andPOP » K\’Naan

Polaris Music Prize On Side B – Want $20 Grand?

Dan Busheikin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:57:16 +0000

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Canadians: Want a quick 20 grand? Make an amazing album.

The Polaris Prize awards $20,000 to the Canadian artist or group that creates the best album of the year, based solely on artistic merit. Sales don’t count, marketing doesn’t count. The ten nominees – Elliot Brood, Fucked Up, Great Lake Swimmers, Hey Rosetta!, K’Naan, Metric, Joel Plaskett, Malajube, Patrick Watson, and Chad Vangaalen – all attended and performed at the Polaris Prize Gala, so I made sure to snag a few interviews before the award was given out.

The winner of the $20,000 prize? Well, check out the video and I’ll tell you.

Aux TV Launch

Stephen Baldwin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:33:02 +0000

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Aux Music television is making their official television debut on October 1st with the Canadian premiere of Radiohead: From the Basement. The debut will preview what to look forward to in Aux programming: a celebration of domestic and international talent. Aux was launched in November 2008, and is the self-proclaimed, “Face of thriving music culture.” It contains a diverse, progressive selection of musical content. Radiohead: From The Basement focuses on the work of legendary musical act Radiohead as they perform live in the intimate studio basement of music producer and sound engineer, Nigel Godrich. The special performance includes music from the band’s final breakthrough album, In Rainbows, along with several other popular songs.

At 9: 30 p.m. EST, Aux will screen a preview of the new original series, AUX live, which will feature live performances from talented Canadian artists like The Stills and K’naan.
Raja Khanna, Founder & President of AUX, said that viewers tuning into to AUX will get their fix of tested musical acts like Radiohead and Billy Talent, along with new and upcoming artists like Grand Analog, Ohbijou, and Still Life Still. “Our roster of launch weekend programming sets the tone for everything to come,” says Khanna. Aux will also feature the film Dead Man Walking on Saturday, October 3 at 9 p.m. The 1995 cult classic directed by Jim Jarmusch, features Johnny Depp and Iggy Pop in the story summarized in the Aux press release as, “An accountant who embarks on a bloody journey through a twisted version of the American Old West.”

To finish off the weekend, Aux’s TV launch will include the two hour documentary Kurt Cobain About a Son. Based on the interviews between Cobain and acclaimed music journalist Michael Azerrad, the doc also includes footage of the houses the Nirvana frontman grew up. Aux Music television will be the most innovative Canadian station ever to enter onto the national TV screen. They will air recordings of previous programming on aux.tv, but until then, if you have a serious passion for the Canadian music industry…tune in.

Experimental Toronto Band Takes Coveted Polaris Prize

Sara Harowitz — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:49:48 +0000

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Move aside indie-rock. This year’s Polaris Music Prize winners are a little different from the average Canadian alternative style. Toronto hardcore band Fucked Up took this year’s $20,000 award for the best Canadian album of the year on Monday, according to The Globe and Mail.

The band’s album, “The Chemistry of Common Life,” beat out nine other finalists including Metric, K’Naan, Joel Plaskett, and Great Lake Swimmers.

The Polaris Prize is an award decided by a jury made up of Canadian journalists, bloggers, broadcasters and programmers. The jury is determined by the Polaris Board of Directors and is made up of 185 members from both the local and national media.

The way it works is, each jury member submits a ballot with their top 5 albums of the year on it. The results from this determines the Polaris Prize Long List and after a second voting round, the Polaris Prize Short List. An 11-member jury is then selected to attend the Polaris Awards gala, where the winner is determined. There is no submission process to be considered for the Polaris Prize – every Canadian artist with an album of at least eight songs or 30 minutes of music is automatically eligible to win the prize.

As shown on their MySpage, Fucked Up describes their music as “experimental hardcore.” This usually involves songs with screamo singing, in this case done by 300-pound and often shirtless Damian Abraham, overtop of detailed instrumental melodies. Many thought their album was too extreme to win the prize, especially considering hardcore music is not a genre that usually sprouts a lot of attention.

But Fucked Up is anything but conventional.

For starters, each band member has at least one very unique nickname. Lead guitarist Mike Haliechuck has been named “10,000 Marbles”; lead singer Damian Abraham is known as “Father Damian” or “Pink Eyes”; bass guitar player Sandy Miranda can also be called “Slumpy”, Laundry, or “Mustard Gas”; rhythm guitar player Josh Zucker is nicknamed “Concentration Camp” and “Gulag”; drummer Jonah Falco is known as “Guinea Beat” and “Mr. Jo”; and third guitarist Ben Cook can be called “Young Governor”, “Bad Kid”, and “Lil’ Bitey”.

The band formed in 2001 and has been performing and recording ever since. Their hardcore screamo music starkly contrasts with last year’s mellow electro Polaris winner Caribou, and 2007′s indie-alternative winner Patrick Watson.

The Polaris Prize prides itself on judging solely based on musical merit and ignoring all commercial aspects of an artist, such as record sales. Fucked Up’s win is a testament to that belief, particularly in contrast with the 2009 Juno Awards that saw Nickelback and their international success get far more praise than any other Canadian musician.

Polaris jury member Lisa Ladouceur told The Globe and Mail that Fucked Up’s “The Chemistry of Common Life” is “not only the best Canadian album of the year, but the best album of the year in the world – period.” Not bad praise for an underground Toronto band who started out by shunning full-length CD’s and releasing their songs two-at-a-time. And as a photo on the Polaris Prize website shows, the band is ecstatic to have won the award.

To learn more about Fucked Up and hear some of their songs go to their myspace at www.myspace.com/epicsinminutes.

Osheaga Music Festival 2009: Behind-The-Scenes

Jeremy Singer — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:44:14 +0000

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Having just hosted a Jazz and Comedy festival only a few weeks ago, Montreal was once again the pearl of Canada this past weekend with the undeniable success of the Osheaga Music and Arts festival- a two day event filled with performances beginning at 1:00pm all the way until 11:00pm.

As Saturday would feature notable acts such as Jason Mraz, The Roots, K’naan, The Stills, Girltalk and above all, the grandmaster Coldplay, andPOP decided to venture down to La Belle Province for day no. 1.

But something funny happened by the end of our trip. Not only did we go from being pale skinned to maple brown sunburned, but we also went from being a concert reviewer to a behind-the-scenes explorer.

With four different stages and acts scheduled at similar time slots, we had to pick and choose which musical path our day would lead towards.

This is our story.

2:30 pm- I begin my journey in Hell’s Kitchen. Beautiful sunny day in Montreal, but sweltering 30 degree Celsius heat. For some reason though, the crowd seems to want to stand through it for acoustic rock performer Donavon Frankenreiter at the Mountain Stage. The musician and also pro surfer gathers a trickling crowd with an immediate groovy set- reminiscent of longtime pal Jack Johnson.

Part of that next batch of sunshine tune-fellows like Johnson, Ben Harper, Matt Costa and G. Love, Frankenreiter ignites the festival’s spirit with his variety of catchy soothing numbers- most notably It Don’t Matter, which leads fans into a massive chant. A laid-back Frankenreiter even lets a lucky fan help him belt out the chorus, sending the crowd into rave cheers.

Truly a man of the festival.

3:15 pm- Onward to something completely different- British electro-pop duo La Roux. Though the up-and-coming part of the program, the group still manages to make a sharp impact. The whole crowd jives to their hit single Bulletproof- from their recently released 2009 debut album self titled La Roux.

4:00 pm- I decide I want to interview Coldplay. Yes, just like that. But with a concert reviewer ticket, you basically just get that- a free ticket to review the show. So, if I’m gonna get my chance for a sit-down with Chris Martin, I’m gonna need to get behind the scenes. After a macho security guard- we’ll call him “Arnold Schwarzenegger” -prohibits me from entering the VIP/Backstage area, I decide to make an upgrade.

Off to the media tent to do my shpiel, and back with the little blue bracelet I need.

A few nods and wrist checks later, and I’m slowly making my way to a field of tents, tour buses and trailers hidden away, behind the two main River and Mountain stages, from the crowd.

Hungry, I enter a large tent filled with a delicious spread for everyone backstage. Though I quickly realize inside, I need to have an additional bracelet. Since the security guard doesn’t notice me, I decide to snag a water bottle instead.

Gotta keep hydrated, safety first.

As I exit the tent, I head toward a tent filled with a bunch of media personnel on laptops. Next tent, La Roux singer Elly Jackson.

Relaxing on a white couch in her technicolor leotards, pale complexion, and crazy ginger hairdo, the 21-year-old has definitely carved out her own niche in not only the festival, but all of Britain.

5:25 pm- I head back out to the main area to catch the last few tunes of Eagles of Death Metal on the River Stage. Promoting their latest record Heart On to a sizable crowd, the two man group finish the set with their emphatic hit single Wannabe In L.A.

5:45 pm- Heading backstage again, I stumble upon an ecstatic Eagle of Death Metal frontman Jesse “The Devil” Hughes. In total bliss, the 36-year-old rocker comes strolling down the stairs shirtless, with that thick mustache, and long shaggy hair.

Despite his scary trucker appearance, Hughes is one of the most enthusiastic and friendly performers I’ve seen during a post-show.

“God, I love my job man!” he says smiling, before heading for a bite to eat. “That’s it, It’s the best!”

6:00 pm- I trek further, listening near the media tent to alternative rock band Elbow’s crowd pleasing performance. The group has kept for the most part a low profile during their career, but that was not the case at Osheaga. They were here to make their mark, and did so with their climatic One Day Like This.

6:20 pm- Jason Mraz is due next on stage in 10 minutes. Promoting his latest album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things, Mraz is one of the festival’s more notable names, primarily due to the success of his Grammy nominated breezy single I’m Yours. Heck, even his album too- which has broken into the top ten of so many international music charts.

Suddenly an ATV rolls up behind me, and off steps the acoustic bluesy genius himself.

Mraz is a simple man, but then again affects to the masses. Dressed in dark blue jeans, a white T, and his well-known fedora hat, the 32-year-old strolls with a coffee in hand toward some shade on a bench under a tree.

6:30 pm- Let it be known that despite his shy appearance, Mraz is as suave and animated as they get. Grabbing a black and white fender-strat guitar as he hits the River Stage, the artist begins dancing to his rhythm, swaying his knees in-and-out like some Elvis Presley impersonator.

As he works the crowd like a showman, Mraz switches to his more comfortable tool- an acoustic guitar -and begins an energetic The Dynamo Of Volition.

An amazing acoustic set later of The Remedy, and Mraz then releases the highly anticipated feel-good vibe hit single I’m Yours.

“This is sort of a hippie song, so I want everybody to just relax and get their summer bugaloo on,” he says in a low smooth voice. An even bigger delight was the surprise transition into Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds, where Mraz had everyone’s heads and arms bopping side-to-side. It was the perfect soundtrack for that point in the day: sun shining, a breeze brushing through crowd, middle of the summer. Even Mraz felt good about it, as he tells andPOP backstage after his performance.

7:45pm- “I had a great experience,” he says, as he relaxes in a field overlooking a pond, outside his trailer. “We’re really honored to have this opportunity, it’s been a fantastic day.” Though The Roots are now blaring their jazzy hip/hop melody out in the front, back here Mraz is enjoying some peaceful quality time with his band on a picnic table. And with him, instead of an acoustic guitar, is a Nikon D60 camera- which he’s trying to capture a picture of a sedentary groundhog with.

“I just got the Nikon recently, so far it’s been good,” he says after carefully trying to sneak up on the creature. “We’re all just basically enjoying ourselves.”

Adds percussionist Toca Rivera who sits on the grass taking in some rays, “It’s beautiful weather, great music, what more can you ask for.”

Hmm…maybe a sit-down with Coldplay?

8:15 pm- I venture further into the forest path, walking past the trailers and tour buses of Elbow, The Stills, The Roots and Donaven Frakenreiter. On the way, Roots drummer Questlove is being given a lift on an ATV somewhere, and Elbow’s lead singer Guy Garvey is seen heading into the band’s trailer.

Fifteen feet later and I stop at a much more secluded trailer- I venture near to see who it belongs to. Outside of the holding, a few security guards stop me before I go any further, informing me it’s for Coldplay.

Boom.

Without thinking, I tell them I’m here for the band. They give me a puzzled look, but go and ask the manager, which obviously turns out to be a no-go.

Hoping to catch a glimpse of the four-man British rock band when they come out to walk to the main stage, I’m told that they won’t be out for another hour.

8:30 pm- So I decide to see the status of our mash-up Picasso Greg Gillis, also known as Girltalk, who’s set to perform at the same time-slot.

Of all the rough luck for a guy. Not a surprise he would only draw 500 out of the 30,000 audience total for the night.

Off of his latest masterpiece Feed The Animals, Gillis is in his one-man trailer- which is side by side to rapper K’Naan. He’s hard at work preparing for tonight’s set at the MEG stage, which was reserved for the majority of the electro-based performers.

8:45 pm- A 53-footer truck makes its way down the road behind the main stages carrying all of Coldplay’s custom stage pieces- part of which would include a separate circular platform that would be placed in the middle of the audience for the band to use later on in their set.

9:10 pm- I hear music playing, and nervous, I ask one of the set-up crew if the band has started yet. He chuckles and replies that when Coldplay goes up there, “you will know it.” After briefing me that the experience will be nothing short of spectacular, he gives me a heads up that they’re going to be opening up with Life In Technicolor, and that there will also be a couple of entertaining tweaks during the performance- including dozens of giant yellow crowd balloons for Yellow and a cover of Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean.

Sounds wicked.

9:15 pm- Night has fallen, easing the heat outdoors. The entire field filled to capacity is eagerly waiting for the band’s arrival. The music stops and a shadow-screen silhouettes the Grammy award winning band members who twirl sparklers- before then jamming right into Life In Technicolor.

Highlights of the first half of the set include a laser-accompanied Clocks, sing-a-long anthem Fix You, an entertaining Yellow- yes, dozens of bright yellow balloons bounce all over the audience -and above all, a turbo-charged Chris Martin who dances around the stage from left-to-right in his classic Napoleon-meets-American Apparel-style jacket.

“Merci beaucoup, mes amis,” he says to a screaming crowd.

Personally, hearing the violins begin to hum to their hit single Viva La Vida, with drummer Will Champion manning the kettles, was quite the epic experience by itself. And it’s obvious that Montreal was all smiles. Even, the energetic Martin points out how perfect the night is: fireworks on the right, an August moon on the left and a prime performance in the center.

Osheaga hit jackpot this year. No argument there.

But there was still plenty of juice left in the Coldplay tank, as the band suddenly makes its way single-filed through the crowd to the custom circular stage in the middle- only big enough to have the band standing back-to-back.

There they perform a slew of acoustic sets, including a cover of Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean, before then heading back to the main stage to round-up the show.

11:00 pm- As the fairy-tale winds down, leaving 30,000 civilians preparing for hours of congested traffic on their way home, I decide to take one last chance to possibly see a glimpse of the band backstage. Only when I arrive there, I’m greeted with two police cars and four sleek black Escalades which pull up for each band member.

Obviously you’d like to hear that Martin and his crew come prancing off stage, we become best buddies and they invite me for a brew.

For some odd reason, they reluctantly did not. Go figure. The doors close shut and they disappear into the night with their impressive police escort.

But, at the end of the 10-hr day, was the sunburn, first phase of dehydration, and mental/physical exhaustion worth it?

I think so.

NFL Drafts K’naan Tune For Commercial

Eva Lam — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:00:00 +0000

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Kanye West may be soundtracking the NBA’s playoffs campaign, but the NFL has Canadian hip-hopper K’naan in its corner.

“Dreamer,” a track from K’naan’s recently-released ”Troubadour,” is being used in a 2009 NFL draft commercial, which also features an appearance by the performer himself.

Also featured in the ad – a number of the NFL’s top prospects for the draft that goes down April 25 and 26, including University of Georgia’s Matt Stafford and Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree.

Click here to check out the commercial.

K’naan is currently on tour in the U.S. and plays the Coachella festival today (Sunday) in Indio, Calif. Following that gig, he joins up with Snoop Dogg for a run of dates beginning May 4 in Little Rock, AK and wrapping up May 17 in Hilton Head, SC.

Rock The Bells To Bring Nas, Common To Canada

Eva Lam — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:30:17 +0000

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Nas, Common, Damian Marley, the Roots and K’naan are among the acts featured in this summer’s Rock the Bells hip-hop festival, which will visit 10 North American cities including Toronto and Vancouver.

Each of the tour stops, which are scheduled to take place on consecutive weekends from June 27 to Aug. 9, will feature 25 artists on two stages, according to Billboard.

Besides the two Canadian cities, the festival is also set to hit Chicago, Washington, D.C., Boston, New York, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami, with specific dates and venues to be announced at a later date.

Check out the confirmed lineup of performers at the festival website here.

Rock the Bells debuted in 2004, originally taking place only in southern California but eventually expanding into a full-fledged world tour. The festival went to Europe for the first time last fall, visiting Amsterdam, Stockholm and London, among other cities.

K’naan To Tour With Snoop Dogg

Eva Lam — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:05:45 +0000

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Last May, K’naan spoke to andPOP about starting a new chapter in his musical career with the U.S. release of “The Dusty Foot Philosopher,” three years after the critically acclaimed debut album was released in Canada.

Now, the Toronto hip-hop artist is gearing up for even more exposure across the border after being tapped to open a string of shows for Snoop Dogg next month.

K’naan will join the rap superstar on the southeast leg of his U.S. tour, starting May 4 in Little Rock, AK and wrapping May 17 in Hilton Head, SC.

The two also share several festival dates at the beginning of the month, which follow K’naan’s scheduled appearance at the Coachella festival in Indio, CA on April 19.

K’naan is currently on a headlining tour in support of his sophomore album, “Troubadour,” which was released in February. The disc features a host of special guest collaborators including Damian Marley, Mos Def and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett.

K’Naan To Release Sophomore Album In Early 2009

Eva Lam — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:35:02 +0000

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New K’Naan material is coming in January.

That’s when the Canadian rapper will release his sophomore album, “Troubadour,” the followup to his 2005 debut, “The Dusty Foot Philosopher.”

The new album was recorded in part at Bob Marley’s home in Kingston, Jamaica last winter. Earlier this year, K’Naan spoke to andPOP about the experience.

“It was like you would expect. It was stereotypically magical,” he said.

“Whatever you thought Bob Marley’s house was going to be, it’s like that. It’s amazing. For three months, we recorded, and sat on the steps where we wrote songs, and recorded in his mic booth.”

First single “ABCs” can now be heard on K’Naan’s MySpace page and will also be used in the “Madden NFL 09″ video game.

K’Naan, along with Matisyahu, will play Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre on Dec. 16 and Montreal’s Metropolis the next night.