Better Know a Jury Member, #1: Alan Cross June 19 2009
Host, The Ongoing History of New Music
Host and Curator, ExploreMusic
Jury Member since: 2007
Please share the Top 5 Canadian records you put on your first ballot:
Winter Gloves About a Girl
Sloan Parallel Play
Japandroids Post-Nothing
Beast Beast
The Stills Oceans Will Rise
Tell us about your top ranked choice. Why #1?
About a Girl was one of those albums that completely blindsided me. I discovered it quite by accident while searching through iTunes for something else. For whatever reason -- and this is the brilliant thing about music -- it captured my attention in ways I never expected. There's just no accounting for how one's brain chemistry will react to audio stimuli.
Reaction to the Long List: Your most pleasant surprise? Shocked by any omissions?
In many ways, seeing a favourite album miss making the Long List is more heartbreaking than the short list. With so many albums to choose from and with so many jurors voting, you can miss out by just one vote. Still, I thought it was nicely representative of the kind of talent that released music during the eligibility period. But Leonard Cohen's live album? Good record, but it's not the thing I would have expected. But that's what makes this competition so interesting. It IS subjective. It DOES get people arguing. But anytime you can get people passionately involved in music, it's a good thing.
Describe state of Canadian music in 5 words:
America and UK: Look out.
Imagine the tables are turned and you are the nominee: What would you do with the $20,000 prize money?
Get VISA off my back. And then go shopping.
Related Link: exploremusic.com
RT @teganandsara: Home Recordings the bonus album from our vinyl box set is streaming at http://bit.ly/9mrMUN.
Jul 30 2010, 4:26pm from TweetDeck
@nicooooole in @torontoist on @TheSadies awesome summer .
Jul 30 2010, 4:25pm from TweetDeck
Cool. RT @CiTRradio: CRTC policy decision gives Community Radio Fund of Canada $775,000 in funding to support community and campus stations.
Jul 30 2010, 4:01pm from TweetDeck
