Just finished listening to the mighty RW with Michael Brown announcing Olenka & the Autumn Lovers were No. 1 for 2008 in their album of the year event. Congrats all round.

As one of the voters, I think we made a good choice from a final list of real good ones (not all the final 10 were known to me).

I like Olenka and the Autumn Lovers because they are ambitious (CD launch at the McManus) & tie into all kinds of other community creativity. Plus it’s a fine fine record – which I picked as No. 4 in my own Free Press poll but then I don’t think luddites, London Pro Musica w/ Antler River Project or the Joys (who finished 1, 2 and 3 respectively for me) were out there for CHRW voters.

Congrats to Olenka and any & all Autumn Lovers . . . here are the London- and Toronto-based whose names I see on the CD jacket: Andrew James, Kevin Brasier, Shawn Clarke, Sara Froese, Paterson Hodgson, Pete Leibel and Kevin Judas Matheson.

As for the RW poll-winners, here’s what we have for 2007 (Basia Bulat) and 2008 (Olenka Krakus). Let’s see what these two might have in common . . . singer-songwriters . . . UWO English department factor (can’t go wrong there w/ me) . . . . fine bands who play with spirit & have string sections . . . embracing of non classic-rock sonic devices such as ukulele & autoharp (Basia Bulat) & accordion & mini bongos (Olenka) . . . Polish connections . . . neither is real tall . . . both can command the stage . . . both work hard, imagine on a big cool scale . . . one day we will say, I saw them at this little place in London . . . is there a pattern here? . . . & yet & yet , the first two winners sound quite quite quite different.

Go CHRW. Go London music.