Linda's Blog — September 2009 Archive Blogger Profile

This year's winner of Canada's Polaris prize, the award given to a Canadian band or artist that the jury judged to have produced the album of "the highest artistic merit", is Toronto hardcore band Fucked Up, for their album The Chemistry of Common Life. They take home $20,000 and the satisfaction of having their unpublishable named reported in major newspapers. Congrats, dudes!

On October 1st and 2nd, Red Bull is throwing a pretty cool event at Studio Juste Pour Rire for Pop Montreal: Red Bull MegaHurtz. It's basically a night of top-shelf electronic music producers, but they're trying to break out of the typical performance mode by going beyond both the typical DJ set and the usual live PA experience. From the press release: "Rather than simply deejay, the acts will introduce their personal studio elements to the stage and perform live for the fans. As hands go up, frequencies will peak. Mix in a few instruments, gadgets and a light show just left of George Lucas, and you have the makings of a Red Bull MegaHurtz." Full lineup after the jump.

Here's the full line-up:

Nosajthing - Los Angeles (Alpha Pup) Megasoid - Montreal (Ninja Tune Records) Grahmzilla – Toronto (Thunderheist) Neighbour – Calgary (Home Breakin Records) Jelo – Toronto (Bugeyed Records) Barletta - Toronto (Tremendous Records) Hovatron – Montreal (Night Trackin) Lunice - Montreal (LuckyMe) GreenMachine - Quebec City (Quebec City)

My favourite Albertan is giving away a B-sides companion to his excellent last album, Soft Airplane, on his website. It's totally free! These aren't throwaway tracks, either -- this is first-rate Chad. Click the tracklist to download.