2009 marks the fifth edition of the Hottest Bands in Canada poll, and like each of the four that came before it, the results were incredibly close. The first eight bands on the list were all only separated by a couple of votes, and I really had no sense of who was going to win up until I counted the very last ballot.
That probably says all you need to know about this past year in Canadian music. Lots of bands had some really exceptional years, with no one band completely dominating.
Anyway, before I reveal the results, a few quick notes on the methodology. About a month ago, I e-mailed several dozen of the country's top music writers, journalists and bloggers, inviting them to take part in the poll. All that I asked was a ranked top 10 list of the acts (be they bands or solo artists) that the writer felt had an exceptionally good 2009. As ballots came in, they were scored as follows: five points for making a list, coupled with points for their positioning on the ballot (that is, ten points for first, nine points for second, eight for third and so on). Then I just added it all up by total number of points, and took the top 33 bands from the list. (And it's top 33 because of a quirk in the first year's voting, when I decided, for some reason, that everyone's first choice should be on the list. Needless to say, the panel was a lot smaller then.)
The voters were, in no particular order:
Chart Editor-in-Chief Aaron Brophy, Jim from Quick Before It Melts, Brock and Matthew Wells from Trendwhore, Singing Lamb's Melody Lau, Ottawa music photographer Ming Wu, Ryan Bresee from CKCU's Whatever's Cool With Me, Dance Music for Old People's Prianka, Ottawa Xpress photo editor Ben Welland, François Levesque and Zaid Khan of Apartment 613, Justin Beach of NXEW, Exclaim! contributors Del Cowie, Chris Whibbs and Scott Gray, Bob Battams from It's Not The Band I Hate It's Their Fans, Coke Machine Glow's Calum Marsh, Ren Tomovcik from CKCU's RENegade, Mechanical Forest Sound, Garry Tsaconas of Manowar Photos, Colin Medley, Midnight Poutine's Jeremy Morris, occasional ihm contributor Kelly Bergeron, Mykael from Painting Over Silence, Rod from Bootlog, Marc from Bridging The Atlantic, Rob Schmidt of London, ON, Burgeoning Metropolis, For The Records' Michael Ligon, The Indie Files' Amanda Ash, Frank from Chromewaves, Radio Free Canuckistan's Michael Barclay, Alex of The Mad Ones, Allan of AWMusic, Zoilus (aka the Globe and Mail's Carl Wilson), Montreal freelancer Brendan Murphy and Spinner.ca music editor Joshua Ostroff.
That's thirty-four voters in total, which makes it the biggest panel ever!
All bands who received voters by didn't make the cut will be posted on Monday.
And with that, here are the Hottest Bands in Canada...
Continue reading "Hottest Bands in Canada, 2009 edition"
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Obviously, as far as I'm concerned, there's only one place to be tonight at Pop Montreal: Il Motore, for the i(heart)music showcase.
At 9 pm, you've got Centretown Cripplers (download "Eat The Bee"). They're loud, they're raucous, and they're a whole lot of fun. I can't think of a better way to kick off the evening.
Alternate 9 pm suggestion: Kyrie Kristmanson @ Cagibi
They'll be followed at 10 by The Balconies (download "300 Pages"). As I said a few weeks ago, their self-titled debut is amazing. Shockingly, it pales in comparison to how amazing they are live. They're generating quite a bit of buzz right now, and I can say from firsthand experience that it's entirely deserved.
Alternate 10 pm suggestion: Bent By Elephants @ Saphir
At 11, Zeroes will be bringing their brand of driving, pulsating synth-rock to the stage (download "Arena"). There's not much else to say, other than that they were great at NxNE back in June, and I've no doubt they'll be even better playing to a hometown crowd.
Alternate 11 pm suggestion: Forest City Lovers @ Casa Del Popolo
Black Hat Brigade (download "Lost Boys") will be up at midnight, and I've no idea what to expect. I've heard their line-up is going to be a little different, and will feature appearances from members of The Darcys and Oh No Forest Fires, so if nothing else, it'll be interesting. And awesome.
Alternate midnight suggestion: Parlovr @ La Place Ubisoft: Espace Réunion
At 1 am, Treasure Hunt will be taking the stage, and I have high hopes for it being the highlight of the festival. After all, playing in Ottawa a month ago, they sounded like a louder, harder version of Death From Above 1979, and that was just doing an opening slot on a Wednesday night. It should be interesting to see what the Wolf Parade/Wintersleep/ex-Hot Hot Heat side project brings to the table, because whatever it is, it's going to be phenomenal.
Alternate 1 am suggestion: Hollerado at Nacho House
Finally, Oh No Forest Fires will be closing out the night at 2 am (download "Fighting Heidi. I've never seen them give anything less than wild, passionate performances, and I'm pretty sure this will be no exception. Frontman Rajiv Thavanathan might just be the most energetic lead singer I've ever seen, and he's backed by three equally dynamic bandmates. It's a recipe for an explosive close to the night, so don't miss it!
Alternate 2 am suggestion: CFCF @ Divan Orange
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I read Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code at least a year after all the hype and hysteria had died down. I enjoyed the speculative nature of it, especially the whole Mary Magdelene debate and while it was criticised for its historical inaccuracy, it didn’t worry me too much as it was a fun and entertaining read.
I then went back and read Angels And Demons which I found to be a much better book, though both follow exactly the same formula: symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned after a violent event that leaves somebody dead, the body has been damaged in mysteriously ’symbolic’ ways and Langdon is then required to follow a whole bunch of clues around a foreign city accompanied by a young and stunningly beautiful woman who also happens to be a brilliant scientist. Oh yeah, and there’s a deranged villain out there who’s also trying to kill him.
Dan Brown has obviously decided that this is a winning formula (and it is in terms of selling books – hey, I bought a copy) but a formula can only take you so far when your writing skills are seriously lacking. His latest offering, The Lost Symbol, contains all the same elements of the previous Langdon novels, but is at best a clumsy affair, full of clunky sentences and bad dialogue and paper thin plotlines. And if you don’t figure out the true identity of the villain 300 pages before it’s revealed like I did, then I will be seriously concerned for your sanity.
So why didn’t I notice this general sloppiness in the earlier Langdon books? The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons certainly contained bad writing, as is highlighted in this article containing some of the less skilful lines, but I think there was more action and intrigue in the first two novels and that was enough to mask those weaknesses. I really struggled through The Lost Symbol and spent most of the time wondering why his editor let so much slide through, and giggling at lines like ‘his massive sex organ bore the tattooed symbols of his destiny’. Good grief.
It has been said that Brown has another 12 novels planned for Mr Langdon and it will be interesting to see if he’s at all tempted to rework his formula. Then again, if you happen to stumble across a formula that sells a million copies of your novel on its first day of release, I can imagine you’d be somewhat reluctant to mess with it.
So, what are your thoughts? Have you read it? Do you plan to read it? Or do you already hate it on principle? Let me know in the comments.
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On a related note, I had fun checking out the Interactive Dan Brown Plot Generator also. This is what came out when I entered ‘Paris’ and ‘The Manson Family’.
A mysterious labyrinth deep beneath the streets of Paris
A nefarious cult determined to protect it
A white-knuckeld race to discover the Manson family’s darkest secret
The Invisible Enigma
When renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to the Arch of Triumph to analyze a mysterious geometric form—etched into the floor next to the disfigured form of the head docent—he discovers evidence of the unthinkable: the resurgence of the ancient cult of the Destinistas, a secret branch of the Manson family that has surfaced from the shadows to carry out its legendary vendetta against its mortal enemy, the Vatican.
Langdon’s worst fears are confirmed when a messenger from the Destinistas appears at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery to deliver a sinister ultimatum: Deposit $1 billion in the Manson family’s off-shore bank accounts or the exclusive clothier of the Swiss Guards will be bankrupted. Racing against the clock, Langdon joins forces with the swan-necked and charming daughter of the murdered docent in a desperate bid to crack the code that will reveal the cult’s secret plan.
Embarking on a frantic hunt, Langdon and his companion follow a 200-year-old trail through Paris’s most exalted statues and historic buildings, pursued by a one-eyed assassin the cult has sent to thwart them. What they discover threatens to expose a conspiracy that goes all the way back to Charles Manson and the very founding of the Manson family.
I will leave you with a couple of tracks that are tenuously related to this post, but not really.
300 Pages – The Balconies
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Fireflies, Reading Books – Sir Salvatore
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Posted in Leftovers Tagged: Dan Brown, mp3, Music, Sir Salvatore, The Balconies, The Lost Symbol
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