No one writes about Canadian music with more insight or elan than Michael Barclay - and he's just released the magisterial Hearts On Fire: Six Years that Changed Canadian Music 2000–2005. It's the authoritative story about how, in the early years of the new millennium, the world noticed that the musical artists coming out of Canada - from Arcade Fire to Tegan and Sara, from Broken Social Scene to Cadence Weapon and beyond - were, amazingly, incontrovertibly, and finally, cool. We talk about the the amazing diversity of musical talent on offer, the material conditions that made the phenomenon possible (including the role played by cheap real estate), the importance of killer live performances (and drummers!), and the role that late Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie played in bringing the book to fruition. 

Hearts on Fire is available for sale now wherever fine books are sold, and you can find more from Michael on Twitter @mmmbarclay.