Photo by Debi Del Grande

Beirut has added even more tour dates behind their latest LP, The Rip Tide, some of which will see Seattle singer-songwriter Perfume Genius splitting the bill. Check out all of Beirut’s confirmed dates below (the newly announced ones are italicized), along with the video for “Santa Fe”.

Beirut 2011 Tour Dates:
09/28 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium *
10/01 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater *
10/02 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent *
10/04 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre *
10/06 – Santa Fe, NM @ Warehouse 21 *
10/07 – Santa Fe, NM @ Santa Fe Community Convention Center *
10/09 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant *
10/11 – Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Hall *
10/25 – Richmond, VA @ The National #
10/27 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse #
10/29 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s #
10/31 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live #
11/01 – Dallas, TX @ Prophet Bar  #
11/04 – Mexico City, MX @ Salon Vive Cuervo
11/05 – Mexico City, MX @ Salon Vive Cuervo
11/07 – Nashville, TN @ Cannery
11/09 – Lexington, KY @ The Kentucky Theater
11/11 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogarts
11/13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
11/26 – Providence, RI @ Lupo’s ^ 
11/28 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues ^ 
11/30 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall ^  
12/02 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue ^ 
12/04 – Knxoville, TN @ Bijou ^ 
12/05 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel ^ 
12/07 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theater ^ 
12/08 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle ^
12/10 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Alter Bar ^ 
12/13 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club ^   

* = w/ Laetitia Sadier
# = w/ Basia Bulat
^ = w/ Perfume Genius

Canada’s other indie powerhouse, Broken Social Scene, scored nominations for Group of the Year, Alternative Album of the Year, and Music Video of the Year.

Rapper Drake is also a big winner, as he netted nominations for Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Rap Recording of the Year, and Single of the Year.

Other acts who earned nominations include Caribou, Basia Bulat, Owen Pallett, Tokyo Police Club, and Shad.

Neil Young, who is up against Justin Bieber for Artist of the Year (really), will also receive the 2011 Allan Waters Humanitarian Award. The award recognizes an outstanding Canadian artist whose humanitarian contributions have positively enhanced the social fabric of Canada.

You can find the complete list of nominees here. Winners will be announced on March 27th. The ceremony will also feature performances by Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene.

Though it’s been a little over a year since Actor came out, St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) and her backing band still showed the same enthusiasm for their newer material. Laced with aggression and precision, the group put on a stripped down show that put all eyes and ears on the music rather than any fancy lighting. From piano to saxophone to a small string section, the lush melodies of both her records came to life, only to be interrupted by Clark’s intricate and ferocious guitar work.

Before the headlining guitarist took the stage though, the audience was entertained by two decent opening acts that made the long wait (two and a half hours) a lot less painful. First up was Canadian songwriter Basia Bulat, who’s light-hearted but lyrically dark brand of folk rock made for a relaxing way to start the day. With the light breeze that was blowing through Central Park, many people sat and relaxed towards the back as she played. Bulat herself picked through a variety of instruments, including the guitar, ukulele, keyboard, and her trademark autoharp.

If Bulat was laid-back, then the tUnE-yArDs‘ set was the polar opposite. Group founder Merrill Garbus came onstage with face paint on and proceeded to create a rhythmic loop out of her yodeling. Bassist Nate Brenner supported her loops nicely with some cushioned riffs. It wasn’t all electronics though. After a few songs, a special guest band joined in the fun, filling in on electric guitar, percussion, horns. Garbus often played a distorted ukulele that expanded even more on the group’s experimental sound. The most distinctive part of the set though was the vocals. Garbus’ voice reached across the spectrum of music, bringing to mind the smooth pop of Dido to the R&B soul of Macy Gray. She hollered, heckled, and even imitated a car horn (her ode to New York). The performance was well-received by the crowd, who she had jumping along with her by the second song.

While the opening acts were good, it’s clear the crowd was there for St. Vincent. Unfortunately, some technical difficulties increased the wait another 20 minutes or so before the band took to the stage. Soon enough though, Ms. Clark and her band started their set with three songs from Actor, including the single “Actor Out of Work”. The result was sadly disappointing, though no fault to Clark. The sound mix was way off, putting the bass high enough for vibrations to travel through the barriers and Clark’s guitar too low to be heard clearly. These mechanical problems really put a damper on the first part of the set, sucking away the part most of the crowd was there to hear: Clark’s guitar. The effect was lessened afterward, probably due to some panicked fiddling on the part of the sound engineer but it was still enough to turn the end of “Just The Same But Brand New” into a muddled mess.

After the fifth song, however, the audio improved greatly with only minor grievances occurring. Perfect timing too as the band premiered one of the few tracks from St. Vincent’s second album that hadn’t been played live yet, “The Neighbors”. The track sounded spectacular live, with Clark’s fuzzed guitar tone meshing well against Daniel Hart’s mesmerizing violin. Though the entire support band played wonderfully, Hart was something of a standout. His violin went from beautifully brittle to darkly haunting throughout the show. He was the only one who managed to grab the crowd’s attention as readily as St. Vincent did.

Speaking of the leading lady, she proved once again that there’s no one who can switch between the fragile and fury so quickly. Every guitar solo turned Clark into a woman possessed, forcing out the distorted crunches she wanted by any means necessary, including punching the guitar. Yet by the next song, she was lighter than air as she moved over the frets to create séances of music. The audience readily changed along with her, from quietly staring during “The Bed” to punching the air and singing along to “Marrow”. When the last harmonic from St. Vincent and her backing band rang out during “The Party,” the crowd screamed in approval, the earlier problems forgotten.

The ending reaction from the crowd was the overall experience to take from this show. After stumbling badly out of the gate, St. Vincent recovered enough to put on a gratifying, intense showcase, no matter which song she played. Not a bad way to finish up her tour.
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According to the Montreal Gazette, the 2010 award honors albums released from June 1st, 2009 to May 31st, 2010. The prize, whose potential winners are chosen by 200 Canadian music critics, went to Fucked Up last year. But it’s not just a fancy, schmancy award. Along with bragging rights, the winners receive a big fat check for $20,000. (Probably more money they’d make otherwise on the actual album.) Pretty sweet deal, all in all.

You can take a peek at the 40 nominees below. Just from a quick glance, stand outs include: The Besnard Lakes, Broken Social Scene, Caribou (who won in 2008), Frog Eyes, Owen Pallet (who won in 2006), The New Pornographers, Tegan & Sara, You Say Party! We Say Die!, and Zeus.

As always, stay tuned to for the shortlist and the eventual winner.

2010 Polaris Prize Nominees:
01. Apollo Ghosts – Mount Benson
02. Bahamas – Pink Strat
03. The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night
04. Blue Rodeo – The Things We Left Behind
05. Brasstronaut – Mt. Chimaera
06. Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
07. Basia Bulat – Heart Of My Own
08. By Divine Right – Mutant Message
09. Caribou – Swim
10. Jason Collett – Rat A Tat Tat
11. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles (II)
12. Amelia Curran – Hunter, Hunter
13. Fred Fortin – Plastrer La Lune
14. Frog Eyes – Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph
15. Hannah Georgas – This Is Good
16. Ghostkeeper - Ghostkeeper
17. Holy Fuck – Latin
18. Karkwa – Les Chemins De Verre
19. LeE HARVeY OsMOND – A Quiet Evil
20. Greg MacPherson – Mr. Invitation
21. Dan Mangan – Nice, Nice, Very Nice
22. Misteur Valaire – Golden Bombay
23. The New Pornographers – Together
24. Owen Pallett – Heartland
25. Plants And Animals – La La Land
26. Radio Radio - Belmundo Regal
27. Justin Rutledge – The Early Widows
28. The Sadies – Darker Circles
29. Shad – TSOL
30. Elizabeth Shepherd – Heavy Falls The Night
31. The Slew – 100%
32. Meaghan Smith – The Cricket’s Orchestra
33. South Rakkas Crew – The Stimulus Package
34. Tegan And Sara - Sainthood
35. The Wooden Sky – If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone
36. Hawksley Workman – Meat
37. You Say Party! We Say Die! – XXXX
38. Young Galaxy- Invisible Republic
39.Yukon Blonde – Yukon Blonde
40. Zeus – Say Us

Basia Bulat, the Canadian singer/songwriter who debuted in 2007 with a very successful Oh, My Darling, delivered a vigorous sophomore full-length this past week. Bulat’s Heart of My Own is an incredible, instrumentally varied record that beats with the full force of her hearty vibrato.

Among the intricately orchestrated tracks are traces of Celtic folk in the violin, bumpkin in the banjos, and a number of noted vocalists in Bulat’s exceptional cords. Her voice is the thickness of Amy Winehouse, the sensitivity of Feist, the power-poetry of Ani DiFranco (see “Sparrow”), and the vocal quirkiness of Alanis Morisette. When she shakes out that delicate croon in the simply beautiful “Sugar and Spice”, she even has the cadence of a more substantial Devendra Banhart.

Overall, Bulat’s feisty, upbeat music has a very cohesive energy and her exquisite instruments are well-paired. There are plenty of strings on Heart of My Own; the best part is that the use of violins, ukuleles, banjos, and autoharps seems organic to the music. There isn’t any awkward friction among the chords, like there would be if certain instruments were forced into the mix. In the very angelic “Run”, violins and harps crescendo inconspicuously and provide a steady backbone for Bulat’s escalating song. Well-varied and intricately instrumented, the strings play upon each other and climb along with Bulat’s thick chords.

The variety of instruments on this record is such that at times their introductions almost go unnoticed, but then they hop up from under the dominating strings and add a new twist to Bulat’s compound style. Though most of the album is driven by a harpish mixture, Bulat and her crew even implement trumpets. Although unexpected, upon their arrival in “If Only You”, they make complete sense.

The album comes on full-force, booming the hearty tracks at first, then winding down to the more ballad-like verses. The first single, “Gold Rush”, is an excellent demonstration of the Irish countryside that’s reflected in the first portion of the record. There is a strong blend of that Celtic folk that, while rare, is always energizing, and fiery drums that beat perfectly along Bulat’s robust vocals.

To counter and balance out the energy shoved forth at the start of the disc, “Sparrow” delivers a more vulnerable, delicate melody. With the same emotion that’s encrusted into the beginning tracks, Bulat sings, “Let your sparrow fall/to what might be,” in a sandy, heart-warming murmur accompanied by a soft ukulele riff.

In yet another angle, Bulat adds a touch of bluegrass to her sound in tracks like the eponymous “Heart of My Own”. This colorful addition of banjo is the ideal musical transition from winter into spring, and it’s a bit reminiscent of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (though that resemblance could easily just be the desire to see them all play Bonnaroo together this year). The easy banjo, slow violin, choral back-ups and Bulat’s confident vocal boom are definitely a welcomed reminder of the upcoming summer festivals and their (hopefully) breezy daytime shows.

For the lucky ones who plan on acquiring this outstanding record via iTunes, a treat awaits. “Hush”, the iTunes Bonus Track, is a more tribal, Southern folklore-ish number. It’s almost like an old slave chant that’s suspiciously similar to “Amazing Grace”. Being that the song is basically a cappella, it shows off the impressive width of her voice and reaffirms Bulat’s aptitude as a singer.

Buy:
Heart of My Own

Oh, My Darling will hit stores on January 26, 2010 via Rough Trade Records. Stream the album’s first single, “Gold Rush”, below.

Check Out:
“Gold Rush”

Heart Of My Own Tracklist:
01. Go On
02. Run
03. Sugar and Spice
04. Gold Rush
05. Heart Of My Own
06. Sparrow
07. If Only You
08. I’m Forgetting Everyone
09. The Shore
10. Once More, For The Dollhouse
11. Walk You Down
12. If It Rains

Basia Bulat 2009 Tour Dates:
11/18 – Madrid, ES @ Moby Dick
11/19 – Orense, ES @ Voces Femininas
11/21 – Vigo, ES @ Voces Femininas
11/25 – London, UK @ Cafe Oto
11/27 – Utrecht, NL @ Le Guess Who Festival
11/28 – Ghent, BE @ Kraakpand
11/29 – Paris, FR @ Café de la Danse
11/30 – Berlin, DE @ Privatclub