Canadian Album Hall of Fame (as voted by YOU) : Arcade Fire's Funeral

Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004)

Merge Records

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Really, who didn't see this coming? From the bright piano tinkling of the opening seconds of "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)," to the triumphant swell and fade of strings in the final seconds of "In the Backseat," Funeral maintains its artistic tension and delights with orchestral beauty. Win Butler and Régine Chassagne's voices, at times urgent and discomforting, complement the ambitious instrumentalists in theatricality. Not a singles album by any stretch of the imagination-- although it did produce five (Neighborhood #1, #2, #3, Rebellion (Lies) and Haiti), Funeral grabs a hold of you for the duration of its 48 minutes and paints a musical landscape that lingers long after its last notes. And boy, does it grow on you over time.

There's little doubt as to why Funeral remains one of the most highly regarded, most critically acclaimed and best-selling indie (over half a million sold) records in not just Canada, but the world. It garnered near-perfect rankings and scores with international music critics, landing on more "best of" lists than could be counted with all your fingers and toes. It was nominated for the Grammy for Best Alternative Rock Album and Arcade Fire won Songwriters Of The Year at the Junos for three of Funeral's singles. Despite its name, the album injected a shudder of life in the Canadian independent music scene. This album also helped launch the formidable careers of successful Canadian independent artists Final Fantasy and Bell Orchestre. So although the album was inspired by deaths, many regard Funeral as a milestone in the coming of age of Canadian independent music.

Big name fans of Arcade Fire include David Bowie, U2, US President Barack Obama and director Spike Jonze, who reportedly said that he listened to Funeral while writing the screenplay for his adaptation of the popular children's book Where the Wild Things Are. 

Current Arcade Fire line-up: Win Butler, Régine Chassagne, Richard Reed Parry, William Butler, Tim Kingsbury, Sarah Neufeld, Jeremy Gara.


Track listing:
1. "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" – 4:48
2. "Neighborhood #2 (Laïka)" – 3:31
3. "Une année sans lumière" – 3:40
4. "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" – 5:12
5. "Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)" – 4:49
6. "Crown of Love" – 4:42
7. "Wake Up" – 5:35
8. "Haïti" – 4:07
9. "Rebellion (Lies)" – 5:10
10. "In the Backseat" – 6:20

Arcade Fire website, Twitter, Myspace.
More of Arcade Fire on NxEW.

Hillside Inside 09: Partial Lineup Announced

According to Chartattack performers at this year's Hillside Inside festival, scheduled for Feb. 6 at the Sleeman Centre in downtown Guelph, ON will include:

Ani DiFranco, Final Fantasy, Hawksley Workman, Martin Sexton, Basia Bulat, Bahamas, Woodhands, Delhi 2 Dublin, Elisapie Isaac and Socalled.

More artists will be announced as the festival draws nearer but tickets are on sale now. They typically run $75 a pop and typically sell out so soon you'll have to make a call based on the announcements so far. Is $75 a good bet?

Keep an eye on hillsidefestival.ca for updates.

Stars - "Take Me to the Riot" - Hillside Inside Festival - Guelph, ON - February 7th, 2009

Rifflandia starts tomorrow

Rifflandia starts up tonight and I gotta be honest, I’m pretty stoked. The hard part is deciding what to go to once I get over to the Island city. There’s a plethora of good choices right off the bat but I’ve been trying to catch Final Fantasy for years now and I can’t pass up this chance. Seeing as it was just Polaris time right now, it goes without saying that it should be mentioned that Owen Pallett was the first recipient of the award. What Owen does in Final Fantasy is just amazing and I can’t wait for the live experience. He’s playing at the Alix Goolden Hall (907 Pandora Avenue) at 9:30pm. Thus, this show is my anchor of the night, so whatever I go to has to fit around that. Lucky for me, the line-up at the Alix Goolden Hall seems like it’s gonna add up to a great night all in one place. Before Final Fantasy is Vancouverite, Christopher Smith who is new to me but sounds like he’ll be good. Then we've got a Polaris longlister, Timber Timbre. These guys are going to be an excellent lead up to Final Fantasy.

If Final Fantasy wasn’t playing, it would have been a toss up between the Market Square or Element. Element has a real powerhouse of Vancouver line-up starting with the Analog Bell Service leading into Dan Mangan and ending with Said the Whale. But, the Market square has some great acts to get you dancing. Things start of with Creature to get the crowd moving and dancing, then into Rubik, a Finnish indie/pop band who'll be playing with Vancouver's Language-Arts this Monday at the Biltmore Cabaret. Afterwards are a couple of great local bands, the Raccoons to keep that crowd dancing and Bucan Bucan who are new to me but describe themselves as "your average, run-of-the-mill, 14 piece gypsy marching band." Finally comes the Old Prince himself, Shad, who really is someone you shouldn't miss and then DJ Champion & His G-Strings to squeeze that extra drop of seat out of everyone on that dance floor. I’m sure between Creature, Champion and everyone inbetween, the Market Square is going to be jumping and if you go, you're gonna get caught up in a dance party. I'm hoping to run over to see what I can catch after Final Fantasy.

Festivals are always hard because with so many people you want to see, you inevitably leave people out so if I could be in more places at once, I'd also definitely check out other great acts like Basia Bulat, Hannah Georgas and Fake Shark! Real Zombie! You really can’t go wrong tomorrow night so just get out there and have fun, the guys at Rifflandia have set up a festival that really shouldn’t be missed.

I hope you can make it!
- AlexOfAnders

Video: Owen Pallett Interview at LOLA fest

Via Open House London: Final Fantasy interview in London, Ontario during LOLA (London Ontario Live Arts festival).

Timber Timbre Tour Dates (US & Western Canada)

Via Arts & Crafts comes word that Timber Timbre has announced dates for his first ever US tour as well as dates in Western Canada with Final Fantasy.

Catch Timber Timbre performing at the dates below:

9/17/09 – Los Angeles, CA @ Silverlake Lounge
9/18/09 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Shop
9/20/09 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studio w/ Mark Eitzel
9/22/09 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
9/24/09 – Victoria, BC @ Rifflandia Festival/Alix Goolden Hall *
9/25/09 – Vancouver, BC @ St. Andrew’s Wesley Church *
9/27/09 – Edmonton, AB @ McDougall United Church *
9/28/09 – Calgary, AB @ Knox United Church *
9/30/09 – Regina, SK @ The Exchange *
10/1/09 – Saskatoon, SK @ Amigo’s *
10/2/09 – Winnipeg, MB @ West End Cultural Centre *
10/3/09 – Minneapolis, MN @ Bryant Lake Bowl
10/7/09 – Chicago, IL @ Schuba’s
10/10/09 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge (early)
* w/ Final Fantasy

Timber Timbre - Oh Messiah

Video: Final Fantasy Playing Through the Storm at Hillside

By now you've probably read Stefan Andrushenko's account of Final Fantasy playing through the storm at Hillside. But in case you'd like to have a look someone has posted video:

Storms Don't Stop Final Fantasies (Hillside Festival '09)

Anticipation was growing for the greatest one-man act in Canadian music today, as Final Fantasy was set to take the main stage on the final evening of this year's Hillside Festival. Another feeling was also mounting though, that of trepidation, as people glanced over their shoulders toward the massive, dark clouds that loomed in the distance and seemed to be encroaching on the island, threatening to black out the twilight. Owen Pallett himself scurried around the partially-covered, green-roof stage, checking his own gear while his record oddly played quietly over the house speakers. With the weather still holding Owen was introduced and quickly took his position at center-stage where his violin sat atop his keyboard. Wasting no time he introduced himself to the crowd and started in on a brand new song, followed by another. In his charming manner he mentioned to the adoring crowd that he was going to play only new material, but gave us the option if we tired of that to send him the signal (which he demonstrated was the finger) and that he would probably just return it and continue to play new music. This went over well however, since the man exudes charisma in a very humble and unassuming way - exemplified by the fact that he could wear jeans and a T - his own merch t-shirt - on stage (but then explaining that the shirt doesn't say "Final Fantasy" on it anywhere so he had to promote it).

As Owen began creating the loops of the third song, This Lamb Sells Condos, umbrellas began popping up in the crowd and people cowered from the rain that had just begun to fall. Peering out from beyond my dripping rainjacket's hood I watched as FF played another new track by layering sample upon sample of violin bowing, plucking, tapping plus keys, to the amazement of the now thoroughly damp patrons in the crowd. As great as this was, it was the next song that would set this performance apart from any other.

Cheerfully Owen began recording as a cool breeze picked up, and with the first loop playing in the background he laid down another and the rain drops grew in size - pounding on our umbrellas. During the third loop there was a noticeable change in the air and the wind itself began looping; swirling under the cover of the stage, bringing with it wet raindrops that began to splatter across the speakers there. The audience was completely captivated by Owen's performance and barely noticed as stage hands snuck out to cover the speakers. The song grew with intensity as did the wicked weather - to the point where the stage manager ran out and gave the cut signal to his crew, and to Owen who completely ignored him and continued to bow much to the delight of the crowd. Next he walked right up to Owen - touching his soaked shirt indicating for him to stop. Owen yelled back "Let me finish this song!" without missing a stroke. With the stage director backing off, Final Fantasy mesmerized us completely with his violin, making the hair on my neck stand - not from the cold but in absolute amazement of this performance. Stage crew ran around protecting equipment while Owen played on, pleading for "one more minute". Finally the song reached a fever pitch, as the refrain screamed "I'm never going to give in to you!" a blistering crack of nearby lightning lit the sky beyond Final Fantasy - momentarily brightening the sky to a red hue. This earned a massive cheer from the electrified crowd of determined onlookers. Closing in on the culmination of the song the tech crew finally adhered to the stage director's frantic neck-slicing signals and pulled the plugs. As the lights faded out Owen Pallet was left standing in the dark - sopping wet - still playing his violin without speakers, completing the song. The definition of a Hillside moment - it was utter magic.

After a brief intermission the storm did in fact pass over the small island in Guelph Lake and Owen was able to finish his set. Continuing in beautiful fashion he played through another few new songs as well as a great version of Flare Gun. By the end the rain had slowed to a trickle and Owen closed the night with The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead which was fabulous. He graciously thanked all involved with Hillside and left the stage to a giant round of appreciation from the hardcore fans who had stuck him out to the end. It was the set of the festival and a tumultuous-ending to a tremendous weekend!

More to come from an entire Hillside weekend over at Vernacular (sandrush.blogspot.com)

20 Years Later: Everyone Sings Wrench Tuttle

In 1989 Bob Wiseman recorded an album, "In Her Dream: Bob Wiseman Sings Wrench Tuttle" it was later named by Chart as one of the "Top 100 Canadian Albums of All Time". For the 20th anniversary there is a huge party being planned to celebrate the anniversary and the vinyl re-release of the album by Blocks Recording Club, with an all star cast of Canadian musicians.

Before we get into the details of the future party though we have to, in case you missed it, remember a bit of the history of the album. This wasn't just an album release the way it's done now: release an album - promote the album - tour etc., To start with the first pressing of the album was destroyed by Atlantic Records. The company felt that the song "Rock and Tree", which was about the murder of Salvador Allende and more importantly Pepsi's role in the events was potentially libelous. A new pressing was made without the song.

Rock and Tree


You can now get the whole album, including "Rock and Tree" from the Free Music Archive.

Beyond the politics there was the mysterious songwriter Wrench Tuttle. No one knew who Wrench Tuttle was and Wiseman wasn't telling - though he did occasionally share letters from Tuttle with the media. It was later revealed that Tuttle was Wiseman himself. Because it was 1989, in the days when a relatively unknown artist could still have a hit on Much Music - Bob Wiseman did.

We Got Time - Bob Wiseman



Now in 2009 the faithful are gathering at the Gladstone Hotel On July 30, 2009 at 10 pm to celebrate the album and the limited edition vinyl rerelease by playing the songs of Wrench Tuttle. The faithful in this case include Bob Wiseman and Mary Margeret O’Hara, Final Fantasy, Great Lake Swimmers, Geoff Berner, The Bourban Tabernacle Choir, Hundred Dollars, Picastro, UIC, Don Kerr, Laura Barret, Ajay Mehra, The Phonemes, Kyp Harness, Michael Holt, Michelle McAdorey, Ben Bootsma, Mez, Tom St. Louis, Amy Fritz, Don Christiansen and unnamed special guests. Admission is free!

Feist and Bob Wiseman : Who Am I?

Rifflandia Music Fest Earlybird Wristbands and Lineup Announced!

So last year Victoria got a new music festival, it went by the name of Rifflandia and it rocked. I unfortunately did not get to go as I decided to enjoy the Yukon for a few extra days before it was back to school. This year however I fully intend on enjoying what will no doubt be a stellar festival full of fantastic talent. The festival will run September 24 - 27th and will feature the mad skillz of Tegan & Sara, Holy Fuck, Buck 65, Mother Mother, Champion, Final Fantasy, Beach House, Shad, Pink Mountaintops, and Mt. Saint Helens Vietnam Band(I hope all those links work, they took way too long to do) with more names to be announced on July 15th. Right now a limited quantity of earlybird wristbands have been released and will be available till July 14th. Wristbands will run you about 50 bucks including fees and are totally worth it. They'll get you into every venue as well as some bonus perks. Also Rifflandabrau will be brewed once again for your enjoyment and some special "twists" like the Rifflandia Drama Club and as well as an official festival magazine/guide book to be released in mid August.

And that's not all, Rifflandia is being held as a sister event to Transmission, an international music conference for all the movers and shakers of the industry. It looks to be pretty interesting and hopefully I'll be able to grab an invite for that so I can let you know what its all about.

All in all it looks like a pretty darn exciting weekend in Victoria. For more info you can check out the Rifflandia site here and the Transmission site here.

Polaris Music Prize 2009 Announcements

POLARIS MUSIC PRIZE ANNOUNCES SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO CANADA AS PRESENTING SPONSOR, AND LONG LIST, SHORT LIST AND GALA DATES FOR 2009.

Steve Jordan, Executive Director of the Polaris Music Prize, today announced SIRIUS Satellite Radio Canada as the new presenting sponsor for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize. SIRIUS has been a supporting sponsor of Polaris since 2007 and has broadcast the event live to a North American audience on satellite radio for the past two years.

“With their unwavering support for Canadian talent in general and specifically the Polaris Music Prize, we feel having SIRIUS as our number one sponsor is not only a natural progression but a perfect fit. We are excited to be working together to bring the music of our nominees and winner to an even wider audience,” said Jordan.

The Polaris Music Prize awards $20,000 to the artist who creates the Canadian album of the year. It is judged solely on artistic merit, without consideration of genre or record sales. Past winners have been Final Fantasy for He Poos Clouds (2006), Patrick Watson for Close To Paradise (2007) and Caribou for Andorra (2008).

Jordan also revealed the key dates for the coveted award’s 4th annual celebration. The Long List of 40 titles, which is sponsored by The Canada Council for the Arts, will be announced June 15. The Short List of 10 nominees will be revealed at a July 7 media conference at The Drake Hotel in Toronto. This year’s gala will be held on Monday, September 21 at a Toronto location to be announced. The Long List and Short List are determined by an independent jury of 190 Canadian music journalists, broadcasters and music bloggers from across Canada. Eleven people are selected from the larger jury pool to serve on the grand jury. The grand jury will convene the night of the 21st during the gala to select the 2009 Polaris Music Prize winner.

The eligibility period for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize runs from June 1, 2008 to May 31, 2009.

About the Polaris Music Prize:

The Polaris Music Prize is a not-for-profit organization that annually honours, celebrates and rewards creativity and diversity in Canadian recorded music by recognizing, then marketing the albums of the highest artistic integrity, without regard to musical genre, professional affiliation, or sales history, as judged by a panel of selected music critics.

Follow Polaris Music Prize on Twitter & MySpace.

Canadians at Pitchfork Music Festival

Uber-trendy online indie music site, Pitchfork, is certainly among the oldest and most elite arbitrers of indie music taste. Love 'em or hate 'em (for you Patrick Watson fans out there, the Pitchfork rating of his latest was very poor - but Sixeyes' blogger Alan Williamson made a great rebuttal in a tweet: "the diff between pitchforks review of Patrick Watson's new record and my review is the diff between not understanding and understanding").


In any case, Pitchfork also runs an amazing music festival in Chicago, which takes place this year from July 17 - 19. And although they are not hugely represented, a few Canadian bands will be performing. The Festival just announced its latest Canadian addition - inaugural Polaris Prize winner Final Fantasy (Toronto singer-songwriter and violinist Owen Pallett). Rounding out the bill from the north will be Plants and Animals (Polaris and Juno nominee), Fucked Up, Japandroids, and Women (see my earlier post on American appreciation of Women here, and see some photos below from a recent show at the Flemish Eye Ball).

With a line-up that includes indie rock royalty such as Built to Spill, Tortoise, Yo La Tengo, the National, the Walkmen, the Thermals, the Flaming Lips, the Jesus Lizard, and many more, this promises to provide excellent exposure for these fantastic Canadian Bands. Good luck!

Cadence Weapon vs. Woodhands & VanGaalen

Remixes are a big thing lately, see for example yesterday's winners of the Vallery Gore remix contest the Gentleman Reg Remix Contest and the Green Go Remix Project now it's Cadence Weapon's Turn. If you head over to the Myspace Blog you'll find links to free downloads of new Cadence Weapon remixes of Woodhands, Chad Vangaalen, the Streets and other treats and prizes.

cadence weapon w. final fantasy "sharks" 11/11/07

@OwenPallet the VJ

It's turning into a kind of a video day. Owen Pallet (a.k.a. Final Fantasy) was tweeting videos last night. So below are his picks (along with his tweets for those of you who haven't been following him).

"Nostalgia for Toronto's early 2000s. Look how gorgeous Feist and Tyler are."



"Hank Collective, with 2003's hottest jam, "Danes In Peril"."



"Jim Guthrie made this video St. Patrick Square. I wrote the strings in his basement."



"Wait, do this one for RC:"



"Whoa, even older. Phleg Camp. That's Eric Chenaux cussing up there:"



"And years later, Pony Da Look are still Toronto's best band: Last one, g'night."

Do Make Say Think, Final Fantasy and German Film

Via NxEW.ca: On June 11 at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto there will be a screening of Robert Oswald’s Tales of the Uncanny (Unheimliche Geschichten). The film was originally released in Germany in 1919 - one year after the end of World War I. The film has never been screened before in Canada.

You are only excited right now if you're a hard core film buff. Here is what is going to pack the square. In 1919 movies were silent and had a musical score that was performed with the film. For this particular screening that score will be performed by Toronto's Do Make Say Think and Final Fantasy. There you go - now who's a fan of German silent film??

Do Make Say Think - In Mind



Final Fantasy - Furniture

Cadence Weapon Remixes Chad VanGaalen

About an hour ago, Edmonton rapper Cadence Weapon announced via his Twitter that he had remixed fellow Albertan Chad VanGaalen's "TMNT Mask" from the Soft Airplane release. It being free, I of course downloaded it, and it is good. Like really, really good. These guys need to form a group, and if they need a third member, let me suggest Mr. Owen Pallett aka Final Fantasy, based on the Fuse episode where Cadence Weapon and Final Fantasy covered VanGaalen's "Mini TV's." You can find that and the new remix below, and you can download Cadence Weapon's pay-want-you-want remix album (including the Mini TV's cover) from cadenceweaponmusic.com.

Listen to and Download "TMNT Mask: Cadence Weapon's Michelangelo Mix" on zshare

Cadence Weapon and Final Fantasy: "Mini TV's" (Chad VanGaalen cover) Live on Fuse