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Alternative Album of the Year

A long stay in Paris fuelled the fertile muse of Nova Scotian Buck 65 for Talkin’ Honky Blues. Buck (aka Rich Terfry) skillfully integrates elements of the hiphop on which he was raised with roots music influences. Other influences here include Anias Nin, Tom Waits and Charles Bukowski, but the end result is distinctively Buck. Earlier albums have scored him strong campus airplay here and an international cult following. He was nominated in this category last year for Square.

Toronto-based guitar-rockers the Constantines exploded onto the alternative scene via adrenaline-charged live performances and the equally impressive recorded sound of their eponymous and JUNO-nominated debut album. They up the ante on Shine A Light, a staggering achievement that fuses punk, rock 'n roll and soul. "The children of Fugazi, the grandkids of Springsteen and Strummer," claimed Eye's Stuart Berman. That magazine's nationwide music critics poll cited Shine A Light as 2003's best album.

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Joel Plaskett formerly led much loved Halifax pop heroes Thrush Hermit. His second solo disc, Down At The Khyber, earned a JUNO nomination last year, and Truthfully, Truthfully has generated even more rave reviews. Eye called it "a tight, buoyant record full of perfect pop hooks and witty words."

Romantic pop foursome Stars are self-described “soft revolutionaries” out to alter the world with their sincere and heartfelt art. They are succeeding, gaining airplay, fervent fans, and critical kudos across North America. Their second CD, Heart has drawn favourable comparisons to the likes of Saint Etienne and Prefab Sprout. Band members Amy Millan and Evan Cranley are also part of the Broken Social Scene collective.

Powerfully poetic and politically active punk-rooted rockers The Weakerthans won fervent fans and critical support with their first two discs, Fallow and the JUNO-nominated Left And Leaving. That led to a deal with famed U.S. indie label Epitaph, whose faith was rewarded by the tour de force that is Reconstruction Site, a disc NOW termed "jawdroppingly good."