “Desert, Roses and Camel” – Yile Lin (from the Desert, Roses and Camel single)
• “Millions of Years Apart” (feat. MANDARK) – The Dinosaur’s Skin (from the Millions of Years Apart single)
Outstanding Contribution Award
• Wu Wu-chang
