Cold Specks | |
---|---|
Birth name | Ladan Hussein |
Also known as | Al Spx |
Born | Toronto |
Genres | |
Occupation | artist |
Years active | 2011–present |
Labels | Mute/EMI Records (world except Canada) Arts & Crafts/EMI Records (Canada) |
Cold Specks is the stage name of Somali Canadian singer-songwriter Ladan Hussein, [1] who was previously known as Al Spx. [2] Her music has been described as doom-soul. The name Cold Specks is taken from a line in James Joyce's Ulysses ("Born all in the dark wormy earth, cold specks of fire, evil lights shining in the darkness.").
She released her debut album, I Predict a Graceful Expulsion , on May 21, 2012, on Mute Records and Arts & Crafts in Canada. [3] The album was a shortlisted nominee for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize. [4]
Her second album, Neuroplasticity , was released on August 26, 2014. [5] It featured trumpet playing by Ambrose Akinmusire and backing vocals from Michael Gira of Swans, was supported in part by selected dates opening for Sufjan Stevens on his Carrie & Lowell Tour, [6] and was longlisted for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize. [7] Her third album, Fool's Paradise, followed in 2017. [8]
Following Fool's Paradise, Hussein suffered a mental health breakdown, and underwent several months of treatment at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. [9] She has since announced that she is retiring her stage name, and will release future music under her own name.[ citation needed ]
Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result[ citation needed ] |
---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | 2012 Polaris Music Prize | Polaris Music Prize | I Predict a Graceful Expulsion | Nominated |
2013 | SiriusXM Indies Awards [11] | Artist of the Year | Cold Specks | Nominated |
Female Artist of the Year | Won | |||
Songwriter of the Year | Nominated | |||
Soul/R&B Artist or Group of the Year | Nominated |
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released ten solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nominations.
The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize; the prize was increased to $30,000 for the 2011 award. In May 2015, the Polaris Music Prize was increased to $50,000, an additional $20,000, sponsored by Slaight Music. Additionally, second place prizes for the nine other acts on the Short List increased from $2,000 to $3,000. Polaris officials also announced The Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, an award that "will annually honour five albums from the five decades before Polaris launched in 2006." Details about the selection process for this prize are still to be revealed.
Shadrach Kabango, known professionally as Shad or Shad K, is a Canadian rapper and broadcaster. Beginning his career in 2005, has released seven studio albums and three extended plays. He won a Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year in 2011 and five of his albums have been shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, the most short-list nominations of any artist in the prize's history. In 2013, CBC Music named Shad the second-greatest Canadian rapper of all time. Shad hosted Q on CBC Radio One from 2015 to 2016, and hosts the International Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentary series Hip-Hop Evolution on HBO Canada and Netflix.
Zeus is a Toronto-based Canadian indie rock band signed to the Arts & Crafts record label. Its members include Rob Drake, Carlin Nicholson, Mike O'Brien, and Neil Quin. The band have released three albums and one EP since 2009. They have also served as the backing band for Canadian musician Jason Collett.
Daniel Tavis Romano is a Canadian musician, poet and visual artist based out of his hometown of Welland, Ontario. He is primarily known as a solo artist, though he is also a member of Attack in Black and has collaborated with Julie Doiron and Frederick Squire. He has also produced and performed with City and Colour, the recording project of Dallas Green.
PS I Love You are a Canadian indie rock duo based in Kingston, Ontario, consisting of Paul Saulnier on vocals/guitar/bass pedals and Benjamin Nelson on drums. The band is signed to Canadian independent record label Paper Bag Records. The band is known for its forceful themes, guitar effects, and loud percussion.
This is a summary of the year 2012 in the Canadian music industry.
I Predict a Graceful Expulsion is the debut album by Cold Specks
The 2012 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 24, 2012 at Toronto's Masonic Temple.
"A Case for Shame" is a song by American electronica musician Moby. It was released as the first official single from his eleventh studio album Innocents on July 1, 2013. The track is a collaboration with Canadian singer-songwriter Cold Specks.
Majical Cloudz was a Canadian music group from Montreal consisting of singer-songwriter Devon Welsh and Matt Otto. The group disbanded in March 2016.
The Weather Station is a Canadian folk music band fronted by Tamara Lindeman, formed in 2006. The band membership has changed over the years, and as of 2022 includes Lindeman, Ben Whiteley (bass), Johnny Spence (keyboards), Will Kidman (guitar), Christine Bougie (guitar), Karen Ng, Evan Cartwright (drums), and Kieran Adams (drums).
This is a summary of the year 2014 in the Canadian music industry.
Neuroplasticity is the second album by Cold Specks. "Absisto" is the album's first single. "Bodies at Bay" is the album's second single.
Julien Sagot is a Canadian musician. Formerly a percussionist for the indie rock band Karkwa from 1998 to 2012, since that band's breakup he has released four albums as a solo singer-songwriter.
The 2015 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 21, 2015 at The Carlu event theatre in Toronto, Ontario. The event was hosted by children's entertainer Fred Penner.
Pierre Kwenders is the stage name of José Louis Modabi, a Congolese-Canadian musician. His 2014 album Le Dernier empereur bantou was a shortlisted nominee for the Juno Award for World Music Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2015, and a longlisted nominee for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize. Kwenders, who sings and raps in English, French, Lingala and Tshiluba, is noted for blending both African music and western pop music influences, including hip hop and electronic music, into his style.
Dilly Dally were a Canadian alternative rock band from Toronto. The band consisted of Enda Monks, Liz Ball, Annie Jane Marie (bassist) and Benjamin Reinhartz (drummer). They announced their breakup on March 2, 2023.
Haviah Mighty is a Canadian rapper from Brampton, Ontario. She rose to prominence in 2016 as a member of the hip hop group the Sorority, before releasing several EPs on her own, most notably Flower City, in 2017. Her first album, 13th Floor, was released in 2019 and won the Polaris Music Prize. After her debut, XXL named her one of the "15 Toronto rappers you should know" and CBC Music called her one of the "New Faces of Canadian Hip Hop".
Salomé Leclerc is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Quebec.
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