CBC Radio 3 Blog - The 2007 Bucky Awards

01

excited

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by suckamc

so excited, can't wait!

Martin

02

Re: The 2007 Bucky Awards

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by tb3

Both Tegan and Basia were SADLY missing from Sexiest Canadian Musician category. Not Sara though…

While I kid all 3 should have been in that category, without a doubt! And, the song Back in Your Head has an absolutely, incredibly catchy hook that has been lodged deep in my cortex since seeing the video on R3TV!

03

sweatin' to the indies

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by isaacq

sweet, this is gonna be great!

grant, i think "sweatin' to the indies" should be spun off into its own podcast. the idea of a weekly workout-ready mix of awesome canadian indie tunes is too good to resist, no?

if radio3 takes my idea and starts a weekly "sweatin'" podcast, not only will they give us more of the great tunes we want, but they'll be encouraging physical fitness and particip-action by providing the soundtrack for an active lifestyle!

TAKE THAT, HAL JOHNSON AND JOANNE MCLEOD!!

what say you?

04

Tegan & Sara not nominated?! = TRAVESTSY!!!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Raji Sohal

Yes, this must be an incident of sabotage. Sara's haircut makes her so hot that she's started an epidemic of similarly chopped crowns in Montreal... everyone under the age of 20, girls and boys alike, want the same cut, and want to be just as hot as Sara Quinn. Sabotage. Controversy. The BUCKY never disappoint.

05

Dead Horse Beating

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by cheruboo

Yes it was pretty bad that Tegan and Sara werent nominated. However I'm a bigger fan of Tegan than Sara (she's too thin for my taste)

06

Travesty? I think not.

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Invincible

It's a bit odd that they weren't nominated for anything, especially with a new album out this year, but they would have stolen the show.
That's not fair, is it?

07

Re: The 2007 Bucky Awards

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by diyanuh

I am actually too excited for this. Straight-jacket Valley.

08

Re: The 2007 Bucky Awards

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by ob1knob

'The Con' should have been nominated for 'Song Most Likely to be a Future Classic'. However, I'm not sure if that would have prevented me from daily voting for Intervention--such a powerful track.

09

Re: The 2007 Bucky Awards

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by tanjatiziana

a travesty.

10

why why why

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by prolepessa

is traitor of the heart playing continuously? It's enough to make me yearn for the good old random play days on R3.

11

the time has come

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by UKCdn

Can't wait to see how many I chose actually win. I think next year we've got to have a listener pool going on.

12

Go Basia

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by rdickie

I have to agree with TB3.. Basia is pure eye candy.

13

LOL HAHAHAHAHA

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by WildWorks

I was laughing hearing the intro of the Bucky Awards done by Amanda Putz. :)

14

MTV/MMizing

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by trepid

Is it just me, or is the triviality of the Bucky's not seem like blatant MTVizing of a significant music community?

I don't know...the whole thing just seems like a joke to me, and to have it on the front page of the CBC today? I'm just left shaking my head...

15

a celebration!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Grant Lawrence

Hey Trepid... I don't understand your comments... the reason the Buckys exist is that we felt there are so many amazing artists in Canada who are never recognized or rewarded for their work... and that's why we do it!

All of these Bucky Awards, whether they are cheeky or not, come from a genuine passion and love for the music, and our desire to shine a light on it.

16

The Votes?

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Chris Kelly

Trepid are you calling the votes of thousands of Radio 3 users like yourself trivial?

Is trying to support your favorite artist so they get an award and acknowledgment for a good year a joke?

17

maybe i just don't get the joke

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by trepid

I understand the you folks are firmly committed to supporting the music, and I understand that the Bucky's are a lot of fun for you.

I just feel like with categories like "Most Unpronounceable Name" or "Musician Most Likely to have a Future Career in Television", it's difficult to vote to "support your favorite artist".

As a fun activity on the radio3 site, I guess it's just fine. It's just a little disheartening to imagine new listeners clicking through from the cbc.ca site to see awards like that. It just seems like it's too easy for people to dismiss the wonderful things that are going on when at a glance it appears that things like "best falsetto" are what we're busy awarding.

And I understand it's cheeky, I'm just a little disappointed that it's the exposure that you're getting notice for on the main site, I suppose.

18

c'mon buck up !

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by BipsyJen

I support the bucky's!

19

sorry

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by trepid

I feel like I'm raining on the parade. Ignore my rantings.

I'll discuss later at a more appropriate time. I didn't want to upset people. I'm probably alone on this one.

20

no problem here!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by JMSP

Hey Trepid your comment is tepid!

I think the Buckies are a wonderful thing for all these small bands. What else whould Said the Whale get nominated for at this stage of their career?

The show sounds fantastic but my only two questions are this

Do the winners know before hand that they have won?

I can't listen to the whole show so will this be archived or available as a podcast?

happy buckies everybody!

JM
Saltspring Island, BC

21

Re: The 2007 Bucky Awards

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by BipsyJen

the fact that the awards are so random and humorous, shows that it is nothing like MTV Music Awards....

22

Re: The 2007 Bucky Awards

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by BigRockFan

I think Radio 3 in general is the anti-MTV/MuchMusic music source, and I think the Bucky’s are fun and bring some extra attention to good Canadian artists, and imo that’s a good thing.

23

... the fact that Yiddish made it onto the Webcast ...

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Toque

as in,

"Oy, vat a tuchus on dat goil!"

24

Thank You!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Roblin25

I can’t believe that someone would say the Bucky’s were trivial! I like independent music as much as anyone else, and yes because it is independent we expect it to stray away from what most people consider as mainstream music, but does this mean that people should not be recognized for the hard work they have put into their music? I should hope not, as a musician and a lover of Canadian music, I can honestly say the Bucky’s are a great creation because it gives a lot of needed public attention to bands that deserve it but otherwise wouldn’t get it! I’d like to thank everybody at CBC radio3 for putting on the Bucky’s and sharing wonderful Canadian music with everyone...

25

or ...

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Toque

as in

"don't be a pain in the tuchus"

26

and WE get to CHOOSE

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by JMSP

And Tepid, we get to choose the winners of the awards, which is a lot more audience-friendly than one or two "people's choice" awards. This whole show is a people's choice awards and I don't think Grant makes that clear enough.

This is as much an audience show than anything r3 ever does.

27

Podcast @ 3pm PST

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Chris Kelly

hey podcast listeners,

A podcast version of this show will be available at 3pm PST after the live show is finished.

28

Glad the podcast will be up soon.

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Joel R

Right on chris! I can only catch the first hour of the buckys because im at work, it will be great to catch the rest at home tonight.

29

Re: The 2007 Bucky Awards

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by BigRockFan

Trepid – I think Grant is going to have a year end top whatever list as well. That will be more like a critics list of the top songs of 007. This is a fun list, a different kind of list.

30

Supporting your artist

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by rdickie

If you really want to "support" your artist then maybe a "best of 2007" is a better place.

The bucky's are fun and try to show the massive diversity in new canadian music.

A viewers choice "best of ..." would be cool. I personally love the all request podcasts like the canada day special or even the various r3-30 fan picks.

31

Bucky's are as valid as the music it draws attention to

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by tb3

Hey Trepid don't feel bad for having an opinion or being questioned about it… It's all part of our passion and reason for being here.

If you feel a way, you've got nothing to gain but respect for elaborating your thoughts in a respectful manner and then considering the suggestions of others as equally valid. Opinions are like tuchus' (or is it Tuchai?)… in that everyone has one.

I disagree that the titles of the awards belittle what is going on here. Or MTVizing as you pondered – I think the idea here is giving the opportunity for bands that not necessarily getting due in the mainstream sense, with awards that in jest, yes, recognize bands for their contribution to the year. In the spirit of never taking themselves too seriously, CBC Radio3's Bucky's does just that.

Look at it this way… Feist has the 4 Grammy noms, but would the Wet Secrets reach some tertiary ears had their not been a category for the best song name?

Truth is, we don't actually need winners of the awards, do we? Just a reason to get together to celebrate another fantastic year in Canadian music, while drawing attention to that, brought to you, by R3… the beacon for all of this.

But by all means, as a fellow R3 'user' (add 'ab' in the front some times) don't ever feel bad for giving it some thought and asking a question.

32

I prefer tuchuses

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Toque

and how!

33

bullshit party

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by gentlemanjim23

34

That would be it...

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Craig Norris

Nothing would make us more "mainstream" than if we were to stifle and immediately dismiss any criticism,

But let's just enjoy The Buckys. I'm loving them.

35

Kudos to all the awesome winners...especially those from NS!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by MusicNSLaura

We're listening to the awards show from the Music Nova Scotia office -- sounds great. Grant, you look amazing in lamay.

36

context

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by trepid

Sorry, I'm not at all saying that radio 3 is going mainstream. What I'm saying is that the awards are "trivial" as in the literal definition "Something of small importance, but possibly entertaining."

My point is that in the context of radio 3 as it's own little world, the Bucky's just fine. They're a set of cheeky awards that people can all feel part of.

However, when they're hyped and promoted on the CBC main site as a legitimate awards show, it creates the appearance that these are the best of Canadian independent music, when in reality, it's fairly arbitrary selections. It's hyping the event into what seems like a big deal that feels contrary to the best interests of the community.

Certainly, we can all vote on the categories, but to me, it's choosing from a selection of 5 artists that the community didn't select.

I'm more arguing about the context of the awards than the awards themselves. As entertainment within the radio3 community, they're certainly valid. I'm just pointing out what it looks like from the outside.

37

the joel plaskett falsetto award

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by winky

seeing as how Joel is the king of the falsetto & that he will probably never release an album without it maybe the award should be named after him for the years to come.

otherwise he'll never be beaten.

i thought this was one of the categories where the award could have gone to any nominee & i wouldn't have been disappointed. but predictably the king reigns.

38

With respect

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Paolo Pietropaolo

With respect to all opinions, as tb3 outlined above , Trepid, I have to beg to differ. I think that in all their cheekiness, and in all their seriousness, in all their fun and in all their festiveness, the Buckys are a legitimate awards show.
And I daresay that all other legit award shows probably give way less of a chance to the community to participate than the Buckys do.
But, as producer of the Buckys, I'm probably biased - so I'll ask all of you to agree with me, or correct me if I'm wrong.

39

Trepid - I think you have a point.

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by BigRockFan

I think it would be good to pump up a more serious most critically acclaimed music of 007 list as well as the Bucky Awards. But as you mentioned above, discussing this in the middle of the Bucky Awards may not be the best time. Maybe Grant can have this as a discussion question on his show. There’s something particularly Canadian about the Buckys, though, don’t you think? We have bands named The Barenaked Ladies, The Tragically Hip, The New Pornographers, Young and Sexy … We’re a tongue in cheek nation, for whatever reason, and a tongue in cheek awards show seems very Canadian to me.

40

My .02

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Justinsb

You know good music is kinda like sex, if it's not fun you aren't doing it properly. One of the things that I like about indie music, particularly Canadian indie music is that it's fun and while people get all serious and discussion can get heated about whether one artist is better than another, or one album is better than another the Buckys, cheeky or not, are fun and a good reminder to everyone of what it's supposed to be about.

41

Finally the Bucky Awards!!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by CuriousKelly

This is my first time listening to the award show, great show - awesome job Grant!!

42

Emily Haines??

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Yellow Paper

Noooo!
I was banking on Cameromance. This hurts. Fetal position time.

43

Woo

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Shapes And Shadows

It's 10pm right here (listening from my laptop in Dublin, Ireland)...
These awards are brilliant.
I discover so many new bands from CBC Radio 3.

:)

44

This is driving me nuts!!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by TKO75

I am at work, and I have to keep working, so I a missing the whole damn show! Thank god for a podcast (is it going to be for the whole three hours?).

I am enjoying the interactive awards show. It may be trivial, but I do feel like I am part of the fun, which is part of the R-3 fun.

45

It will be a tight hour...and seven minutes.

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Chris Kelly

Hey Listeners,

The podcast version will be a tightly edited version of this show with the highlights.

46

Gaps

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by darbarspecial

I too have missed some of the show. I am at work trying to upload some large files and keep the R3 stream going. We need higher upload speed here.

47

Re: The 2007 Bucky Awards

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Bordeaux3

Enter Comment Here:

48

Tightly edited

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Shapes And Shadows

How do you edit this into highlights? The entire awards have been a highlight...

Bah dum.

49

Beg to differ, Mr Lawrence

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Bordeaux3

Craig Norris is obviously a comedic genius. Best pairing of rabies animal and transportation minister... brilliant!

Grant, I've been a fan ever since you rather openly made fun of 'Painted Ladies' in front of Ian Thomas on 'The National Playlist' (rip). That, yes, also brilliant.

But transportation ministers? TRUE brilliance.

50

TOTALLY old and awesome!!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by bassish

great!!!!!!!!!! addition!!!!!!!!!!!! to the buck awards!!!!!!!!!!!

51

y not

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by bassish

oops

52

Painted ladies and a bottle of wine MAAAAMAAAAA!!!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Grant Lawrence

Forgot about that... thanks for the memories, Bordeaux3!

And hey the banter btwn Craig and I is tongue and cheek! As in my togue in his cheek.

53

Thanks Grant!!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Justinsb

I had no idea that was coming - love the timing though. Bob Wiseman is my daughters current piano teacher.

54

Best Fan

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Shapes And Shadows

Can I get an honorary award for being Irish & listening from Dublin right now?

55

Irish award...

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Grant Lawrence

What would that one be called?

56

Irish Award

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Shapes And Shadows

It's got to be called Best Wannabe Canadian Award surely?

57

Podcast Theme?

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by TKO75

This is totally off topic, but hearing the “Ballad of Wendel Clark" made me think of an interesting podcast theme. What about unofficial Canadian anthems? Basically, this would include songs that a quintessentially Canadian, and whose appeal is broadly Canadian. Obviously The Rheostatics exemplify this, but there has to be others? Suggestions?

58

Congrats THT!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Carmelo Galati

Its only natural that this song... and this band... be a winner for best road trip song!

59

Canadian ballads

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Carmelo Galati

Not sure exactly which song, but there must be something in there from Joel Plaskett...

60

...and thank you for the music!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Bordeaux3

Hmm, that sounds, er, rather trite and perky.

Awesome awards show, though. Question: That award-announcing clip you're using (the buhn-ba-buhn-buhn thing)... is that just a random piece of show-intro music from the CBC library, or part of an actual song? It's very good, anyway. Kudos to Chris Kelly.

61

Two Hours Traffic

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Grant Lawrence

I'm not allowed to say this but I am also really glad Two Hours Traffic won that award... their "Little Jabs" CD was in my car stereo all summer long. It's awesome. But did Andy seem that enthused? Maybe he was nervous?

62

Interesting timbit: The Got to Get Got

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by marymarie

I dont know the full-meal-deal but I believe that The Got to Get Got is potentially the only band to actually exist on both side's of the country at the same time... there is an east coast and a west coast Got to Get Got...on one of their albums/eps/recordings (by word of mouth-didn't actually research it myself ) that there are two versions of each song, a west and an east coast...anywho, I think its a cool little timbit of musical trivia :)
Can you use your musical genius to confirm/deny? :P

63

...and thank you for the music!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Bordeaux3

Hmm, that sounds, er, rather trite and perky.

Awesome awards show, though. Question: That award-announcing clip you're using (the buhn-ba-buhn-buhn thing)... is that just a random piece of show-intro music from the CBC library, or part of an actual song? It's very good, anyway. Kudos to Chris Kelly.

64

...and thank you for the music!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Bordeaux3

Hmm, that sounds, er, rather trite and perky.

Awesome awards show, though. Question: That award-announcing clip you're using (the buhn-ba-buhn-buhn thing)... is that just a random piece of show-intro music from the CBC library, or part of an actual song? It's very good, anyway. Kudos to Chris Kelly.

65

drumroll please!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by darbarspecial

What will it be???!!!

66

...

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Shapes And Shadows

Got to be New Pornographers.

67

1 2 3 4

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Shapes And Shadows

Is already a classic over here.
Gets played on day-time radio all of the time.

68

Fantastic show!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Carmelo Galati

Great job Grant & the team! Glad I was able to listen live!

69

Best Bucky's Ever!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by canadianveggie

Wicked show. Congrats to all the winners. There some amazing sons in that set.

70

Bucky's

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by TKO75

Great Show. Thank you everyone!

71

Congrats...

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Shapes And Shadows

Brilliant show.

72

Buckys Theme Music

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Grant Lawrence

That's the AC Newman song "The Town Halo", also included on Sweatin To The Indies... I love it when a rock riff is created on an unlikely instrument, in this case the cello!!

73

Kudos

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Steve Pratt

Just wanted to let everyone know that producer Paolo Pietropaolo is the ringleader / mastermind behind the Bucky's production. Thanks also to Grant for a great job hosting, Chris Kelly for all the audio podcast production, Jordan Kawchuk for the video Bucky's, the ENTIRE web team (John, Ahmed, Nicole, Scott, Rahim, MAK, & Phil) for the voting, streaming, blogging, and graphics, and Jen Van Evra for the promotion. Congrats on a great Buckys! Woot!

74

Way to go Double-P!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Putzy

Paolo, the show's production was great! Grant , Chris & everyone else: excellence, as per uge.

Couldn't tear myself away from the radio to come into work this afternoon...

75

Thanks Putzy!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by Paolo Pietropaolo

Thanks also to Amanda for such excellent work on the PA for the Buckys, and to Mark Macarthur for a whole lot of help on the back end. And of course to Pedro and Craig for such a fine job on the honourary Buckys out there on Front St. Get inside and warm up guys!

76

two grateful?

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by andy macd

hey grant

andy from THT here. if i sounded less than enthused it's only because in your presence i can't quite catch my breath. we're very honoured. great job with the show fellas.

77

Wonderful show

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by tb3

Steve, I am not sure what you are putting in the water cooler there, but keep it up. It just keeps gettin better and better!

I can hardly imagine where you'll take us to, in the coming year. But I am excited if the improvements this year are any indication.

To the Radio3… every last one of you:
Thanks for a fantastic year! Your passion and creativity has invigorated throngs of listeners to get every bit as passionate as you are for great Canadian indie music. Have a wonderfully Merry (insert your festive holiday here)! You've earned it!

To Brent Lawrence… sorry dude, but it's just gotten better since you were 'transferred'.

78

I concur with tb3!

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by TheRadioHead

I'm so glad to have been able to catch the show on Sirius.

I cannot how much I appreciate this community of like minded Canadian music lovers.

79

Say

Posted on Dec 19, 2007 by TheRadioHead

That is 'say, I cannot say how much"

too many shooters.

80

Back to trepid’s point

Posted on Dec 20, 2007 by BigRockFan

Is this where we should pick up trepid’s concern from above? Unless someone has another suggestion I’ll start it off here. I like the Bucky’s as a fun celebration of the year in Canadian indie music and I wouldn’t want to change them, and I’m seeing them more and more as distinctively Canadian too, (although I do wonder if you’re being a bit cruel to Scotty, but that’s anther issue), but I think I know where trepid is coming from with his complaint, and I think I said something very similar to that last year.

I won’t speak for trepid now but last year at about this time I was frustrated by the lack of recognition within Canada of the great music and the cultural explosion that’s been taking place here in recent years, and I still am to a significant degree. We have some of the top indie artists in the world right now and yet some of these artists who are being lauded all over the world are being largely ignored by our own main stream media and award shows. The Polaris Prize seemed to offer some hope, but when probably the most critically acclaimed Canadian artist of 2006 in any genre, an artist who is an indie artist, was not even nominated for the 2006 award then its credibility went straight to zero, and there were other big issues with the 2006 shortlist and winning act as well. Grant hosted it this year so maybe they’ve cleaned house and are trying to salvage the credibly of the award, but after what happened in 2006 it will be an uphill battle for sure.

Canada sorely needs a credible awards show or list show that showcases the most critically acclaimed Canadian artists. Right now I don’t think anything like this exists anywhere in Canada, at least nothing that has any significant profile. Grant does a year end best-of show and I’d like to see that pumped up in terms of PR and I’d like to see it be a list of the most critically acclaimed Canadian indie bands of the year, something like our own Pazz & Jop, critics’ picks list. I don’t really care about whether the show itself has a serious tone (in fact I’d rather that it didn’t), or whether Arcade Fire comes in first or third, or other minor issues like that, but such a list should include and showcase Arcade Fire, Besnard Lakes, Feist, Caribou, The Weakerthans, Sunset Rubdown, The New Pornographers, etc.. It should include and honour the top critically acclaimed Canadian indie bands of the year, because right now there are a lot of people in Canada and around the world hearing about this wave of great Canadian music and they have no Canadian source to go to to find out who the artists being referred to are.

(I’ll repost this somewhere else if there is a better place for this discussion.)

81

who?

Posted on Dec 20, 2007 by Grant Lawrence

BigRockFan, you say that Polaris lost all credibility by not nominating a certain artist in 2006, but you don't say who that artist is!

82

As good a spot as any…

Posted on Dec 20, 2007 by tb3

BigRockFan,
I don't know that I agree we need to make an awards ceremony just to recognize these artists. I liken it to making an awards ceremony to celebrate the best hockey players that reside on my street in the odd numbered houses… to ensure I get considered. I DO think Polaris does a pretty great gob of picking up where the Juno's misses.

And with Feist getting 4 Grammy nods, the New Pornographers and Arcade Fire popular the world throughout, I am not sure we aren't coming into our own already.

Bucky's are absolutely in the spirit of CBC Radio 3 and our Canadian identity, as far as indie music goes. I don't think we need a gala black tie event with more respectable categories to acknowledge what most already recognize – and those that don't, likely don't need to know.

I think you will find a very hard time trying to garner support to make yet another more 'official' event that smells of everything indie musicians are fighting with in order to make a living: a Big Label Schmoozefest.

I am not saying you are suggesting doing just that, I just fail to see how The Bucky's aren't doing just what you want them to, which is raise awareness for bands to the mainstream that might slipped under their radar.

But why just this week I was working in the basement stuck listening to the asspaste of a network radio station we have and would you know they now have a feature on Thursdays and Sundays called "30 Songs that Matter" which is attempting to promote 30 songs I should know – I actually laughed at it out loud.

And oddly enough every last one of them were R3 fodder for hexa-fortnight now… So I think indie has caught one more than we think.

83

Re: The 2007 Bucky Awards

Posted on Dec 20, 2007 by BigRockFan

Grant – It was, of course, Dan Bejar’s Destroyer’s Rubies, which gained a huge amount of critical acclaim outside of Canada, and which topped the Canadian college charts, but which was largely ignored by the mainstream Canadian media. Neko Case garnered even more critical acclaim, but technically she’s not a Canadian, although given that her career is basically Canadian and that she has collaborated so many Canadians and toured Canada a number of times the press should have been treating her as an honorary Canadian even if she doesn’t meet the mapl requirements.

84

Re: The 2007 Bucky Awards

Posted on Dec 20, 2007 by BigRockFan

tb3 – I don’t think I’m following your first paragraphs. These are the most critically acclaimed indie artists in Canada. From an indie music perspective, when people are taking about the wave of great music coming out of Canada these are the groups that have been getting the critical praise that has created that buzz. I don’t know how that relates to the hockey players on your street from houses with odd numbers. These bands are Canadian bands from all over Canada that are being praised all over the world and that are topping the college charts in Canada. Final Fantasy and Patrick Watson are good artists, but they are not yet in the same league as most of the above artists in terms of their critical acclaim, and when Final Fantasy wins the award and Dan Bejar doesn’t even get nominated then the award loses all credibility, at least for 2006.

I agree that we are coming into our own, but people are hearing about these bands largely on US sites. It’s the Americans and Europeans that are giving these bands all the press, not our own media. Count up all the times Dan Bejar or Carl Newman have been interviewed on national CBC 1 shows and compare it to the number of times Elliott Brood, Bedouin Soundclash or Final Fantasy have been interviewed. Is Radio 1 giving the attention to the bands that deserve it most?

And to repeat, I’m not proposing any kind of black tie affair, or whatever the radio equivalent would be, but I do think that the most critically acclaimed artists in Canada should be recognized in some official way, preferably a fun way. In a perfect world these are the artists that Radio 1 would be introducing its middle aged and blue haired audience to, but they aren’t doing it. You mention that the New Pornographers are quite well know in the US but they have done feature interviews on NPR a number of times, and have had a cartoon on them done in the New Yorker magazine, and they’ve had other significant press coverage. How many times have they been interviewed on a national Radio 1 show and how popular are they outside the indie world in Canada? I suggest to you that they are not as widely popular in Canada as they are in the US, and I suggest to you that the lack of attention from our main stream media has a lot do to with that.

So I think that a Radio 3 show featuring critically acclaimed artists would in a small way help to give these artists the recognition they deserve. I certainly know who all these artists are and I’m sure you do to, but there will be a lot of people who come here who don’t know much about the indie world and who come here to find out about it, and a critics’ picks list would be a very helpful starting point for them. The Buckys, while fun and good for what they are, don’t do the same thing. I’m not saying that such an awards show should be as big a production as the Bucky’s, but I think it should be clearly publicized as a top critically acclaimed artists list, because that is information that a lot of people are interested in, and it’s information which provides a gateway for a lot of people into the world of indie music, as it did for me about 8 years ago.

85

It's okay I usually don't make much sense…

Posted on Dec 21, 2007 by tb3

BigRockFan,
The comparison to hockey awards was to illustrate the point that don't have to distill the awards so far down, just so that we can get who we want specifically noticed.

That Dan Bejar didn't get the nod in 06 may be a travesty in your books, but that Owen Palett won, doesn't make the awards less credible as far as I am concerned. Probably more credible I think - it wasn't an obvious choice and I think he fits the creed of the awards anyway. Plus it was a great album.

Further to the point, I will need Grant to confirm this, But I think both years, the selection committee, in all rounds of the Polaris consideration is quite large and a really good cross section of music aficionados in Canada. So, again that Bejar got missed as you suggest, it was not the doing of just a few, but more aptly a consensus among many people who live, breathe and eat music daily. So a lot of people missed it.

Your direction seems more bent on driving what's good in a Radio 3 sense over to the Radio 1 crowd. To which I don't understand… We have 3 different variations of our national radio with with 3 differing audiences in mind. I don't come to Radio 3 looking news. Nor do I go to Radio 1 when I want to unwind to classical.

Radio 3 is a perfect home to reach the eyes and ears of many, giving bands exposure outside their realm, regardless of what Radio 1 is doing.

There simply too many bands to name here that I would have NEVER known about had it not been for Grant, the podcast, and everyone else here.

As for a good way for people new to R3 to find out more about bands… That's kind of every day at the site. I mean a year and a half ago I found Grant's podcast… I was years removed from the Canadian Indie music scene and had no clue who was still around, or what was hot. And now, today, mind you thanks to the podcast, and this site I am the person friends rely on to let them know about cool new bands. And they look forward to the CDs I make at Christmas for them.

I didn't need an awards ceremony to get to that place. I didn't need to be hand-fed. Those that want to find out more will seek.

As hokey as this is going to sound, Radio 3 is, for me any way, in effect an eternal awards show celebrating the best we have to offer at the indie level every single day. Not a week goes by where I don't get the gift of some new song I'd not known about and now love thanks to them.

That bands aren't big in Canada, speaks directly to the problem we face as Canadians… We have a very hard time pounding our chests about things we do that are good. So the media is partially responsible… but so is this humble equally nation to a person.

p.s. you are aware that at year end there are several best of podcasts released to celebrate the music of the year, right?

86

Posted on Dec 21, 2007 by BigRockFan

Thanks for your response. I’ll break my response down in sections:
-“The comparison to hockey awards was to illustrate the point that don't have to distill the awards so far down, just so that we can get who we want specifically noticed.”

This has nothing to with getting the bands that I like get recognized. It has to do with recognizing bands that deserve the recognition. The Polaris Prize claims to be a prize based solely on artistic merit, so if you understand that then you should understand what I’m referring to here, because it’s the same thing. I would like a Radio 3 show to do what the Polaris Prize says it does but doesn’t do.

-“That Dan Bejar didn't get the nod in 06 may be a travesty in your books, but that Owen Palett won, doesn't make the awards less credible as far as I am concerned. Probably more credible I think - it wasn't an obvious choice and I think he fits the creed of the awards anyway. Plus it was a great album.”

The award claims to be based on artistic merit, but the single most critically acclaimed Canadian album of the year by a fairly wide margin was Dan Bejar’s Destroyer’s Rubies, and it wasn’t even nominated. The fact that an artist who was an obvious front runner to win wasn’t even nominated single-handedly destroys the credibly of the prise. It exposes it as something that was either extremely incompetently put together, or a fraud. Here are a couple of compilation lists of critical reviews to look at, the first covering close to 500 reviewers. On both lists DR is the highest rated Canadian album of the year and one of the top rated albums in the world.
http://www.villagevoice.com/pazzandjop06/winners.php?type=album
http://www.metacritic.com/music/bests/2006.shtml

-“Further to the point, I will need Grant to confirm this, But I think both years, the selection committee, in all rounds of the Polaris consideration is quite large and a really good cross section of music aficionados in Canada. So, again that Bejar got missed as you suggest, it was not the doing of just a few, but more aptly a consensus among many people who live, breathe and eat music daily. So a lot of people missed it.”

If you look at the makeup of the jury there are clearly a number of people on it who are not qualified to be on the list, and the makeup of the jury as a whole is regionally skewed, and if you look at the artist who were nominated that list is also regionally skewed. Clearly there would have been a lot of people on the jury who would have voted for DR, but my guess is that there were enough people from the disproportionately represented region who didn’t know the music scene they were judging, and/or just resorted to nominating home town bands, that it skewed the list, and skewed it so extremely that DR wasn’t even nominated.

-“Your direction seems more bent on driving what's good in a Radio 3 sense over to the Radio 1 crowd. To which I don't understand… We have 3 different variations of our national radio with with 3 differing audiences in mind. I don't come to Radio 3 looking news. Nor do I go to Radio 1 when I want to unwind to classical.”

You could argue that shows like The Hour on CBC television, and Q and DNTO on Radio 1 are not real pop culture shows, and you may well be right, but that’s not what they represent themselves to be. They represent themselves to be a window onto the pop culture world for the Radio 1 audience, but they also don’t do what they say they are doing. They don’t present the best of Canadian indie music and pop culture to their audience and instead they present many lesser artists who they have personal connections of some sort with, and they steadfastly ignore some of the very biggest and best Canadian indie artists, as discussed above.

-“Radio 3 is a perfect home to reach the eyes and ears of many, giving bands exposure outside their realm, regardless of what Radio 1 is doing.”
There simply too many bands to name here that I would have NEVER known about had it not been for Grant, the podcast, and everyone else here.”

I’m in full agreement with you here. I’m just saying that there should be a special show that honours the most critically acclaimed of these artists.

-“As for a good way for people new to R3 to find out more about bands… That's kind of every day at the site. I mean a year and a half ago I found Grant's podcast… I was years removed from the Canadian Indie music scene and had no clue who was still around, or what was hot. And now, today, mind you thanks to the podcast, and this site I am the person friends rely on to let them know about cool new bands. And they look forward to the CDs I make at Christmas for them.
I didn't need an awards ceremony to get to that place. I didn't need to be hand-fed. Those that want to find out more will seek.”

I am in full agreement with your first paragraph, but not with your second. Radio 3’s mandate is to showcase these bands, and different groups of people come here that need different kinds of showcasing. There are the hard core indie junkies, like you and me, and there are the more casual listeners who are initially just curious. Lists of critically artists aren’t the only thing they’re looking for but it will be one of the main things, because it’s an obvious entry point. “Who are the best of these bands and what do they sound like?” will be a question on most of their minds when they come here, and a most critically acclimated bands of the year list or podcast would be an immediate answer.

-“As hokey as this is going to sound, Radio 3 is, for me any way, in effect an eternal awards show celebrating the best we have to offer at the indie level every single day. Not a week goes by where I don't get the gift of some new song I'd not known about and now love thanks to them.
That bands aren't big in Canada, speaks directly to the problem we face as Canadians… We have a very hard time pounding our chests about things we do that are good. So the media is partially responsible… but so is this humble equally nation to a person.
p.s. you are aware that at year end there are several best of podcasts released to celebrate the music of the year, right?”

You’re preaching to the choir with your first paragraph. Regarding your second I think it has a lot to do with the media. Part of it may be that we don’t like praising our own, but a big part of it is just that national media, including and perhaps even especially Radio 1, are not being fair and objective with the bands that they promote. A lot of biased and connection based favouritism has been going on in shows where that should never be happening.

87

Tegan and Sara - No Nominations?

Posted on Dec 24, 2007 by copperclock

The first thing I thought when I saw the nominations was - no Tegan and Sara?

How did "Hop A Plane" not get nomiated for Best Base Line? I mean, it's downright rolicking.

88

Fetal position acceptance hang-up?

Posted on Jul 30, 2008 by thoughtcrimes

Was that a real hang-up done in outrage?

CBC Radio 3

The 2007 Bucky Awards

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Tegan & Sara not nominated?! = TRAVESTSY!!!