1. Arcade Fire
2. Team Canada
3. United Steel Workers of Montreal
4. Priestess
5. Ladies of the Canyon
6. Code Pie
7. Patrick Watson
8. Kalmunity
9. Ryan Shearing
10. Lake of Stew

Last year, the Mirror predicted that this year’s top winners in this category would be the same again, only in a different order. Well, looks like other than the obvious return, for the third year running, of Arcade Fire in the top slot (no surprise after a string of strong local shows and a great new album), last year’s darlings—Sam Roberts, Wolf Parade, ICM, the Dears—all fell off the Top 10. Following the famed Fire and mash-up marvels Team, the roots scene reps with strong showings (the Ladies and USWM), and emotive upstarts Code Pie and Patrick Watson begin their clamber for the peak (and inevitable fall from grace, later).

Most Pretentious Local Act

1. Arcade Fire
2. Jonas
3. The Dears
4. A Simple Plan
5. The Stills
6. Wolf Parade
7. Amanda Mabro
8. Dandi Wind
9. Rufus Wainwright
10. Malajube

Oh, there you are, Dears, Stills and Wolf Parade. Looks like Montrealers remember you after all. Arcade Fire, of course, mirror their win in the category above—again, just like last year—proving that love ’em or hate ’em, no one’s ignoring them. As for Jonas, can’t say what’s so pretentious about gigging at the Bell Centre, unless gigantic hair and an allergy to properly buttoned shirts are regarded as an avant-garde semiotic gesture. The lower spots in this category suggest that for many readers, originality is synonymous with pretentiousness.

1. Priestess
2. Bionic
3. Arcade Fire
4. FAMN
5. Kataklysm
6. Try to Win
7. Mad Parish
8. AIDS Wolf
9. Dead Messenger
10. Dutch Oven

Montrealers define heaviosity in many ways, from the classic FM rawk of Priestess to the churchy lurching of Arcade Fire, the hip hop of FAMN and the breathtaking new-age Tesh-isms of Bionic. Other winners here—AIDS Wolf, Mad Parish, Dutch Oven—are repeat customers in the category.

1. FAMN
2. Preach Ankobia
3. Nomadic Massive
4. Annakin Slayd
5. Omnikrom
6. Eye 2 Eye
7. Side C
8. Gage
9. Addictiv
10. Egotestical

After top-slot takers FAMN, who’ve boldly climbed up from last year’s sixth-place position, the conscious cats rank high here. Kalmunity collaborator Preach Ankobia and his frequent stage-mates Nomadic Massive grab second and third, respectively, and while Annakin Slayd does, on the surface, seem a more straightforward good-time MC, his rhymes do carry an undertone of social commentary. Omnikrom—whose rhymes carry an undertone of commentary about cute girls and partying, debut in fifth place this year (great to see a French-language act on board), followed by ICM’s Eye 2 Eye and live-hop sextet Side C. Gage also climbs up this year from his previous tenth place, rap/R&B crossover queen Addictiv debuts and Egotestical pops up just to show he’s got balls, y’all.

Best Club DJ

1. Team Canada
2. DJ Short Cut
3. DJ Torus
4. DJ Quest
5. DJ Mr. Black
6. Kwite Sane
7. DJ Truspin
8. DJ Keith Dean
9. DJ Anonymous
10. DJ Storm

Given what a dizzying mash-up asskicker their second Classic Material mix (released a few months ago) was, no wonder those dynamite deck-nicians D.R.One and Grandtheft snagged the number one slot again this year. The busy Short Cut takes a short cut to second place. Other rankers here—Torus, Quest, Saphir’s Mr. Black, Kwite Sane, Keith Dean—return. Torus, who was down at number 10 last year, shot up to knock Quest down yet another notch (he was top dog in ’05), while newcomers to the category Truspin and DJ Anonymous get on board at the bottom. Hip hop and club jams dominate this year, as the electro kids—big in recent BOMs—disappear from the list.

1. Spoon Man
2. Nose Flute Guy
3. Stilt Man
4. Spider-Man
5. Bad News Brown
6. The Hugger Busker
7. Peruvians
8. Sitar Guy
9. Penny Hamer
10. Michael Jackson Dancer

1. United Steel Workers of Montreal
2. No Barbers Required
3. Li’l Andy
4. Notre Dame de Grass
5. Lake of Stew
6. Ladies of the Canyon

7. Bloodshot Bill
8. Katie Moore
9. Yonder Hill
10. Angela Desveaux

With a strong showing in the Best Musical Act category (three from that list appear here also, two of them near the top), Montreal’s roots-music scene—encompassing country, folk, bluegrass, blues and assorted hybrids and variants thereof—has a strong and devoted following. The United Steel Workers have an iron grip (sorry, we had to) on the top slot, but the runners-up indicate a diverse roots scene—from the wry country stylings of Li’l Andy and the certified-authentic bluegrass of the Notre Dames to the genre-jumping of Katie Moore and the sleazy delights of raunch-a-billy bad boy Bloodshot Bill. And let’s hear it for the women, profiling hard this year—Ladies of the Canyon, Katie Moore, Angela Desveaux and Yonder Hill (which in fact features Moore and Desveaux).

BEST JAZZ MUSICIAN #3:
Anna Ruddick

1. Oscar Peterson
2. Oliver Jones
3. Anna Ruddick
4. Susie Arioli
5. Chet Doxas
6. Jordan Officer
7. Franco Proietti
8. Christopher Cargnello
9. Charles Ellison
10. Microtone Kitchen

The venerable Peterson and Jones maintain their dominance of this category—the big-pawed Peterson’s been at number one for a while—while the ladies make a surprise showing, with bassist Ruddick (also of Ladies of the Canyon—see Best Musical Act and Best Country/Folk Act, above) and mistress of swing Arioli, absent in previous years, nip at the heels of the heroes. Saxophonist Chet Doxas is also a new arrival, while familiar names from previous years—Kobayashi’s Proietti, Arioli’s adjutant Officer, Christopher Cargnello—get knocked down a bit. Microtone Kitchen, DJ Mana’s adventurous, turntable-based project, just holds on in 10th place.

BEST SINGER-SONGWRITER #5:
Ryan Shearing

1. Leonard Cohen
2. Sam Roberts
3. Rufus Wainwright
4. Patrick Watson
5. Ryan Shearing
6. Maia Davies
7. Pierre Lapointe
8. Li’l Andy
9. Lee Mellor
10. Paul Cargnello

Two in a row for the master of erotic despair, followed by singer/songwriter stalwarts Roberts and Wainwright, who repeat high rankings from previous years. There are notable newcomers though, namely cinematic pop darling Patrick Watson, whose Close to Paradise is collecting global acclaim, and Dress Whites guitarist Ryan Shearing, who released his solo debut By the Stairs last March. Shearing points to the oft-ignored downtown scene for the bulk of his fanbase. “There are fewer bands,” he says, “and I think people get attached to the ones they like, and keep going out to see them.”

Fewer francophones on the list this time around—Lapointe’s still on hand, as he should be, but Jean Leloup and Corneille have vanished. While Lil’ Andy lost his top ranking in the Best Country/Folk Act corner, he makes up for it with an induction to this category, which oughta ease the terrible pain in his heart (better eating habits and regular exercise wouldn’t hurt in that respect, either).

BEST CLUB DJ: Team Canada

Controversial king of clattering cutlery Spoon Man retains his warm spot in the hearts on non-Ogilvy’s-affiliated Montrealers, again scooping the number one place here. The stocky, Viking-tressed Nose Flute Guy (technically speaking, his tooty wooden snot tubes are recorders), shoots up from 10th place in 2006 and knocks Stilt Man off his high horse (and when you’re that tall, down is a long way). Mouth-harp macher Bad News Brown and Spider-Man stay in the top 5, and the Hugger Busker maintains a steady sixth from last year. Things get global with the Peruvians (you know, with the pan flutes they stole from Zamfir) and Sherbrooke metro regular Sitar Guy, while Penny Hamer debuts and knocks the Michael Jackson Dancer (seen only occasionally of late at Lionel-Groulx metro) down to 10th. He’ll have to moonwalk back up the chart in coming years.