The
New York Times writes on why Toronto just might be the "pre-eminent city for pop music in the whole wide world."
Feist,
Drake,
The Weeknd and
Austra, are among the Toronto artists whose 2011 albums were met with national and international acclaim.
"Now, to fully conprehend the parameters of this debate, you need to understand two things: 1) Toronto is intrinsically uncomfortable at being called the best at anything in the world, let alone calling itself the best at anything (full disclosure: I am from Toronto); and 2) Not all that long ago, Toronto couldn't even credibly claim to be the best music city in Canada, as that title pretty clearly belonged to Montreal (with Halifax making a strong case for second place)."
"Jon Pareles, chief pop critic for The New York Times, named Feist's Metals as his favorite album of 2011; his colleague Jon Caramanica chose Drake's Take Care. Nitsuh Abebe, music critic for New York magazine, picked Feel It Break, the debut by Toronto synth-pop group Austra. Meanwhile, the editors of Spin went with David Comes to Life, the electrifying concept album by local punks [and here's that name we can't print again!], and marked the occasion by tarting up Damian Abraham, the band's formidable frontman, for its cover."
"Mayer then concedes that unlike, say, Seattle, Toronto doesn't have a defining sound—though this musical diversity bolsters his argument more than it undermines it. He also points out that, a few years back, Toronto's music scene had a similar moment in the spotlight, stoked by certain American publications—though, if anything, the current scene is bigger and more internationally successful than ever before, mostly thanks to her and him."
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original source
New York Times