You out there. Sitting quietly in the back taking in all of the action. Yes, you. I know you love music. You live and breathe new music and are always on the look out for great new talent. I'm going to share a find with you. Something you're going to want to bookmark and visit often.

I haven’t really followed new music in a decade but with the internet and social media sites like Last.fm, it’s easy to discover new stuff. But you want more and I’m more than thrilled to provide you with more.

In the early 90s, Canadian music was a bit of a disaster. We had Celine Dion and Bryan Adams and little else. Or so the general public thought. Radio and music television had to fill quotas of Canadian artists and the pickings were slim. And then something happened. I don’t know what it was or why but somewhere between the time when I first started watching Much Music and my graduation from high school at the end of the decade, Canadian music was everywhere and it was good. Really, really good.

Since Much Music stopped playing music and turned into MTV Lite, I didn’t know where to go for new Canadian tunes. We started listening to CBC Radio 2 at the office which cracked open the gates for me, introducing me to new talents like Wintersleep and The Great Lake Swimmers, but I wanted more and doing a bit of research last week, I stumbled on what is likely the best depository of Canadian music around.

CBC Radio 3’s website is, by far, one of my best finds of the last few months. The social media site works in conjunction with the station’s Sirius radio channel (83 on your satellite radio provider – now programmed in spot #6 of our car stereo) and the wide assortment of podcasts that provide hot new Canadian talent to your digital music player of choice.

The site is sleek, easy to use and features free streaming music from thousands of Canadian musicians. You don’t have to be a musician to join and it’s completely free. The benefits of signing up for an account are extensive; you can become a fan of a band and receive notifications of upcoming shows, news and releases and you can also add songs to play lists that you can customize. If you’re not into signing up, the site is still awesome, allowing you to stream music from artists and even being able to tune into a “station” which plays artists with a similar sound.

I’ve been playing around with the site for nearly a week and am consistently impressed by it. If you’re a fan of music, this is definitely something to check out.

I don't have a lot of time in my day to regularly watch TV shows but at some point I remembered to subscribe to CBC's The Hour. At this point, it's only fair to admit that one of the few reasons I had any interest in this show to begin with was because of George Stroumboulopoulos. I've had a crush on George since I first spotted him on MuchMusic but it was more than just rugged good looks - he also seemed to know what the hell he was talking about.

Then he took the job at CBC (I'm assuming the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was looking to spice up and bring in some of the youth viewership) and though I very rarely catch his entire show, I do watch various segments here and there - basically whatever they upload as their vidcast.

I bring this up because sometime last week I saw a short interview with Sebastian Horsley, a guy I've never heard about but who, after hearing, I'm particularly curious about (enough to go looking for his book). Watching this particular video was also the first time I consciously noted how good Geroge is at what he does. He never seems nervous, he doesn't hold notes yet he's prepared, casual and poignant with his questions. He's the kind of interviewer others aspire to but never quite reach and he does it all with a natural charm. It's no surprise that Bono had this great little compliment of him: "George, I am a fan."

The interview with Horsley is at the CBC's "The Hour" page and I warn you now, it's a bitch to load. The page itself takes for ever and then the video is equally frustrating to work with but a little patience definitely pays off.

Guess what George? I'm a fan too.

Photo from Flickr thanks to photogirlkate.