Congratulations Elephant Stone & D-Sisive

Fontana North wishes to extend congratulations to Elephant Stone and D-Sisive for making the Polaris long list this year as announced by Steve Jordan, Prize Founder and Executive Director.

This is the fourth year of the $20,000 Prize which is awarded to the best full-length Canadian album, judged solely on artistic merit, without regard to genre or record sales. This marks the second year Polaris has made the Long List public.

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Danny Fernandes wins Pop Video of the Year at the MMVA's
photo credit: George Pimentel

www.dannyfernandesonline.com

The Rural Alberta Advantage to release Hometowns through Fontana North

Current critic darlings The Rural Alberta Advantage will be releasing their debut album Hometowns independently in Canada through New Prey (distributed through Fontana North) and with Saddle Creek in the United States.

Hometowns, which they began to sell at shows in early 2008, without an official release. With no label or publicist, Hometowns began catching the ears of bloggers across the country on pure word-of-mouth. Herohill.com proclaimed the RAA "the best unsigned band in Canada", and I Heart Music.net deemed Hometowns "a near-perfect album".

The band's reputation for stellar live shows garnered them a sellout crowd at the 2008 North By Northeast festival, and the band played similarly successful showcases at the 2008 iterations of the Halifax Pop Explosion and Pop Montreal. In November 2008, digital music retailer eMusic.com selected the Rural Alberta Advantage, from a fan recommendation, as an eMusic Selects artist. Repeating and surpassing the successes of past Selects artists Crystal Stilts and High Places, the RAA sold thousands of copies of their record in mere weeks, an astounding feat for an unsigned act. Hometowns became the highest-selling Selects act in history and a critical darling overnight, appearing on dozens of "Best of 2008" lists in newspapers, blogs, and radio podcasts across North America and Europe.

The inspiring DIY success story of the Rural Alberta Advantage has continued to gain momentum and attract fans and followers, with a breakthrough performance at the 2009 SXSW festival in Austin, Texas getting the ultimate seal of approval from Pitchfork ("This band could be huge") and a nod as a "buzz band" from the Associated Press. More glowing press reviews and sold-out club dates in major cities throughout the United States have followed, and Hometowns will be released properly in the United States for the first time on Saddle Creek in July 2009.

Eagles of Death Metal

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Jesse & Joey of EODM rocked 4 songs for a crowd Live on The Edge.
Listen to the interview here (sorry no songs…).

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Jesse makes BlogTO feel awkward.

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The Eagles of Death Metal are the most mirthful piece of the musical empire of Josh Homme (CEO of Queens of the Stone Age and the Desert Sessions), a California-made rock machine specializing in churning out three-minute bursts of put-on sleaze and guitar-powered glee with more cheek than a gay pride parade's worth of buttless chaps. It's just plain inappropriate to bring a fighting angst to an Eagles show.21628

RADIOHEAD- SEVEN NOMINATIONS
ALBUM OF THE YEAR - Radiohead, "In Rainbows"
BEST ROCK SONG - Radiohead, House of Cards from "In Rainbows"
BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM - Radiohead, "In Rainbows"
BEST BOXED OR SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION PACKAGE - Radiohead, "In Rainbows"
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, NON-CLASSICAL - Radiohead, Nigel Godrich on "In Rainbows"
BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCALS - Radiohead, House of Cards from "In Rainbows"
BEST SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO - House of Cards from "In Rainbows"