The inevitable post-Juno Awards post

The Junos are a bit more exciting that the Grammys, mostly because it's our own homegrown musicians being celebrated and the pool is a bit smaller, it makes things a bit more unpredictable. It's also fun watching bands like Metric being treated as important.

That being said, this year's Junos were a bit predictable. Of course, Justin Bieber and The Arcade Fire were the big winners. But, just like the Grammys, the real action for me happens in the awards not shown on TV. Give a look at the jazz, blues and roots nominees, you can easily say "Yeah, every one of those albums deserve to win the Juno."

Drake was shut out, which seemed surprising to me. Outside of Bieber, he's the biggest star we have in Canadian music. Shad ended up with the hip-hop album of the year. I'm no expert (or fan) of hip-hop, but perhaps this signals a turning away from celebration ofcommercial hip-hop?

The March 30 Day Song Challenge Part 4

It seems when this gets imported to Facebook, the fancy HTML Youtube links get stripped out. So, I'll be including simple HTML links with the embedded Youtube links so anyone reading on Facebook can enjoy the posts too.

Day 16 – A song that you used to love but now hate: Oakridge Boys - "Elvira"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdFghZmdwXk



My pre-teen years were country years. Grew up with country. Hate everything but classic country now.

Day 17 – A song that you hear often on the radio: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - "Refugee"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yai8fxLok8



I don't listen to commercial radio, but I like Tom Petty and he can be heard on the radio sometimes. I'll pick him I guess.

Day 18 – A song that you wish you heard on the radio: New Pornographers - "Crash Years"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KZANuDcRO4



The New Porngraphers are talents and play music catchy enough to be played on commercial radio, so let's hear them!

Day 19 – A song from your favorite album: Elvis Costello - "Sleep of the Just"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpstsuRa6v8



More Elvis, go figure... "King of America" has long been my favourite album, and this is one of the best songs on it.

Day 20 – A song that you listen to when you’re angry: Ministry - "Stigmata'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxaPj19VnRA



Nothing beats trashing around to some classic industrial to cure the angrys.

Just two more months....

And the Cars will be back baby!

The March 30 Day Song Challenge Part 3

http://shellacandvinyl.blogspot.com/ for links my Facebook friends.

Day 11 – A song from your favorite band: Elvis Costello and the Attractions - "Oliver's Army"



More Elvis? Okay!

Day 12 – A song from a band you hate: Pink Floyd - "Wish You Were Here"



I could easily but Nickelback here, but that's too easy. I hate almost everything Pink Floyd have ever done. I can tolerate "Animals" on a good day...

Day 13 – A song that is a guilty pleasure: KISS - "Strutter"



Awesome, the only KISS song I truly like.

Day 14 – A song that no one would expect you to love: The Rolling Stones - "Sympathy for the Devil"



I'm well known for my dislike and, at time, outright hatred of classic rock. But this song is very, very cool.

Day 15 – A song that describes you: DEVO - "What We Do"



I can think of a few DEVO songs that describe my philosophy of life. "Through Being Cool" would be my second choice

The March 30 Day Song Challenge Part 2

Day 6 - A song that reminds you of somewhere: Stompin' Tom Connors - "Bud the Spud"



Reminds me of Prince Edward Island obviously.

Day 7 - A song that reminds you of a certain event: Oingo Boingo - "When the Lights Go Out"



Weekends of WH30K in the clubs rooms at the University of Lethbridge.

Day 8 - A song that you know all the words to: Elvis Costello and the Attractions - "Pump It Up"



Yes, there will be a lot of Elvis Costello on my list. Thanks for asking.

Day 9 - A song that you can dance to: Mohammed Rafi - "Jaan Pehechaan Ho"



I dislike Indian music, but this sound like 50s rock and roll with East Asian lyrics. I love this song mostly because I love Ghost World and Thora Birch's mimicking dance to this song at the front. And I love Thora Birch. Thora, call me.

Day 10 - A song that makes you fall asleep: Brian Eno - "Music for Airports"



I used to fall asleep to Brave New Waves on CBC 2. By the time I got to falling asleep, Brent or Patti would be playing something spacy like Brian Eno. Now I fall asleep to the sportscast on TSN.

And my latest hopeless rock-girl crush is...

Eliza Doolittle

Cancon Roundup for March 10, 2011

Cancon in the Canadian Top 40: Martin Solveig and Dragonette (peaking at #9), Alyssa Reid, Fefe Dobson, JRDN, Avril Lavigne, Shawn Desman, Three Days Grace, Neverest, These Kids Wear Crowns (9/40 = 23%, one of the lowest Cancon percentages yet!)

Notes: Lady Gaga is at the top of both the US and Canadian charts. I'm not sure what opinion I should have of Lady Gaga. I've been reading Johnny Rotten's autobiography and I have a strange mix of respect and disgust for him, much the same way I feel about Lady Gaga. Rotten's take on life is to do everything as an individual and screw anyone who doesn't like it. He refuses to conform because conformity means buying into the larger social and musical meme and drains your ability to be creative. I think Lady Gaga does the same thing, but she doesn't do it as a middle finger to the rest of the world, she does it to stay commercially relevant. No one would pay much more attention to her over, say, Britney Spears, since they play a very similar style of music. It's only the spectacle she creates that makes her more visible. One gets the sense that her image is one that's produced and not one that is genuine, unlike Johnny Rotten, which makes me think of her as less of an artist and more of a performers. That's fine and all, but it doesn't make her music more compelling.

The March 30 Day Song Challenge

Lots of my facebook friends are doing this challenge there, but since I have a music log, I'll do it here. I'll catch up to the current day soon.

Here are the guidelines if you want to join in:

http://wordsandbeats.wordpress.com/2010/03/12/the-30-day-song-challenge/

Day 1: Your favourite song: Elvis Costello - "Blue Chair"



A question I've long pondered and decided several years ago. The only other songs that come close are "Imagine" and "Stigmata". Strangely enough, the studio version isn't on Youtube, just the doo-wop B-side version

Day 2: Your least favourite song: Whitney Houston = "I Will Always Love You"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19rC-Fl-KwM

I could easily pick a Led Zeppelin song here, but this song just sends me into a frothing rage whenever I hear it. The high points in the vocals are absolutely unbearable.

Day 3: A song that makes you happy: Polysics - "New Wave Jacket"



Polysics make me smile every time I hear them. Their spastic energy is impossible to deny.

Day 4: A song that makes you sad: Elvis Costello and the Attractions - "What's So Funny Bout Peace Love and Understanding"



I could easily put "Imagine" here too. One a good day, this song leaves me a blubbering mess.

Day 5: A song that reminds you of someone: George Jones - "He Stopped Loving Her Today"



This could be one of my sad songs too. This song reminds me of my mom, she loves old country.

Best of 2010 #1: Parallels - Visionaries

I picked Parallels as a front runner for album of the year as soon as I heard it. Crisp, dark synthpop with cold distorted vocals, this sounded like 80s classic synthpop mixed up with the best elements of industrial. The fact that it was made a good 15 years after the best industrial went out of style and with it still sounding fresh was a testament to the musicianship here. From Toronto, the band is fronted by an ex-member of Crystal Castles who felt that CC was too noisy. CD had a good year too, but this is a towering acheivement in cold, distant electronics.

Best of 2010 #2: Cygnets - Bleak Anthems

I fell in love with Edmonton's Cygnets the first time I heard them. I was hard pressed not to put this at #1 because I loved this band's sound so much. Edmonton has a fine tradition for stellar new wave, over the past year giving us the pounding retro-electro-funk of Shout Out Out Out Out and the solid new wave rock of The Floor, and now the electro-romanticism of Cygnets. This album sounds like it was recorded in 1984 and it rattles along very nicely. I normally don't track my favourite singles of the year, but if I did, "Sycophant Girls" would be my pick for #1.



The girl dancing is absolutely adorable.