Another round of nominations for the Juno Awards mean another round of opportunities to berate the recording academy for being out of step with reality. Such complaints are even more predictable than the CTV press release touting the eight nominations scored by Canadian Idol competitors, a skew owed to the number of units shipped to stores – not accounting for the number of Kalan Porter albums returned to the record company a few months later. Factory-sealed alternative rock was given a fair shot at hitting the Canadian big time a decade ago – back when a domestic major label record contract was still coveted by those who weren’t competing in an Idol contest – but that stuff generated little of the critical enthusiasm that was still regarded back then as a necessary part of seeding commercial success. Nowadays, of course, it’s entirely possible to consume vast amounts of new music without having the slightest notion of what’s topping the charts; it’s a testament to the talents of Nickelback that anyone would find it necessary to complain about them. What hasn’t been impossible to avoid is Montreal-based band The Arcade Fire having their name injected into every conversation regarding the politics of Canadian music, with the band’s border-crossing origins repeatedly evoked as evidence both for and against CanCon regulations. Those who’ve failed to be enraptured by The Arcade Fire’s determinedly unaccessible sound can’t be seen as anything but square, considering how they were put the cover of the Canadian edition of Time magazine – as if the Canadian edition of Time magazine has ever been noted for its relevance. Re-reading the painfully overwrought review of the album Funeral, whose publication on rock snob portal Pitchfork in September 2004 was credited for sparking its breakthrough, suggests The Arcade Fire are bound to collapse beneath the weight of their own pomposity. The biggest shortcoming of the Juno nominee list isn’t the absence of critically acclaimed names in major categories, it’s the inability of the awards show to depict mass appeal music as a concept worth abhorring anymore.
Set the Juno Awards on fire
February 16, 2006 · 7 Comments
Categories: media*meld
7 responses so far ↓
zhoule // February 16, 2006 at 9:15 am
“it’s the inability of the awards show to depict mass appeal music as a concept worth abhorring anymore.”
Eh? Every time I hear Nickleback and Our Lady Peace on the radio, I want to take a brick to it. Mass appeal music is still worth abhorring. Shows celebrating mass appeal music, on the other hand, is a completely different ball of wax. Who even *cares* about the Junos — except maybe 10-year-olds and bored 45-year-old soccer moms? The whole thing is an exercise for a bunch of major label execs to get together and cut blow for an evening. Honestly.
mAt // February 16, 2006 at 9:50 am
Did the Bare Naked Ladies actually put a record out in the last year besides a Christmas album? Truly pathetic.
Neha // February 16, 2006 at 11:24 am
Completely agree. Must the Junos try so hard to become the Grammys? Why try to put on a big show of back slapping with mostly mediocre (at best) artists? I think we’re lucky here to be able to have a decently sized selection of good Can Con. It’s also a real shame that you barely hear a peep in support of indie folk from the artists actually involved with the Junos…the Ladies, Nicklebacks, etc. Wankers!
Lena // February 16, 2006 at 12:54 pm
If hating Nickleback is passe, can I still hate Theory of a Deadman?
Also, The Arcade Fire on featured as one of the bands in the new Mix 99.9 tv ad; make of that what you will.
Nat // February 18, 2006 at 4:23 pm
Does anyone else find it absolutely maddening that in a year where Canadian music has broken new ground with a unique sound that has gained international attention, many of the bands who made this happen have gotten snubbed by the junos? This could have been THE year where the junos could actually have been cool and where Canadian music could have projected an identity beyond the “drinking a beer while sitting at the cottage” image of the Tragically Hip. Is it a crime for something Canadian to ACTUALLY be popular outside of Canada? Stars was totally ignored from the nominations, but Set Yourself of Fire was hailed as one of the best albums of the year by Rolling Stone. Metric got only one nod, lumped into the alternative category, after being asked to open for the Stones at MSG and receiving growing acclaim for their music. Arcade Fire is incredible and got relegated to minor categories, while their music has acheived anthem status among us. The distinct sound of these bands is something Canada should be proud of and although many listeners are thrilled, the Junos have failed these artists by being Nickelback brainwashed and putting together yet another lame ass, cliched cancon award show. As a HUGE music fan and proud Canadian, I am infuriated and say shame on you Junos–you missed the Soft Revolution and gave into Dead Disco, Dead Funk, Dead Rock and Roll. Whoever chose the nominations, please DO Set Yourself on Fire.
Dwight // February 20, 2006 at 4:09 pm
Winning a Juneau award is boring anyway.I’ve never even been nominated and am proud of it.
Jason Paris // February 21, 2006 at 5:33 pm
We used to have the CASBY awards to save us from this middle-of-the-road shite. But they are only a shell of their former self and are programmed by those same folks playing Nickelback and Theory hourly from high above Yonge Street. As far as Canadian music award shows go, I just avoid them all.
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