The Randoms: Best Local Awards Not Named “The Randoms”
CJ Foeckler
If there’s one thing Milwaukee is good at, it’s patting itself on the back. Open a local paper or click on a local website and you’re bound to run into dozens of “Best of” and “Best of the best” awards. And why not? Milwaukee is loaded with countless people, places, and events worth celebrating. The Randoms do the same thing, but without all the tedious popularity voting and web browser cookie-clearing. Instead, we simply create arbitrary categories and single out one noteworthy local institution every Friday afternoon. Who will win for Best Riverwest Club With Nine Letters In Its Name? Best Bay View Restaurant On The East Side Of KK? Find out as we begin handing out awards to every man, woman, child, bar, and farm-to-table restaurant in Milwaukee.
Best Local Awards Not Named “The Randoms”: 88Nine RadioMilwaukee Music Awards
Awards shows can be tedious, glad-handing suck-up fests; local awards, doubly so. To outsiders, there’s nothing more sad and irritating than watching an insular group of people handing out cheap trophies and patting themselves on the back, all the while pretending that they somehow represent an entire community or city. But every once in a while, a local awards show does it up right. Wednesday night’s 88Nine RadioMilwaukee Music Awards at Turner Hall was a well-produced, well-attended celebration of Milwaukee music that deftly sidestepped the ickier aspects of awards ceremonies and instead served as a surprisingly effective pep rally for the city’s music scene. Short performances by Vic And Gab, Klassik, Juniper Tar, Field Report, and Jaill were the highlights of the evening, but the awards themselves were also worthwhile, reminding the crowd of the remarkable stable of talent that calls Milwaukee home. Need proof? Look no further than the video for Altos’ “Sing (For Trouble),” which earned director Sean Williamson a trophy for Best Music Video:
Now about that whole “insular group of suck-ups” thing. Yes, the night did focus on a relatively narrow slice of Milwaukee music; and yes, it did sometimes feel like a show by “industry insiders” for “industry insiders.” (A “speed-dating” networking event for bands and media preceded the ceremony.) But unlike other music organizations that continue to embrace a “pay-to-play” model, the 88Nine awards were all-inclusive. Any lack of music (or, more to the point, the lack of your music) can only be blamed on one person: you. The city’s music scene depends on your participation, even if it means slugging it out at a networking event. (Disclaimer: The A.V. Club participated in said networking event, which ended up being quite pleasant.) You can sit on the sidelines and sulk for only so long; at some point, you’re going to have to walk through the door and mix it up with the rest of the city. Consider events like these an open invitation.
So congratulations, 88Nine RadioMilwaukee Music Awards! May you forever reign as the Best Local Awards Not Named “The Randoms.”
The full list of winners:
Album of the Year: Field Report, Field Report
Song of the Year: Jaill, “Waste A Lot Of Things”
Solo Artist of the Year: Klassik
Band of the Year: Hugh Bob And The Hustle
Catchiest Song: Surgeons In Heat, “Flying Away”
Best Album Artwork: Into Arcadia, Escaper (artwork by Brooklyn Henke)
Best Music Video: Altos, “Sing (For Trouble)” (directed by Sean Williamson)
Bandcamp Release of the Year: Great Lake Drifters, For Your Consideration
Best Disc RadioMilwaukee Missed: Wolfgang Schaefer, Typewriter
Best Live Show: Juniper Tar
Milwaukee Music Ambassador Award: Evan Rytlewski
