How can one forgive Canada for Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne and Canadian bacon?
Aside: American bacon far exceeds Canadian bacon, don’t even try to put that shit on my pizza with some pineapple because that is straight up foul. Don’t get it twisted.
They more than made up for these horrible faults by giving us some awesome music (and Degrassi Junior High).
Stars – One of my top ten bands of all time. I was instantly taken with them after hearing Your Ex-Lover Is Dead, a sweeping heartbreaking tale of lost love. Heart, Set Yourself On Fire and In Our Bedroom After the War are their three major album releases. Set Yourself on Fire was the first album I heard in a long time where it broke my heart and mended it simultaneously. Your life is seriously missing something without Stars in it. Live show rating (Lollapalooza 2006, Orpheum Theater 2007): 9 out of 10 only due to the crap venue the second time around.
Metric – One of my favorite current bands. Emily Haines carries this band with her angelic voice and sharp lyrics. Calculation Theme is the song that made me fall in love with Metric. Raw Sugar, Combat Baby and Dead Disco are other stand outs. If you want a throw back to 80’s new wave mixed with dance beats, this is it. Live show rating (First Ave. 2007): 8 out of 10 only due to the teens moshing right in front of me.
Feist – She broke out this year when the monster that is Apple used her song 1234 for their new ad campaign. Well fuck Apple because now she has become so mainstream that it makes my bones ache. Anyway, before she was Feist of Apple, she had the album Let It Die. It’s a lot more somber and laid back than The Reminder and is perfect for that lazy summer day. She does a great cover of the Bee Gees Inside and Out on it too. Live show rating (Lollapalooza 2006): 7 out of 10. Lolla was not the best place to see such a laid back act.
Arcade Fire – Another band that has slightly blown up this past year. I first heard them when the MTV2 show Subterranean showed their video for Wake Up. They caught my attention immediately because it was new. They were probably one of the first bands to light the current indie rock craze on fire. And how can you not love a band that Bowie loves? Live show rating (Roy Wilkins Auditorium 2007): 11 out of 10. This was probably one of THE best shows I have ever seen in my life, and I’ve seen a lot. They rocked the shit out of a piss poor venue and had absolutely everyone mesmorized with their stage show.
Honorable mention:
Broken Social Scene – A mish mash of extremely talented musicians. They are breaking the mold of what good music is with the help of many of the musicians I listed above.
Tegan and Sara – Sister duo with an individual sound.
Bryan Adams – For good measure, or just shits and giggles. Are Canadians still proud to claim Bryan as their own?
Who are your favorite acts from Canada?
Aside: American bacon far exceeds Canadian bacon, don’t even try to put that shit on my pizza with some pineapple because that is straight up foul. Don’t get it twisted.
They more than made up for these horrible faults by giving us some awesome music (and Degrassi Junior High).
Stars – One of my top ten bands of all time. I was instantly taken with them after hearing Your Ex-Lover Is Dead, a sweeping heartbreaking tale of lost love. Heart, Set Yourself On Fire and In Our Bedroom After the War are their three major album releases. Set Yourself on Fire was the first album I heard in a long time where it broke my heart and mended it simultaneously. Your life is seriously missing something without Stars in it. Live show rating (Lollapalooza 2006, Orpheum Theater 2007): 9 out of 10 only due to the crap venue the second time around.
Metric – One of my favorite current bands. Emily Haines carries this band with her angelic voice and sharp lyrics. Calculation Theme is the song that made me fall in love with Metric. Raw Sugar, Combat Baby and Dead Disco are other stand outs. If you want a throw back to 80’s new wave mixed with dance beats, this is it. Live show rating (First Ave. 2007): 8 out of 10 only due to the teens moshing right in front of me.
Feist – She broke out this year when the monster that is Apple used her song 1234 for their new ad campaign. Well fuck Apple because now she has become so mainstream that it makes my bones ache. Anyway, before she was Feist of Apple, she had the album Let It Die. It’s a lot more somber and laid back than The Reminder and is perfect for that lazy summer day. She does a great cover of the Bee Gees Inside and Out on it too. Live show rating (Lollapalooza 2006): 7 out of 10. Lolla was not the best place to see such a laid back act.
Arcade Fire – Another band that has slightly blown up this past year. I first heard them when the MTV2 show Subterranean showed their video for Wake Up. They caught my attention immediately because it was new. They were probably one of the first bands to light the current indie rock craze on fire. And how can you not love a band that Bowie loves? Live show rating (Roy Wilkins Auditorium 2007): 11 out of 10. This was probably one of THE best shows I have ever seen in my life, and I’ve seen a lot. They rocked the shit out of a piss poor venue and had absolutely everyone mesmorized with their stage show.
Honorable mention:
Broken Social Scene – A mish mash of extremely talented musicians. They are breaking the mold of what good music is with the help of many of the musicians I listed above.
Tegan and Sara – Sister duo with an individual sound.
Bryan Adams – For good measure, or just shits and giggles. Are Canadians still proud to claim Bryan as their own?
Who are your favorite acts from Canada?
12 comments:
Does Boards of Canada count?
Oh, right. They're Scottish.
Anyway. Props for defending Feist, who I feel is getting a bad wrap because of the Apple thing. Tegan and Sara are longtime faves too. The rest... oof. My music download budget is taking a beating these days.
Sweet list!
What, no Rush? Or Triumph? Neil Young is absent as well.
Yeah, sorry, couldn't resist. I'm old and crotchety. I love that word. It's got "crotch" in it.
I would suggest Cowboy Junkies, except I think their best days are behind them. I don't own anything by them past 1996.
If you are going to list all these candian "indie" acts, how could you forget or omit the juggernaut of Wolf Parade?
While Love Parade was an excellent song by The Dream Academy, I don't actually believe that they were Canadian, in fact, Amazon has them listed as from the UK.
TK-If Apple came and put a ton of money in front of my face, I'd take it too. Not her fault! And I don't know how you feel about free music sharing, but I might know of a website where we can set that up.
Jez-Sorry, I hate Neil Young. Yes I used the word hate. I know, he's a legend and he writes extremely political music. But I'm not into him. Rush is a great addition though and I love crotches too!
idleideals-This list was never meant to be strictly "indie." I just so happen to like a lot of the indie acts that come out of Canada and that's what this site is for, sharing music you love. I'll be sure to check out Wolf Parade, but they were not forgotten or omitted since I have heard very little to nothing from them.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor. They are pretty great.
But ah yes, we can never forget who gave us The Dion.
Ha ha! JK. Apparently what happens in Vegas really does stay there...
Jez-Coincidentally I just got an email alert today telling me Cowboy Junkies are going on tour.
Boo-I'll have to check those out. And how could I have forgotten the great Dion?? She is crazy, that's why. HAHA!
I love Canadian bands, I am sort of canadian band geek, some of my absolute faves are from bands such as:
One of my favortie albums this year is Black Mountain´s album In the future, I have waited a long time for rock of this 70´s feel caliber. I love it.
The most serene republic is another act, underwater cinematographer is a great album
Bran van 3000, discosis awesome album.
One of the best bands ever
Death from above 1979...I LOVE THIS BAND!! which later became MSTRKRFT, awesome
Danko Jones, Hot hot heat....
just to name a few of my faves
wolf parade, bishop allen, kathleen edwards, cowboy junkies. i could go on and on but those are my top favs. next to sweden, canada is my country of choice for good music these days.
Chele-I was going to add Hot Hot Heat, but didn't. As for the others I'll have to check them out since we have the exact same musical tastes, aside from your fetish for Marilyn Manson!
d-Well damn, all this Wolf Parade talk's got me curious. My friend is burning the CD for me as I speak (type).
Thank you thank you THANK YOU! I love Metric! Old World Underground was the first album I ever bought, and it's still my favourite! You should probably check out Sam Roberts, too, if only because I went to the same High School as him.
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