I might start another music blog eventually, maybe something with a Canadian theme and something a little more user friendly. And something less… purple and green. (What was I thinking?)

Anyway, this site will remain live until March when the domain expires. Thanks to the writers who helped out and the music that inspired the whole thing to begin with. Keep up the amazing sounds.

- Jillianne

With that said, I’m announcing that East Coast Overture is on hiatus for a few months while I finish school. I am considering closing ECO, to be honest, but I’ll decide the site’s fate at a later date.

I want to thank everyone who helped out with the site. I’ll keep you posted.

1. Joel Plaskett – Three
2. Got To Get Got – Sahalee
3. Klarka Weinwurm – EP
4. The First Aid Kit – Rocket Summer
5. Milks and Rectangles – Civic Virtues

• ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
• Classified (NS)
• Dave Carroll (NS)
• David Myles (NB)
• Gypsophilia (NS)
• In-Flight Safety (NS)
• Joel Plaskett (NS)
• The Divorcees (NB)

• FEMALE SOLO RECORDING OF THE YEAR
• Amelia Curran (NL) – Hunter, Hunter
• Catherine MacLellan (PE) – Water In The Ground
• Coco Love Alcorn (NS) – Joyful
• Erin Costelo (NS) – Fire and Fuss
• Jenn Grant (NS) – Echoes
• Jessica Rhaye (NB) – Good Things
• Kim Wempe (NS) – Where I Need to Be

• MALE SOLO RECORDING OF THE YEAR
• Chris Kirby (NL) – Vampire Hotel
• Classified (NS) – Self-Explanatory
• Dave Gunning (NS) – We’re All Leaving
• Dave Marsh (NS) – The True Love Rules
• Joel Plaskett (NS) – Three
• Lennie Gallant (PE) – If We Had A Fire
• Pascal Lejeune (NB) – Adélaïde

• GROUP RECORDING OF THE YEAR
• Caledonia (NS) – We Are America
• In-Flight Safety (NS) – we are an empire, my dear
• Madison Violet (CB) – No Fool for Trying
• The Motorleague (NB) – Black Noise
• The Novaks (NL) – Things Fall Apart
• Two Hours Traffic (PE) – Territory

• FACTOR RECORDING OF THE YEAR
• Amelia Curran (NL) – Hunter, Hunter
• Classified (NS) – Self-Explanatory
• Chris Kirby (NL) – Vampire Hotel
• Dave Gunning (NS) – We’re All Leaving
• Duane Andrews (NL) – Raindrops
• Jenn Grant (NS) – Echoes
• Joel Plaskett (NS) – Three

• RISING STAR RECORDING OF THE YEAR
• Caledonia (NS) – We Are America
• Haunted Hearts (PE) – Thank You, Goodnight
• Kim Wempe (NS) – Where I Need To Be
• Share (NS) – Slumping in Your Murals
• Sleepy Driver (NB) – Steady Now
• The Danks (PE) – Are You Afraid Of The Danks

• ALTERNATIVE RECORDING OF THE YEAR
• Caledonia (NS) – We Are America
• In-Flight Safety (NS) – we are an empire, my dear
• Sleepy Driver (NB) – Steady Now
• The Danks (PE) – Are You Afraid Of The Danks
• The Easy Bleeders (CB) – The Easy Bleeders
• The Slate Pacific (NB) – Safe Passage

The ECMA awards will be in Sydney, Cape Breton on March 4-7.

Go to http://radio3.cbc.ca and vote for your favourite east coast artists in this year’s Bucky Awards, brought to you by the totally chill folk at CBC Radio 3 (go to the site, there’s a purple-y banner on the left with a buck on it- the categories are just below that.)

• BEST SONG: “Through & Through & Through” (Joel Plaskett), “One Track Mind” (Classified)
• MOST CANADIAN SONG: “Bye Bye Montreal” (Amelia Curran), “Oh… Canada” (Classified)
• BEST BAND NAME: Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees
• BEST LIVE ACT: Hey Rosetta, Joel Plaskett, Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees
• BEST LYRICS: I’m the Berlin Wall, I’m a communist / You’re a wrecking ball in a summer dress (“Through & Through & Through” by Joel Plaskett), Some days you’re happy / Other days I’m sad / I try not to think about what we could have had / Live for the moment, never the past (“Up & Down” by The Mountains and the Trees)
• BEST VOCALS: “One Track Mind” (Classified)
• SEXIEST MUSICIAN: Matt Mays, Rebekah Higgs of Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees, Buck 65, Tim Baker of Hey Rosetta
• BEST NEW ARTIST: Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees, The Mountains and the Trees

You gotta be a member of the site to vote but it only takes a second. Now… go vote! Voting closes at midnight (PST) Sunday, Nov. 8.

The above video, “Bottom of the River” from the Tom Fun Orchestra, is nominated for a UK Music Video Award. The video is nominated in the “Best Animation in a Video” category and is up against Coldplay‘s “Strawberry Swing,” Birdy Nam Nam‘s “The Parachute Ending,” Hauschka‘s “Morgenrot,” Royksopp‘s “Happy Up Here” and The Prodigy‘s “Warrior Dance.”

This is a wonderful opportunity for all the nominated bands to get their name out there.

The awards take place on October 13, 2009. Good luck guys!

1. How did you become a member for the Polaris Music Prize jury?
I’d like to think it’s because 11 years’ worth of astute music criticism here at the Star (and a coupla more before that back in the day at the Ottawa Sun) have earned me the respect of my peers and a reputation as a reliable arbiter of good musical taste. But the truth is that Polaris founder Steve Jordan and some of his fellow board members — the lovely Liisa Ladouceur, for instance — have been very dear friends of mine since well before all this stuff started and they probably knew that I’d start whining if they didn’t eventually put me on the grand jury. I bruise easily. Also, I know they’re pretty careful about balancing out the final jury so that no single album has a clear advantage over the others. I’m usually a pretty loudmouthed supporter of the bands I get behind in the run-up to the short and long lists in our online Polaris discussions and this year, for once, a couple of the records I voted for actually made the final cut. I just fit the mix.

2. Are you excited for this year’s events?
I know it sounds corny, but I’m actually thrilled to be on the grand jury. I’m a total music geek, as are most rock writers, and I take this sort of stuff very seriously. There’s gonna be a pitched battle backstage while everyone else gets to take in the show — which, I gotta say, I’m kinda miffed I’ll be missing because for the first time all 10 nominees are performing. The past Polaris galas have been pretty solid from a musical standpoint and I’d imagine this one won’t be any different. As long as I’m out in time to see Fucked Up break some furniture, I’ll be happy, I guess.

3. Of the ten albums that made it to the Short List, are you surprised at all? Were there any albums that you felt deserved to be on the Short List but didn’t make it?
There were a lot of repeat finalists. Which, I guess, didn’t surprise me — I just wish we weren’t so bloody predictable in our voting. I know everyone wants a bit more weirdness in the short list, but this is a big country and you realize once the voting starts that a lot of the contenders got to the long list by virtue of regional appeal. Finding 10 albums across the country that critics can vaguely agree on is no mean feat. Of course you’re gonna be left at the end of it with some sorta-familiar choices. I’ve been doing a lot of listening lately, though, and they’re all pretty solid records. I voted for Fucked Up and Chad VanGaalen and I loved the Metric record going in, but even the stuff I’d kinda waved off in my mind has crept up on me. That Elliott Brood album is fabulous. I totally slept on it.
As for stuff that didn’t make it, I wish Dog Day’s “Concentration” was up there. One Hundred Dollars’ “Forest of Tears,” too. D-Sisive’s “Let The Children Die” was wicked. I kinda knew those three would never make the cut but I love them all. The omission that really surprised me was Handsome Furs’ “Face Control.” I figured that was a shoe-in.

4. What do the judges take into account when choosing what band/artist gets the Polaris Prize?
For me, by and large, it was always just personal taste that guided my voting — if I liked a record and listened to it obsessively, it went on the list, with an emphasis on the ones that I thought were doing something original or artistically compelling. I don’t think I’d ever put something on there that I respected but otherwise found unlistenable. That’s not a “best” album, in my books. Now that I’m doing the grand-jury thing, however, I’ve actually surprised myself with how seriously I’m forcing myself to consider even the records from which I’d normally recoil in disgust. And, without naming names, there are definitely a couple, although I’ve actually warmed up to them a bit through this process. So there you go: Polaris is teaching me to have an open mind.

5. Of the ten nominees, 2 are from the east coast. How tempted are you to push for an east coast artist, just because you’re from the area?
My emotional investment was in Dog Day, who are from Halifax and totally fucking awesome — that’s my favourite Canadian band right now — so that temptation was stomped out of me when “Concentration” didn’t even make the long list. The Joel Plaskett triple-album is pretty fine, though. I could easily get behind that. I’d probably feel more biased if there was a band from New Brunswick in the running. Maybe I’ll start lobbying Polaris 2010 on the merits of the new Rick White album right away.

6. What other aspects influence who you vote for?
I’m a big fan of musicians who surprise me with something I really haven’t heard before — Fucked Up, for instance, who’ve made the world’s first “shoegazer hardcore” album — or people who take the familiar and spin it into something unexpected. I’d put VanGaalen or Elliott Brood in that category. But there’s also something to be said for simply turning in a tight-as-fuck, no-fat pop album, as Metric and Plaskett have both done. It’s a situational judgement, I think. An album just has to work for me in some way, has to make me come back to it. I’m not interested in a record you scratch your chin and nod appreciatively to for a couple of spins and then tuck away on the shelf forever. I want something I play all the time and that makes me excited about music again.

7. Do you already know what artists you’re going to vote for?
I’m an enormous fan of the Fucked Up album, but there are a couple of dark horses to whom I’ll be happy to grant consensus if the backstage situation merits. There are a couple of lesser lights in there that I’ll die to keep from the victory lap — not because they’re awful, just because they’re a bit typical — but I’m going in with an open mind. And an arsenal of arguments on Fucked Up’s behalf.

8. Is there anything else readers should know about the Polaris Music Prize?
This thing’s honest and genuinely well-meaning, from the top down. I know the results are a source of endless squabbling, but if you were privy to the online Polaris discussion group of which all jury members are a part you’d see some real, albeit borderline creepy, passion on display for Canadian music of all stripes. Pretty much year-round, too. This is the work of some serious music lovers. God, I’m being corny again. Maybe I should just make some shit up and say it’s rigged and the results are generated by a computer. As someone who hates awards, though, I respect Polaris a great deal. As do other people, apparently; you hear the brand mentioned all the time in U.S. and European media. Someone’s doing something right.

How did you become a member for the Polaris Music Prize jury?
To be honest, I’m not really sure. I think the people in charge are just very diligent. How else would they stumble on an East Coast blog? It’s pretty cool though. I’m thrilled that the blog world can stand side-by-side with the “real” critics and help determine who wins this thing.

Are you excited for this year’s events?
Big time. I can’t wait to get up to Toronto and start …. discussing why my fav records are the ones that should win. Plus, nice digs, booze and food plus all ten artists performing. Can’t go wrong.

Of the ten albums that made it to the Short List, are you surprised at all? Were there any albums that you felt deserved to be on the Short List but didn’t make it?
Um. That’s a slippery slope. There are 150 people choosing these nominees, so I can’t say that any of the records picked shouldn’t have made it. There are a few I’m not into, but obviously enough of the jury was to make the selections hold water. Two that should have made it though… Japandroids and Timber Timbre.

What do the judges take into account when choosing what band/artist gets the Polaris Prize?
I don’t think you have to take anything into account. That’s what I love about the process. It could be a record that sold 5 copies or 500,000. It all comes down to what record hit you the hardest.

Do the judges deliberate or is it done on a vote?
That’s my understanding. I think they knock off a few with a vote, and then go back in an do it again. But it’s my first year, so I really have no idea yet… we will see when September comes I guess.

Of the ten nominees, 2 are from the east coast. How tempted are you to push for an east coast artist, just because you’re from Halifax?
I don’t think it’s location. Of the records nominated, I think Joel’s deserves serious consideration. IT wouldn’t matter if he was from MTL, TO or the West Coast. That being said, I am going to listen to what people say about their favorites too.

What other aspects influence who you vote for?
The nice thing about being a blogger is that you write about music you love. Any of the bands I write about, I like so really, that’s the only thing that comes into play on my ballot.

Do you already know what artists you’re going to vote for?
95% yes. I have my list done up and hopefully my order is the same as others so the final three are all bands I want to see win the 20Gs.

Is there anything else readers should know about the Polaris awards and your duties as one of the jury members?
I don’t think so. Maybe I’ll just say that anyone reading should really think about buying these records, and any other ones you like.
Downloading music is killing the industry, and without support these bands won’t be able to make music for us.