Results tagged “patrickwatson”

           

The shortlist for this year's Polaris Prize was announced at the Drake Hotel this morning. The $20,000 prize, established by Steve Jordan and now in its third year, "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 critics and experts." Last year, it went to Patrick Watson for his band's Close to Paradise; they used it to pay off a $16,000 bill from Budget for crashing a rent-a-car. The year before that, it went to Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy); he used it to pay off his boyfriend's student loans.

When the Polaris Prize gala went down last year, the music-loving public was mostly kept out: only musicians, music industry folk, and media were invited. Those who missed the gala missed not only the awarding of the $20,000 prize to Patrick Watson (who needed the cash because of a $16,000 bill his band just got for crashing a rental car), but also a great show, with six of the nominated acts––Watson, The Besnard Lakes, Joel Plaskett Emergency, Miracle Fortress, Julie Doiron, and Chad VanGaalen––playing short sets of songs from their nominated albums.

Merriam-Webster defines "telethon" as "a long television program usually to solicit funds especially for a charity." Almost from the dawn of broadcast television on both sides of the border, time has been set aside to urge viewers to support a long list of causes.

Steve Jordan, founder of the Polaris Prize, discreetly passes a bottle of Smirnoff to an ecstatic post-victory Patrick Watson. Just before he opened his two-song performance at the Phoenix on Monday tonight as part of the 2007 Polaris Prize gala, Patrick Watson welcomed the crowd of musicians, industry folk, and media to "the battle of the bands." Two-odd hours later, and after quick sets from The Besnard Lakes, Joel Plaskett Emergency, Julie Doiron, Miracle...

This Monday, September 24, the winner of the second-annual Polaris Prize will be announced at a gala event at the Phoenix. There will be stars, musical performances, free food and drink, and, unfortunately, you are probably not invited. Given to the best Canadian album of the past year, and awarded solely on artistic merit, the $20,000 prize is getting handed to someone (probably Feist) at a media and invite-only event. (Torontoist was graciously invited, but we're not sure if we'll be there to cover it yet.) This year's shortlist––which we spent a midsummer day covering––is heavy on the rock and light on everything else, with The Arcade Fire, The Besnard Lakes, The Dears, Julie Doiron, Feist, Junior Boys, Miracle Fortress, Joel Plaskett Emergency, Chad VanGaalen, and Patrick Watson all getting nods.

Photo of Cadence Weapon by David Topping.

If you've never heard Montreal's Patrick Watson, you'd likely assume that he's a solo artist. You'd be partially correct, however, Patrick Watson is also a band. It can be a bit confusing. What's not confusing, though, is that this band is on it's way up in the music world and are beginning to turn heads. Their debut label release Close To Paradise (Secret City Records) has been drawing all kinds of attention, from a Juno nomination to a song on Grey's Anatomy (upcoming episode), and even a spot opening for the late, great James Brown. Watson's vocals have repeatedly been compared to another late, great, Jeff Buckley -- soaring and melodic, but with a twist of pop and a generous heap of classical piano. We suggest listening to the album with headphones on.

The year is winding down and so is the music, which is kind of nice, actually, because there seem to be a lot of tours already gearing up for 2007. Hopefully Alexisonfire isn't one of them...we have no idea how they can manage to go onstage and scream for 7 solid days (they have a few more shows this week). Insanity.