Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

Folksinger Kate McGarrigle left a deep musical legacy both in recordings with her older sister Anna McGarrigle and in her two children, singer-songwriters Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright. Kate and Anna McGarrigle were revered for their heavenly harmonies and sensitive love songs, made famous by the likes of Linda Ronstadt and Maria Muldaur. Lavish praise greeted the Montreal duo's arrival in the mid-1970s, with the British and American press citing the intimacy of their voices and honesty of their songs. Along with critically lauded albums, the McGarrigle sisters each gave birth to musically talented offspring. Kate McGarrigle grew up bilingual, but, in many ways, music was her first ...

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...