the 2010 "Indie" Awards

Although I can't agree with every award and some of them seem really obvious I have to say that the Indies seem to have a better grasp on what happened last year in Canadian music than most of the various awards with the Great Lake Swimmers, the Arkells, the Rural Alberta Advantage, Alex Cuba, D-sisive, the Constantines, Metric and Joel Plaskett all walking away with major awards.

Favorite Pop Artist/Group – Danny Fernandes
Favorite Live artist or Group  -Arkells

 Winner Reel:
"Favourite Jazz Artist/Group of the Year” – Sophie Milman
"Favourite Blues Artist/Group of the Year" – Monkey Junk
"Favourite Children’s Artist/Group of the Year" – The Bee's Knees
"Favourite Classical Artist/Group of the Year" –Quartetto Gelato

Astral Media Radio Favorite SINGLE - MarianasTrench: Cross My Heart
Galaxie Rising Stars - The Rural Alberta Advantage

Winner Reel:
"Favourite World Artist/Group of the Year" – Alex Cuba
"Favourite Francophone Artist/Group of the Year" – La Patere Rose
"Favourite Country Artist/Group of the Year" – Johnny Reid
“Favourite Electronic Artist/Group of the Year” – Peaches
“Favourite Urban Artist/Group of the Year” – D-sisive

Favorite Folk Artist/group - Great Lake Swimmers
Favorite Group/Duo of the Year - Constantines

Winner
“International Breakthrough Artist/Group of the Year” – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes
“Favourite International Single of the Year” – Phoenix - 1901
"Favourite International Album of the Year" – The XX “The XX”
“FavouriteInternational Solo Artist of the Year” – Neko Case
"Favourite International Group of the Year” – Silversun Pickups

Winner Reel:
“Favourite Rock Artist/Group of the Year” – Die Mannequin
“Favourite Punk/Hardcore Artist/Group of the Year” – Fucked Up
“Favourite Metal Artist/Group of the Year” - Voivod     
“CHARTattack Favourite Album of the Year” – Metric “Fantasies”

Favorite solo artist of the year - Joel Plaskett
Favorite Video of the Year -Marianas Trench: Cross My Heart

Juno Nomination are Out

The Juno Nominations are out and many of the things that annually disappoint me with the Junos remain including no one I can get very enthusiastic about in the 'Fan Choice Awards. Still there are some interesting bits and pieces including:

Classified getting a nod for Single of the Year for "Anybody Listening"

K'Naan getting a nod for Artist of the Year

Blue Rodeo and Metric both got a nod for Group of the Year

the Arkells are up for New Group of the Year

Metric, Joel Plaskett and K'Naan for Songwriter of the Year

Charles Spearin's Happiness Project is up for Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year

Bell Orchestre and the Hylozoists for Instrumental Album of the Year

the now defunct Thunderheist is up for Dance Recording of the Year

Roots & Traditional Album of the Year (Solo) has nominations to Corb Lund and Bahamas

Roots & Traditional Album of the Year (Group) has nods to the Great Lake Swimmers, Carolyn Mark & NQ Arbuckle and the Good Lovelies,

Alex Cuba is up for World Music Album of the Year

The Arcade Fire is up for music DVD of the year

and there are a few categories that are really good inlcuding:

Video of the Year - Beast, the Most Serene Republic, Classified, Serena Ryder and Land of Talk

Rap Recording of the Year - K'naan, K-Os, Drake, Classified, Big Page Drake & UGO Crew

and of course the Alternative Album of the Year (though I no longer know what it's an alternative to...??)

Adult Album of the Year - 1977, Amy Millan, Cuff the Duke, Howie Beck and Joel Plaskett

Alternative Album of the Year - Handsome Furs, Japandroids, Julie Doiron, Metric and Tegan & Sara

The biggest shocker was Francophone Album of the Year where neither Coeur de pirate nor Malijube got a mention.

The full list is here. The Juno awards are still iffy, but at least there are some people to pull for!

Nominees Announced for 10th Annual Independent Music Awards

Canadian Music Fest and Galaxie have announced the nominees for the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards ("The Indies"). The awards will be presented on Saturday, March 13th at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto starting at 8 p.m. Performers will include Desperate Union, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Plants and Animals, Great Lake Swimmers and Constantines and will be broadcast on XM Satellite Radio's the Verge and will be recorded for a future broadcast on Galaxie.

Tickets are available for $20 at Rotate This, Soundscapes and through Ticketmaster, canadianmusicfest.com and indies.ca.

This year's nominees are:

CHARTATTACK.COM FAVOURITE ALBUM
Alexisonfire Old Crows / Young Cardinals (Dine Alone)
Great Lake Swimmers Lost Channels (Nettwerk)
Japandroids Post-Nothing (Unfamiliar)
Joel Plaskett Three (MapleMusic)
Metric Fantasies (Last Gang)

ASTRAL MEDIA RADIO FAVOURITE SINGLE
Danny Fernandes Fantasy (CP)
Deborah Cox Beautiful U R (DECO/Image/E1)
Faber Drive G-Get Up and Dance! (604)
Marianas Trench Cross My Heart (604)
Metric Gimme Sympathy (Last Gang)

FAVOURITE GROUP/DUO
Constantines Arts & Crafts
Handsome Furs Sub Pop
Metric Last Gang
Patrick Watson & The Wooden Arms Secret City
Tegan and Sara V apor/Sire

FAVOURITE SOLO ARTIST
Coeur de Pirate Dare To Care
Dan Mangan fileunder:music
Joel Plaskett MapleMusic
Julie Doiron Endearing
Timber Timbre Arts & Crafts

FAVOURITE VIDEO
Alexisonfire Young Cardinals (Dine Alone)
Danny Fernandes Fantasy (CP)
Lights Drive My Soul (Underground Operations)
Marianas Trench Cross My Heart (604)
Theory Of A Deadman All or Nothing (604)

FAVOURITE LIVE ARTIST/GROUP
Alexisonfire Dine Alone
Arkells Dine Alone
Metric Last Gang
The Trews Bumstead
You Say Party! We Say Die Paper Bag

FAVOURITE BLUES ARTIST/GROUP
Colin James MapleMusic
Colin Linden True North Records
Harrison Kennedy Electro-Fi
Jim Byrnes Black Hen
Monkey Junk Beefy Productions

FAVOURITE CHILDREN’S ARTIST/GROUP
The Bee’s Knees The Children's Group
Chris McKhool Independent
Duplex! Mint Records Inc.
The Funky Mamas Independent
The Kerplunks Independent

FAVOURITE CLASSICAL ARTIST/GROUP
Angele Dubeau Analekta
Gerald Finley Hyperion
James Ehnes Onyx
Karina Gauvin ATMA Classique
Quartetto Gelato True North Records

FAVOURITE COUNTRY ARTIST/GROUP
Dean Brody Broken Bow Records
Doc Walker Open Road Recordings
Johnny Reid Open Road Recordings
Road Hammers Open Road Recordings
Victoria Banks OnRamp

FAVOURITE ELECTRONIC ARTIST/GROUP
A-Trak Fool’s Gold
Junior Boys Domino
Peaches XL Recordings
Shout Out Out Out Out Normals Welcome
Tiga Last Gang

FAVOURITE FOLK/ROOTS ARTIST/GROUP
Catherine MacLellan True North Records
Dan Mangan fileunder:music
Deep Dark Woods Black Hen Music
Great Lake Swimmers Nettwerk
The Wooden Sky Black Box Music

FAVOURITE FRANCOPHONE ARTIST/GROUP
Jean Leloup Dare To Care
La Patère Rose Dare To Care
Malajube Dare To Care
Mara Tremblay Audiogram
Marie-Pierre Arthur Bonsound

FAVOURITE JAZZ ARTIST/GROUP
Brandi Disterheft Justin Time
Diana Panton Independent
Don Thompson Quartet Sackville
Oliver Jones Justin Time
Sophie Milman True North Records

FAVOURITE METAL ARTIST/GROUP
3 Inches Of Blood Roadrunner Records
Augury Sonic Unyon
Protest The Hero Underground Operations
Sacrifice Sonic Unyon
Voivod Sonic Unyon

FAVOURITE POP ARTIST/GROUP
Chantal Kreviazuk Nettwerk
Danny Fernandes CP Records
Lights Underground Operations
Marianas Trench 604 Records
Mother Mother Last Gang

FAVOURITE PUNK/HARDCORE ARTIST/GROUP
Alexisonfire Dine Alone
Comeback Kid Smallman
Dead and Divine Distort
Fucked Up Jade Tree
Propagandhi Smallman

FAVOURITE ROCK ARTIST/GROUP
Arkells Dine Alone
Desperate Union Independent
Die Mannequin How To Kill Music
The Rural Alberta Advantage John, Dear
Theory Of A Deadman 604 Records

FAVOURITE URBAN ARTIST/GROUP
D-Sisive Urbnet
Grand Analog Urbnet
Kae Sun Urbnet
Miles Jones Urbnet
Swollen Members Suburban Noize

FAVOURITE WORLD ARTIST/GROUP
Alex Cuba Caracol
Auresia Independent
Lhasa De Sela Audiogram
Sultans Of String Independent
Vandana Independent

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL ALBUM
Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
Girls Album (True Panther Sounds)
Grizzly Bear Veckatimest (Warp)
Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glass Note)
The XX The xx (Young Turks/XL)

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL SINGLE
Cascada Evacuate The Dancefloor (Awesome)
Franz Ferdinand Ulysses (Domino)
Phoenix 1901(Glass Note)
Pitbull I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) (Ultra)
Silversun Pickups Panic Switch (Dangerbird Records)

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL GROUP
Arctic Monkeys Domino
Dinosaur Jr. Jagjaguwar
Dirty Projectors Domino
Phoenix Glass Note
Silversun Pickups Dangerbird Records

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL SOLO ARTIST
Atlas Sound Kranky
Neko Case Anti
Speech Debelle Big Dada
Tom Waits Anti
Tune-Yards Marriage/4AD

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST/GROUP
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Community Music/Fairfax Recordings
Fever Ray Rabid Records
Friendly Fires XL Recordings
Passion Pit French Kiss
We Were Promised Jetpacks FatCat Records

Who Do You Love? - East Coast Music Awards Fan Choice for Best Video

The ECMA's are coming and they want to know who made your favorite video of 2009. The candidates are:

Amelia Curran - Scattered and Small
Caledonia - The Plague
Christina Martin - Two Hearts
Classified - Anybody Listening
Dave Carroll - United Breaks Guitars
Down With The Butterfly - Tank
Erin Martell - Changing
Gary Beals - Jump Off (featuring Blessed)
George Canyon - Just Like You
In-Flight Safety - Model Homes
Joel Plaskett - Through & Through & Through
Paper Lions - Queen Charlotte of the Hyenas
Radio Radio - Forme Elliptique
Shelter with Thieves - Nursery Crimes
Tara Oram - Go To Bed Angry
The Motorleague - Hymn For The Newly Departed
The Novaks - There Goes The Night
The Tom Fun Orchestra - Throw Me To The Rats

You can vote for your favorite at http://public.bellaliant.net/fanchoice/

Get more info about the ECMAs at ecma.ca!

Wintersleep - Weighty Ghost
2009 ECMA Video of the Year
Directed by Sean Wainsteim

Catherine MacLellan takes 4 Music PEI Awards

Last night marked the 9th annual Music PEI Awards and it was a huge night for Catherine MacLellan who walked away with Songwriter of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year and Folk Recording of the Year for her album Water in the Ground. Other big winers included Haunted Hearts, Tim Chaisson & the Morning Folk and Grass Mountain Hobos each of whom took home two.

The full list goes:
Songwriter of the Year : Catherine MacLellan – “Take a Break”
New Artist of the Year: Haunted Hearts
Male Vocalist of the Year: Chas Guay
Female Vocalist of the Year: Catherine MacLellan
Group of the Year: Tim Chaisson & Morning Fold
Album of the Year: Catherine MacLellan – Water in the Ground
Entertainer of the Year: Grass Mountain Hobos
Francophone Recording of the Year: Vishten – Vishten Live
Alternative Recording of the Year: Haunted Hearts – Thank You, Goodnight
Bluegrass/Country Recording of the Year: Grass Mountain Hobos – Zoot!
Folk Recording of the Year: Catherine MacLellan – Water in the Ground
Jazz Recording of the Year: Teresa Doyle – Late Night Parlour
Pop Recording of the Year: Tim Chaisson & Morning Fold – Broken Hearted Beat
Rock Recording of the Year: Smothered in Hugs – Healing Power of Injury
Roots Traditional Recording of the Year: Scott MacAulay – Great Scott!
Urban Recording of the Year: The Dogs Will Hunt – Ship to China
Lifetime Achievement: Angele Arsenault
Industry Person of the Year: John Bulman
Educator of the Year: Todd MacLean
Event of the Year: Bootlegger’s Ball
Musician of the Year: Remi Arsenault
Studio of the Year: Big Grey Studio
Venue of the Year: Harmony House Theatres
Visual Artist of the Year: Ryan Hutchinson
Weekend Warrior of the Year: Vintage

Catherine MacLellan "Water In The Ground"

Chart: Julie Doiron (NxEW's Shadow Polaris pick) #1 on Campus Radio for 2009

Back in September after a lengthy process that involved taking a list of nearly 100 albums and whittling it dow to shorter and shorter lists until we had a #1, NxEW readers declared Julie Doiron's I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day our Shadow Polaris Winner for 2009. I always knew our readers were smart. After campus radio charts from across Canada all year long Chartattack says that Julie's album was #1 on Campus Radio nationwide for 2009. Because campus and community radio and public broadcasters are driven by the tastes of the hosts, the tastes of the listeners and the tastes of volunteers rather than the needs of advertisers, the formulas of international mega corporations I will always consider the campus charts more valuable and honest than any others. You can see Charts full top 100 here.

If you don't already have this album ... what are you waiting for? Seriously, how many good reviews, how much acclaim, how much positive feedback could you possibly need? Go here for info.

Bend Sinister, the Left & We Are the City Named Top 3 at Peak Performance Project

The Peak Performance Project has announced that the results of their online voting are in and Bend Sinister, the Left and We Are the City will share $275,000 towards career development (1st place – $150,00 2nd place – $75,000 and 3rd place – $50,00). Fourth and fifth place went to Adaline and Kuba Oms who will automatically be in the top 20 for next year's Peak Performance Project.

Who is in what spot for the top 3 will be announced at the final Peak Performance showcase on January 22nd, 2010 at the Commodore Ballroom. Tickets go on sale through Ticketmaster on Friday, December 18 for $10.05.

For free downloads from all of this year's peak performance acts visit http://www.peakperformanceproject.com/?p=1127.

Canadian Blog Awards Round II: NxEW.ca Still Up for Four

The 2009 Canadian Blog Awards have now entered the second and final round of voting. We're sadly out of the running in the Best Overall Blog and Best Pop Culture blog but you can still vote for us in:

Best Culture and Literature
Best Group Blog
Best New Blog and
Best Podcaster/Vlogger (for the Mixtape Podcast)

You can vote until December 19 (please?).

Music PEI Awards Nominees Announced

Tim Chaisson and the Morning Fold, Catherine MacLellan, the Grass Mountain Hobos and Two Hours Traffic laed the way in the nominations for the PEI Music Awards. The PEI music scene has received considerably more attention this year, scooping up 11% of this years ECMA nominations with only 6% of the Maritimes population. With rapidly emerging artists like Racoon Bandit, Milks and Rectangles, Smothered in Hugs, the Sidewalks and Haunted Hearts (all of whom are nominated for two or more awards this year) coming along, things promise to keep getting better. The full list of PEI Music Awards nominees this year looks like this:

2010 Music PEI Awards Nominees
Songwriter of the Year
Catherine MacLellan – “Take a Break”
Haunted Hearts – “Haunted Hearts”
Teresa Doyle – “You’re My Cup of Tea”
Tim Chaisson – “Lay Low”
Two Hours Traffic – “Noisemaker”

New Artist of the Year
Disco Rockin’ Llamas
Haunted Hearts
Jace Patkai
Janet MacEwen
Milks & Rectangles
Racoon Bandit
The Sidewalks

Male Vocalist of the Year
Paul Broadbent
Chas Guay
Jeff Morris
Joey Kitson
Jordan Cameron

Female Vocalist of the Year
Catherine MacLellan
Erin Evans
Janet MacEwen
Teresa Doyle

Group of the Year
Grass Mountain Hobos
Racoon Bandit
The Sidewalks
Tim Chaisson & Morning Fold
Two Hours Traffic

Album of the Year
Catherine MacLellan – Water in the Ground
Chas Guay – Little City
Grass Mountain Hobos – Zoot!
Tim Chaisson & Morning Fold – Broken Hearted Beat
Two Hours Traffic – Territory

Entertainer of The Year
Grass Mountain Hobos
Tim Chaisson & Morning Fold
Smothered in Hugs
Joey Kitson
Richard Wood

Francophone Recording of the Year
Mario Robichaud – Qui es-tu?
Rebels – Rebels
Stephane Bouchard - L’Opus du Petit Prince
Vishten – Vishten Live


Alternative Recording of the Year
Disco Rockin’ Llamas – Disco Rockin’ Llamas
Haunted Hearts – Thank you, Goodnight
Racoon Bandit - Campcraft
The Danks – Are You Afraid of The Danks?
The Sidewalks – Better Late Than Never

Bluegrass/Country Recording of the Year
Glencoe Road – Deep Little Tale
Grass Mountain Hobos – Zoot!
Johnny Oliver – I’m Not Up For Sale
Slung - Superfecta

Folk Recording of the Year
Compilation - Believing in Anne
Catherine MacLellan – Water in the Ground
Colette Cheverie – Hours Before Dawn
Joey Kitson - Stan

Jazz Recording of the Year
Janet MacEwen – Back Where I Belong
Stephane Bouchard – L’Opus du Petit Prince
Teresa Doyle – Late Night Parlour

Pop Recording of the Year
Chas Guay – Little City
Jeff Morris – Far Away
Milks & Rectangles – Civic Virtues
Tim Chaisson & Morning Fold – Broken Hearted Beat
Two Hours Traffic - Territory

Rock Recording of the Year
Dysfunktional Dads – ya gotta love it!
Fugato – Fugato
Loud Machine - Spanner
Smothered in Hugs – Healing Power of Injury

Roots Traditional Solo, Duo or Group Recording of the Year
Courtney Hogan - Firefly
Lazy Jacks – East Coast Live
Rebels – Rebels
Scott MacAulay – Great Scott!

Urban Recording of the Year
Billy Dee Starski- Starved, Homeless And Broke
DJ Thundacat- Look, No Hands
Jakt & Jeff Math- Mules
The Dogs Will Hunt- Ship To China
Tyler Carmody & DJ Ghost- Tyler Carmody & DJ Ghost

Educator of the Year
Aaron Crane
Moe Hashie
Peter Robinson
Todd MacLean

Event of the Year
Bootlegger’s Ball
East Coast Affair
Fringe
Indian River Music Festival
Nigwek

Musician of the Year
Chris Gauthier
Jon Matthews
Remi Arsenault
Rich Knox
Tian Wigmore

Studio of the Year
Big Grey Sound Studio
Guernsey Cover Parlour Productions
Lukas Raine

Venue of the Year
Harmony House
Hunter’s Ale House
St. Mary’s Church
The Guild

Visual Artist of the Year
Chris Wilkinson
Ryan Hutchinson
Six Eyed Cat
Tony Dawe

Fan’s Choice - Weekend Warrior of the Year
Kickin’ Country
Lazy Jacks
Muddy Buddy
Vintage

Inaugural Class in the Album Hall of Fame

The voting is all over and, in case you missed any, the inaugural class in the NxEW Canadian Album Hall of Fame is:

the Weakerthans - Left and Leaving
Neil Young - Harvest
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Stars - Set Yourself on Fire
Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People

Soon there will be a permanent page on NxEW.ca to hilight your choices and next year at about this time five more albums will be added to the list. The 45 albums that made this years final poll will automatically be included in next years and the albums of 2005 will be eligible. Thanks to everyone who nominated and voted.

Correction: NxEW Nominated for 6 (SIX) Canadian Blog Awards

Yesterday I mentioned that this site had been nominated for Five Canadian Blog Awards - I also mentioned that a few categories hadn't been posted yet. I'm happy to announce that in addition to the categories I already mentioned, NxEW has been nominated for Best Overall Blog (in a very, very crowded category.) You can see a full list of all of the categories at http://cdnba.wordpress.com/vote-2009/ - Please take a moment, or two (or all of your available time between now and December 12, voting for us in the following categories:

Best Culture or Literature Blog
Best Group Blog
Best New Blog
Best Podcaster/Blogger (for our Mixtape Podcast)
Best Popular Culture Blog
and
Best Overall Blog!

NxEW.ca Nominated for 5 Canadian Blog Awards

The 2009 Canadian Blog Award poll has been posted. According to the site Best Personal and Best Overall blog haven't been posted yet but voting in all other categories is open at http://cdnba.wordpress.com/vote-2009/:

NxEW is nominated for

Best Culture or Literature Blog
Best Group Blog
Best New Blog
Best Podcaster/Blogger (for our Mixtape Podcast)
and
Best Popular Culture Blog

If you want to vote for us, that would be awesome - if you want to vote for someone else, that's ok too but vote. Bloggers work hard to educate, inform (and sometimes just rant and preach to the choir) and nearly all of them do it for free.