Avril Lavigne Rocking China New Year’s Eve

Canadian rock superstar Avril Lavigne has been invited to perform in Nanjing, China during their New Year’s eve gala. Chinese pop stars normally travel to various cities in China performing during the Chinese New Year. As of late, China has been inviting international stars to perform during the December 31st New Year’s eve show. Last year, Shakira performed at the Nanjing gala. Nanjing is the capial of China’s Jiangsu Province and is about a three-hour drive west of Shanghai, China’s largest city. Although India is threatening to catch up, China is still the most populated country in the world. Avril Lavigne’s “What the Hell” was the 11th biggest song of the year in China, while “Smile” was 25th.

 

Artists with the Most Facebook Likes and Twitter Followers

Below is a table I compiled of selected Canadian recording artists with the number of followers on Twitter and “Likes” on their Facebook page. Not all recording artists have an official Twitter account and I imagine that Twitter (and Facebook) are more popular with younger fans. Also, some recording artists who have not been active for a while may not have picked up as many of their fans on the net. Obviously, artists with an international following will have higher numbers than those who are popular mainly within Canada. So be careful how you interpret all this data. It simply gives a general idea of some of the more popular Canadian artists currently.

Rank	Artist	Twitter	Facebook	TOTAL
1	Justin Bieber	15,954,141	38,673,688	54,627,829
2	Avril Lavigne	3,487,230	28,005,061	31,492,291
3	Drake	4,969,191	21,197,665	26,166,856
4	Nickelback	126,636	11,863,708	11,990,344
5	Deadmau5	729,359	4,563,400	5,292,759
6	Michael Buble	645,319	4,578,569	5,223,888
7	Simple Plan	216,887	4,829,002	5,045,889
8	Nelly Furtado	2,445,297	2,155,143	4,600,440
9	Sum 41	138,203	2,637,438	2,775,641
10	Alanis Morissette	146,333	1,421,035	1,567,368
11	Bryan Adams	144,868	1,381,739	1,526,607
12	Arcade Fire	233,730	1,287,265	1,520,995
13	Rush	43,962	1,320,909	1,364,871
14	Shania Twain	106,128	1,043,484	1,149,612
15	Billy Talent	28,810	1,024,732	1,053,542
16	Leonard Cohen	10,768	1,020,095	1,030,863
17	LIGHTS	323,502	675,752	999,254
18	Sarah McLachlan	52,723	812,765	865,488
19	Metric	131,382	636,627	768,009
20	Hedley	91,558	609,256	700,814
21	Coeur de Pirate	37,129	651,833	688,962
22	K’naan	100,020	571,910	671,930
23	Feist	26,639	579,714	606,353
24	Marianas Trench	60,042	484,976	545,018
25	Down with Webster	45,513	400,703	446,216
26	Diana Krall	27,549	354,719	382,268
27	Stereos	43,763	337,282	381,045
28	Faber Drive	28,440	194,427	222,867
29	Our Lady Peace	10,435	208,348	218,783
30	Raghav	10,523	135,160	145,683
31	Fefe Dobson	41,284	91,477	132,761

 

“Mon Corps” Ariane Moffatt

All studio albums released by Quebec’s ingenious Ariane Moffatt have nabbed the Felix for Pop-Rock Album of the Year. She’s even won a JUNO. And, she has a brand new album coming out soon. Lead single “Mon Corps” is receiving heavy airplay on mainstream radio stations in Montreal. It’s a brilliant electronic rock tune, a little reminiscent in style to Marianne Faithful’s “Broken English”. You can listen to the song at her website HERE and download from iTunes HERE. To promote her new album, she’ll be putting on shows in the province’s major cities in February and March.

 

Francophone Hat Trick

In recent weeks, three Francophone artists released albums that made the Top 10 Canadian Billboard albums chart at the same time. Duncan gives some more insight into these highly talented people.

L’Album du peuple – Tome 8 by François Pérusse

Francois Perusse, of Quebec City, is a hilarious comedian, and also a singer and musician. He is credited with creating a new genre of comedy. He began his career by doing radio sketches at the age of 12 and, by 17, he was the bassist in bands with his older brother Marc. Perusse’s latest album is comical music, spoken comedy, or a mixture of both. The songs can be extremely simple or more professionally done, but the main selling point is the comedy. His songs and monologues, can be really ridiculous, sort of like Robbin Williams in French, but I think even funnier. He also has done advertisements, like with Petro Canada, using his humour. He has been quite prolific, winning a number of awards, including…

■ 6 Félix for Albums du peuple – Tome 1, Tome 2, Tome 4, Tome 5, Volume 1 and l’Album pirate
■ 1 Juno for Tome 2, Best Selling Francophone Album, 1994

It goes to show that, whether in English or French, Canadians are masters at comedy. It’s so cold here that we have nothing better to do than to crack jokes, eh.

C’est un monde by Fred Pellerin

As for Fred Pellerin, CBC has an article which talks about his storytelling abilities (see Right Said Fred) which has no comparable phenomena in western Canada, as far I as I understand. Storytelling dates back centuries in Québec, which might explain why western Canada, hardly more than a century old, for the most part, doesn’t have the art form now (or ever?). Pellerin sounds similar to Daniel Lanois. Besides his records, Pellerin has also published many books. He uses “joual”, which is a Quebec street-slang dialect. He often reinterprets old folk songs. Some of the stories he tells come from his hometown of Saint Élie de Caxton, in the lake-dotted foothills of the Laurentian Mountains.

L’avenire entre nous by Maxime Landry

As for Maxime Landry, he was born in 1987, Saint-Georges-de-Beauce. When he was a teenager, his father committed suicide. He started to play guitar and began winning singing contests. Lynda Lemay wrote a song about his father’s suicide, “Cache-cache” (hide and seek) on his first album Vox pop, 2009, which won him the Felix in 2010 for best popular song of the year. On December 13 this year, his latest album went platinum, selling 80,000 copies in just a few weeks. Unlike his first album, which contained mostly covers, this album is all originals composed by Lynda Lemay. Landry has surrounded himself with a popular entourage, including Ginette Reno. His first album has sold 200,000 copies.

A side-splitting comedian, a captivating storyteller, and a soul-soothing singer, Francophone artists just can’t be beat in terms of pure talent and wondrous Canadian creativity.

 

The Biebs Among Performers at Times Square Rockin’ New Year’s Eve

Canadians have always been an essential component of the biggest New Year’s eve party on the planet. The world’s most famous televised New Year’s Eve celebration from Times Square in New York began with Canada’s Guy Lombardo who continued performing “Auld Lang Syne” annually until his passing in 1977. Beginning in 1972, Dick Clark hosted his New Year’s Rockin’ Eve featuring live performances by the biggest names in popular music. In 2005, he was joined by American disc jockey Ryan Seacrest.

Last year, Canada’s Avril Lavigne performed her brand new single “What the Hell”. Drake also performed.

This year, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest will air on Saturday December 31, 2011 into Sunday January 1, 2012, and feature, among others, a performance by Canadian Justin Bieber.

Other news regarding J.B.:

Bieber has been cast by Hollywood actor / producer Mark Wahlberg in a feature film about basketball, the sport that was invented by Canadian James Naismith. Wahlberg says he hopes to begin shooting the movie in 2012.

Justin Bieber gave British Columbia singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen a big endorsement by recently tweeting “Call me maybe by Carly Rae Jepson is possibly the catchiest song I’ve ever heard lol”. The song is currently at #22 on the Canadian Billboard Hot 100.

 

Biggest Concert Tours of 2011

We can rank concert tours by a number of different parameters. The most common is by gross ticket sales. Ticket prices can vary greatly by country, so an artist who concentrates more in poorer regions and less in richer ones, though attracting more people, can have a lower gross. Also an artist can put on more shows ahieving a higher gross but have less attendees per concert than another artist who put on less shows. An artist can do fans a favour by having five shows in a 5,000-seat arena to offer a better viewing or can put on one show in a 25,000-seat arena. The former artist will have less seats per show but both attracted the same number of people in a city. Also, remember that concerts that attract more people usually had more promotion and it costs money to promote, meaning that the net revenue would be less. It’s important to keep these in mind when looking over statistics. Concert tours can be ranked by total gross, total attendance, number of shows, revenue per show, and attendance per show. As we have discussed, each parameter has its own merits and demerits.

We also have to be careful in looking at the time involved in the rankings. When a tour takes place over two years, from 2010 to 2011, is the gross figure the total for the entire tour, including the numbers from 2010, or only the shows that took place in 2011?

The top 25 concert tours of 2011 generated a total revenue of $2.1 billion USD which is the same as last year. Ireland’s U2 was at #1 as usual. Spending on concerts in North America was down 4% from last year. In 2011, there were two Canadians in the Top 25 and it would not take a rocket scientist to figure out who they were. Michael Buble ranked 11th with gross ticket sales totalling $50 million. In 15th spot was Justin Bieber at $44 million.

Artists usually make most of their money from concerts as opposed to music sales, as they only get a small percentage of the revenue from the sales of their albums and singles from their record companies. But, before you think there is some greed involved, remember that, besides concert promotion, money has to be spent on travelling, lodging, equipment, venue renting, support personnel, etc. There have been instances in the past where an artist spends more money on putting on elaborate shows than the revenue generated, out of a spirit of generosity to his fans.

Celine Dion takes the cake for the highest-grossing concert tour of all-time by a Canadian artist. Her Taking Chances Tour in 2008-2009 reeled in $279.2 million. It is difficult to rank all-time grossing concert tours given inflation and population-increase factors.

 

Victoria Duffield’s “Shut Up and Dance” has Gone Gold

We’ve just received confirmation from Warner Music Canada that Victoria Duffield’s single ”Shut Up and Dance” has gone GOLD. The 16-year-old from Abbotsford, BC currently has the highest-charting single among Canadian artists as we head into the new year. “Shut Up and Dance” is at #12 on the Canadian Hot 100. Duffield is also poised to launch a brand new single and music video in January called “Feel”. The video promises to showcase a lot of dancing, something Victoria has been doing since the age of two. Best wishes from us to the bright, rising Canadian teen star.

 

Kreesha Turner’s “I Could Stay”

Edmonton is proud of its Oilers, the team that, in the 1980s, showcased the skills of the greatest hockey player of all-time. There is something else of which Edmontonians can be proud. In 1985, a baby girl was born in the city to a Canadian father and Jamaican mother. Her name is Kreesha Turner. In 2008, she put Edmonton on the musical map, scoring a platinum single “Don’t Call Me Baby” off her debut album Passion. She received two JUNO nominations.

In November 2011, Turner released her second studio album called Tropic Electric. Single “I Could Stay” reveals she has been working hard in creating a very fresh-sounding style of music with strong bass and a killer beat. We’ll let this fantastic song speak for itself by embedding the official music video below. You can download the song from iTunes HERE. And don’t forget to check out Kreesha’s website HERE.

 

In Which Province Is Each Canadian Artist the Most Googled?

I was toying around with Google Insights to look at Canadian recording artists who had hit albums / singles in 2011. I discovered that many of them were searched by one province in particular (more than the others) and it was not always the home province of the artist. This could mean that the artist is most popular in that province, but not necessarily. Below is a list of selected Canadian artists and the province (or territory) where they were googled the most throughout 2011. Bolded provinces indicate that the artist was searched there significantly more than any other province (33% or more). In terms of this latter statistic, Kardinal Offishall takes the cake. He was googled in Ontario 59% more than second-place Alberta. Be careful how you interpret this data, there are dozens of possible reasons why the artist was googled most in a particular province.

ARTIST	#1 PROVINCE / TERRITORY
Michael Buble	British Columbia
LIGHTS	Alberta
Carly Rae Jepsen	Saskatchewan
Marianas Trench	Saskatchewan
Jann Arden	Saskatchewan
Theory of a Deadman	Saskatchewan
Victoria Duffield	Manitoba
Shawn Desman	Manitoba
Raghav	Ontario
Kristina Maria	Ontario
Dragonette	Ontario
Anjulie	Ontario
Kardinal Offishall	Ontario
Drake	Ontario
Simple Plan	Quebec
Karl Wolf	Quebec
Feist	Nova Scotia
Mia Martina	New Brunswick
Neverest	New Brunswick
Shania Twain	Prince Edward Island
Avril Lavigne	Prince Edward Island
Nickelback	Prince Edward Island
City and Colour	Newfoundland & Labrador
Hedley	Newfoundland & Labrador
Alyssa Reid	Newfoundland & Labrador
Sam Roberts	Newfoundland & Labrador
Fefe Dobson	Newfoundland & Labrador
JRDN	Newfoundland & Labrador
These Kids Wear Crowns	Newfoundland & Labrador
Down with Webster	Newfoundland & Labrador
Justin Bieber	Northwest Territories

 

What’s Coming Out in January 2012?

Good question.

Leonard Cohen is a name with which most Canadians are familiar, especially as a poet and songwriter. He’s been around a long time. Cohen is releasing his 12th studio ablum, the first in 8 years. It’s called Old Ideas.

Fred Eaglesmith has been making records since 1980. He’s considered an “alternative” country artist. I’m not sure what’s meant by that. Fred’s releasing his 19th album in January, called 6 Volts. Check out his website HERE.

5-time JUNO nominee from Ottawa, Kathleen Edwards, is releasing her fourth album, Voyageur. Her website is HERE.

Veteran country artist Renee Martel is releasing a new album called Une femme libre. She has been releasing albums since the late 60s. Daniel Lavoie, Peter Flynn, Richard Séguin, Nelson Minville, Daraîche Paul, and Lynda Lemay have assisted in some of the songwriting.

We’ll keep you posted with the announcement of new releases as they come to our attention.

 

 

Happy Holidays and Season’s Greetings!

We want to wish all Canadian recording artists a joyous season as we welcome the new year soon. And a very big thank you for all the hard work: creating, composing, arranging, recording, engineering, producing, promoting, singing, playing, and travelling. You’re all doing fabulously and we look forward to doing what we can to promote your creations and releases next year.

To all our readers: season’s greetings and thank you for supporting our superb Canadian recording artists. We will continue keeping you informed as to the new music that comes out in the new year.

 

Winter Certifications for Pellerin, Cohen, Hedley, Nickelback, and The Arcade Fire

Some new certifications have been awarded as we headed into the winter solstice recently.

Leonard Cohen’s popular Live in London video is now triple platinum. Suzanne will surely be happy with that. Cohen has a brand new studio album due out in January.

Congratulations to storyteller Fred Pellerin. His C’est un monde album has struck gold.

Nickelback’s song “When We Stand Together” has been digitally downloaded more than 80,000 times, meaning that it’s platinum, eh.

And how about that Hedley. Their album Storms has officially joined the 2011 platinum club that has only 4 other members.

Wait a tick, that’s not all. Remember how the Arcade Fire won all those awards in Canada, the United States, and Britain, and you wondered why 2010′s The Suburbs did not receive any gold or platinum certifications. Well, get this folks, it’s now officially double-platinum.

 

Canadian Music Blog’s Song of the Year 2011

There were many great songs that came out in 2011, coming in an assortment of various genres and styles. After reviewing an igloo full of Canuck tunes released through the year, we narrowed them down to our five favourites, and only one of them was a hit single. There were dozens of Canadian songs we liked, but these five we found especially exquisite. We present this list to you, not in any spirit of authority but of sharing. And we’d love to continue hearing about your favourites. We’ll begin each entry with a lyric line to give you a chance to guess what the song is.

5. There’s a white flag on the wind

This Montreal man, who has been with us since the beginning of the new millennium, has won half a dozen Juno awards and scored a platinum album. His style of rock leans more toward the bluesy side of the spectrum. He was born in Canada after his South African parents immigrated. He was involved with a couple of bands in the 90s and then recorded a slow-selling independent release which was finally re-released by MapleMusic bringing him into the limelight. He is trilingual, speaking English, French, and Spanish. This year, he released his fourth studio album called Collider and added “Band” to his name. The first single was “I Feel You”. We preferred the second single, released in August. Our fifth favourite Canadian song of the year is “Without a Map” by The Sam Roberts Band.

4. So the storm finally found me and left me in the dark

From her magnificent sophomore album Siberia, which we chose as the Canadian album of the year 2011 (see HERE), this hauntingly beautiful electronic ballad from Toronto’s LIGHTS is our fourth choice. She was the recipient of the JUNO award for new artist of the year in 2009. This is one of only two songs on the album that she composed by herself. With a voice sweeter than a maple dip doughnut from Tim Horton’s, a lyric that rivals the poetry of Leonard Cohen, and musical composition that honour’s Gary Numan’s “Complex”, the world’s first hit electronic ballad, #4 is “Cactus in the Valley” by LIGHTS.

3. We’ve just a wish and an empty vessel

We could describe this song as a power folk-pop tune with some Beatles-style highlights. The most overlooked singer-songwriter in the country, a native of St. Catharines, Ontario, was honoured in recent times by Michael Bublé recording a cover (Latin version) of one of his songs. Ron Sexsmith who won the JUNO for songwriter of the year in 2005 came out with his magnum opus this year, the Bob Rock-produced Long Player Late Bloomer. Though the album was filled with expertly-crafted songs, we’re settling on “Believe It When I See It” as our 3rd favourite of the year.

2. What’s your flavour, what’s your type?

This is the only hit single that made our list. It peaked at #19 on the Canadian singles chart and was the 64th biggest song of the year. It comes to us care of a rising superstar singer born in Ottawa, Ontario whose management and production team consists of the personnel responsible for Céline Dion’s crossover to the English market. Kristina Maria is Lebanese-Canadian and is one of the leaders in making slick and original Canadian dance music. We look forward to her debut album which should be on store shelves next year. Our second favourite Canuck tune of 2011 is Kristina Maria’s “Let’s Play“.

1. Didn’t think about it, just went with it

Our favourite song of the year is a more stripped down acoustic number with a crisp, strong beat. And listening to it is enjoyed best with a pizza of pepperoni, mushrooms, and green olives, a pizza now named after the singer in Canada. It was the third single released from the exquisite Goodbye Lullaby (fourth if you count “Alice”). Besides Avril Lavigne’s captivating voice, what stands out is the expert songwriting on this song. The pop punk princess, a seven-time JUNO winner from Napanee, Ontario co-wrote the song with Max Martin and Shellback. It comes as no surprise that she has sold over 30 million records worldwide. Anyone who can write and deliver such an addictive tune is bound for musical royalty. The song centers around the feeling of missing someone, and one can see Princess Avril’s real tears in its music video, which has thus far garnered 58 million views on YouTube. Our favourite song of 2011 is Avril Lavigne’s “Wish You Were Here“.

Do you have a favourite Canadian song or songs of 2011? Let us know: canadianmusicblog@yahoo.ca.

 

Santa’s Canadian Reindeer Promise to Deliver in 2012

The December 31, 2011 Canadian singles chart indicates that 2012 is going to begin well. Songs that appeared late in the year, though not making it into the Top 100 of the year 2011, have a good chance of making it to the Top 100 of 2012. Delivering the goods are Santa’s Canadian reindeer, eh.

Rudolph: Leading the Canadian team is Abbotsford, B.C.’s Victoria Duffield. Her “Shut Up and Dance” is holding steady at #12. Is this its peak or will it climb further in 2012?

Dasher: The dashingly handsome Biebs is still hangin’ tough at #14. “Mistletoe” peaked at #9 earlier. Will it surpass its previous peak as we approach Christmas Day?

Dancers:“Hit Me Up” by Shawn Desman’s little brother Danny Fernandes, featuring Palestinian-Canadian rapper (and belly dancer?) Belly, and Josh Ramsay of Marianas Trench has stalled at #22. The question is, has it stalled simply due to the cold weather? And speakin’ of The Trench, wait a tick, what’s this? A new single in the Top 40? Yes, it’s Marianas Trench’s “Fallout” at #38 this week. Let’s see if it goes nuclear in 2012.

Prancer: Nickelback’s “When We Stand Together” really is prancingly standing together because it’s still on the charts (#23). It peaked at #10.

Vixen: And how about that Carly Rae Jepsen? Her song “Call Me Maybe” is just smokin’ hot. It’s now up to #24. Can she break into the Top 20? I’m going to call it … maybe.

Comet: Drake’s “Headlines” never did healine the charts but #18 wasn’t bad at all. It’s at #26 this week. Drake’s “Take Care” that features Rye Hanna (I lilke pronouncing it that way) is #33 (#17 peak).

Cupid: Hedley’s platinum single “Invincible”, a #9 hit, is at #28 now.

Donner: And, hello, what’s this? A new single from New Brunswick’s Mia Martina? I’m seeing something burning up the charts. At #29 is “Burning”.

Blitzen: Anjulie’s platinum “Brand New Chick” is no longer brand new but it’s holding on at #36 (#16 peak).

 

Canadian Music Blog’s Album of the Year 2011

It is officially the winter solstice, so our announcement could come on no better day. (You’ll understand what we mean further down the post).

There was so much good music that came out in 2011, it will have the JUNO judges pulling their hair out to come up with a list of nominees for album of the year in a few months. Many recording artists released their magnum opus this year.

Our third favourite album this year comes from Ron Sexsmith, the most overlooked Canadian recording artist of modern times and one who is admired by the likes of Sir Paul McCartney. Long Player, Late Bloomer is a beautifully-crafted folk pop album and was produced by the eminent Bob Rock. It is the St. Catharines native’s best effort to date in our humble opinion.

At #2 is Goodbye Lullaby, pop punk princess Avril Lavigne‘s best album yet for one uncomplicated reason: there is not a single weak moment on the disc. Filled with inspired pop tunes from start to finish, it is but a gem. And, of course, no current Canadian recording artist can outsing her pure, pleasant, and pitch-perfect voice.

#1? Well, it’s a bit cold in here, so let’s “pull the wool up like a smoke screen” and introduce it gradually…

It would make more sense to fly over the North Pole, as the distance would surely be shorter, but the airlines would rather take us on the scenic route, like “two sparks tumbling along”, and have us stop over and change flights in a number of bustling cities with “busy parks” on different continents. The easiest way to fly from Vancouver to the largest city in this region of the world would be to stop over in Beijing, but that would be expensive. A cheaper alternative would be flying to Chicago, USA or London, England, then to Moscow, and finally to our destination of Novosibirsk, a city just shy of 1.5 million people, the largest urban center of northern Asia, an area of the Russian Federation known as Siberia.

Before we go on our flight, we want to stay where we are, in Vancouver, and travel back in time. We set the dial of our time machine to March 29, 2009 and push the button. After a flash of lights, we find ourselves in pre-Olympic Vancouver. We hop onto the SkyTrain which will drive our soul downtown. Many passengers will be going to our destination today and are very excited. After arriving, we disembark and walk over to what was then known as “GM Place”. We purchase tickets at the door and make our way inside. The show is about to begin. Nickelback blows us away with a tour de force performance, after which we see the host of the proceedings, comedian Russell Peters. We are, as some of you have figured from the clues, at the JUNO awards gala of 2009. A number of awards are being presented for the best in Canadian music.

At about 5:40 pm, after a performance by Sarah McLachlan and a cute comedy sketch with Peters and Michael Bublé, Maple Ridge’s beautiful Filipina-Canadian pop star Elise Estrada, the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Terrace’s country singer Aaron Pritchett step onto the stage. They will be presenting the prestigious award for New Artist of the Year. The nominees are Jessie Ferrell, LIGHTS, Crystal Shawanda, Kreesha Turner, and Nikki Yanofsky. James Moore announces, “And the JUNO goes to…”. He opens the “envelope” which looks more like a CD jewel case, and then declares, “LIGHTS!”

As Elise Estrada begins clapping, another young woman, in a purple dress, looking very surprised and very happy, stands up and makes her way to the stage. The song “Drive My Soul”, a Top 20 hit, begins playing. The crowd is cheering. We are cheering too. She gives the three presenters a hug and positions herself in front of the microphone. “Whoa. Oh my goodness. I was so not expecting this … You know, I didn’t get into this to win awards; I got into this to create some amazing music, and we’ll try to anyways…”.

What was significant about LIGHTS winning the JUNO was that she had not yet released her debut album; it came out later that year in September. The Listening was an electronic pop record and was later certified gold in Canada.

Encouraged by her success, she decided, in the making of her sophomore baby, to depart from mainstream sounds to something more creative, more gritty, on the “alternative” side of the musical spectrum. Various personnel within the record company, who were more concerned with the business side of music, opposed the artistic move, and she was faced with manipulative forces trying to push her in different directions. She remained fixed in her resolve and focused on her goal of creating something different but exceptional musically. A great team consisting of Thomas Salter, Dave Thompson, Jay Parson, Brian Borcherdt, and Graham Walsh assisted her in crafting and perfecting a Canadian masterwork.

After some delays, Siberia was released on October 4, 2011. It is an indie electronic rock album with some elements of dubstep, and it received rave reviews. Siberia debuted at #3 on the Canadian albums chart behind Adele’s 21 and Feist’s Metals and sold 10,000 copies in the first week. She went on a North American tour to promote the album and will be heading to Europe next year.

Although Siberia pays homage to the great masters of electronic rock—FM, Gary Numan, Bjork, and Metric to name a few—LIGHTS has carved out a niche for herself by honing her own unique style. Amidst the ethereal, pulsating synthesizer buzzes, her voice comes through as sweet as honey, and her lyrics are more inspired than the pennings of the aforementioned.

Everyone has their favourite tracks. Ours are the title-track “Siberia”, single “Toes“, ballad “And Counting…”, and, most of all, the hauntingly gorgeous “Cactus in the Valley”, a song she composed entirely on her own.

LIGHTS fought off all opposition to make her work of art like fighting off the cold to brave the “icy tides” and “sail across the east sea”. In her song “Toes” she sings, “You capture my attention”. No, LIGHTS, you have captured our attention and have worn out the laser on our CD player from a countless number of listens.

“I didn’t get into this to win awards; I got into this to create some amazing music,” she said. And she has done just that. LIGHTS’ Siberia is our pick for album of the year 2011. Well done.

Update:  At the end of April 2012, Siberia was awarded GOLD certification in Canada.

Do you have a favourite Canadian album of 2011? Let us know: canadianmusicblog@yahoo.ca.