| BEST RADIO STATION
1) CJSR
Hands together for the mighty red star, CJSR! For the second year running, they have won the title for Best Radio Station, beating commercial radio stations that play the hits and edging out public radio stalwarts CBC and CKUA.
Program Manager Daryl Richel weighs in: "That’s delightful!"
And it’s all because of… well, all of us! "We’re the voice for the people. The community rocks so hard, and that’s why we rock so hard," says news director Tiffany Brown Olsen. "People know we exist, and even if they don’t listen all the time there are one or two shows that will cater to them."
Richel adds, "I think what helps is that the station has been around now for 25 years–we’re maturing. Not that we’re becoming crotchety old men and women, but we’re figuring out what works and what doesn’t work."
But for the station that brings you everything from industrial to ethnic to queer topics to alternative news programming to the ever-popular middle-of-the-day eclectic shows, there is no one formula to success. Olsen says that it’s this diversity of voices that is key.
"The news department is not about me producing news, it’s about people in the community, the activists who are bringing you issues that are not talked about in the other media. Anyone can come in and produce a show to go on air."
And again, Richel credits the work of the volunteers.
"What works is having an honest, independent spirit. Our volunteers are honest members of the community, definitely out-of-the-box thinkers, they’re super-committed. They’re connected to the independent music scene, and social justice. Another reason why we’re becoming more popular–our fundrive numbers continue to go up–is that the volunteers keep producing great programming. And the staff over the years has been very solid, with not a lot of turnover."
True enough. SEE’s top-secret Best of Edmonton Team were hard-pressed to find someone to cover this year’s winner who does NOT currently have a show on the air, since we who love our music and movies and politics rely on this invaluable resource to reach out to the listening audience, for the pure love of it.
And that, dear readers and listeners, is the reason for it all. You give us all a chance, CJSR. You give time to the disenfranchised, you notice the ignored, you make smart when the world seems to be going dumb. MS
2) CKUA
3) The Bear
FAVOURITE LOCAL ATHLETE
1) George Laraque
Is it the giant smile? The friendly hugs and handshakes? The fact is, he’s made himself a part of Edmonton–he has his own radio show, you can spot him in the mall or zipping down Jasper Avenue in his Jeep. You don’t hear any diva griping from this guy! Georges Laraque has long been MY favourite Oiler, and yours too for the obvious reasons: he’s fun to watch on the ice ’cause he’s the big guy who SLAMS into the boards when he scores! But he’s also on posters in hospital maternity wards, telling young parents to be gentle with their babies. Aww! MS
2) Ryan Smith
3) Jamie Sale
MOST PERPLEXING PUBLIC ART
1) Wind Chimes (south-east corner of Jasper and 109th St.)
Until somebody told me, I didn’t even know they were Wind Chimes. Prior to my enlightenment, I would walk past them everyday and wonder, what are they building those giant pipes toward the sky for? Are we preparing to make the colossal stairway to transfer our lives to another planet? What sort of great elevator are they building, and to what end? I think the Willy Wonka-style architectural structure I was imagining would have been far more beautiful, and probably more useful as well. Certainly it would have been more interesting: a steel balcony over an ugly downtown corner? Why not? I’d take my coffee breaks up there. How about a great shiny skate bowl in the sky? Sounds good to me. Or perhaps those big metal stems could have been host to a bouquet of huge disco balls, which could then twist and shimmer their dots of light over the entire city night after night. Beyond pragmatism, however, imagine my disappointment to learn that those pipes were mere "Wind Chimes". What were they thinking? Thanks for nothing. JW
2) Baseball bat
3) City Hall
WORST RADIO STATION
1) Power 92/Joe FM
I knew Edmonton was a terrible place for commercial radio the day I discovered the three top stations were all playing that shitty Aerosmith song from the Armageddon soundtrack at the exact same time. True story. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, the next wave of obnoxious programming hits with pop whores Power 92 turning into Joe FM. First off, any station that asks you to answer the phone by saying you listen them sucks. Period. Secondly, their motto is "playing anything" but they actually play the same tired old crap everyone is sick of. Seriously, Nickelback and ZZ-Top? Oh, wait, it’s the same tired old crap everyone is sick of, but from different eras of tired old crap. I get it. The only thing better than hearing, say, "One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer" in this town again is taking the radio in the bathtub with you. DA
2) 96X
3) The Bear
BEST CLUB DJ
1) Jeebus (New City, CJSR)
Jeebus wins again, and no he didn’t rig it–it’s just that you voters have refined, eclectic and consistent taste in music.
Since Likwid Lounge changed location, he has built Rub-A-Dub Thursdays–a night of dub, dancehall and reggae–up from a night with no more than fifteen people in attendance to a cramped room full of smoking, drinking screaming fans doing their best to approximate a Sean Paul video around the lounge’s pool table.
But the fun doesn’t stop there. He also DJs that same room on Friday nights, spinning an eclectic mix of rock and punk.
And he plays for free on Tuesday nights, from ten to eleven on CJSR, with his buddy Adam on their punk show Your Weekly AA Meeting with Adam and Aaron.
But if you’re a fan of Jeebus, you already know that.
He likes "playing stuff you’re not going to hear at other places, and exposing people to new stuff," and proves his commitment by putting the money he makes DJing right back into his record collection.
See how that works? You treat him nice, he treat you nice, capiche? TF
2) Dougie Fresh
3) Miss Mannered
BEST QUEER BAR
1) The Roost
private club; free bag-check, bum-bah-lay-oh, krystal ball, dance, staring at straight people–SHOOTERS!!! rollin’, rollin’ rollin’ down the river, beer bash, c’mon, just take your shirt off, dance, dance, we don’t shake hands, dance, a.t.h.n.l.s.s.a.t.w-l.p.t. (all those hot northern lesbians shooting stick at the well-lit pool tables), what a fuckin’ gorgeous patio, dance, dance, dance, what’s upstairs? dance, dance, best hot dog in town, all drinks off the patio at one sorry hon, ’80s driving arcade games, I’m not drunk I tripped, hey, where’d that water fountain go? dance, dance, dance dance, do the hustle! dance dance dance dance dance dance dance dance dance dance dance dance dance dance dance dance dance dance dance... stupendous! (that’s my taxi)... TF
2) Buddy’s
3) Boots
BEST KARAOKE BAR
1) Rosario’s
When you sing at Rosario’s, you’re in for some tough competition. The regulars here obviously practice, arrive early and sing nonstop ‘til closing time. The songbook is nigh two inches thick, and not just with the usual Celine Dion and Sinatra tunes–with a good many new hits and alternative selections, patrons can keep the mix interesting. And, in order to kill time between songs there are pool tables, NTN, and snack foods–the wait between songs can be long everyone who comes here sings. Rosario’s is hardcore. MS
2) Rose Bowl
3) H2O
BEST BAR
1) New City
Considering they also took top honours for "dance club" and "hottest clientele," this one is a no-brainer. But, as many a failed nightclub owner can tell you, it’s not as easy as it sounds when it comes to balancing and maintaining this seemingly simple formula (stylin’ patrons + great music = successful establishment) night after night. New City’s method? Keepin’ the portfolio diverse. There’s a cozy lounge upstairs for chillin’ and a big ‘ol room on the main level with plenty of space to Travolta all over the floor. Between the two you can nod your head or thump your rump to everything from electroclash to vintage metal. How can anyone, least of all the "hot" ones, resist? Apparently they can’t. ZV
2) Savoy
3) Black Dog
BEST BURGER
1) Garage Burger
If fast food chains give the hamburger a bad name, then Garage Burger is the place that’ll remind you just how satisfying a slab of garnished ground beef can be. There simply is no better garlic-mushroom cheeseburger around. The texture of the meat is so smooth and tasty the cow it came from must have spent its days getting full-body spice massages while listening to Barry White. Put one of those phat patties on a fresh bun, add heaps of fresh veggies and pile a mountain of medium-cut fries–the good kind with the skin still on–and you’re stuffed for a very reasonable price. Should you somehow still be hungry, they’ve got a good-sized menu of homemade café-style eats, and they’re licensed if you want a beer on the side. And if having the best burger in this beef-loving town wasn’t enough, they might just have the friendliest staff too. DA
2) Burger Baron
3) Next Act
BEST CAJUN
1) Da De O
I’ve eaten at Da De O’s at least twice a week for the last two years, and that’s no exaggeration. It’s close to home, the staff is incredibly nice, and the meals are well within the range of a freelance writer budget. I obsess over certain dishes at certain times; you can almost chart the seasons by my methodical switches from the fried oysters po’ boy to the Mississippi penne to that old standby, bayou gumbo. Truth is, I’ve sampled everything there at least once, and if lately my dinner choice is the perfectly seasoned bayou jambalaya, prepared with liberal helpings of andouilli sausage and chicken, next it could easily be the bayou bird pizza or the blackened catfish salad. The new dishes, added last fall, hold up just as well; chicken and shrimp creole, summer corn salad, a few new po’ boys (crab cake, bbq pork), and, mmmm, chicken and sausage etouffee, served on a bed of angel hair pasta. SL
2) Louisiana Purchase
3) Cajun House
BEST VEGETARIAN
1) Café Mosaics
It’s hard to imagine life before the Shenkarek family took over Garneau’s Café Mosaics and gave Edmonton diners–vegetarians and carnivores alike–a hip, personable and affordable place to congregate for cruelty-free comestibles. Tofu Clubs, Cowgirl Breakfasts, vegan chocolate cake and Felafel Fridays have become as much a part of Edmonton culture as live music, local art and drinking beer, past-times that Mosaics has also contributed to significantly. As restaurant experiences become increasingly genericized or priced out of the average person’s budget, Mosaics provides an idiosyncratic little oasis where the absence of meat doesn’t mean an absence of culinary creativity, where every meal is lovingly handmade from scratch and presented to you by someone with a friendly smile and probably a buncha tattoos. Not only that, but if Mosaics had a transmitting tower, they would be the best vegetarian radio station in town. SL
2) High Level Diner
3) Max’s
BEST CHINESE
1) Sam Wok
Even though the shopping complex in which Sam Wok is situated has undergone a massive facelift, very little has changed inside the dependable little Chinese food joint. The unstylish interior has remained unaltered and the laminated menus, populated by over a hundred items, are creased and dog-eared from passing through thousands of hungry hands. So if people aren’t heading to Sam Wok for its graciously appointed interior, it must be the food. My personal faves include the rice roll long donut and the green onion and ginger lo mein, but if you can’t find something to tickle your tastebuds in their mile-long list of soups, noodle dishes, congees, rice platters and Hong Kong-style delicacies, there’s a very good chance you don’t like Chinese food at all, buster. In that case, they’ll make you a nice little breakfast. SL
2) Smilies
3) Lingnan
BEST ORGANIC
1) Organic Roots Café
So, tomatoes that taste like wood because they were bred in a Petri dish aren’t your thing, huh?
Finally Edmonton’s getting hip to something west-coast islanders and certain vendors at our local farmer’s markets have known for a long-time: organic produce is better.
Fortunately there are places like Organic Roots. Roots is not only an organic foods market, but also a deli-style restaurant where you can get yourself anything from an organic buffalo meat sandwich, to curried dahl soup, to a sea-vegetable salad (happy thyroid!), or even a wood-oven cooked pizza on a spelt (sprouted grain) crust.
Plus, dessert! Try a carob-coconut ball (sweetened with honey, held together by cashew butter, and textured with puffed brown rice) or a vegan chocolate chip cookie (I can’t believe there’s no butter!). If it’s early in the day, a banana-almond smoothie oughta fix you up.
Dude, man: you only have one body in this world, and won’t it be nice to be full of flax oil, clear-headed and able to wipe your own bum when you’re eighty? Toootally. TF
2) Planet Organic
3) Big Fresh
BEST BREAKFAST
1) Denny’s
This pick will ruffle feathers, as there are a lot of stelar Ma & Pa breakfast joints in Edmonton serving up home-style meals. However, although Denny’s does in fact make some large and in-charge breakfast items, the reason it really won is the alcohol factor. When you’re drunk or hungover, and no matter what time of day or night it is, you can depend on Denny’s to fill your liquor-soaked gullet with plenty of pancakes, eggs, bacon, hash browns, etc, for a fair price. There are all those Slams to choose from that you know you’re never gonna finish, but at least you won’t leave hungry. Plus, they’re pretty easy going about mix and matching, which is a bonus when it feels like you slept in keg. And, "Moons Over My Hammy." Hilarious! It’s good to know Denny’s is out there out there bacon it easy for all us sinners. DA
2) High Level Diner
3) Café Mosaics
BEST CD STORE (USED)
1) Blackbyrd Myoozik
A perennial favourite of SEE readers–so much so that the clerk at Blackbyrd Myoozik didn’t even bat a lash when told they had once AGAIN taken the trophy in this category (‘tho blushing was in full-effect once it was "pretend-to-file-these-CDs-while-I-take-your-picture" time). Such confidence is understandable: they know they’re the coolest little hole in the wall on Whyte, a prairie oasis of hep tunes wherein two currencies are accepted: cash or trade. Wanna swap a couple ’o Slayers for a Sympathy For The Record Industry comp? Slay no more.
PS: Don’t let the category fool you: they’re pretty peerless when in comes to new stuff, too, especially titles a little left of the dial (from post-rock to Studio One reissues, and every musical substratum in between).
2) Southside Sound
3) Sound Connection
BEST SHOE STORE
1) Gravity Pope
It’s obvious before you get very close that this isn’t your typical shoe store: the window displays are carving their own niche of cool intrigue even in the hours that Gravity isn’t open for business, and the shoes they display aren’t just foot coverings, they’re little works of art and you’ll need to touch them. (But not the glass please. And no drool on the window either, kay?) The fact that you’re so attracted before you’ve set foot inside can only lead to one logical conclusion: ADDICTION. Or is it infatuation? Look, let’s call it love instead, love at first sight. Bearing that in mind let me tell you, there is no single room anywhere else in Canada that has as many beautiful, fetching, rare, classic and yeah, okay, practical pieces of footwear as does the mighty Gravity Pope. It’s not really a contest so much as it is an homage: we love you, Gravity Pope. We get giddy and do foolish things when we’re around you, it’s not just a crush anymore, okay, I didn’t pay my rent a couple months because of you but this is LOVE! So it’s okay. Thank goodness there’s a new location in Vancouver. Now I can visit my family again. And they thought it was them . . . JW
2) Aldo
3) Payless
BEST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STORE
1) Long & McQuade
Long & McQuade are billed as the largest chain of musical instrument retailers in Canada, and such are the obvious choice for most beginner musicians and professionals. The store itself is clean, well lit, with a nice array of standard instruments from Fender Les Paul guitars, Jazz basses, Ludwig or Pearl drums, to a wide range of keyboards and DJ gear. P.A systems, recording gear, rentals; the store has it covered. Good service, quality goods, and easily accessible in the heart of the city; no wonder SEE readers chose L & M as their first stop for musical equipment. TM
2) Mother’s Music
3) Avenue Guitar
BEST MAGAZINE STORE
1) Hub Cigar and Newstand
The numbers should tell the story with this Whyte Avenue institution: over 7,000 titles at any given moment, from glossy Italian fashion rags to Relix, the Grateful Dead magazine, from Dave Egger’s oddball McSweeneys to any mainstream periodical you can think of. Hub has been kicking around since 1910, catering to readers and cigar aficionados alike, with somewhere around 150 brands of stogeys in stock. Huge sections of the shop are devoted to sports, music, computers, travel, pets, just about anything your little heart desires, stuffed in a long, narrow store with seemingly the same staff since 1961. Factor in the daily European and North American newspapers and you’ve got the best newspaper and magazine shop in Edmonton. TM
2) Front Page
3) Chapters
BEST VINTAGE CLOTHING STORE
1) Value Village
There’s a time/space vortex in Value Village for me: as though a character in a C.S. Lewis novel entering the magical wardrobe, I exit the real world for several hours only to come back changed, with new adventures and discoveries, having met new inspirational characters and hence, seen myself in a new light. There’s the salesgirl at the West-End location who told me a jacket I was testing was "pretty ghetto", and the cute young quasi-punk boy at the North-End who slips in a couple of items for free now and again. Thing is, it’s the whole experience of Value Village that makes it so sublime, that and you really never know what you’re going to find: an equestrian helmet, a green houndstooth suit, a plethora of granny-style eighties purses . . . by the time you’ve traveled down even a third of the fluorescent-lit, musty-smelling aisles, you can pile on clothing and accoutrements as though you’re in a giant personal walk-in closet and nobody can stop you! Sure you have to look through tons of crap too, but that’s part of the fun, and it makes those gems all the more special and valuable. JW
2) Divine
3) Goodwill |
