Polaris People For The Week Of February 8: Stompin' Lindi Ortega & A Tribe Called Public Enemy
How about those Grammys?
That’ll be the glittering thing happening on the television box on Sunday night.
It must be tough over in their universe. After all, they’ve got about 700 categories (actually 81) they’ve got to sift through, like “Best Surround Sound Album” and “Best Historical Album” (c’mon Old-Time Smoky Mountain Music: 34 Historic Songs, Ballads, And Instrumentals Recorded In The Great Smoky Mountains by “Song Catcher” Joseph S. Hall).
It’s enough to make us thankful that here in Polarisland we only have to worry about one category each year — best Canadian album based on artistic merit. Period.
On that note, let us clunkily segue to checking in on some of our favourite people, the Polaris People. This week we’re going to do something crazy and exclusively check in with what some of our 2012 class of Polaris Long Listers have been up to.
Public Enemy’s Chuck D is officially onside for A Tribe Called Red. By transitive property, this means that if you don’t love ATCR you’re wrong in life. Because Chuck D is always right.
Avec pas d’casque have a number of upcoming tour dates across Quebec in the next month or so. They’ve also go this cat-centric video worth watching. Oh, and there’s this Gazette story about another video that’s kinda theirs.
Slakah The Beatchild, the main man behind The Slakadeliqs, is one of 15 black Canadian musicians featured in Polaris juror Ryan B. Patrick’s recent story highlighting upcoming next gen musicians. It’s a good list.
This weekend Ariane Moffatt will be making good on that Toronto show in the fall that got nixed. On a related note, my fitness instructor wife has deftly taught her 60-something dancercise ladies to do a workout routine to a Moffatt song. More info on her shows here.
Lindi Ortega said this:
I got me some vintage lil red boots with a heel… time to stomp up a storm on stage!
— lindi ortega (@lindiortega) February 6, 2013
Gotta say, she’d be a fair bit easier on the eyes clomping around on stage than Stompin Tom.
So yeah, The Weeknd. Don’t call it #AltRnB apparently.
Coeur de Pirate recently came out with a new video for “Place de la République.” There’s romantic/sexy making out happening in it.
Valentine’s Day is coming (heads up, it’s Thursday), so the CBC has thoughtfully provided with some romantic yarns about artists like Dan Mangan‘s first loves. Nobody’s asking, but I’m pretty sure mine might have bee Wonder Woman.
And in Leonard Cohen news, “Yes,” he’s still alive.
Finally, best of luck to the Weird Canada crew who’ve just announced “Weird Canada’s National Distribution Service.” Its aim, as you might have been able to gather from the name, will be to distribute weird stuff to people.
