Ahead of their farewell show at the Sydney Opera House, NME celebrates the impact made by – and gets one last yarn in with – Georgia Maq, Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich and Sarah Thompson
Personal missives, passionate explorations of culture, fiery manifestos against the status quo… here are the records that took our breath away this year
Harvey Sutherland, Courtney Barnett, Camp Cope and Mo'Ju are among the other artists nominated, while a wide array of Victorian festivals and venues are also up for awards