Here are the Juno Award nominees for 2015
by Mark Teo
January 27, 2015
Along with the Polaris Music Prize, the Juno Awards aim to celebrate all corners of the Canadian music scene. And with the awards gala arriving on March 15 in Hamilton, it’s about time to roll out the nominees. So, shall we?
The nominees cover numerous categories, from album of the year, to breakthrough artist of the year, to best rap album of the year, to best adult contemporary album of the year. Some of the picks are natural: Caribou and Plastikman, for instance, were nominated for the best electronic album of the year. Saukrates and Tre Mission are up for rap Junos. And, for better or for worse, Nickelback and Hedley are up for album of the year.
(Also worth noting: A few Juno noms, like Chromeo, Mother Mother, and Arkells will be featured on AUX’s upcoming season 2 of Influenced, along with names like Tokyo Police Club, Rich Kidd, and Tasha the Amazon. Butttt we digress.)
But the funnest part of these ceremonies come in spotting the outliers. For instance, it’s commendable to have Kiesza nominated as a breakthrough artist, but does Mac DeMarco really qualify? Alvvays are an obvious selection for alternative album of the year, but so is the indescribable, Polaris-winning Tanya Tagaq.
And then, of course, there’s the always divisive metal category. Remember when the Flatliners were nominated last year? This year, Toronto punk band Single Mothers get their chance to be the, uh, best Canadian metal band.
Either way, things should get interesting. Here’s the rest of 2015’s Juno nominations. Congrats to everyone who made it.
JUNO FAN CHOICE AWARD
Arcade Fire
Bobby Bazini
Drake
Hedley
Leonard Cohen
Magic!
Michael Bublé
Nickelback
Serge Fiori
You+Me
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
“Hold On, We’re Going Home,” Drake ft. Majid Jordan
“Crazy for You,” Hedley
“Hideaway,” Kiesza
“Rude,” Magic!
“We’re All in This Together,” Sam Roberts Band
INTERNATIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
PRISM, Katy Perry
Pure, Heroine Lorde
Midnight Memories, One Direction
In the Lonely Hour, Sam Smith
1989, Taylor Swift
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Where I Belong, Bobby Bazini
Wild Life, Hedley
Popular Problems, Leonard Cohen
No Fixed Address, Nickelback
Serge Fiori, Serge Fiori
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Bryan Adams
Deadmau5
Leonard Cohen
Sarah McLachlan
The Weeknd The Weeknd
GROUP OF THE YEAR
Arkells
Chromeo
Mother Mother
Nickelback
You+Me
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Glenn Morrison
Jess Moskaluke
Kiesza
Mac DeMarco
Shawn Mendes
BREAKTHROUGH GROUP OF THE YEAR
Adventure Club
Alvvays
Magic!
USS
Zeds Dead
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Bahamas
Catherine MacLellan
Henry “Cirkut” Walter
Jenn Grant
Magic!
COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Lifted, Dallas Smith
Light Up The Night, Jess Moskaluke
Caffeine & Big Dreams, Kira Isabella
MacKenzie Porter, Mackenzie Porter
Wheels, The Road Hammers
ADULT ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Bahamas Is Afie, Bahamas
Compostela, Jenn Grant
The Lemon Squeeze, Jeremy Fisher
Popular Problems, Leonard Cohen
Sleeping Operator, The Barr Brothers
ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Alvvays, Alvvays
Shrink Dust, Chad VanGaalen
July Talk, July Talk
Animism, Tanya Tagaq
Hot Dreams, Timber Timbre
POP ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Avril Lavigne, Avril Lavigne
Party For Your Life, Down With Webster
Little Machines, Lights
Don’t Kill The Magic, Magic!
Little Secret, Nikki Yanofsky
ROCK ALBUM OF THE YEAR
High Noon, Arkells
Ghost, Big Wreck
Lo-Fantasy, Sam Roberts Band
The Union, The Glorious Sons
Between Illness and Migration, Your Favorite Enemies
VOCAL JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Angela Galuppo, Angela Galuppo
Red, Diana Panton
The Signal, Elizabeth Shepherd
Counting Dreams, Julie Crochetière
Because of Billie, Molly Johnson
JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR: SOLO
Zoetrope, Jim Head
Vista Obscura, Kirk MacDonald
LA Bootleg 1984, Lenny Breau
La vie commence ici, Marianne Trudel
Drum Lore Vol. 2 – More Lore, Owen Howard
JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR: GROUP
Bristles Andrew Downing, Jim Lewis & David Occhipinti
Bobby Rice Latin Jazz Big Band: X-Treme Latin Jazz, Bobby Rice
Fishs Eddy, Brian Dickinson Trio
Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, Jane Bunnett and Maqueque
The Where, Myriad3
INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Great Wall of China, Canadian Brass
Flesh and Machine, Daniel Lanois
Off With the Cuffs, John Stetch
Encuentro Quartango, Tangovation
Symphony!, Sultans of String
FRANCOPHONE ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Maladie d’amour, Jimmy Hunt
L’alchimie des monstres, Klô Pelgag
Ornithologie, la nuit, Philippe B
Valse 333, Sagot
Serge Fiori, Serge Fiori
CHILDREN’S ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Wave Your Antlers, Bobs & LoLo
Where In The World, Fred Penner
Le chat botté, LuLu et le Matou
Love Bug, Raffi
Happy Times, Splash’N Boots
CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: SOLO OR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE
Blanc, Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà
Akoka: Reframing Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, David Krakauer, Matt Haimovitz, Socalled, Jonathan Crow & Geoffrey Burleson
Bartok: Chamber Works for Violin Vol. 3, James Ehnes
Prokofiev: Sonates & Mélodies, Jonathan Crow & Paul Stewart
Ysaÿe Sonatas for Solo Violin, Karl Stobbe Avie
CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: LARGE ENSEMBLE OR SOLOIST(S) WITH LARGE ENSEMBLE ACCOMPANIMENT
MOZART: Piano Concertos Nos. 22 & 24, Angela Hewitt
Khachaturian/Shostakovich, James Ehnes
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 7, Departure – Utopia, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal & Kent Nagano
Rimsky-Korsakov: Sheherazade, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Peter Oundjian
Bruckner 3, Yannick Nézet-Séguin & Orchestre Métropolitain
CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: VOCAL OR CHORAL PERFORMANCE
Schubert: Winterreise. Gerald Finley & Julius Drake
Handel & Porpora: The London Years, Julie Boulianne, Clavecin en concert & Luc Beauséjour
Mozart: Opera & Concert Arias Karina Gauvin, Les Violons du Roy & Bernard Labadie
Terra Tremuit, Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal
The Heart’s Refuge Theatre of Early Music, Schola Cantorum & Daniel Taylor
CLASSICAL COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
“Glistening Pianos,” Alice Ping Yee Ho
“Airline Icarus,” Brian Current
“Magister Ludi,” Gordon Fitzell
“Sextet, OP. 71,” Jacques Hétu
“Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello, Piano and Orchestra,” John Estacio
RAP RECORDING OF THE YEAR
PA2: The Director’s Cut, Marco Polo
The Legends League Presents: Naturally Born Strangers, Naturally Born Strangers
Dear America, P Reign
Amani, Saukrates
Stigmata, Tre Mission
DANCE RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Calling All Heroes, Adventure Club
White Women, Chromeo
Goodbye, Glenn Morrison
Sound Of A Woman, Kiesza
Soundwave, Trevor Guthrie
R&B/SOUL RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Dirty Laundry, Ben Stevenson
Got To Have It, jacksoul
JRDN, JRDN
Four Seasons, Melanie Durrant
Often The Weeknd, The Weeknd
REGGAE RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Welcome the King, Exco Levi
Love Inna Wi Heart, Kirk Diamond ft. Bob da Builda
Wake Up, Mikey Dangerous
Hold On Till I Die, Steele
Real Talk, Tasha T
ABORIGINAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
The Whole World’s Got the Blues, Crystal Shawanda
For The Light, Digging Roots
Heart of the People, Leela Gilday
Animism, Tanya Tagaq
The (Post) Mistress, Tomson Highway
ROOTS & TRADITIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: SOLO
They Promised You Mercy, Amelia Curran
The Raven’s Sun, Catherine MacLellan
Prairieography, Del Barber
The Old Silo, James Hill
Weightless, Matt Andersen
ROOTS & TRADITIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: GROUP
South, Blackie and The Rodeo Kings
Work and Love, Elliott Brood
Let It Lie, The Bros. Landreth
Jubilee, The Deep Dark Woods
Departures, The Once
BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Belmont Boulevard, JW-Jones
Solo Recordings, Vol. 2, Steve Hill
Let Me Prove It To You, Steve Strongman
Wicked, The 24th Street Wailers
A Real Fine Mess, The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer
CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Introducing Chelsea Amber, Chelsea Amber
Analog Love in Digital Times, Drew Brown
The Moment, Manafest
VIP, Manic Drive
The Joy, Tim Neufeld
WORLD MUSIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Ayrad Ayrad
Singing in Tongues, Eccodek
The Key, Emmanuel Jal
Le dernier empereur bantou, Pierre Kwenders
500 Years of Night, Quique Escamilla
JACK RICHARDSON PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Adam Messinger
Eric Ratz
Gavin Brown
Jesse Zubot
Thomas “Tawgs” Salter
RECORDING ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
Eric Ratz
George Seara
Jeremy Darby
John “Beetle” Bailey
Lenny Derose
RECORDING PACKAGE OF THE YEAR
Alex Durlak (Art Director/Designer), Jeff McMurrich and Bry Webb (Art Directors)
Caroline Blanchette (Art Director)
Menno Versteeg (Art Director), Zack Mykula (Designer), Jason Bartell (Illustrator), Yoshi Cooper (Photographer)
Roberta Hansen (Art Director/Designer/Illustrator), Mike Latschislaw (Photographer)
Taylor Kirk (Art Director/Designer/Photographer), Robyn Kotyk (Designer), Laura Margaret Ramsay (Photographer)
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
“Preach,” Dane Collison / Sonreal
“Lost You,” Grandson & Son / Zeds Dead Ft. Twin Shadow
“Guilt Trip,” Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux and Chandler Levack / Pup
“Hideaway Kiesza,” Blayre Ellestad, Rami Afuni and Ljuba Castot / Kiesza
“Not Up To Me,” Natalie Rae Robison / Kandle
ELECTRONIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Our Love, Caribou
While (1<2), Deadmau5
Right From Real, Lydia Ainsworth
EX, Plastikman
Alone For The First Time, Ryan Hemsworth
METAL/HARD MUSIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Z², Devin Townsend Project
Waiting for the End to Come, Kataklysm
Brotherhood of the Ram, Shooting Guns
Negative Qualities, Single Mothers
Chasing the Dream, Skull Fist
ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Womyn, Alysha Brilla
Everything Almost, Jann Arden
Trauma: Chansons de la série télé (saison no. 5), Coeur de pirate
Dark Swing, Ndidi
Shine On, Sarah McLachlan
Tags: Music, Cancon, News, Junos 2015