NPR: Patrick Watson Best of 2009 CMJ Music Festival (Download the Set Free)

With the 2009 edition of the annual CMJ Music Marathon in the books, who stood out from the crowd in the lineup of nearly 1,300 bands from around the world?

According to Bob Boilen, music program host at National Public Radio, it was Patrick Watson. Granted, Boilen saw only 18 of the more than 1,000 bands that played during the five-day endurance event in New York City, but that's still a solid recommendation from this longtime music journalist and fan. He writes that Watson was "hands down the best performer all week. His band was stellar."


Fireweed

Patrick Watson & The Wooden Arms | MySpace Video

Fortunately, you can hear Watson's CMJ set even if you weren't in New York last week, because NPR recorded the concert and has put it up on their Web site for free download and streaming. Boilen says "this was one of the best live shows I've seen all year, anywhere. Watson is a dynamic performer who gets deep inside the songs, and you can tell."

He also calls Patrick Watson one of his favorite music discoveries of the year. (How come he didn't know of Watson before? As I've mentioned to the NPR music folks several times, they really should be listening to CBC Radio 3.)

In any case, better to "discover" Patrick Watson late than never. NPR Music has been playing more Canadian artists in the last year, so let's hope they're tuning in to the CBC and hearing what they've been missing.

Patrick Watson Cleans Up at GAMIQ Awards

Patrick Watson has cleaned up at the GAMIQ Awards, Quebecs Awards for Independent Music. Watson won five awards in all including Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Show of the Year and International Career of the Year. Also taking awards were Coeur de pirate for Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Beast for Electro Artist of the year, Bell Orchestre for Experimental Album of the Year, and Malajube for Indie Rock Album of the Year. The full list goes:

Artist of the Year presented by Artisti

Patrick Watson
(The award comes with a $1,000 grant)

Songwriter of the Year presented by the SOCAN

Patrick Watson

(The award comes with a $1,000 grant)

International Career of the Year presented by the MIMI

Patrick Watson

Show of the Year

Patrick Watson

Breakthrough Artist of the Year presented by enMusique.ca

Coeur de pirate

Singer-songwriter Album of the Year

Tu m’intimides – Mara Tremblay

Electro Album of the Year

Beast – Beast

Experimental Album of the Year

As Seen Through Windows – Bell Orchestre

Folk/Country Album of the Year

Dans la nature jusqu’au cou – Avec pas d’casque

Hip-Hop Album of the Year

Comme à la télévision – Omnikrom

Indie Pop Album of the Year

Wooden Arms – Patrick Watson

Indie Rock Album of the Year presented by CISM

Labyrinthes – Malajube

Metal/Hardcore Album of the Year

Musique barbare – Mononc’ Serge & Anonymus

Punk Album of the Year

The Brains – The Brains

Rock'n'Roll Album of the Year

Cassette II – Band de Garage

World Album of the Year

La mécanique – Kodiak

DVD of the Year

Presque sold out – Vulgaires Machins

Tribute Award

Jean-Robert Bisaillon

Dose.ca presents "The Essential Mix"

 

Dose.ca has just released a playlist of free iTunes downloads which contains 22 songs that they believe will be dominating the airwaves soon. Some of the Canadian artists include Crystal Castles, Hey Ocean!, Metric, Patrick Watson and Thunderheist. And all you need is your email address.

Go here to punch in your email address and get your free download code!

R3TV: "The Cinematic World of Patrick Watson"

From Radio 3 former Polaris Prize winner (and current short lister) Patrick Watson talks about some of his methods.

All 10 Nominees to Perform at Polaris Gala

Via CBC Radio 3 comes word that for the first time in the history of the Polaris Music Prize history all 10 nominees will be on hand to play at the Plaris Gala on Sept. 21. That means (in case you didn't know or have forgotten):

Elliott BROOD
Fucked Up
Great Lake Swimmers
Hey Rosetta!
K’NAAN
Malajube
Metric
Joel Plaskett
Chad VanGaalen
Patrick Watson

Last year's winner Caribou will also be on hand and Radio 3 has promised a "podcast version of all 10 performances".

The Grand Jury that will choose this year's winner from the list above consists of Bryan Acker (Herohill), Stuart Derdeyn (the Province), Mary Dickie (Elle), Brad Frenette (National Post), Nicholas Jennings (freelance), Robert Mersereau (CBC TV), Brendan Murphy (Hour), Mia Parang (Musique Plus), Ben Rayner (Toronto Star), Brad Wheeler (the Globe and Mail) and Lisa Wilton (Calgary Sun).  

Watson's Experiments (Hillside '09)

Patrick Watson is creating some of this country's finest music, and he is doing so with a variety of experimental techniques (such as using a bicycle as an instrument on the latest album). It was intriguing to watch as Patrick, along with his fully capable bandmates, recreated gems from his recorded albums live before our eyes. Wooden Arms, as well as set-opener, Fireweed, began with the bowing of a cymbal while Patrick added vocals through a handheld effect pedal. Tracy's Waters saw.. the drummer holding the drumstick like a pencil and squeaking it along the top of that very cymbal whilst Patrick tickled the ivory, and the guitarist swapped out for a banjo, while the bassist continued with his 8-string. Carrying on with the same tracklisting as the Polaris Prize short-listed Wooden Arms, the opening of Beijing featured the banging of pots and pans which matched up well to the recorded version, while later they strayed from the album sound by including an extended drum solo. They then hit skip (figuratively) to get to Big Bird in a Small Cage, a personal favourite. A lovely Swedish female vocalist (Erica?) was introduced to sing her part of the duet as they sang a lovely rendition over xylophone and banjo. After her departure there was an interesting take on Traveling Salesman where Patrick employed a megaphone to alter his voice, and a plunger on the end of it to further play with the sound. The dirty electric guitar breakdown was awesome too but unfortunately cut short as they were nearing the end of the set and needed to fit in a couple more. Man Like You had the skilled percussionist playing the strings of a guitar with tiny metal tines which sounded nifty, and Patrick again played with his already great vocals by beginning lines standing back and yelling to the mic before rushing right up close to it. To the delight of many the only Close to Paradise cut to be included was Luscious Life as the finale, once again employing the effects pedal for the vocals.

I was thoroughly impressed with the way that the albums were translated into a live show by using a variety of unique elements. I was further impressed by Patrick Watson pulling this off after having a few drinks - if his ordering of a whiskey into the microphone is any indication (not to mention his excuse of being wasted for why he accidentally pulled out one of his own patch cords). He never claimed to be angelic - in fact in response to an audience adulation suggesting as much Patrick professed that he was anything but! Angel or not, there's no denying that he is a musical god.

Find more Hillside Festival reviews at Vernacular (sandrush.blogspot.com)

Thoughts on the 2009 Polaris Short List

Art is art, it is neither science nor is it sports. It is entirely subjective, it can't be quantified or measured. The Juno Awards generally measure by record sales, though that is a measure of money, not art. Think of it like a Rorschach test (the one with the ink blots.)



What something looks like to me and what it looks like to you may be entirely different but that doesn't make either of us wrong (though it does mean that you're crazy). The Polaris Jury is made up of 'music journalists' - people from the national press, bloggers, radio hosts and others. They each get five votes for the long list, and five votes for the short list and then it goes to a 'Grand Jury' who spill chicken entrails on the floor and look for an answer in them.

You and I may not be happy with some of the results. I talked to a few Jurors today who weren't happy with the results. But it's hard to say it isn't 'fair.' Finding a 'fair' way to do it is nearly impossible when the subject is subjective.

It is true though that if you ask different people you get different answers. If you and I lay in a field and try to figure out what clouds look like we'll have different answers. Tomorrow we'll trim the long long long list that NxEW readers created down to 20 (I'll publish the top 40 just for point of comparison) and some people won't be happy with it but the answer will be different than Polaris' answer.

I do not know who all voted, but I have some idea who NxEW's readers are. They are, in some cases, music journalists. They are, in some cases, music bloggers. They are, in some cases, radio hosts. They are even, in some cases, polaris jurors. However they are also musicians, and promoters, sound technicians, and uber music fans - the people who go to shows on a regular basis, the people who buy CDs and t-shirts by the truckload. They are, in short all people who really love Canadian music (including people who aren't Canadian). So the votes of these others will change the dynamic, change the perspective and change the answer to the question. Granted we're small. We don't have 20 thousand dollars to give out but we will still acknowledge some great Canadian albums including albums completely overlooked by Polaris (I can guarantee at this point that some of our top 20 are not even on the Polaris long list.)

This does not mean though that Polaris is wrong. I sincerely congratulate everyone who made the list. That I would not have voted for some of them does not, in the least, diminish their achievement. They have all, whether you are a fan or not, worked very hard for many, many years and have achieved great things. They should all revel in it and everyone should show some respect to them - even if they have favorites not on this particular list.


the 2009 Polaris Short List

Elliott Brood - Mountain Meadows



Fucked Up - Chemistry of Common Life



Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels



Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs (and around your heart and on through your blood)



K'Naan - Troubadour



Malajube - Labyrinthes



Metric - Fantasies



Joel Plaskett - Three



Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane



Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms

Polaris Music Prize 2009 Announcements

POLARIS MUSIC PRIZE ANNOUNCES SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO CANADA AS PRESENTING SPONSOR, AND LONG LIST, SHORT LIST AND GALA DATES FOR 2009.

Steve Jordan, Executive Director of the Polaris Music Prize, today announced SIRIUS Satellite Radio Canada as the new presenting sponsor for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize. SIRIUS has been a supporting sponsor of Polaris since 2007 and has broadcast the event live to a North American audience on satellite radio for the past two years.

“With their unwavering support for Canadian talent in general and specifically the Polaris Music Prize, we feel having SIRIUS as our number one sponsor is not only a natural progression but a perfect fit. We are excited to be working together to bring the music of our nominees and winner to an even wider audience,” said Jordan.

The Polaris Music Prize awards $20,000 to the artist who creates the Canadian album of the year. It is judged solely on artistic merit, without consideration of genre or record sales. Past winners have been Final Fantasy for He Poos Clouds (2006), Patrick Watson for Close To Paradise (2007) and Caribou for Andorra (2008).

Jordan also revealed the key dates for the coveted award’s 4th annual celebration. The Long List of 40 titles, which is sponsored by The Canada Council for the Arts, will be announced June 15. The Short List of 10 nominees will be revealed at a July 7 media conference at The Drake Hotel in Toronto. This year’s gala will be held on Monday, September 21 at a Toronto location to be announced. The Long List and Short List are determined by an independent jury of 190 Canadian music journalists, broadcasters and music bloggers from across Canada. Eleven people are selected from the larger jury pool to serve on the grand jury. The grand jury will convene the night of the 21st during the gala to select the 2009 Polaris Music Prize winner.

The eligibility period for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize runs from June 1, 2008 to May 31, 2009.

About the Polaris Music Prize:

The Polaris Music Prize is a not-for-profit organization that annually honours, celebrates and rewards creativity and diversity in Canadian recorded music by recognizing, then marketing the albums of the highest artistic integrity, without regard to musical genre, professional affiliation, or sales history, as judged by a panel of selected music critics.

Follow Polaris Music Prize on Twitter & MySpace.

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

Herohill reviews Royal City.

Exlaim reviews Skeletones Four.

Chart reviews Green Go.

Six Eyes reviews Patrick Watson.

Chart interviews Rock Plaza Central.

Jesse Rivest has a different take on the I (Heart) Music issue.

Patrick Watson Directs Fireweed Video

New video for the song "Fireweed" from Patrick Watson's new album Wooden Arms - Patrick Watson directed the video as well.

New Free Sampler from Zunior - Maybe Smith, Metric, MSTRKRFT & More

Once a month(ish) Zunior puts up a free sampler that you can download. This months sampler is amazing! Have a look...

1 Bloopers - Maybe Smith Another Murder in the Morning Maybe Smith
2 Happiness - Dog Day Concentration Outside Music
3 Help I'm Alive - Metric Fantasies Last Gang Records
4 Apples & Allergies - The Rest Everyone All At Once Auteur Recordings
5 Battles On - The Ghost Is Dancing Battles On Sonic Unyon
6 Bounce (feat. Nore + Isis) - MSTRKRFT Fist of God Last Gang Records
7 Young Hearts Make Fire - Japandroids Post-Nothing Unfamiliar Records
8 Big Bird in a Small Cage - Patrick Watson Wooden Arms Secret City
9 Cat Tail Legs - Megan Hamilton See Your Midnight Breath in the Shipyard Familiar Music
10 Welcome to the Heart - Eamon McGrath 13 Songs of Whiskey and Light

Grab it here Even if you only like a few of songs, you can't beat free and with a list like that I don't know how you would only like a few.

Album Review: Patrick Watson's Wooden Arms is Nothing Short of Incredible

Winner of the Polaris Prize in 2007 for Close to Paradise, Patrick Watson's new album on Secret City Records, Wooden Arms, will truly leave you spellbound, especially if you're a fan of progressive/experimental (and even classical) music that utilises the whole gamut of the musical spectrum for pure sonic ear candy. Any instrument you can think of, it's probably on here, with just about every style, save perhaps Latin American. Though originally from CA, like me, he lives in Montreal and this album could be easily classified under the new weird America tag that you might've seen on last.fm.

With a tenor-like/falsetto voice similar to M. Ward, Devendra Banhart, Iron and Wine, Nick Drake, and Bon Iver, Patrick Watson serenades with you sweet nothings and lullabies, but these songs are anything but simple, rather they are meticulously layered and composed with complex arrangements like Animal Collective, Yeasayer, and The Microphones, leaving you with unlimited opportunites to explore this album's exciting depths like an undiscovered gold mine. Every song on this incredible album will take you far on a journey somewhere that you never knew you could go to or even wanted to. Whether it is the stunning barrage of Kodo drums thundering in your ears on "Beijing" taking you to fog drenched hidden mountains in the farthest depths of Asia, the Cabaret-like Tom Waitsian numbers, the beautiful classical arrangment of "Hommage", the exquisite alt-country/folk harmonies of "Big Bird in a Small Cage" against a backdrop of quiet guitar fingerpicking and banjo, or the utterly exciting track, "Where the Wild Things Are," this is easily my favorite album of the year, one I will play constantly on The New Spin.

Having also released last year's Polaris Prize-nominated Plants and Animals to well-deserved critical acclaim, Secret City Records are clearly a label that wants, deserves, your attention, and Patrick Watson's Wooden Arms is their latest secret weapon, one that will shoot you straight in the heart and leave you begging for more.

--Dashiell Brown, host of The New Spin, "the best music you've never heard."

Welcome to Patrick Watson's wild psychedelic Cabaret

No need to add much to the (well-deserved)
current buzz surrounding Wooden Arms, the latest album. But so many words and images come to mind during and after the concert rendition at La Tulipe last night.
Explosion of sounds at times, followed with nuances: just enough to catch our breath and then get swallowed by spellbinding, magical, wild psychedelic rock Cabaret-style evening where talented musicians were having at least as much fun as the roaring crowd.
I came out of the experience more than satisfied and filled with joy: in fact, I'm still smiling.

Laura Barrett + Patrick Watson in Quebec City, Montreal & T.O.

Sometimes she's a Hidden Camera, sometimes she's an Adorable but normally she's just Canada's Sexiest Musician (according to the Bucky Awards anyway) Laura Barrett and if you're in Quebec City, Montreal or Toronto (her home town) you're in luck. Laura has added new dates to her tour and for these she's opening for Patrick Watson (who is also pretty good). ;)

In Quebec City at L'Imperial on the 27th of april.

In Montreal at La Tulipe on the 29th AND 30th of april.

then May 2nd... She's back in toronto playing with Patrick Watson at the beautiful Trinity St. Paul.

Patrick Watson's Wooden Arms

Check out the new Partick Watson song on http://wooden-arms.com/ I love the new song and can't wait for long await sophomore album on April 28th