Great Lake Swimmers

2010 Summer Special

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It’s this time of year where I sporadically post entries during the Summer. I had the opportunity to go for more Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest dates compared to last year. I was able to do audio interviews with several artists. It will be provided here. Overall, I was excited to see some of the performing acts. Worse part was enduring the heat.

The Ottawa Folk Festival Edition (Posted on August 18, 2010)

You can listen to the August 18th edition of the radio show. Aside from the top 10 countdown and Arcade Fire songs, there were interviews from Rolf Klausener of The Acorn, Aidan Knight, Jill Zmud, & Jim Bryson.
Press play to listen.

Apparently, I am taking part in this blog rally challenge, check the blog link out by clicking here. If you like my entry on Ottawa Bluesfest or the radio show, just comment away. Finished on July 26th.

Don’t forget to check out http://wild5countdownckcu.wordpress.com/ as it will be the only blog to be updated weekly during the Summer. I have been mentioning Arcade Fire over on the other blog.

Cameo In Audio Form on Other Radio Shows

Posted: August 4, 2010
There are two radio shows where I made a voice cameo appearance.
The New Midnight Jamz on July 31, 2010 – press play to listen.

The Drunken Master Revue on August 4, 2010 – press play to listen.

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Fly Me To Polaris, It’s About The Polaris Music Prize – S05E04

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Polaris List, Some of It. Missing Two.
The “Fly Me To Polaris” name is based on a 1999 Hong Kong movie. Ok, Monday is the day we’re waiting for and it’s the 2009 edition of the Polaris Music Prize Gala. The photo from above, let’s say that I am missing two of the nominees. It’s K’Naan and F**ked Up. That’s right, one of the short nominees will be chosen to win the $20,000 prize. Here’s the 10 nominees listed;
1. Elliott Brood – Mountain Meadows
2. F**ked Up – The Chemistry of Common Life
3. Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels
4. Hey Rosetta! – Into Your Lungs
5. K’Naan – Troubadour
6. Malajube – Labyrithes
7. Metric – Fantasies
8. Joel Plaskett – Three
9. Chad VanGaalen – Soft Airplane
10. Patrick Watson – Wooden Arms

There has been some criticism over the short list because it seemed like the jury has been lazy in choosing the top Canadian album of 2008-2009. Basically, returning nominees like Patrick Watson, Chad VanGaalen, and Joel Plaskett are back at it. Also, there’s no female artists (that’s if you include Emily Haines in Metric) in this year’s list.
As much as I like several songs from Metric’s Fantasies, I felt that it’s too mainstream to be on the short list. Although, how could I forget about “In Our Bedroom After The War” by Stars being on the short list for the 2008 edition of the Polaris Music Prize.
The 2009 edition of the Polaris Music Prize still have diverse genres in the running. There’s hardcore punk to Hip-Hop to the standard Pop/Rock and Folk. Aside from the criticism, it will be still exciting to finding out who will win.

I had the opportunity to co-host again on Kristal’s Method at CKCU-FM because we were playing the short list nominees for the Polaris Music Prize. We discussed about what we liked or not liked on the short list. I mentioned on-air my pick to win The Polaris Music Prize. I won’t write it on here because I would want you to listen to it. It seems more like keeping in suspense but I could be wrong on my predicted pick. To whoever wins, congratulations on being the 2009 Polaris winner.

You can listen again or if you missed out by pressing play;

Note: A Joel Plaskett song was ended abruptly and Metric’s Collect Call was skipped.

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