One look at the roster and it’s easy to see why Dependent Music takes this award for the second year in a row. Excellent releases by Jill Barber, heavy meadows, Kary and most recently the Remains of Brian Borcherdt and Wintersleep stacks this 10-year-old collective next to any major label without losing sight of its original vision of dark, foreboding, melancholy, acoustic-layered rock music. “In Nova Scotia, everything was about Halifax pop—witty tongue-in-cheek lyrics and quirky stage shows,” co-director Jud Haynes says about the label’s origin. Founder Brian Borcherdt “was doing the exact opposite and that has held true. There hasn’t been a Dependent record that doesn’t have that kind of undertone throughout it.” Next up are the eagerly awaited Contrived record, Dead Air Verbatim, The Motes’ The Remains of False Starts, a possible 10-year compilation record and promotion for the recent Wintersleep and Borcherdt releases. In other words, Dependent faces another busy year. “Hopefully, it says we’re on the right track,” Haynes says about the award. “We’ve been getting better at what we’re doing all the time. It’s nice that after a decade maybe we’re starting to get it right.”
Runners-up: Just Friends, Below Me Music
