In partnership with the Golden Indie Music Awards
Taiwan’s Golden Indie Music Awards reported few clean sweeps this year – with the exception of singer-songwriters Paige Su, The Crane, rapper Gummy B and band The Loophole, who all celebrated double wins at the 2023 ceremony on October 28.
Taiwanese singer-songwriter and acclaimed harpist Paige Su took home the coveted Best Album and Best Singer-songwriter awards for her album ‘You’ll Live Forever In My Songs’, a body of work that documented the fragility and tenderness of life with nuance and Su’s signature grace.
Paige Su wins 2023 Golden Indie Music Award for Best Album. Credit: GIMA
Dark horses The Loophole beat out industry heavyweights such as Sunset Rollercoaster, The Chairs and Dharma to take home the Best Band award for their 2023 work ‘Beautiful World’. They also came out tops in the Best Rock Song category, pipping the likes of Joanna Wang and FIRE EX.
R&B hot favourite The Crane took home Best New Artist and Best R&B Album for the cutting-edge, flavourful commentary of his appropriately named debut album ‘TALENT’. Rapper Gummy B, who’s most known for his appearance on Taiwanese reality show The Rappers 2 and has since become a fresh and exciting presence in the hip hop scene, clinched Best Live Performance and Best Hip Hop Song, the latter for his hard-hitting song ‘Dunhua S. Rd. (Revisit)’, which recounts his schooling days against the backdrop of his passion for music.
The Crane wins 2023 Golden Indie Music Award for Best New Artist. Credit: GIMA
The evening was star-studded for many reasons: host Kumachan showed off his rap dissing skills, while the GIMAs stage hosted several exciting crossover performances, including a thrilling cross-genre collaboration by instrumental band Bugs of Phonon and indie pop artist and actor Rhydian Vaughan. The eclectic diversity of the Taiwanese music scene was indeed on full display during this year’s awards.
Bugs of Phonon and Rhydian Vaughan perform at the 2023 Golden Indie Music Awards. Credit: GIMA
Best Album‘Goblin’s Bizarre Radio’／XiaoRen a.k.a. Goblin Zeppeli (Album Producer: XiaoRen a.k.a. Goblin Zeppeli )‘In the Cave’ / YuYing Hsu (Album Producer: YuYing Hsu, Jay Cheng, Weichung Lin)‘You’ll Live Forever in My Songs’ / Paige Su (Album Producer: Paige Su)– WINNER‘Beautiful World’ / The Loophole (Album Producer: Jerry Li)‘TALENT’ / The Crane (Album Producer: The Crane)
Best BandSunset Rollercoaster / ‘Infinity Sunset’The Chairs / ‘Shangri-La Is Calling’Dharma / ‘Three thousand realms in a single thought moment’Little Shy on Allen Street / ‘Suffering’The Loophole / ‘Beautiful World’ – WINNER
Best Singer-songwriterTseng Kuo Hung / ‘Infinity Sunset’XiaoRen a.k.a. Goblin Zeppeli / ‘Goblin’s Bizarre Radio’9m88 / ‘9m88 Radio’Paige Su / ‘You’ll Live Forever in My Songs’ – WINNERThe Crane / ‘TALENT’
Best New ArtistWADE DAO / ‘A WILD DANCE OF FLAME’Our Shame / ‘Modern Problem’Miao Miao Flow(Szu-Chien Lu) / ‘Szu Chien Lu’Abus / ‘ABUS’MANDARK / ‘BADA88’The Crane / ‘TALENT’ – WINNER
Best Asian Creative ArtistOK Wang / ‘Fascinated today’Radio Mars / ‘Radio Mars III’Wong Hin Yan / ‘The Narrow Road Soundtrack’Ham Tanid(Tanid Sintaratana) / ‘RhizomE x Ju Ju’ – WINNERTokyo Shiokouji / ‘Goodbye’
Jury PrizeMong Tong / ‘Tao Fire’
Outstanding Contribution AwardDaniel Shen
Best InstrumentalistYuYing Hsu／‘In the Cave’／Piano、Electric Piano、Synthesizer、Effet PedalMiao Miao Flow(Szu-Chien Lu)／ ‘Szu Chien Lu’／Violin, 5-string ViolinSonic Deadhorse／ ‘Meta, Construct within’ Spaces’／Guitar, Guitar Synth, Programming, Live Electronic – WINNERMinyen Hsieh／ ‘Meta, Construct within’ Spaces’／Soprano, Alto & Tenor Saxophones, Flute, Bansuri – WINNEROcean Tsai／ ‘Seeking the Sources of Streams’／Acoustic GuitarToshihiro Wakaike／ ‘Strolls’／Esraj、Tabla – WINNERYu-Jui Chung／‘Strolls’／ErhuPaige Su／‘You’ll Live Forever in My Songs’／Vocals, Harp, Piano, Flute, Bansuri, Synthesizer
Best Live PerformanceBe a man / waist small boobs big ass very hard / Heart /AquamanOPEN JADE!/JADEDESERVE / NOVA / LOVE MYSELF/Gummy B – WINNER‘HENSHIN’2023Megaport Festival/Shao,Dai-LunA_Root：HOLY GAZAI Concert in Da Dao Cheng/A_Root【WEIWUYING LITTLE TIME】Go Go Machine Orchestra‘Time Code’/Go Go Machine Orchestra
Category Awards
Best Rock Album‘the admonished trio’/the admonished trio – WINNER‘Sinking Fate’/Doodle‘Three thousand realms in a single thought moment’/Dharma 達摩樂隊‘ADICA’/ØZI
Best Rock Song‘Tina’s Hausu’／Joanna Wang‘Play Station’／JADE‘Don’t Jump In Line’ Miao Miao Flow(Szu-Chien Lu)‘Human Condition’／Fire EX.‘If I Had a Car’ / The Loophole – WINNER
Best Folk Album‘Blind Dusk’／Huang Wei Jie‘Farewell, My Love’／Fan Yen‘Strolls’／Poorva 181 – WINNER‘Women’s Island’ ／Ado
Best Folk Song‘Mong’／Shuchan Chiu – WINNER‘Lucy’／TRU‘Till we Meet at the End of Love’／your woman sleep with others‘My Inner Palace’／Paige Su‘Women’s Island’／Ado
Best Hip-hop Album‘Goblin’s Bizarre Radio’／XiaoRen a.k.a. Goblin Zeppeli – WINNER‘On The Road’／PONY5IBE‘GDNA’／GorDoN‘Ita’／Kasiwa
Best Hip-hop Song‘Alexis’／Majin‘Dunhua S. Rd. (Revisit)’／Gummy B – WINNER‘A no is a no’ ft. Hsien Ching – Ending Theme from Netflix Series Wave Makers ／Leo Wang‘FloWisdom’／Kumachan‘White Noise’ ft. Soft Lipa／GorDoN
Best Electronic Album‘In the Cave’／YuYing Hsu‘evolution’／David Lu‘Detector’／Wring Out Laura – WINNER
Best Electronic Song‘Night Heron’ feat. YuYing Hsu／Jay Cheng / Rich Huang‘A one and a Two’／Sophie Lu – WINNER‘Complex Person’／Non-Confined Space‘Symbolic Dimension’／Non-Confined Space‘8ODY’／MANDARK feat.OOG
Best Jazz Album‘I Prefer’／S’yo Fang – WINNER‘Meta, Construct within’ Spaces’／Non-Confined Space‘a method for capsaicinoid analysis’／dongyi
Best Jazz Song‘Fitsen in Amsterdam’／S’yo Fang‘I.C.E.’／Non-Confined Space‘In The Woods’／Wen-Hui Tsai‘Dark Night / Sunlight’／9m88‘nong darm’／dongyi – WINNER
Best R&B Album‘9m88 Radio’／9m88‘FRANKENSTEIN’／BRADD‘TALENT’／The Crane – WINNER
Best R&B Song‘Pure Oxygen’／BRADD‘Finally’／?te (Whyte)‘can i leave my dream’／aDAN‘Caged Birds’／BRADD – WINNER‘Don’t Mind’／The Crane
Best Alternative Pop Album‘Modern Problem’／Our Shame‘Way out’／?te (Whyte) – WINNER‘BADA88’／MANDARK‘Folk tale’／Olivia Tsao‘Beautiful World’／The Loophole
Best Alternative Pop Song‘golden’／Enno Cheng – WINNER‘Wish you were here’／Jerry Li‘Αφροδίτη’ (feat. Lin I-Shuo)／The Chairs‘Jellyfish’ (feat. Michael Seyer)／Sunset Rollercoaster’Princess Bubble’／A_Root
