Race For the Polaris Music Prize

Nominees for the fourth annual $20,000 Polaris Music Prize were revealed yesterday. The Long List consisting of the cream of the proverbial crop of forty, full-length Canadian records released between June 2008 to May 2009.

The albums selected are judged solely on artistic merit, without regard to genre or record sales, and were selected by the 181 members of the Polaris Music Prize jury. The jury consisting of music journalists, broadcasters and bloggers from across Canada.

I'll reserve judgement and comprehensive assessment at this time considering the teeth gnashing this certainly caused the distinguished jury. Mind you I won't forgive them for neglecting Deep Dark Woods amazing Winter Hours release. Put me on the jury next time and I'll be sure the lobbying is strong.

Next up, the Short List on July 7th with the winner announced at a Gala Event on September 21st.

My brain is swimming... Any predictions from you? Leave them in the comments section.

Arkells Jackson Square
Jill Barber Chances
Beast Beast
Bell Orchestre As Seen Through Windows
Bison BC Quiet Earth
Bruce Peninsula A Mountain Is A Mouth
Coeur de Pirate Coeur de Pirate
Leonard Cohen Live in London
D-Sisive Let The Children Die
Elephant Stone The Seven Seas
Elliott Brood Mountain Meadows
Fucked Up The Chemistry of Common Life
Great Lake Swimmers Lost Channels
Handsome Furs Face Control
Tim Hecker An Imaginary Country
Hey Rosetta! Into Your Lungs
Japandroids Post-Nothing
Junior Boys Begone Dull Care
K’Naan Troubadour
K-OS Yes!
La patère rose La patère rose
Land of Talk Some Are Lakes
Lhasa Lhasa
Malajube Labyrinthes
Metric Fantasies
$100 Forest of Tears
Pink Mountaintops Outside Love
Joel Plaskett Three
Snailhouse Lies on the Prize
Charles Spearin The Happiness Project
Rae Spoon superioryouareinferior
The Stills Oceans Will Rise
Think About Life Family
Timber Timbre Timber Timbre
Chad VanGaalen Soft Airplane
Martha Wainwright I Know You’re Married But I’ve Got Feelings Too
Patrick Watson Wooden Arms
Wolf Parade At Mount Zoomer
Women Women
Woodpigeon Treasury Library Canada C/W Houndstooth Europa

Free Download for the People

With the Murmur reissue still holding fort in my cd player and the Reckoning reissue just around the corner the appearance of this most excellent tribute made my morning a whole lot brighter. Such a pivotal recording in my canon of important releases, R.E.M.’s Automatic for the People is not your typical troubled teenager. It remains a wonder to me and this tribute a more than worthy musical companion. From the great folks at Stereogum I highly recommend the full download here.

The following is an excerpt from an essay written for Stereogum by Matthew Perpetua, founder of Fluxblog and more recently Pop Songs 07, for which the goal is to "write about every R.E.M. song, eventually." Matthew was invited to put R.E.M.'s seminal '92 LP in perspective as the Drive XV tribute was finalized.

Sweetness Followed: 15 Years After Automatic

By Matthew Perpetua, September 2007

Even though we know that Automatic For The People came out fifteen years ago, and we can clearly recall purchasing the neon yellow cassette back in the fall of 1992, it's increasingly difficult to hear the album without imagining that its songs have somehow always existed in the world. Unlike most other celebrated, canonized records from the early '90s, R.E.M.'s eighth album stands separate from the prevailing cultural trends of the era. Whereas most other rock bands at the time either embraced the aggressive, self-destructive angst of grunge or the brainy, aloof irony of indie rock, the Athens quartet presented something far more singular and timeless in the form of a tightly composed, occasionally baroque song cycle obsessed with mortality and the passage of time.

This is not to say that Automatic For The People is a relentless downer. Despite its morbid themes, Automatic isn’t so much a record about death as it is a work of art that acknowledges the fleeting nature of life, and so many of its songs, most notably the hits "Man on the Moon" and "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite," revel in the simple joy of being alive. On the opposite extreme, "Drive," "Monty Got A Raw Deal," and "Sweetness Follows" are stark and somber pieces that express the hollowness of grief and the subtle drag of existential dread with stunning accuracy and clarity. The rest of the songs fall someplace in between -- the sentimental reminiscence of "Nightswimming"; the grim depiction of a bitter break-up in "Star Me Kitten"; the romantic wanderlust of "Find The River" -- and taken as a whole, the record comes across like a panoramic view of life.Needless to say, Automatic For The People has had a profound impact on its audience, particularly those who first heard the record at a young and impressionable age.

Read the whole thing here.

you should see the stereogum.com drive xv player here if you have flash

Not Ffffffade Away

The Who's "My Generation" is one of 25 recordings that's been added to the Library Of Congress' National Recording Registry.

The Who originally recorded "My Generation" for their 1965 album of the same name. Rolling Stone magazine named it the 11th greatest song ever written on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. It has also been inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame.

Also included was Link Wray’s “Rumble” That song, an influential rock instrumental originally released in 1958, "Rumble" was a first to use then unexplored techniques like distortion and feedback. Trivia people note: It remains "the only instrumental single banned from radio airwaves."

Also inducted into the Registry is the ubiquitous Etta James classic “At Last”. One of the singer's most emotive performances, the song was featured in the recent Chess Records biopic Cadillac Records.

(Sung by Beyonce Knowles, the singer was invited to perform the song at Barack Obama's inauguration. However Etta James felt snubbed, and onstage comments left many feeling she was critical of Knowles and the President.)

The recordings have been inducted as part of the National Recording Preservation Board's attempt to select "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" pieces that are at least 10 years old, reports Variety.

"This year's selections lovingly reflect the diversity and humanity of our sound heritage where astonishing discoveries and a vibrant creative spirit seem to appear around every corner," James Billington, the librarian of Congress, said on Tuesday.

The National Recording Registry selects 25 recordings each year that it deems "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." They must be a least 10 years old. There are 275 recordings currently in the registry.

Read the entire list here as well as previous years’ too.

The Rural Alberta Advantage 7" Project

Now this is the kind of project I can get behind. I encourage all Everything is Pop readers to consider backing this. The Rural Alberta Advantage is a talented group of musicians who deserve kudos for exploring innovative ideas like this one. (Via kickstarter.com)

Have a look for yourself.

About this project
Hello. We are the Rural Alberta Advantage (myspace.com/theraa). We're a band out of Canada, and for quite a while, we were happily making music for ourselves and touring our home country once in a while. Then all of a sudden, our record Hometowns caught the attention of some really awesome people, and now we're signed to Saddle Creek Records.

It's an interesting time for us. We've signed to a label, Hometowns comes out July 7th on that label, and every day seems to bring more exciting opportunities that didn't seem possible even a few short months ago. At the same time, the whole journey up to this point has been such a grassroots kind of thing, driven primarily by the attention of online music lovers, that we can't quite believe what's happened, even though the slow build of it has seemed almost natural.

We wanted to find some kind of way to signify the end of the 'organic' way our music has been reaching people (we love Saddle Creek like crazy, but they are a real live label, so we can't exactly do it all by ourselves anymore) and celebrate the awesomeness of all the people that helped us reach this level of success. So, we decided to do one last grand DIY gesture and make a 7" record through Kickstarter. We want to make it special and kind of exclusive, so it will be limited to just 300 copies.

There will be two songs on it, reimagined, remixed versions of "Frank, AB" and "The Deadroads" (original versions of both are on Hometowns). We have had a great time meeting and getting to know the people who have been enjoying and championing our music, and we really want to get this project in the hands of those who have been so influential on our crazy journey.

Money covers cost of pressing the vinyl, the artwork, recording, mixing, and shipping. 15 bucks gets you a copy, and if you want to donate more you'll be receiving special surprises from us. Like a private concert! (maybe???)

Thanks for reading, and we hope you'll enjoy our project.

Cheers,

The RAA



Project location: Toronto, ON

I Love the Smell of Vinyl in the Morning

Wilco, Modest Mouse to Release New Singles for Vinyl Saturday

Feeling a little blue since Record Store Day ended and you weren’t able to secure a copy of that elusive Jay Reatard/ Sonic Youth split single? Regretfully dear reader I can’t help you with that one but there is cause to get you excited about exclusive vinyl records all over again.

Put away the Xanax Pedro, the fine folks behind Record Store Day aren't going to wait another year to celebrate the black circle. Record stores need all the help they can get these days, and some of our favourite bands still have unheard material awaiting anxious ears. This just in music fans - June 20th will mark the first Vinyl Saturday, a new event from the Record Store Day people.

Like Record Store Day, Vinyl Saturday will involve a whole lot of bands releasing exclusive material to independent record stores. This time around, Wilco and Modest Mouse have jumped on board with exclusive releases.

Modest Mouse will release the second in their planned series of singles. According to Pitchfork this one will feature "Autumn Beds" b/w "Whale Song". The first 7" in the series, "Satellite Skin" b/w "Guilty Cocker Spaniels", is out now.

As for Wilco, Each Note Secure reports that they'll offer a 7" of the Wilco (The Album) track "You Never Know", with the unreleased song "Unlikely Japan" on the B-side. ("Unlikely Japan" is an early version of the Sky Blue Sky track "Impossible Germany". )

Other exclusives include a 7" from the forthcoming Scarlett Johansson/Pete Yorn duets album Break Up (with a Yorn solo demo on the b-side) and a limited edition 7" of Green Day's "Know Your Enemy”.

Other artists scheduled to release exclusives include: Al Green, Earth, Patterson Hood, The Woggles, Those Darlins & Wolves in the Throne Room. I will update this list as others are announced.

Vinyl Saturday June 20th, 2009 - Get out there and support your favourite record store and artists!

Updates:

http://www.bust.com/blog/2009/05/28/those-darlins-blublocker-collabo.html

Thanks Jen!

http://twitter.com/recordstoreday
http://recordstoreday.com/Home

New Tales to Tell - Love and Rockets Tribute Due

I’m always surprised by the huge vacuum of obscurity some fantastic bands seem to fall into after productive years and creative notoriety. One of these bands was Bauhaus offshoot, Love and Rockets. Their blend of psychedelia and glam rock proved enormously popular in the late eighties and early nineties only to disappear into that rock n’ roll ether we so often see. Thankfully, Love and Rockets do offer a revered and sizeable musical legacy that continues to influence many of our favourite indie artists to this day.

No surprise then that a tribute album will emerge paying homage to the once mighty purveyors of cool. The Flaming Lips, Frank Black, Maynard James Keenan's Puscifer project, A Place To Bury Strangers and The Dandy Warhols are among those who will appear on New Tales To Tell: A Tribute To Love And Rockets when it's released this summer.

The tribute album will be digitally available through Justice Records on July 28th and will hit stores on Aug. 18th. It will be available with special bonus tracks and on limited edition blue and red vinyl. New Tales To Tell: A Tribute To Love and Rockets was produced by Christopher The Minister and Phil Jaurigui (Concrete Blonde, Audioslave), and its album artwork was done by Shepherd Fairey. (Indeed that is the fellow that created the ubiquitous Obama Hope poster.)

Love And Rockets took their name from a comic book series by Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez when they formed in England in 1985. Daniel Ash (guitar, saxophone, vocals), David J (bass, vocals) and Kevin Haskins (drums, synthesizers) had been in Bauhaus with Peter Murphy until that band splintered in 1983.

Love And Rockets' sound was more pop-based and upbeat than Bauhaus' goth rock, and the band's Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven was released the year they formed. It was followed by six more albums before the band split in 1999. Love And Rockets reformed in 2007 and performed at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and Lollapalooza last year.

Here are the artists and songs on New Tales To Tell: A Tribute To Love And Rockets:

Black Francis - All In My Mind
Puscifer - Holiday On The Moon
War Tapes - Love Me
Blaqk Audio - No New Tale To Tell
Dubfire - I Feel Speed
The Dandy Warhols - Inside The Outside
The Flaming Lips - Kundalini Express
Film School - An American Dream
A Place To Bury Strangers - The Light
Monster Magnet vs. Adrian Young - Mirror People
The Stone Foxes - Fever
Frankenstein 3000 - No Big Deal
VEX - It Could Be Sunshine
Better Than Ezra - So Alive
Chantal Claret vs. Adrian Young - Lazy
Ian Moore - Sweet F.A.
Snowden - No Words No More

http://www.myspace.com/loveandrocketstribute

Um... Er... Er...Um... Okay

I don't even know where to start with this one, but I will be watching wear I sit next time I go to the Elmo.

I Wanna Hold Your Wii-mote

I honestly thought I would find the Rolling Stones milking the multimedia/ gaming bandwagon before the "Fab Four", but wonders do never cease… Wake your parents peeps! Your Mom’s favourite band is going to make her very happy all over again. Yep, the “Beatles – Rock Band” is on the way. As previously bloggedabout, the much anticipated video game created by a partnership between the Beatles' Apple Corps, Ltd. and MTV Games' Harmonix Music Systems, the people behind the "Rock Band" series will be released on September 9th to Xbox, Playstation, and Wii. (That’s 09.09.09, but the one after that would have been cooler. ed)

Yesterday at the E3 Media & Business Summit, (the gigantor gaming conference in Las Vegas), Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon, and Olivia Harrison announced key details of "The Beatles: Rock Band". The first being, that the storyline of the game follows the Beatles' career from 1963 to 1969, from the Cavern Club across the universe to megastardom.

It’s time to ditch the tennis rackets and hairbrush microphones. In this game you get to play a plastic pseudo-guitar as the loveable mop topped quartet. Of course the finely crafted instruments have been precision designed to look like the ones John, Paul, George, and Ringo actually played. It gets even better too; The game will feature three-part harmony, so the whole family can gather round the flat panel to reinterpret “Revolution #9”.

In between songs, you'll get to hear "previously unreleased authentic voice recordings from John, Paul, George and Ringo chatting between takes during studio sessions recorded at Abbey Road more than four decades ago," according to the website press release.

The game will feature a playlist of 45 songs from the Beatles' catalogue, including "I Saw Her Standing There," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "I Feel Fine," "Taxman," "Day Tripper," Back in the USSR," "I Am the Walrus," "Octopus's Garden," "Here Comes the Sun," and "Get Back". At some point in the future, you'll be able to download even more, including Abbey Road in its entirety.

You know though, I’m still going to wait for “The Rolling Stones – Rock Band”. And they had better include a download for A Bigger Bang in its entirety! Ohhhhh and fake plastic cigarettes… Staart me up!

I'm getting excited all ready.

Keep an Eye on the Sky

While there may all ready be a new series of spiffy Big Star reissues on the way, news has emerged that fans of the seminal Memphis outfit can expect a whole lot more Big Star in the late summer. Come September 15th the fine people at Rhino will be releasing a four-disc box set from the group, which gathers up material recorded between 1968 and 1975.

A true treat this time for fans as a number pre-Big Star outfits from members Alex Chilton, Andy Hummel, Jody Stephens and the late Chris Bell will be included in the set, titled Keep an Eye on the Sky. The actual Big Star material, will be made up of rarities and previously unreleased material. Tracklist follows.

To cap it all off, a number of live recordings are featured as well, including unreleased highlights from three sets Big Star performed at Lafayette's Music Room in Memphis in January 1973. It is the best live recording ever of the band recorded shortly after Chris Bell left the band. As well a comprehensive tome will come with the release. Included in that, extensive liner notes, rare and never-before-seen photos, and insightful essays about the cult of Big Star and the band's history.

Now if that were not enough, the Rhino imprint Handmade will reissue a limited edition, expanded reissue of Bell’s classic solo album, I Am the Cosmos (last released via Rykodisc in 1992). The new Cosmos reissue will come as a two-CD collection and feature various outtakes and alternate versions. That one is due September 14th.

Track Listing - Keep an Eye on the Sky

Psychedelic Stuff - Chris Bell
All I See Is You - Icewater
Every Day As We Grow Closer (Original Mix) - Alex Chilton
Try Again (Early Version) - Rock City
The Preacher - Rock City
Feel
The Ballad Of El Goodo - Alternate Mix*
In The Street
Thirteen - Alternate Mix*
Don't Lie To Me
The India Song
When My Baby's Beside Me - Alternate Mix*
My Life Is Right - Alternate Mix*
Give Me Another Chance - Alternate Mix*
Try Again
Gone With The Light* - Chris Bell
Watch The Sunrise
ST 100/6 - Alternate Mix*
In The Street - Second Recorded Version
Feel - Early Mix*
The Ballad Of El Goodo (Alternate Lyrics)
The India Song - Alternate Version*
Country Morn
I Got Kinda Lost - Demo
Motel Blues - Demo*
There Was A Light - Demo*
Life Is White - Demo*
What's Going Ahn - Demo*
O My Soul
Life Is White
Way Out West - Alternate Mix*
What's Going Ahn
You Get What You Deserve - Alternate Mix*
Mod Lang - Alternate Mix
Back Of A Car - Alternate Mix*
Daisy Glaze
She's A Mover
September Gurls
Morpha Too - Alternate Mix*
I'm In Love With A Girl
O My Soul - Alternate Version*
Back Of A Car - Demo
Daisy Glaze - Alternate Take*
She's A Mover - Alternate Version
I Am The Cosmos - Chris Bell
You And Your Sister - Chris Bell
Blue Moon - Demo* - Alex Chilton
Femme Fatale - Demo* - Alex Chilton
Thank You Friends - Demo* - Alex Chilton
You Get What You Deserve - Demo* - Alex Chilton
Lovely Day (aka Stroke It Noel) - Demo - Alex Chilton
Downs - Demo - Alex Chilton
Nightime - Demo* - Alex Chilton
Jesus Christ - Demo* - Alex Chilton
Holocaust - Demo* - Alex Chilton
Take Care - Demo* - Alex Chilton
Big Black Car - Alternate Demo* - Alex Chilton
Manana*
Jesus Christ
Femme Fatale
O, Dana
Kizza Me
You Can't Have Me
Nightime
Dream Lover
Blue Moon
Take Care
Stroke It Noel
For You
Downs
Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
Big Black Car
Holocaust
Kanga Roo
Thank You Friends
Till The End Of The Day
Lovely Day*
Nature Boy
When My Baby's Beside Me*
My Life Is Right*
She's A Mover*
Way Out West*
The Ballad Of El Goodo*
In The Street*
Back Of A Car*
Thirteen*
The India Song*
Try Again*
Watch The Sunrise*
Don't Lie To Me*
Hot Burrito #2*
I Got Kinda Lost*
Baby Strange*
Slut*
There Was A Light*
ST 100/6*
Come On Now*
O My Soul*

*previously unreleased

Life's Little Pleasures

“All good things which exist are the fruits of originality.”

Once again the stars have aligned, the clouds have parted and good things have come to me over the past couple of days. Quite literally too… And as many of you know, anything that touches the “blogger soul” will most likely become post fodder. This is no exception. Allow me to share…

I can say unequivocally that receiving mail is truly one of my life’s pleasures. Mind you, I really don’t get too excited when I receive my Bell telephone bill or that umpteenth credit card offer; it’s the tangible stuff that really gets me going and this week this fellow has been particularly fortunate. (Haaaaaaarrrrr mateys the booty be good!)

(Insert Price is Right showcase music here)


On Wednesday I received a copy of Tessa Brunton’s latest mini comic, In the Tall Grass – Number 04. You may have noted Tessa’s blog is linked on this one and for good reason. The woman is hugely talented and I urge all of you to check out her work. Even better, send a nice email or note, a few shekels her way and she’ll even send you one! Highly recommended, Tessa’s work is absolutely delightful. And won’t you feel special when she is a rich and famous and you can say you knew her when! (Thanks again Tessa!)


A big thank you as well to “Tenacious” Tim Turner and the good people at Grooves Records for their endless promotion of fine, indie music; Regularly hosting in-store performances of some of the best music out there today. Yesterday’s performance of Rock Plaza Central was such a treat for all of us. Hearing about song origins and rock star water bottle opening etiquette is near and dear to this bloggers heart and made for a terrific presentation. A big thank you to the band as well; a nicer bunch of rock star types would be hard to find.


Lastly, but not leastly a big thank you to Barbara Bruederlin, fellow blogger and music journalista extraordinaire; Yesterday my mail box overflowed with her creative greatness. Let’s see, via the Bad Tempered Zombie, I received a copy Lynn Coady’s wonderful story collection Play the Monster Blind as well as copies of the new Jon Rae Fletcher and NQ Arbuckle CD’s. Also included in the package and my personal highlight was the original artwork and card that so wonderfully and literally tied the whole package together. I’m very much looking forward to delving further into this package over the weekend. Good, good stuff, these riches most appreciated.

Friends, it is a privilege to know you and I thank all of you for your generosity.

I leave you with the words of poet and philosopher, one Alexander Chilton.

Thank you, friends
Wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you
I'm so grateful for all the things you helped me do.

All the ladies and gentlemen
Who made this all so probable

Thank you, friends
I rejoice to the skies
Dear ones like you do the best i do
As far as can see my eyes

All the ladies and gentlemen
Who made this all so probable

Without my friends i got chaos
I'm often a bead of light.
Without my friends i'd be swept up high by the wind

I am very grateful to have such talented and creative friends.

Merci.

SW

Glastonbury 2009 Line-up Announced

The Glastonbury Festival, the world's largest green field arts and music festival has returned to its guitar-based roots and chosen Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and Blur as its headline acts this year. Tickets are apparently all ready sold out.

It was last year that hip-hop superstar Jay-Z headlined the festival in an effort to attract a younger crowd. Ticket sales dragged and critics bemoaned the abandonment of festival origins but the rapper was widely judged a success, by mud soaked attendees. (One notable hip-hop exception on the main stage is British rapper Dizzee Rascal, who was topping the UK singles charts on Monday and has rocked British festivals this year.)

This year, old favourites dominate with Tom Jones, Status Quo and Madness playing the main stage and hip-hop artists Q-Tip, Roots Manuva and Black Eyed Peas relegated to the smaller areas. Metric, Fucked Up, Deadmou5 and Peaches will be there representing the Canuck contingent.

Musical diversity appears to be key this year.

"We know that there will be objections to whatever we do but if last year taught us anything, it was that we have to follow our gut instinct," festival organiser Emily Eavis told Britain's Guardian newspaper. "Risks pay off, and featuring Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen in one weekend was a choice ... and we had to take it," the paper quoted her as saying.

Other artists likely to appeal to a younger crowd include indie pop group The Wombats, Animal Collective Australia's Gabriella Cilmi, electro-pop musician Little Boots, and pop artist Lady Gaga.

Pete Doherty will play Glastonbury's second-largest stage, and there is great speculation he will be joined by his former group, the Libertines, after he performed earlier this month with two of its members for the first time since the band split in 2004.

The festival is held on the farm of founder Michael Eavis, who started the event in 1970 when entrance cost one pound and included free milk. This year's almost 200,000 tickets went for 175 pounds each. Free milk however is not included.

Not just about music, the June 24-28 festival also has performing arts, theatre, dance, spiritual-healing, circus events and funny hats. But the best feature of all, the people watching. This one makes Burning Man look like a puppet show!

Check out the full line up here. It’s huge! Anyone up for a roadtrip?

Oh Canada! You Do Make the Best Music

Some exciting news today for fans of Canadian music and blogger types with list making and awards gala following proclivities. The 2009 Polaris Music Prize will be handed out at a Sept. 21st soiree at a Toronto location that has yet to be announced and will be hosted by CBC Radio 3’s Grant Lawrence.

The long list of 40 contending titles will be revealed on June 15th, whilst the short list of 10 final nominees will be announced at a July 7th press conference at Toronto's Drake Hotel. (Curiously, the long list was revealed for the first time, only last year.)

SIRIUS Satellite Radio Canada will be the presenting sponsor for the Polaris Music Prize of $20,000, which will be awarded to the Canadian artist who creates what's judged to be the year's best album. Discs released between June 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009 are eligible for this year's prize. The winner is judged based on artistic merit, not sales.

The long list and short list are determined by a jury of 190 Canadian music journalists, bloggers and broadcasters. Eleven jury members will be selected to vote on the grand jury, which convenes the night of the gala to determine the winner.

Caribou's Andorra won last year's Polaris Music Prize. Final Fantasy's He Poos Clouds won the inaugural prize in 2006, and Patrick Watson's Close To Paradise won in 2007.

So this is your chance to do some lobbying folks… My lobbying efforts would strongly favour Bruce Peninsula's fine recording – A Mountain is a Mouth. What efforts would you champion?





And speaking of fine Canadian music, Rock Plaza Central is in town this Thursday night (May 28th) for a show at Call the Office. Rock Plaza Central have been around for a few years now and has released three full-length CDs, including the critically acclaimed Are We Not Horses, a song cycle “about robotic horses who think they are real horses, and a handful of other things”. A new CD, called ...at the Moment of our Most Needing, or If Only They Could Turn Around, They Would Know They Weren't Alone, is slated for release on May 26th.

Also scheduled on May 28th is a free in-store concert at London’s finest record shop, Grooves Records starting at 4:00 pm and running until 5. Thank you once again Tim Turner for the heads-up on that one. Grooves Records is located at 353 Clarence Street. Please plan to attend! If you happen to be available at that time I would highly recommend your attendance at this event and the performance later that evening at Call the Office. And just to make the evening a can't miss event, local London Album of the Year winners (and personal favourites) Olenka and the Autumn Lovers will be openers at the CTO event. (Come to think of it, add them to the lobbying for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize.)