A certain 1999 sci-fi action movie may own the pop-culture designation, but production team the Matrix are, in music-industry circles, pretty famous in their own right — even if their little band experiment with one Ms. Katy Perry on vocals (see clipbelow) never took off. In the early aughts, Scott Spock, Lauren Christy, and Graham Edward made their name writing and/or producing hits for the likes of Shakira ("Don’t Bother"), Avril Lavigne ("Sk8er Boi," "Complicated"), and Jason Mraz ("The Remedy (I Won’t Worry)"). Then, a few years ago, the trio decided to try their own Garbage route, pairing their knob-twiddling, instrument-playing abilities with the vocal talents of a foxy, ready-for-her-closeup frontwoman. Their Shirley Manson? A young unknown named Katy Perry. As a band, they recorded an entire album, shot music videos, and began to grease the wheels of the music-press machine. And then, weeks before the disc was set for release in 2004, the project was abruptly aborted.

Four-plus years later, Perry is a ginormous, girl-kissing, boy-missing star, much more hot than cold, and the Matrix are…not so busy. Hence the Jan. 27 appearance of that long-lost album on iTunes, backed by the threesome’s own Let’s Hear It Records label. The material’s not entirely unknown — bits have been floating in the blogosphere since the album’s inception. But page views were negligible, to say the least, before Katy tasted that Cherry Chapstick. Watch below and judge for yourself. Does the artistic effort that Spock, Christy and Edward put into the album justify its release, or are they merely opportunivores piggybacking on Perry’s new-found fame?

Sure, sometimes I refer to it as "Canadia," but I’ve never been much of one for mocking our neighbors to the north. First of all, they’re so nice. Second, it just seemed too easy, giggling about "toques" and saying "eh?" and pretending not to understand hockey and whatever. I am from Texas. We shouldn’t throw stones. Thus, I have always given Canada the benefit of the doubt.

That ends today.

The annual Juno Awards nominations came out this morning, celebrating the best that Canadian music has to offer. That "best"? Nickelback! Yes, by nominating them in five categories, Canada has pretty much anointed Chad Kroeger the next Celine Dion. Though Celine Dion got a bunch of nominations, too, as did Simple Plan. Is this a joke? What, no Alanis Morissette? Just kidding, she got a songwriting nomination! The more I look at the list, the more enjoyable it gets: The Barenaked Ladies are there, naturally, as is Michael Bublé. There are crazy ethnic categories, like "Francophone Album" (makes sense!) and "Aboriginal Album" (come again?). [UPDATE: Thanks to commenter Tim Lade, I now know this is referring to Native Americans. Oh, them!] AC/DC, Coldplay, Gn’R, Jack Johnson, and Metallica are the choices for "International Album," a list that puts Nickelback perfectly into perspective. And Bryan Adams? Up for Artist of the Year. Of course he is.

Look, Canada, I am not trying to be hating. I’m glad to see you nominated Feist in the fan choice category (though 2007 was really more her year), and that Kathleen Edwards, F*cked Up, and The Stills are all represented somehow. I will check out these Lost Fingers you seem to enjoy so much. As for the rest? We can agree to disagree. Who am I to judge what sounds awesome to ears located so close to mouths that enjoy poutine? Partial list of nominees after the jump…and would anyone from up yonder care to weigh in and defend your people?

[UPDATED AGAIN: Dear irate Canadians! Due to your very strong reaction to this post, we here at PopWatch are giving YOU the chance to pick YOUR best Canadian albums and artists! Let your voices be heard at the Official EW Juno Recount Post! Stick it to the man! And to America!]

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