The Cinematic Orchestra is a British nu jazz and downtempo music group created in 1999 by Jason Swinscoe. The group is signed to independent record label Ninja Tune.
The Dears are a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec. The band is led by the husband-and-wife duo of singer-guitarist Murray Lightburn and keyboardist Natalia Yanchak.
Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montréal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member Sarah Neufeld and multi-instrumentalists Paul Beaubrun, Dan Boeckner and Eric Heigle. Each of the band's studio albums features contributions from composer and violinist Owen Pallett.
Martha Wainwright is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter and musician. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums.
William Joel MacDonald Plaskett is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was a member of Halifax alternative rock band Thrush Hermit in the 1990s. Plaskett performs in a number of genres, from blues and folk to hard rock, country, and pop.
Chad VanGaalen is a Canadian musician and artist from Calgary, Alberta.
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.
Patrick Watson is an American-born Canadian singer-songwriter from Montreal, Quebec. It also refers to the eponymous band formed by Watson, whose blend of cabaret pop and classical music influences with indie rock has been compared to Rufus Wainwright, Andrew Bird, Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley and Pink Floyd for its experimental musicianship. Patrick Watson's album Close to Paradise was awarded the Polaris Music Prize in 2007.
The Reminder is the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Feist. It was released on April 23, 2007 in countries outside of North America, and May 1, 2007 in the United States and Canada.
Close to Paradise is the second studio album by Patrick Watson, released on September 26, 2006. On September 24, 2007, the album won the Polaris Music Prize, after reaching the finals alongside such other albums as Neon Bible, Ashtray Rock, Woke Myself Up, and The Reminder (Feist).
Karkwa is an indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, formed in 1998.
Secret City Records is a Canadian independent record label based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The music label was founded in 2006 by Andrew Rose and Justin West, originally as sublabel of Justin Time Records. It became fully independent in late 2008.
This is a summary of the year 2009 in the Canadian music industry.
The 2009 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 21, 2009 in Toronto at the Masonic Temple and broadcast live online for the first time in its short history. The award's eligibility period for 2009 covered albums released between June 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009.
Timber Timbre is a Canadian music group, featuring Taylor Kirk. The moniker refers to an early series of recordings made in a timber-framed cabin set in the wooded outskirts of Bobcaygeon, Ontario.
"Fugitive" is the first single taken from David Gray's eighth studio album Draw the Line. The song had its first exclusive play on Ken Bruce's BBC Radio 2 show on 21 July 2009 and was released in the UK on 7 September 2009.
Diane Birch is an American singer-songwriter.
Rah Rah was an indie rock musical group formed in 2006 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. They toured extensively across North America and Europe. The band released four full-length albums, including 2015's Vessels. After a three-year hiatus, the band played three final live shows in December of 2019 and disbanded.
Lindi Marie Ortega is a Canadian country singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario, who had lived in Nashville, Tennessee then moved to Western Canada in 2017. She spent nearly a decade as an independent artist in the Toronto music scene, releasing two albums and an EP in that time. She has been described as "Toronto's best kept secret" and nicknamed "Indie Lindi". Ortega left Last Gang management and records in November 2017. She has since released Til The Goin' Gets Gone EP and her full-length Liberty on her own label Shadowbox Music. Her voice has been described as a blend of Dolly Parton's, Johnny Cash's, and Emmylou Harris'.
Adventures in Your Own Backyard is the fourth studio album by Canadian musician Patrick Watson, released in April 2012. It is the band's follow-up to the Polaris Music Prize-nominated 2009 release Wooden Arms, but by comparison is a musically simpler and more emotional album.
