Well, we had our turn last Sunday at the 2011 Junos. Some younger Canadians sadly showed their own… well…lack of musical knowledge, when Neil Young walked away with two Junos – including a surprise Artist of the Year award.
How did the young'uns respond to our legendary rocker’s win? With similar tweets. “Who’s Neil Young?” Oh, my. Look it up and listen to him, guys. Then tweet again, okay?
I loved this year’s Junos. Shania Twain and I probably have only one thing in common (wish it weren't so). It’s our overwhelming pride at the present Canadian music scene, and deep sentimentality for some of our greats, including Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, Burton Cummings, Bryan Adams, The Band, Carole Pope, Ann Murray and Joni M. Who am I missing. Someone, for sure.
Okay, so this year. First off, I have to get it out of my system. I’m not happy Drake went away empty-handed. I mean, London’s Shad is great and all, but Rap Artist of the Year? Wasn’t there something Drake could have won, other than my nomination for Best Juno Host Ever? He was smooth, hilarious, a welcomed self-deprecating, and bright. The Grammys should make an immediate beeline to hook him up for their 2012 show.
Now that that’s out of the way, I can get on with acknowledging my Juno highlights.
I loved hearing a great performance by Arcade Fire and seeing them garner four awards. I got to see my beloved Robbie Robertson. Neil Young’s Humanitarian Award thank you speech was all it should be. Broken Social Scene was (were?) great as ever. Even Shania Twain made my heart slightly flutter. But not as much as K’naan. And Chromeo. Who knew they existed and could be so much fun? Not me, but I do now. They’ve entered my coveted playlist.
I loved hearing a great performance by Arcade Fire and seeing them garner four awards. I got to see my beloved Robbie Robertson. Neil Young’s Humanitarian Award thank you speech was all it should be. Broken Social Scene was (were?) great as ever. Even Shania Twain made my heart slightly flutter. But not as much as K’naan. And Chromeo. Who knew they existed and could be so much fun? Not me, but I do now. They’ve entered my coveted playlist.
For anyone not attuned (!) to today’s pop music scene in Canada, please, please go online and listen to as many Juno winners as you can. You will be pleased. And all you Canadians out there, PROUD (you'll be, too). You can forget The Biebs, though, unless you're under 15.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
The Suburbs, Arcade Fire
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Neil Young
GROUP OF THE YEAR
Arcade Fire
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Meaghan Smith
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Arcade Fire
POP ALBUM OF THE YEAR
My World 2.0, Justin Bieber
JUNO FAN CHOICE AWARD
Justin Bieber
RAP RECORDING OF THE YEAR
TSOL, Shad
ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR
The Suburbs, Arcade Fire
INTERNATIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Teenage Dream, Katy Perry
NEW GROUP OF THE YEAR
Said The Whale, Hidden Pony
COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
A Place Called Love, Johnny Reid
ADULT ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Le Noise, Neil Young
For all of you who made it to the bottom of this list, I congratulate you. As your reward, I’m reprinting below a very humourous and clever Juno Drinking Game I found online created by Aaron Brophy (CHARTattack). I don’t know Aaron, but enjoyed his humour so much, I’m reprinting it here, with thanks to Aaron.
The quiz will make sense and be most fun to people familiar with Canada’ present-day music and artists, as nominated at the Junos. Much to my disappointment, I’m not sure that includes any of my friends and family. It’s a lonely world I live in.
For the rest of you, I hope you enjoy Aaron’s delightfulness:
YOUR Drinking Game CHECKLIST
Performers and presenters general interest section:
* How many back-up dancers were Chromeo able to afford for their bammed up Juno performance? 1 drink for each dancer onstage
* That drummer from Down With Webster's hair completely hypnotizes you: 1 drink
* I got drunk watching the Juno Awards and it was all Broken Social Scene's fault: 1 drink for every BSS member who's on stage
* City And Colour face game: 1 drink every time Dallas Green is shown on camera not smiling
* Someone does a "volcano" joke that nobody gets: 1 drink per volcano joke
* K'naan's wearing a sharp hat: 1 drink
* Metric face game: 1 drink every time Emily Haines is shown on camera not smiling
* Buck 65 uses any of the following words during his award presentation — gosh, golly, shucks, jeez, jeepers, or jiminy: 1 drink per reference
* Hey, Hedley's still around: 1 drink
* Holy shit, look at those jackets The Sadies are wearing: 2 drinks
* Royal Wood and Ben Mulroney present an award together and make a joke about their haircuts: 3 drinks
* Every time someone says the words "Neil Young": 1 drink
* Elf singer spotting! Sarah McLachlan, Sarah Slean and Sarah Harmer are all seen sitting in the same section in the same frame: 5 drinks
* Johnny Reid performs: Pee break!
* The guys from Blue Rodeo appear and it makes your mom happy (because she secretly lusts for Jim Cuddy): 2 drinks
* Someone goes, "Who the fuck is that?" when Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley comes onstage to present an award: 1 drink for the person who said it, 2 for everyone else
* If the show ends with a giant group rendition of Neil Young's "Rockin' In Free World": chug
* If the show ends with Tokyo Police Club playing through the credits: 1 drink
Eye-rolling industry sub-section
* Every time Bruce Allen is thanked: 1 drink
* Every time "my label" is thanked: 1 drink
* Every time any variation of "most importantly, you, the fans" are thanked: 3 drinks
* Every time Jesus or God are thanked: 1 drink
The Drake sub-section
* Every time Drake is on-screen: 1 drink
* If Drake does a throw in a wheelchair: chug
* Any time Drake comments on how beautiful/lovely/hot all the ladies in the audience are tonight: 1 drink
The rest:
Feist got to write her own presenter lines. And they're totally heartfelt, but don't make any sense: 2 drinks
* Deadmau5 has the balls to spend the whole show in his mousehead costume and doesn't appear in his normal human form: 5 drinks
* Gonzales does, says, or wears ANYTHING weird: 3 drinks
* Gonzales plays it straight: no drinks, just tears, because The Man has officially co-opted Gonzo
* Arcade Fire are our conscience. They get to be the ones to do the "Japan" speech: 3
Glug!
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