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......

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,......

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......

Photo of Julie Doiron courtesy of Jagjaguwar. Feminism means different things to different people—and for many people it means something negative. From the angry feminist stereotypes to news outlets simply ignoring it, feminism is an important movement that's gotten a bad rap. Ladyfest Toronto is aiming to change that by throwing a festival that proves feminism can be both fun and political. The festival kicks off next Thursday (the 27th) with a party at......

Photo of Cadence Weapon by David Topping. Earlier this afternoon in the Drake Sky Yard, the shortlist for this year's Polaris Prize was announced. Established by Steve Jordan last year, the $20,000 prize "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......

Photo of Owen Pallett by chichibebelolo on Flickr. Photo of Steve Kado by Shakeer on Flickr. The Harbourfront Centre presented the first edition of “Inside the Musician’s Studio” as part of its View Points series on Thursday evening. Modeled after “Inside the Actor’s Studio,” the event was hosted by Carl Wilson (The Globe and Mail, Zoilus). Guests were Blocks Recording Club founder Steve Kado and Polaris Prize winner (and Blocks artist) Owen Pallett, aka......

Hot off their recent Polaris Prize nomination, Malajube used the momentum to pack Lee's Palace on Saturday night with rabid (mostly French) fans and those curious to see what all the fuss is about. They certainly didn't disappoint, and even with much of the crowd not understanding the lyrics, the catchy hooks managed to get many people dancing (gasp!) and yelling all sorts of things at the band in franglais. A few songs into......

Everyone must be getting ready to hibernate for the winter...not as many shows this week and nothing of great interest announced recently. However, the live acts that are playing this week are pretty damn good, if we may say so. Royal Wood is at the Cameron House every Monday evening, and is the perfect choice if you're looking to chill out with a good friend and a glass of wine. Tuesday night, head to......

Earlier this week in the concert listings, we briefly told you of the upcoming free shows that the Toronto Public Library were holding. Now that the full details have been released, here's the low-down. To celebrate the recent acquisition of a new local music collection, the Toronto Public Library is throwing two live shows in October. The hope is that this initiative will engage young people into using library services. Judging by the diverse......

More evidence that we're the centre of the universe (kidding), the nominees for the inaugural Polaris Prize is out and four five out of the ten nominees are bonafide Toronto artists. Broken Social Scene, The Deadly Snakes, Final Fantasy, Sarah Harmer and K'Naan make up the Toronto contingent. If we add Metric (which live in a whole bunch of places) and Sarah Harmer (who lives near Kingston) then over half the list calls Toronto home.......