Carlton Dry Independent Music Awards Unveil 2014 Performers

The ninth annual Carlton Dry Independent Music Awards draw ever-nearer, with the newly relocated ceremony around the (figurative) corner on October 8, and the veil is starting to lift on the details of the night, starting with today's announcement of the line-up of artists set to perform at this year's 'do.

The performers for this year's awards, again co-ordinated with the Australian Independent Record Labels Association, include an impressively diverse array of some of the nation's finest up-and-comers, including Sheppard, Remi, DMA's, SAFIA and Meg Mac.

Six-piece Brisbane-based pop wunderkinds Sheppard should be no strangers to any of you, regardless of whether you're an active listener. To deny the ubiquitous domination of their single Geronimo — which, you know, is just casually the longest-running #1 100% independent single to date — is to discredit the band's undeniable success off the back of pretty much little more than their own work and gumption, so their recognition here is well-earned indeed.

In case you've been trapped under a completely soundproof rock in 1876:

Melburnian upstart Remi has had a similarly breakthrough year, seeing his sophomore full-length Raw X Infinity result in praise being madly heaped in his direction, and with good reason. You're no doubt familiar with his high-frequency radio singles Sangria, Livin' and Tyson (if you're not, we've got you at least partially covered — clip action below), which with the rest of Raw X Infinity was sufficiently pounced-upon to see a not-insignificant national tour earlier this year sell right the hell out.

It's only a matter of time before the international hip-hop scene comes a'knockin', so it's a good call to get him in for a performance at these awards before that happens.

You have no excuse for not being familiar with DMA's, however — aside from being one of the most-typed words on theMusic.com.au this year (by our reckoning), their world-beating single Delete has been inescapable in its infectious, anthemic conquering of hearts and ears all over the place. That track, and follow-up Feels Like 37, led to a well-received debut self-titled EP back in April, which built on the groundwork laid by the seminal Delete to establish DMA's as the Aussie-band equivalent of those "most likely to succeed" yearbook photos.

Representing the electro-indie set is ascendent trio SAFIA, who wriggled their way into our brains last year with the synth-soaked Listen To Soul, Listen To Blues. The chilled, soulful sounds of Paranoia, Ghosts & Other Sounds did similarly good things, and now they're standing at the cusp of another release, too, with new single You Are The One standing ready to go in September before they step out into the spotlight in a more literal sense at the awards.

Finally, but by no means least, precocious, prodigious singer-songwriter Meg Mac stands primed to make everyone over the age of 23 feel like unproductive slobs when she hits the awards stage. Her debut EP, MEGMAC, will have dropped mid-September, and recent single Roll Up Your Sleeves will have had even more time to seed its way into the iPod rotations of the discerning listener. If you've ever worried that you mightn't have (a) soul, fear not, because Meg Mac has got more than enough for the both of you, and the CDIMAs are the perfect place to demonstrate that fact.

Nominees and guest presenters for the evening, which this year will be held at the North Melbourne Meat Market, are yet to be announced, but past winners have included the likes of Vance Joy and Flume, who both cleaned up last year, plus Carlton Dry Independent Music Grant recipients King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, so it's generally a pretty big deal, and this announcement has set 2014's event well on the path to continuing the tradition.

See the AIR website for more info on the awards, charts and the like.