# 2020 Libera Awards

The 2020 Libera Awards was held on July 18, 2020 to recognize the best in independent music presented by the American Association of Independent Music. The nominations were announced on April 2, 2020 and the ceremony was streamed online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A number of new genre-specific awards were introduced, namely: Best Alternative Rock Album and Best Mainstream Rock Album, succeeding Best Rock Album; Best Folk/Bluegrass Album; and Best Punk/Emo Record.
2020 marked the first year that the award ceremony could be viewed by the public and featured an increased number of musical performances. Performers included Wyclef Jean, Shabazz Palaces, Salt Cathedral, Orville Peck, Y La Bamba, Sudan Archives, Julia Jacklin, Alejandro Escovedo, Suzanne Ciani, Big Thief, and IDLES. The show's livestream was hosted by comedian Chris Gethard with event proceeds going toward the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.

## Winners and nominees

| Album of the Year | Best Live Act |
| U.F.O.F. - Big Thief Magdalene – FKA Twigs All Mirrors – Angel Olsen Jaime – Brittany Howard Pony – Orville Peck | IDLES (Partisan Records) Flying Lotus (Warp Records) Courtney Barnett (Mom+Pop Music) Mavis Staples (Anti- Records) Fontaines D.C. (Partisan Records) |
| Best Alternative Rock Album | Best Americana Album |
| Dogrel - Fontaines D.C. U.F.O.F. – Big Thief All Mirrors – Angel Olsen I Am Easy to Find – The National Remind Me Tomorrow – Sharon Van Etten | The Unseen in Between - Steve Gunn III – The Lumineers Oklahoma – Keb' Mo' Years to Burn – Calexico and Iron & Wine Tip of the Sphere – Cass McCombs |
| Best Blues Album | Best Classical Album |
| We Get By - Mavis Staples Kingfish – Christone Ingram Ann Arbor Blues Festival 1969 Vol. 1 & 2 – Various Artists Up and Rolling – North Mississippi Allstars Tall, Dark and Handsome – Delbert McClinton and Self-Made Men | Henryk Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 (Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs) - Beth Gibbons Peaceful Piano – Paul Cardall John Jeter/Fort Smith Symphony - Symphonies 1 & 4 – Florence Price Animal Requiem – Rachel Fuller Triptych – Benny Gebert |
| Best Country Album | Best Dance/Electronic Album |
| Pony - Orville Peck What It Is – Hayes Carll Texas Piano Man – Robert Ellis White Noise/White Lines – Kelsey Waldon From Another World – Jim Lauderdale | Flamagra - Flying Lotus Anima – Thom Yorke PROTO – Holly Herndon Weather – Tycho A Bath Full of Ecstasy – Hot Chip |
| Best Folk/Bluegrass Album | Best Hip-Hop/Rap Album |
| Crushing - Julia Jacklin Bird Songs of a KillJoy – Bedouine Patty Griffin – Patty Griffin Out of Sight – Jake Xerxes Fussell Quiet Signs – Jessica Pratt | uknowhatimsayin¿ - Danny Brown The Big Day – Chance the Rapper There Existed an Addiction to Blood – Clipping ZUU – Denzel Curry Fever – Megan Thee Stallion |
| Best Indie Rock Album | Best Jazz Album |
| Titanic Rising - Weyes Blood Jinx – Crumb House of Sugar – (Sandy) Alex G Anak Ko – Jay Som Young Enough – Charly Bliss | Blume - Nerija Waiting Game – Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science Spectrum – Hiromi Hittin' The Ramp: The Early Years:1936-1943 – Nat King Cole Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions – Eric Dolphy Evans In England – Bill Evans |
| Best Latin Album | Best Mainstream Rock Album |
| Mujeres - Y La Bamba La Onda de Juan Pablo – Juan Wauters Mettavolution – Rodrigo y Gabriela A Tuba to Cuba – Preservation Hall Jazz Band Sueños – Sech | Cry - Cigarettes After Sex The Medicine Show – Melissa Etheridge Help Us Stranger – The Raconteurs Volumes 11 & 12 – The Desert Sessions Hear Me Out – Reignwolf |
| Best Metal Album | Best Outlier Album |
| Infest the Rats' Nest - King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard LφVE & EVφL – Boris Death Atlas – Cattle Decapitation Metal Galaxy – Babymetal Periphery IV: Hail Stan – Periphery | Reward - Cate Le Bon Fishing for Fishies – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Thank You, Mister Rogers: Music & Memories – Various Artists No Home Record – Kim Gordon Miami Memory – Alex Cameron |
| Best Punk/Emo Album | Best R&B Album |
| Amyl and the Sniffers - Amyl and the Sniffers Hello Exile – The Menzingers Active Listening: Night On Earth – Empath American Football (LP3) – American Football Age of Unreason – Bad Religion | Athena - Sudan Archives Magdalene – FKA Twigs Angel's Pulse – Blood Orange Legacy! Legacy! – Jamila Woods American Love Call – Durand Jones & The Indications |
| Best Re-Issue | Best Sync Usage |
| 2019 Reissue Campaign - Stereolab Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990 – Various Artists Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music, Volumes 1&2 – Ray Charles Acoustic Foolish – Superchunk Music Of Many Colours – Fela Kuti | Partisan Records for the usage of Idles' "Never Fight A Man With a Perm" and "I'm Scum" in Peaky Blinders Jagjaguwar for the usage of Bon Iver's "Naeem" in Nike 'Beginnings: LeBron' Young Turks for the usage of Kamasi Washington's music in Apple Shot on iPhone XS commercial Matador Records for the usage of Perfume Genius' "Otherside" in The Goldfinch trailer Partisan Records for the usage of Cigarettes After Sex's "Opera House" in Killing Eve |
| Best World Album | Breakthrough Artist/Release |
| Amadjar - Tinariwen Afrowave 3 – Afro B Blue Stage Sessions – Mdou Moctar Dépaysé – Sinkane Gece – Altin Gün | Orville Peck Sudan Archives Black Pumas Fontaines D.C. Julia Jacklin |
| Creative Packaging | Independent Champion |
| Flamagra - Flying Lotus VMP Anthology: The Story Of Ghostly International – Various Artists WXAXRXP Boxset – Various Artists Sub Pop Singles Club – Various Artists A Beautiful Thing: IDLES Live at Le Bataclan – IDLES | Bandcamp SoundExchange Spotify Redeye The Orchard |
| Label of the Year (Large) | Label of the Year (Medium) |
| Partisan Records Jagjaguwar Polyvinyl Record Co. Domino Recording Company Warp | Sacred Bones 4AD ATO Records Saddle Creek Drag City |
| Label of the Year (Small) | Marketing Genius |
| Father/Daughter Records Innovative Leisure Oh Boy Records Hardly Art Wichita Recordings | "Hot Girl Summer" - Megan Thee Stallion Anima – Thom Yorke Magdalene – FKA Twigs Schlagenheim – black midi Better Oblivion Community Center – Better Oblivion Community Center |
| Video of the Year | |
| "Cellophane" - FKA Twigs "The Barrel" – Aldous Harding "More" – Flying Lotus "Dead of Night" – Orville Peck "Big" – Fontaines D.C. | |

### Most nominations

* Fontaines D.C. – 4
* Flying Lotus – 4
* Orville Peck – 4

### Most wins

* IDLES – 2
* Flying Lotus – 2
* Orville Peck – 2

## Special awards

Independent Icon Award
* Alejandro Escovedo
* Suzanne Ciani
* John Prine
A2IM Lifetime Achievement Award
* Seymour Stein