The Juno Awards: Canadian Music and Who Really Cares?

In a week's time, the ultimate night in Canadian music arrives: The Juno Awards on CTV. Countless stars will gather in one of the country's music hotspots (Vancouver, B.C.) and celebrate the greatest our country has to offer musically...and honestly, who gives a fuck? While I offer my sincere congratulations to those nominated and the eventual winners in all categories, who will really watch the Juno Awards? The hilarious Russell Peters will host and the likes of Nickelback, Sam Roberts, Simple Plan and Sarah McLachlan will all be performers, but will anyone really watch for their 3 minute spots throughout a night where 39 awards are handed out? Who will vote for Fan Choice and cheer when their favourite band wins?

What has the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) really given Canadian fans to cheer about?

The answer: very little. The reality our country faces musically is that we're 33 million people dispersed over the second biggest single country landmass in the world. While we have produced some immensely talented artists and artisans (Paul Anka, The Guess Who, Oscar Peterson, and many MANY others), our ability to maintain a diverse range of fans spanning countless musical genres is virtually impossible. Canadian artists remaining in Canada need to scrape and claw for even a limited amount of radio play and recognition; more frequently, their talent is exported to the United States, where stars are born and roots are forgotten.

Take a band like Nickelback for example: a home-grown western band from Alberta with a standard, radio-friendly sound and some decent song-writing talent to begin with. Here in Canada, it doesn't take long for a recipe like that to be picked up by radio stations all over the country. From "Leader of Men" to "How You Remind Me", the band dominated charts and sold hundreds of thousands of copies of their reasonable music. However, in 2003, with the band's release of The Long Road, Nickelback went in another direction. They dropped their stoic storytelling for cheapened lyrics and bland riffs. A constant joke of the band became to compare how similar their songs were, as How You Remind Me and Someday were virtually identical in craft and chord progression. While it was their third album on Atlantic subsidiary Roadrunner Records, the once intriguing band became oblivious, lost in their own fame and fortune. The followup in 2005, All the Right Reasons, sold more than 7 million copies in the US (to go with 600,000 in Canada) and brought the band to the top of the world in every sense; gotta love corporate irony. Now, while the band makes many stops in their Canadian tours, their Canadian status has been uprooted and long forgotten. American branding takes our music and gives us nothing back.

Then, there's the greenness of our country: we love recycling. We've become so used to the same pretentious tripe-ridden artists playing on our airwaves, we give way and room to each new record they make. The most prime and easily hateable example: Céline Dion. Ms. Dion was born a songstress and will die one, topping charts and raising Canadians to tears (both of joy and agony) with her shrill performances. We all know the Titanic soundtrack, but her more accessible music stems from her blatantly commercial singles. We hear the distinctively française vocals from Dion, but in a manner that apparently someone, somewhere, is able to enjoy. Titanic was in 1997; twelve years later, guess who's nominated for Single of the Year? And Céline's not the only one. Nickelback frequently finds their way there, Bryan Adams is back (with a Greatest Hits album, no less), k.d. lang, Great Big Sea and Simple Plan are all present in the nominees for top performance honours.

Why do we look to the past? There's a limited future. Our most recent nominees: City & Colour, The Lost Fingers, Hedley and Sam Roberts (who is almost excluded for already winning 4 Junos). Dallas Green is the new face of Canadian songwriting. Draped with tattoos and soft vocals, Green geniously transitioned from the hardcore act Alexisonfire to a more predominant position as an emotive singer/songwriter and excellent guitar player. Armed with stimulating lyrics and intriguing performance values (and Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip, for some reason), expect to see a lot of Dallas in the coming years. The Lost Fingers are the most interesting nominee this year (and, if anything, the musicians to watch at this year's Junos). The Quebecois jazz ensemble covered renowned songs of the 80's (the likes of Michael Jackson, AC DC, Wham! and yes, Celine Dion, were all covered) in a distinct Jazz manouche or gypsy jazz styling, popular in Paris from 1930 to 1950. Lost in the 80's has achieved platinum status in Quebec alone and is up for Album of the Year. There is a bright future in these acts, but is it enough to stimulate a Canadian music revolution? I don't think so.

Additionally, bands no longer see the need to stop in Canada. Realistically, we have 7-10 vast metropolitan centers in this country, and usually 3 or 4 of these venues are hit by major tours. Bands seem to travel to Vancouver (as it's near Seattle) and Montreal (as there's a vast music following in that area) and little else. Why just last summer, Radiohead only hit Montreal and Vancouver; an additional date in Toronto was added by popular demand. Trust me, there are a LOT of Radiohead fans in Canada, myself being one, yet the entire nation seems to be overlooked. It's not that we're invisible on the musical world map, there just aren't enough fans in this country to sell out stadiums on a regular basis. As much as this affects American bands, it affects Canadian bands tenfold. If an aspiring Canadian musician wants to achieve fame of any kind (and wants to avoid selling out on Canadian Idol), they move to either Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal and try and gain credibility in a scene where thousands of other musicians wish the same. While many successful artists have spawned from these venues, the roads are arduous and pay is minimal; it's nothing but heart and music.

That being said, some of the best Canadian music is found underground. You can search for some of the surface scratching Canadian content (City & Colour, Feist), go down to about humus level (ARCADE FIRE, Broken Social Scene), find some fossils among the sediment (Black Mountain, The Most Serene Republic) and then the deepest of the deep, the liquid- hot magma, which I currently have no samples for. But, I digress.

That's the problem the Juno awards face: the industry they celebrate needs access. There is something deeply flawed in the Canadian music industry: be it our willingness to easily conform for press coverage, our difficulty stimulating a more accessable underground music scene or simply just a lack of population, it's hard for Canadian records to see the light of day and be broadcast for our home and native land to take in.

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What's more, Canadian performer Matthew Good has publicly criticized the Juno Awards in a recent interview, citing their sheer commercialism and lack of acknowledgement for talented artists not breaking the platinum record barrier. The interview can be seen on Yahoo! Music, HERE!!!!!!!!!

Canadian Post-Rock

One of the most diverse and least known genres on the scene is post-rock: an extreme minimalist approach to modern progressive rock, using alternative musical methods to create unique sounds. Post-rock encorporates elements of many different genres, as far spread as classical, country and metal. Its origins are found in alternative music, most notably in drone bands such as The Velvet Underground, and in krautrock especially. Bands such as shoegaze pioneers My Bloody Valentine, Public Image Ltd, Slint and Talk Talk have all been identified as the originators of the post-rock movement and are considered influential by most bands associated with it.

Oddly enough, some of the greatest post-rock bands known to listeners come from right here in Canada. Montreal has the most diverse post-rock scene in music, with such bands as Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Do Make Say Think, A Silver Mt. Zion and Fly Pan Am, all calling the Paris of Canada home. Each of these bands appear on the Constellation, an influential indie record label that has been noteably anti-establishment for quite some time (on the of GSYBE!'s newest albums, for example, the record lable created a chart linking AOL, Vivendi and Sony-BMG to arms dealers worldwide, thus increasing war with every purchase).

GSYBE! especially has been a founding contributor to the scene in Montreal. The band began with Efrim Menuck, Mauro Pezzente and Mike Moya in 1994 but grew to as many as 20 members as the band began recording, many of whom played live shows and never played again. While the band contains a mostly formulaic rock foundation (guitar, drums, bass), their music is rich with diversity (glockenspiel, French horn, trumpets, a full orchestral string and percussion section, etc). Members of the band are highly anti-political, despise corporate media and rarely give interviews. Members and former members have contributed to albums by A Silver Mt. Zion, Hrsta and Set Fire to Flames; in this sense, they are all considered side projects of GSYBE!.

On the world stage, post-rock has exploded. Bands such as Scotland's Mogwai, Iceland's Sigur Ros, Texas' Explosions in the Sky and Chicago-born Tortoise have all developed post-rock internationally. Sigur Ros especially has put Iceland on the map musically (along with Bjork, of course), developing elaborate soundscapes and enlightening melodies. Conclusively, when it comes to post-rock, you can't get enough minimalism.

Music and Film: Arts in Motion

The 81st Academy Awards got me thinking about how incredible the power of the motion picture has become in the modern era. Since Thomas Edison first invented moving pictures and The Jazz Singer first brought sound to the film screen, the American fascination with the film industry has been incomparable. However, as the power of the motion picture became as dominant as it did, it's beyond a script and cinematography, it's most ideal component was, by far, music.

This got me thinking: how prevalent have the Academy Awards become in reputable music? We hear tunes every day, those magical mosaics of music that resonate in our ears and leave an everlasting impression. But do we know where they came from or what they reall mean?

There was a period in film where the musical was an elaborate part of award-winning cinema. Fantastic musical numbers like "Over the Rainbow", "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", "It's Magic" and "White Christmas" were all part of musicals and all part of the hearts of many. Even songs like Pinochio's "When You Wish Upon a Star", Mary Poppins' "Chim Chim Cher'ee" and "Chatenooga Choo Choo" have been part of Oscar nominees and winners and are unmistakeable to any music fan.

Then, we move into the modern setting: cinema moves into technicolour, special effects are blooming and the Western and War movie genres are blossoming. Yet music is still phenominal, with unbelievably memorable songs like "Moon River", "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" and Dr. Doolittle's "Talk to the Animals". Finally, today, in the CGI-enriched, plot-less action-filled blockbusters, a song is still able to captivate. After a trend of Disney wins (Under the Sea, Beauty and the Beast, A Whole New World, Can You Feel The Love Tonight, Colours of the Wind, You'll Be In My Heart and If I Didn't Have You) in the 1990's and early 2000's, the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Annie Lennox, and the great Bob Dylan have also contributed excellent tracks. Even artists like Eminem and Three 6 Mafia have contributed Oscar-winners that have stuck with fans eternally.

This Oscar season, be it Slumdog or Wall-E, that song will have an unbelievably lasting impression on the public who pay $10 for pure magic.

Featured Song: Köhntarkösz (Part II) by Magma
Christian Vander is an incredibly interesting person. Not only is he the son of a renowned French jazz pianist, he has developed himself into a renowned drummer and songwriter himself. What separates him from general musicians is that he has developed his own language and sings in it as well. This has been the basis of Magma for the past 40 years. Magma is a genre creating, jazz-fusing spectacle of outstanding and bizarre sounds. For most listeners, Vander's music has a WTF factor of about 14, but move past the bizarre storytelling and vocalizations and the presence of incredible jazz, scat vocals and the fusion of good old fashioned rock n' roll are clearly present. Köhntarkösz (Part II) blends drums, organ and piano with ridiculous vocalizations and strings that make 16 minutes of purely bizarre work into something concrete and surprisingly listenable.

Perspectives on Pop Music / Animal Collective (February 10th, 2009)

In today's capitalist, sex-selling, media-driven society, what better way to sell records than pop music? Simplistic, catchy beats power into the skulls of the masses with incessant frequency and attractive stars (with extravagant egos to match) are the icons that deliver it. Today, I delve into the enigma of modern pop music: the subliminal horrors that entices the human race, the modern icons that put sexbombs of the past to shame and what exactly attracts us to this whole mess. Nothing moves product better than a healthy dose of "I'm better than you," does it?

What has been defined as pop throughout the ages has changed by generation. Between big band, country, the dawn of mainstream rock (from Chuck Berry to Led Zeppelin), new wave, grunge and Brit pop, radio play has recorded the evolution of music before our very eyes. However, to truly grasp the concept of modern pop, I believe we have to go back to the dawn of the boy band: The Jackson Five. Nothing against Michael Jackson, his music was captivating and incredible even before he dominated the charts solo, but the Jackson Five was the start of an exponential increase in materialistic music. All the chart-topping records, their expansion and materialism among the African-American community, they even had their own TV show! All in all, it was the dawn of the boy band as we know it.

From here, where else could we move but to New Kids on the Block? Maurice Starr, accredited with the dawn of the boy band era in pop music, put together catchy, memorable lyrics with supposed heart throb guys (some of whom went on to display Janet Jackson's breast, some of whom went gay, but that's not the point here) and a pretentious approach to seemingly ordinary music. Bands like N'SYNC, the Backstreet Boys, Westlife and O-Town became overnight sensations and sold millions of records.

At the same time, however, another trend started: the pop starlet. While every era of music has had sex appeal, never has the appeal stemmed from such a young age. Artists like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera took control of the scene with simple songs and schoolgirl outfits. Aguilera even took it a step further, making "whore" seem like an acceptable term (ironically, the controversial Dirty and the powerful ballad Beautiful were both on the same album). This could only lead to the inevitable: pop dominance of modern music. Nu-metal bands like POD and Linkin Park, along with pop punk bands like blink-182, Green Day and The Offspring, all received airplay, but they were nothing compared to the colossus that was pop.

Today, the trends continue. While bands like Nickelback are challenging the pop stereotype and soft rock like Coldplay and The Fray continue to surprise (mostly through Grey's Anatomy), powerful stars like Rihanna, Beyoncé, Lady GaGa and various others overpower us with their infectious beats and sex appeal. However, there is also the emergence of the anti-star, beginning with Pink and progressing through Katy Perry and Lily Allen; the beats remain incessant but their situation is acknowledged and enlightened through mockery and some genuinely fascinating influences.

Additionally, between 2005 and 2009, the evolution of "Disney pop" has become apparent in the masses. Incessant tripe such as the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus hit the masses early with family-friendly pop music that parents can appreciate and are more than happy to convert into a Hannah Montana life. If there were anything beyond the ownership of the Disney corporation driving this music, there may be a shred of appreciation, however, this is corporate music at its most refined, targeting those easiest to target. I'll have none of it.

So why do we do it? What inside us sells our soul to the contempt-driven mess that is pop music? Most likely, the biggest culprit is access. The apathy towards music in society is apparent; no one wants to browse the Internet or go to a record store and take a chance on music anymore. We're perfectly content with the mix of incessant beats that blare from the radio into our waiting skulls, who are eager to absorb and retain those melodies. And what receives radio play? The music that generates the most revenue. Today, big budget bands only get bigger while those struggling to make it scratch and claw for even a single time slot; some make it, many don't. Ironically, most of these bands have a vast sense of what music really is, whereas those on the radio barely have a clue.

And so I sit, listening to bands no one's ever heard of in my basement, wondering where the world's music is? We all have different tastes and different perspectives, and I can appreciate all of them, but what perspective can the world have on its melodies when corporate America chooses them for it? The answer, it seems, is sung to a different tune.

Featured Song: "My Girls" by Animal Collective

Off their new spin, Merriweather Post Pavillion, Animal Collective sound more like an actual band rather than an experimental freakshow (experimental freakshow in the best, most critically-acclaimed way). My Girls, the second track, sounds the most like a single I've heard from the band, with an intreguing beat that sounds almost other-worldly over a bizarre, familial set of lyrics. I can't get it out of my head.

Featured Album: "Merriweather Post Pavillion" by Animal Collective

Already dubbed as the best album of 2009 (we're in February, for those who keep track), Animal Collective throws us something the experimental band from Baltimore has never done before: a completely listenable album. Fusing somewhere in between experimental, psychedelic and noise rock, the niche they have carved on critics' Top 10 lists over the past 5 years has been unmistakeable. Yet, where Allmusic and Pitchfork have fallen in love with them, the listeners haven't (I'm still trying to figure out 2004's Sung Tongs to this day) . But fear Animal Collective no more music lovers, they've finally perfected their craft. Between them and TV on the Radio this year, experimental noise rock has grown leaps and bounds in the listenability department.

As for the music itself, organized chaos is still the best way to describe it. Primarily, overlapping electronic and instrumental samples hit the listener in every direction, but fuse together with Avey Tare's unique vocalization. Look to songs like My Girls, Summertime Clothes and Lion in a Coma for the album's most hook-ridden tracks; and to In the Flowers, Daily Routine and Taste for a more experimental brand. My personal favourite is the spacey soundscape of Bluish, with My Girls coming in at a close second. All in all, if you can appreciate this genre of music, or even if you can't, this is an excellent place to look for something new.

Overall: 9/10

Sound: 10
Quality: 9
Lyrics: 8
Impression: 8
Production: 10
Tilt: 9

With a Buzz in Our Ears, We Play Endlessly (January 31st, 2009)

First official post. The new writing layout is going to be more expansive and less constrained to one particular artist. Every article will include a specific song that has recently caught my attention and a brief album review in the same rating system as my previous blog. However, in the Tilt column, the album's overall score on Metacritic.com will determine the point value. Additionally, the opening paragraph will discuss musical perceptions throughout the week, segments on music history or bizarre incidences in the music world (today, however, it will simply entail the details for future entries). Articles will be published as often as possible, most likely in a weekly fashion. For now, here are the first entries:

Featured Song: Inní mér Syngur Vitleysingur by Sigur Ros

Hauntingly uplifting, undeniably a song that will be stuck in your head for days. The Icelandic post-rock legends strike an unfamiliar chord with this song (off their new record, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust), moving towards an obtuse, direct orchestral sound rather than their traditional minimalism. It begins with what sounds like a 40's broadcast of horn music and moves directly into a powerful xylophone/strings combination that is quickly joined by higher brass. Eventually the song levels out at the middle, but gradually begins to build. A repetitive chorus in Icelandic guides you as progressively more and more instruments join the fold. Eventually the song explodes into a powerful, almost violent, climax that leaves the listener beyond satisfied and wanting more. All in all, fantastic song.

New Release: Slumdog Millionaire: Official Soundtrack to the Motion Picture.

Released: December 21, 2008
Every once in a while, a feel-good story takes your breath away and leaves you feeling nothing but joy. This year, that story is Slumdog Millionaire. Slumdog tells the tale of a boy from the streets of India who, through a series of remarkable incidents, wins 20 million rupees on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Much like the film, the soundtrack garners vast attention and high praise from critics. A.R. Rahman's score makes the slums outside Mumbai seem as wonderous as they are dangerous, combining traditional eastern instruments with modern, upbeat techno. Sri Lankan electronic superstar M.I.A. provides three tracks to the film, including her world famous Paper Planes and O...Saya, a powerful track that sets the mood early and never lets go. All in all, much like its Best Picture-nominated accompanying film, the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire was equally a breathtaking spectacle.

Overall: 8.5/10

Sound: 9
Quality: 8
Lyrics: 8
Impression: 10
Production: 8
Tilt: 8

The irony of it all is that it's all about words: words we encounter, words we ignore and words we think. Every word, be it the undeniable truth or a complete work of fiction, stems from some unknown meaning. Intentionality, they call it: our human ability to attach the world around us to usually innate perceptions. It's because the meaning needs to exist. Without it, what would we be? Free floating cosmozoan entities entities no better than the protists that provide for us?

It is in this intentional human quality that I classify music. Every human being, be it directly or indirectly, possesses an attachment to the melodies that surround them. Usually we see music as something performed or perpetrated by those who possess skills superior to our own but really, what it all boils down to is a series of sonic vibrations. The only thing separating a siren blast and Beethoven's Ninth is interpretation and how well notes dwell in connection to one another.

Imagine you are downtown standing in the middle of a crowded street. It is a blustery day and you can feel the wind pulsing against your face and through your hair. All around you are noises: people talking on cell phones and to each other, taxis honking one after another in gridlock, squeaking doors, tapping feet, birds cawing and brakes squealing. It is overwhelming to think about in one sitting, processing each sound and pitch and determining their origin. Now imagine you are sitting in an auditorium. An outstanding array of classical musicians surround you, holding instruments of every kind. They begin to play and you can almost catch the melodies with your fingertips in synesthetic bliss. Every note is perfect, every tone sublime. The flutes squeak, the drums tap, the clarinets caw, the low brass honks and the strings seem to talk to you; everything is striking.

Every adjective I just used to describe the noises were the same. So what's the difference? Why can't that city block expel the same sublime spectacle as the concert hall? That's what Lyricless is all about: analyzing music and determining what music is really about for people. This is a blog for the people whose best friend hates the music you absolutely love (which, theoretically, is everyone), for those looking for interesting perspectives on music past and present or even just for people looking for new music to listen to. No musical subject is taboo here and if there is something you desire I write about, never hesitate to ask.

The world should be a place united by music. While we don't play the same tune, we all have one to call our very own.