I have no guilt whatsoever in saying that I've never seen an episode of Canadian Idol. But I recently was surprised to read the concert listings section of Now to see that a band called Hedley, which I had never heard of, had sold out The Mod Club. A few days later I found out that Hedley is a band fronted by Jacob Hoggard, who apparently was a Canadian Idol contender. I guess he was billed as the punk Canadian Idol or something like that. I recently received Hedley's debut album from Universal Music Canada and it sounds just like most of the other sludge that seems to pass for alternative rock these days. Congratulations to Hoggard, I guess, for getting an extension of your 15 minutes of fame from Canadian Idol with this album. But I can't really see it lasting much longer. Our Lady Peace is still with us, however, so I could be wrong again. Can we please hear some fresh homegrown music from the Canadian majors soon. I admit that I'm not as in tune with all of their releases as I used to be when I was immersed in it full-time, but Buck 65 is the only original sounding artist directly signed to a Canadian major who immediately jumps to mind when I think about what has been released this year. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

np Dios Malos - So Do I