On December 12th Berklee College of Music hosted a show (broadcast live for Sirius Canada) dedicated to the music of Canadian artists - rapper k-os and rockers The New Pornographers were billed as the headliners. The Canadian music scene has been on indie radars for a while now, and this show proved that the attention has been well deserved. The show began with performances by Canadian Berklee students, and while all the students showed truly stunning talent, one young woman was a standout. Fiddler Ivonne Hernandez played with heart and vigor - her fiddling was rich and complex and her love of the music apparent. Judging from these performances, the students certainly have bright futures ahead of them.

The students were a tough act to follow but Toronto-raised MC k-os (say: chaos) brought the crowd to their feet. Backed by a full band, and at various points in the show playing both the acoustic and electric guitar himself, k-os exhibited his unique synthesis of hip-hop, rock, and soul. He demonstrated his quick rhymes and lyrical fluidity on songs such as his hit "Sunday Morning," and his approximate 45 minute set was too short for the enthusiastic crowd.

Canadian super-group and indie rock favorites the New Pornographers were next, starting right in on "All The Things That Go To Make Heaven and Earth" one of the more upbeat tracks from their most recent album "Challengers." After following with arguably one of their biggest hits, the energetic pop ditty "Use It," A.C. Newman and company slowed it down with a string of more mid-tempo numbers. Neko Case did not perform with the band, and her absence seemed to affect the dynamic of the sound. Kathryn Calder's voice often competed, and lost, against the "wall of sound" that characterizes The New Pornographers music. The show was composed primarily of tracks off of "Challengers," and while they did play the hit "Sing me Spanish Techno" off of "Twin Cinema," the band oddly ended with ELO's "Don't Bring me Down." While the retro hit was a fun addition to the show, A.C. Newman claimed they had gone over curfew and the band walked off to the stage without offering any kind of encore. It was a strange ending to a slightly stilted experience - but one that was certainly filled with much heart. The evening simply didn't have enough time to accommodate all the talent from our fine friends to the north.

Concert photos by Korri Leigh Crowley