Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

The following were my picks for this year's 19th annual eye weekly music critics poll: BEST ALBUMS OF 20091: Joel Plaskett/Three (MapleMusic)2: K'naan/Troubadour (A&M/Octone)3: Arctic Monkeys/Humbug (Domino)4: Lily Allen/It's Not Me, It's You (EMI)5: Neko Case/Middle Cyclone (Anti)6: Wilco/Wilco (the album) (Nonesuch)7: Great Lake Swimmers/Lost Channels (Nettwerk)8: Bob Dylan/Together Through Life (Sony)9: Junior Boys/Begone Dull Care (Domino)10: Glasvegas/Glasvegas (Columbia) BEST SINGLES OF 20091: The Very Best feat. Ezra Koenig/"Warm Heart of Africa" (Green Owl)2: K'naan/"Wavin' Flag" (A&M/Octone)3: Metric/"Help I'm Alive" (Last Gang)4: Lily Allen/"The Fear" (EMI)5: Great Lak...

Rise Up looks at the digital age of Canadian music in the 1980s, a visual era of big hair and shoulder pads, when music videos helped homegrown artists to take off internationally. America’s MTV and Canada’s MuchMusic provide launching pads for artists as varied as Triumph, Bruce Cockburn, Chilliwack, Jane Siberry, Men Without Hats and Bryan Adams. Blending illuminating interviews with thrilling concert footage and videos, including Rush’s “Tom Sawyer,” 54-40’s “I Go Blind,” Blue Rodeo’s “Try” and k.d. lang’s “Hanky Panky,” Rise Up takes viewers on a thrilling ride into the decade’s pop stratosphere. Along with such telegenic performers as Gowan and Dalbello, the hit-filled documentary inclu...

This Beat Goes On tells the story of Canadian music in the 1970s, a ground-breaking era of great sounds, from glam and progressive rock to punk and reggae. Set in the formative years of Canada’s music industry, This Beat Goes On offers a jukebox full of chart-topping songs from, from Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown” and Burton Cummings’ “Stand Tall” to Trooper’s “Raise a Little Hell” and Loverboy’s “Turn Me Loose.” Mixing archival footage with candid interviews, the documentary features proven hitmakers like Anne Murray, Neil Young and The Guess Who as well as a wealth of new folksingers, blues artists and mullet-rockers. Solo artists like Joni Mitchell and progressive rockers Rush still rule, b...