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Polaris People For The Week Of November 9: Nick Drake, Music Books & Indie Rock Theatre

· by Aaron Brophy

In new ventures and housekeeping announcements, the occasionally teased Polaris Picks feature we’ve discussed in past months is finally happening.

Stay tuned to this website for its big debut next week.

Back here in Polaris People land the word “Drake” really snuck its way into to a lot of news items this week.

We’ll let you find out why below.

(FYI, “Drake” is on the rise as a baby name.)

Elliott Brood, they of the 2009 Short List nomination for the album Mountain Meadows, have been touring around the country with Wintersleep lately. More importantly, they want people to know a banjo is NOT a guitar.

Dan Snaith, who won the Polaris in 2008 as Caribou, is talking about his new dance project Daphni. Go here if you want to learn about weird dissonant things, parallel harmonies and mathematic applications in music.

Being both English and dead since 1974 has disqualified Nick Drake from Polaris Music Prize eligibility all these years, but the gentle singer-songwriter will get the full Polaris People treatment this month. Various Polaris folks like Ron Sexsmith and Karkwa‘s Louis-Jean Cormier are taking part in the Songs Of Nick Drake all-star tribute tour. Oh, and check this.

It’s 2010 Long Listers Blue Rodeo‘s 25th anniversary and the band have been doing a number of things to celebrate. Tops on the list for us so far has got to be enlisting 2010 Short Listers The Sadies to help them on a magnificent redo of “Diamond Mine.”

In other like-minded collaboration news, 2012 Short Lister Drake is featured in the new song “The Zone” by 2011 Short Lister The Weeknd. The video for that one can be found here. Also, The Weeknd played some hometown shows recently. They were triumphant return-type events.

SaxMan to the stars and 2011 Short Lister Colin Stetson has new music out. It’s a double-whammy improvisational saxophone duet between Stetson and Mats Gustafsson. More information for that one can be found here.

Our new best friends over at DIY U.K. continue to show the love. They’ve recently published features on 2012 Short Listers Fucked Up, Kathleen Edwards, Cadence Weapon and Grimes.

And while we’re still on the topic of 2012 Polaris Gala, check out these glam shots of Grimes, YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN, Kathleen Edwards and Cold Specks from Flare Magazine taken by Caitlin Cronenberg. And we’ll link to these unrelated MTV Style shots of Grimes, too.

In the printed page Polaris news department, there’s a new book out about Drake by author Dalton Higgins. Meanwhile, Polaris juror Stuart Berman has released Too Much Trouble: A Very Oral History Of Danko Jones, which is helping to remind people about the Mango Kid’s role in the Toronto’s millennial musical breakout. Meanwhile, the Canadian alternative period-encompassing book Have Not Been The Same by Polaris jurors Michael Barclay and Jason Schneider as well Ian Jack has birthed a related rarities compilation.

Finally, The Globe and Mail recently ran a fascinating feature about the emerging relationship between indie rock and indie theatre, past Polaris People like Stars, Dan Bejar, Buck 65 and Hawksley Workman are all part of this new renaissance.

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