Is the clip for Nickelback’s “Gotta Be Somebody” a good video, or merely a testament to the fact that adding a dash of the Killers’ synthy pomp to the Canadian band’s grunge-lite formula is the last, best way to get some sort of consensus among rock fans? Or is it just a sign that the fisticuff-enhanced MuchMusic Video Awards, which named it “Best Video,” wanted to give as many awards as possible to the bands performing on last night’s show? (See also: Lady GaGa, Black Eyed Peas, Jonas Brothers, Billy Talent, and the, um, Genesis-sampling hip-hop artist Classified.) Decide for yourself, after the jump. More »
Canadian heshers Nickelback took home Album Of The Year, Group Of The Year, and the Juno Fan Choice Award at last night’s Juno Awards, which reward the best that Canadian music has to offer. (Gene Simmons is probably very, very excited right now.) Other winners: The sinewy Kardinal Offishall/Akon collab “Dangerous,” which won Single Of The Year; Alanis Morrissette, whose Flavors Of Entanglement picked up the Pop Album trophy; and the Stills, who brought home New Group of the Year and the Alternative Album award. Full list of winners after the jump.
Nominations for the Juno Awards—the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ equivalent to the Grammys—were announced today, and the big winner was the Vancouver band of heshers Nickelback, who are up for five prizes including Single Of The Year and Album Of The Year; personal favorites like Black Mountain and Sloan, as well as that deliciously inescapable Kardinal Offishall/Akon track from last summer, got nods as well. I’m sure Gene Simmons is studying this list very closely right now, trying to figure out what works in the Great White North. (Perhaps he should try and find a Guns N’ Roses tribute band up there, since CARAS had the balls to nominate Chinese Democracy for International Album Of The Year.) Partial list of nominees after the jump.
As you may have gathered, I’m raring to close the book on 2008, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t run down some of the site’s highlights during what was a pretty dreary year overall. After the jump, behold a pretty subjective top 12 of the year (thanks to our technological limbo I can’t run any sort of numbers, but I think this list accurately captures the best moments we’ve had during a long slog of a year). And of course I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank all of you for coming back, reading, commenting, and pointing out when I get shit wrong (which is too often). If you think I got this list wrong, feel free to abuse me with compliments in the comments section!
Our look at the closing lines of reactions to the week’s biggest new music continues with an overview of reviews of Nickelback’s Dark Horse, which arrives in stores tomorrow:
ARTIST: Nickelback
TITLE: Dark Horse
WEB DEBUT: Nov. 10, 2008
RELEASE DATE: Nov. 18, 2008
“It’s weird to me that the glorification of ignorance is finally (maybe) about to fail in U.S. politics, but it’s still a good look in blue-state coastal elitist music journalism,” Marc Hogan writes, referring to Ann Powers’ article about what she calls “flyover rock,” and what others have called “red-state rock.” Powers argues that the genre–which includes bands like Nickelback, Hinder, and Daughtry–is unfairly dismissed by what is variously called “the coasts,” “the media,” and “elitists.” Her musical analysis highlights the sound’s eclecticism and tries to relate their lyrical focus to a particular way of life–hedonism as a release, multi-generational entertainment, and “openly emotional,” which probably sounds more convincing when the example at hand isn’t Hinder’s “Lips of an Angel.” Powers wasn’t trying to be condescending, but Hogan’s case is helped by her assertion that Sarah Palin gave her baby the middle name Van as a Van Halen tribute–something even a Van Halen fansite recognizes as a joke. So is it ultimately more condescending to dismiss Nickelback because they don’t sound like the music you like, or to try to appreciate them because that’s what “real people” listen to?
The new Nickelback single, which contains… More »
