Something For All Of Us...

So to catch everyone up to a couple of things in the past few days, The Born Ruffians, Jamie Lidell and Goldfrapp announced upcoming shows in Toronto (not together, although that would be a great show). Local buddies, The Born Ruffians will be headlining at the Opera House on November 1st ($12.50), as will Jamie Lidell on October 9th ($17.50). Goldfrapp, on the other hand will be taking the stage at the Music Hall on September 14th.

Speaking of good ole British acts such as Lidell, the Mercury Prize nominees were recently announced. For those who are unfamiliar, the Mercury Prize is basically where the Polaris Prize was derived from. This year’s list includes:

Adele — 19
British Sea Power — Do You Like Rock Music?
Burial — Untrue
Elbow — The Seldom Seen Kid
Estelle — Shine
Laura Marling — Alas, I Cannot Swim
Neon Neon — Stainless Style
Portico Quartet — Knee-Deep In The North Sea
Rachel Unthank & The Winterset — The Bairns
Radiohead — In Rainbows
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss — Raising Sand
The Last Shadow Puppets — The Age Of The Understatement

Personally, I like the Polaris list better. But then again, I am very biased. Radiohead, Laura Marling, British Sea Power and Estelle are the only ones of which I am very familiar with therefore I can’t fairly judge this list. Adele was quite popular throughout the year, so I’m not surprised to see her, as well as The Last Shadow Puppets (seeing as the Mercury Prize is normally of fan of the Arctic Monkeys). As for whom I believe the winner would be? I have no clue. I can’t even give a pretend-academic prediction. Radiohead?

Off top note: Brendan Canning will be on MTV Live today. If you don’t have MTV (like me), visit their website tonight and it should be up by then. BSS Presents Brendan Canning’s Something For All Of Us…came out this week and I suggest you run out to your record store and buy it now. If you like Broken Social Scene, that is. It’s quite the staple in a BSS collection. There are no plans for the band to play in Toronto yet, but they will be at this year’s Osheaga Music Festival in Montreal – of which I will trek seven hours there to just to see them. Yes, I’m crazy.

Also, mark September 27th on your calendars, folks. That Saturday will mark the second annual Star Trek convention at the Tranzac Club, cleverly entitled, Trekzac. Star Trek is awesome, and as is the Tranzac Club – so if you would like to enjoy a full day of fun and activities (Ferengi games! Parrises Squares! Cheap beer!), come on down and have a grand ole nerdtastic time! The night time portion is (most likely) going to feature bands such as Woodhands, Laura Barrett, The Rural Alberta Advantage (!!!), and Gravity Wave. But equally as amazing will be the daytime festivities, which will promise intense discussion panels, fantastically Star Trek-related games and even a casino this year. All proceeds for this event goes to the Tranzac, so do your part in the community! Check it out HERE.

I was cruising Stereogum several days ago when I noticed a new Devendra Banhart video featuring gal pal, Natalie Portman. The video for “Carmenita” is like the most bazaar, yet intriguing Bollywood musical I’ve even seen. It’s Bollywood on mushrooms. Needless to say, I enjoyed it; especially since I’ve never listened to Banhart prior to this video. Anyway, watch it HERE.