Nick Cave Blog and Journals

Radiohead, Justice, Arcade Fire and others were big winners at this year's Plug Awards, which went down last night at Terminal 5 in New York City. Comedian Patton Oswalt hosted the event, which included performances by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dizzee Rascal, José González and more. The Plug Awards has a democratic voting process, kind of like the People's Choice Awards for indie rock nerds and hipsters, that picks the best music and media of the past year in several categories. While the system is good for fans it doesn't necessarily reflect the best music releases of the year in many categories.

I've never been to the Plug Awards but I've started think that it would be a good idea in the future to run live video feed/blog of the performers, winners, and look on the faces of industry peeps when their favorite hipster band doesn't win. However, I voted for the second year in a row. And, surprisingly, a few of my picks actually mattered (Female Artist of the Year, Americana Album of the Year, Artist of the Year).

The remaining results aren't too shocking once you've looked at the nominees. I was surprised to see the Arcade Fire take home multiple awards and Dillinger Escape Plan scoring the "Best Metal Album of the Year" category.

Take a look at the list of winners below. Do you agree with most of them? Any of them?
 
ALBUM OF THE YEAR:  Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Justice
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR: St. Vincent
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Andrew Bird
INDIE ROCK ALBUM OF THE YEAR:  Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
AMERICANA ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: The Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
HIP-HOP ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass
PUNK ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!
ELECTRONIC/DANCE ALBUM OF THE YEAR:  Justice - †
DJ ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Hot Chip - DJ Kicks
AVANT ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Liars - Liars
ARTIST OF THE YEAR:  Radiohead
SONG OF THE YEAR:  The National - "Fake Empire"
LIVE ACT OF THE YEAR: Arcade Fire
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Battles - "Atlas"
ALBUM ART PACKAGING OF THE YEAR:  Menomena - Friend And Foe
RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR: Merge
LIVE MUSIC VENUE OF THE YEAR:  Bowery Ballroom
MUSIC FESTIVAL OF THE YEAR: Coachella
MUSIC WEBSITE OF THE YEAR: Pitchfork Media
MUSIC BLOG OF THE YEAR: Stereogum
MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR: Paste
ONLINE RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR:  KCRW
RECORD STORE OF THE YEAR: Other Music
ZINE OF THE YEAR:  Wax Poetics
ONLINE RECORD STORE OF THE YEAR:  iTunes
COLLEGE/NON-COMM RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR:  KEXP
SPECIALTY SHOW OF THE YEAR: Sirius: Left Of Center - Blog Radio