Best Canadian Albums (excluding Toronto) of 2009

9. Dan Mangan (Vancouver, BC) Nice, Nice, Very Nice
[mp3] Dan Mangan - Robots
Elsewhere: Pick of the Week #42
A couple of months ago you couldn't go anywhere, and when I say "anywhere" I mean a Canadian based or Canadian music blog, without hearing about Dan Mangan. Now that his album has been out for a while, the very clever video for "Robots" has been released, he's done touring for a bit (I think), I've begun to appreciate his song-writing more. I'm not sure exactly how to describe his sound to those who don't know him, but suffice to say he may have become my favourite hobo singer-songwriter (I'm sure someone plays the spoons somewhere on this album).


8. The Liptonians (Winnipeg, MN) s/t
[mp3] The Liptonians - Charlie's Back!
Elsewhere: Pick of the Week #18
I haven't listened to the full s/ted album by the Liptonians in a good while, but I can say that "Charlie's Back!" is one of my favourite songs of the year. As I mentioned when I wrote about their album, the melody, the story, the instrumentation all remind me of Ben Folds (before he got neutered and started writing children's songs) and the quirky characters that he used to write about. If you ever enjoyed Ben Folds or piano driven poppy sort of tunes, these guys are well worth checking out.


7. Dog Day (Halifax, NS) Concentration
[mp3] Dog Day - Happiness
Elsewhere: Pick of the Week #26
If Stars wore black, and exclusively black, they would be Dog Day. These songs are every bit as good as Set Yourself on Fire, though they're certainly not as burned into the memory of 'indie' loving hipsters as SYoF.



6. That's the Spirit (Ottawa, On) Staying Places
[mp3] That's the Spirit - Orienteering
Elsewhere: Pick of the Week #40, Exchanging emails with...
If you ever read (or saw the movie) The Phantom Tollbooth when you were a kid you should have an idea of what Staying Places sounds like. Of course there's no auditory component to the actual book (unless it's an audiobook), but it (Staying Places) has this whimsical element to it that makes you feel like you're going off to some sort of fantasy land (even if you're not on drugs). This all makes me wonder what listening to this album on mushrooms would be like... if anyone has any answers there's a guest blog post in it for you...


5. Julie Doiron (Halifax, NS) I Could Wonder What You Did With Your Day
[mp3] Julie Doiron - Consolation Prize
Elsewhere: Pick of the Week #38
I'm not sure how I'd never listened to Julie Doiron before this year, but I hadn't, though if there was one Canadian-folk music icon (stretch?) that I was going to miss it makes sense that it'd be Julie Doiron. Doiron, and her music, are understated to the point that she doesn't seem like she cares a whole lot whether people are listening or not. If you like folky sort of music, and you've heard Doiron, chances are you've been capitvated by her laid-back, conversational style. And this album, from what I understand, is one of her best.


4. Chad VanGaalen (Calgary, AB) Soft Airplane - B Sides EP
[mp3] Chad VanGaalen - Corvette
Elsewhere: Pick of the Week #39
Sure, it's an EP full of B-Sides, but it's still really friggin' good. I'm not sure I read anyone complain about Soft Airplance (the A-sides), but all the talk about how 'accessible' read: not weird, probably peeved a few of his more devoted fans. Well, I imagine that the B-sides'd make those people happy. It's more experimental than the actual album, which may explain why they got relegated to the B-sides EP, but if you're a fan of Chad VanG fan the EP is not to be missed. And it may still be free at softairplane.com.

3. Patrick Watson (Montreal, QC) Wooden Arms
[mp3] Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
Elsewhere: Pick of the Week #16
I've listened to this album a bunch of times over the past few weeks and I'm convinced that Wooden Arms is the most underrated album of the year. It doesn't have the standout Coldplay impersonations like "Lucious Life" and "the Great Escape", it's more cryptic, more reliant on found sounds (apparently crap found in the Watson household), but the songs and the songwriting are every bit as good as his Polaris winning Close to Paradise... and the more I hear the album the more I think it should move up... maybe this should actually be two... or one... too late now. Also, you should really watch these Blogotheque videos if you haven't...


2. Pink Mountaintops (Vancouver, BC) Outside Love
[mp3] Pink Mountaintops - Axis Thrones of Love
Elsewhere: Pick of the Week #22
Given my distaste for Black Mountain, some other incarnation of this band, I was utterly shocked at how much I enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, Outside Love. The album sort of feels like a cross between the Mamas & the Papas and Led Zepplin, which is an unlikely combination that really seems to work.


1. Said the Whale (Vancouver, BC) Islands Disappear
[mp3] Said the Whale - Camilo (the Magician)
Elsewhere: Pick of the Week #44
I find myself surprised that a pretty poppy album ended up at the top of this list. On Islands Disappear Said the Whale, while poppy, demonstrate that they are capable of writing more dramatic or introspective songs (like Band of Horses or the New Pornographers), and have put out an album that isn't getting nearly enough love. This was easily the second best Christmas gift I got this year (I got one of those sexy iPhones)... thanks Santa.

Best Songs of 2009: "Corvette" by Chad VanGaalen

Chad VanGaalen, by all accounts, is a pretty weird dude. Not weird because I'm sure the two of us have different hobbies (I think it's unlikely he's a big NBA/Raptors guy), but more because he writes really strange songs that typically surround the topic of death. "Corvette" from the Soft Airplane B-Sides EP, of course, is not really a whole lot different. I mean, the song isn't entirely about death, but the song does start out with the premise that "he" got reincarnated as a corvette, meaning, of course, that he died -- unless I'm way off base with my understanding of the basic tenants of reincarnation.

Despite dealing with blood/guts/death and other such subject matter, the tone of CVG's music, like in "Corvette", is always is more of a imaginative curiosity about death rather than, say, dealing with the subject in an I want to die sort of way. He kind of reminds me of, and I'm sure I've said this before, Tim Burton. Of course, the two generally find themselves operating in two different mediums (though CVG has animated a couple of his own videos), but I'm not sure things like Beetle Juice and The Corpse Bride are too far off Infiniheart and Soft Airplane.

The CVG/TB connection, for me, runs beyond even the obvious thematic connections of their work into their ability to create these backwards, bizzare dream worlds of life and death and whatever exists inbetween. So, while I'm not sure I'd want to permanently reside in alternate universes that CVG/TB create, it's a fun visit every once in a while.

[mp3] Chad VanGaalen - Corvette

PS - I'm pretty sure he's still giving away the entire B-Sides EP at softairplane.com.

Pick of the Week #39: Chad VanGaalen and A Polaris Apology (sort of)

Some of you, and one Polaris juror, responded and articulated how wrong I was about the Polaris Jury’s decision to award the big prize to Toronto hardcore outfit Fucked Up. To paraphrase the earlier post, I said that the jury picked Fucked Up to maintain its relevance as an artistic prize because it was the most different album, and that I didn’t really understand how the jury came to the decision that The Chemistry of Common Life deserved the $20,000 prize.

On the first count, I was definitely off base. I wasn’t in the jury room and I shouldn’t have made that leap assuming that I knew what was going on in the collective heads of the jurors. As with any group decision (see, for example the election of Stephane Dion as leader of the Liberals, or Joe Clark for the Conservatives in the 80s) the end choice of a group may be everyone's second choice. Of course, maybe it wasn't, and I guess the overriding point is that I don't know, and I shouldn't've assumed. So, there, I digress.

On the second count, that Fucked Up didn't deserve the Polaris, I still feel pretty strongly about that. I don’t get hardcore music, I’ve never got into that scene, so when my friend Cam suggested that it was a really progressive, genre bending album, my response was, huh? I just hear shouting… Oh, the shouting! I mean, it’s different than virtually every other Polaris nominee ever – as far as I’m concerned – and I’m all for encouraging different types of music, but it's still gotta be "the best". On the other hand, I suppose I should be giving props to the jury for picking something different. It’s not like they picked Metric or Great Lake Swimmers, who put out great albums, but were doing more or less what they’ve been doing for the last 4-5 years.

And I suppose you could say the same thing about Chad VanGaalen, who would’ve been my choice. He’s been doing strange, creepy, electro-influenced folk songs since Infiniheart came out in 2004?, but Soft Airplane was just so, so, good and nearly everyone agreed when the year came to an end last year. He won Matthew[I(heart)music]’s hottest Canadian Bands ’08, what more do you want from the guy? An album full of B-Sides that could've been a Polaris winner? Yeah, well, he's got that too.

After spending some time with the B-Sides, which are, in my estimation, a lot stranger, more electronic and a lot more "artistic"... I'm wondering whether excluding them from the album, which was lauded by many for being more accessible (less weird), might have hurt CVG. In any event, I'll get over it (actually, I probably won't), but at least I'll have something to complain about for a while...

[mp3] Chad VanGaalen - Corvette
[mp3] Chad VanGaalen - Did you find peace?
[mp3] Chad VanGaalen - I wish I was a dog (ft. Julie Doiron and Fred Squire)

Oh yeah, the whole EP is available for free at Soft Airplane.com.

Pick of the Week #1: Ketch Harbour Wolves
Pick of the Week #2: Rah Rah
Pick of the Week #3: Glasvegas/Animal Collective
Pick of the Week #4: Bruce Peninsula
Pick of the Week #5: The Antlers
Pick of the Week #6: The Darcys
Pick of the Week #7: Ohbijou (Swift Feet for Troubling Times)
Pick of the Week #8: Gentlemen Husbands
Pick of the Week #9: Chris Whitley
Pick of the Week #10: Alela Diane
Pick of the Week #11: K'naan
Pick of the Week #12: TOR/Sufjan Stevens
Pick of the Week #13: Timber Timbre
Pick of the Week #14: Justis
Pick of the Week #15: Hibiscus & Rosehips Compilation
Pick of the Week #16: Patrick Watson
Pick of the Week #17: Olenka and the Autumn Lovers
Pick of the Week #18: The Liptonians
Pick of the Week #19: Sunparlour Players
Pick of the Week #20: Black Hat Brigade
Pick of the Week #21: Howie Beck
Pick of the Week #22: Pink Mountaintops
Pick of the Week #23: Still Life Still
Pick of the Week #24: Hayden
Pick of the Week #25: Snailhouse
Pick of the Week #26: Dog Day
Pick of the Week #27: Ohbijou (Beacons)
Pick of the Week #28: Dog is Blue
Pick of the Week #29: Parkas
Pick of the Week #30: The Wooden Sky
Pick of the Week #31: Bowerbirds
Pick of the Week #32: Miss Maya
Pick of the Week #33: Ben Folds Presents ...
Pick of the Week #34: Mantis
Pick of the Week #35: Diamond Rings
Pick of the Week #36: The Wilderness of Manitoba
Pick of the Week #37: Asher Roth
Pick of the Week #38: Julie Doiron

Continued Commentary on the Polaris Process: The Winner

Not really sure what to make of the Polaris Jury's pick, the Toronto "hardcore/punk" band Fucked Up and their album The Chemistry of Common Life. It probably goes without saying that I'm not really a fan, nor do I think that they deserved to win, and they give me a headache, but I'm not bitter...

I guess there are really two things that grind my gears about giving the prize to Fucked Up. Mostly, its the cursing, oh god the cursing!

But seriously. First, and contrary to what some have speculated I don't think this vote was necessarily a --no pun intended-- fuck you to the Conservatives, Stephen Harper, and any sort of arts funding cut backs (although that may have been an added bonus). I see this vote as more of a, oh shit, look at the relatively similar/safe albums that ended up on the short list, we need to really surprise people by picking an album that they're not expecting. And, if that was in fact the conscious or unconscious thought process, you're really left with three albums that don't fall into the white-english-males-with-guitars category (I'm excluding Metric): Malajube, K'Naan, and Fucked Up (I understand they play shouting machines or something). Malajube's album just wasn't that good, K'Naan's was too over produced had too many high profile guest appearances/producers to be artistic enough, and Fucked Up was about as different from the other albums/past winners as you could get. Basically, I see Fucked Up's win as being more about the jury and the Prize making a statement rather than the artists' "creative artistic acheivement in recorded music".

The second thing that cheeses me off is that a certain basement dwelling Albertan recorded an album that is, in my estimation, something just short of genius, which, for a singer-songwriter album, is incredibly impressive. Yes, CVG's Soft Airplane was far less esoteric than either of his previous albums, but its not like he's gone into John Grisham mode churning out albums based on some Sub-Pop developed formula. He fits the Polaris criteria.

Not only do I think he fits the Polaris criteria, I think he (and, to a lesser extent Patrick Watson circa 2 years ago) embody what the Polaris should be about. It should be about artists that push boundaries, but who can also create music that the public at large can appreciate and should be paying attention to. It is not a chance to stick it to Joe the Plummer and show him how much different your award is in comparison to the crap award shows he keeps watching that keep giving prizes to Celine Dion (who apparently is not dead yet) and Nickelback (still alive also).

Obviously the selection process is a little more complicated and nuanced than I'm making it out to be, and I really don't mean to bag on Fucked Up, maybe I'm just a little cranky about not being on the jury... but don't you think if the CVG had won over Fucked Up we wouldn't have to stick it to the Conservative art haters so much? Just a thought...

[mp3] Chad VanGaalen - City of Electric Light (Live on CBC Radio 2)
[mp3] Chad VanGaalen - Rabid Bits of Time (Live on CBC Radio 2)

"Molten Light"

Continued Commentary on the Polaris Process...

Some of you may have already noticed that the Polaris Committee has selected the Lost List of the best 40 albums in Canadian music over the last 12 months. You may also know that the Captain/President/CEO Justin Beach of the NxEW Music Blog is doing something of a Polaris Shadow Competition, which anyone can participate in (see the differences b/w the real Polaris and the NxEW version here). And, you may also know that I pretended that I was a juror (in the real competition) and made my picks last Monday (I did actually participate in the NxEW one).

A couple of things that struck me about the long list:

• The sheer number of bands from Montreal (17), particularly the number of bands from Montreal that I had never, ever, ever, heard of.... C'mon! I can't believe that there were 17 bands from Montreal that made better albums than the the Black Hat Brigade and the Sunparlour Players. Note to those who select the jurors... you could use a little diversity...
  
• Also, the number of bands NOT from big cities (2)... shitty...
  
• The number of "Big" Indie releases that weren't great, but were selected on their name: Metric, Handsome Furs, Wolf Parade, K-Os, K'naan.
• Albums that I hope do well: Bruce Peninsula, Chad VanGaalen, Timber Timbre, Woodpigeon.
• I'll be completely shocked if Pink Mountaintops, Metric, K-Os or K'naan for musical diversity purposes, Bruce Peninsula, and Chad VanGaalen don't make the short list (I don't think Patrick Watson is a lock since he won two years ago).
• I'll be even more shocked if CVG isn't crowned the overall winner - he's due, he's produced a lot of really good music (see, in particular: Infiniheart and, to a certain extent, Skelliconnection), plus he's unique/weird enough to be "artistic"... remember the last 3 winners have all been quirky artists (Patrick Watson, Final Fantasy, and Caribou)...
  

[mp3] Bruce Peninsula - Steamroller
[mp3] Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree
[mp3] Timber Timbre - Demon Host
[mp3] Woodpigeon - Oberkampf

And its another prank call, in the middle of the night....

I think you're going to hear a lot more chatter about CVG (Chad VanGaalen) after the Polaris long list comes out on Monday. His 2008 album, Soft Airplane, was regarded by a lot of people - including me - as the best of 2008, but its not like Soft Airplane came out of nowhere.

CVG (otherwise known (by me) as the Tim Burton of singer-songwriter music)'s first major release was Infiniheart (2004), which I'd argue is every bit as good as Soft Airplane - if a little bit longer and more drawn out. And while there wasn't a real lot of recognition for the 2004 release, it certainly put him on the map, got him signed with Subpop Records (and arguably got him a Polaris nomination for the not-nearly-as-good Skelliconnection (2006))... I guess my point here being, if you're going to looking back into CVG's back catalogue start with Infiniheart.

So, while the following videos are super, super, weird (which, it should be noted, are actually pretty fitting given the content of the songs) Chad VanGaalen is still very awesome, but I suspect this is not news to many of you...

"Clinically Dead" from Infiniheart [2004]


"Red Hot Drops" from Skelliconnection [2006]


"Molten Light" from Soft Airplane [2008]

Polaris Picks, or, If I Were More Important...

Not familiar with the Polaris Prize? They're like the Grammy's, except Canadian, and the jury is made up of people who like and care about music, and there's only one category, and the winner gets a cash prize. So, in another far more accurate way, they're the opposite of the Grammy's....

Despite being the editor/owner/president of this here prestigious blog I was not selected to the Polaris Jury. I know, I'm shocked too. But, luckily, you all still get to hear my thoughts on the Polaris process through my contribution to the NxEW "shadow polaris prize", which is an idea so good I wish I had thought of it myself and here...

If I were a juror I'd vote for...
Sunparlour Players - Wave North
Why? Because, despite the fact that this isn't the best album, the SPP are easily the best live act in the GTA and they deserve much more recognition than they get...
[mp3] Sunparlour Players - Battle of '77

Bruce Peninsula - A Mountain is a Mouth
Why? Because they are, for lack of a better description, an absolute force of nature, a serious Polaris contender, and the front-runners for album of the year (on the prestigious BM blog)...
[mp3] Bruce Peninsula - Steamroller

Black Hat Brigade - Fathers
Why? I dunno, because I really like it.... you can hear almost all of it (I think) streaming on their myspace...
[mp3] Black Hat Brigade - Zombie City Shake

Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane
Why? Because I'm a front runner, and this has got to be the odds-on favourite for the big prize. Also, its a tremendous, creepy, and terribly haunting singer-songwriter album, which, if selected, will force CVG to leave his basement and play some songs...
[mp3] Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree

Pink Mountaintops - Outside Love
Why? Because, even though I was determined to not like this album, the love-in that is Outside Love is like a hazy weekend that you can't remember, but you know you had a good time...
[mp3] Pink Mountaintops - Axis Thrones of Love

Excellent Albums that Deserve Recognition
Pick of the Week #2: Rah Rah Going Steady
Pick of the Week #21: Howie Beck How to Fall Down in Public
Pick of the Week #13: Timber Timbre Timber Timbre

Albums that I haven't listened to enough, are definitely 'Long-List Worthy' and are definitely going to suffer b/c their release date is too close to the end of the Polaris Period.

Ohbijou - Beacons
Hayden - The Place Where We Lived

Soft Airplane by Chad VanGaalen

I've expressed my hetero-sexual man love for Chad VanGaalen before, and so I should warn you if you're at all uncomfortable with that kind vociferous gushing, well, you should probably skip this post and move on.

So - the new album - Soft Airplane, I think, builds really nicely on his previous efforts Infiniheart (one of my most listened to albums in the last 5 years or so) and Skelliconnection (which, had its moments, but was largely average) to produce his best album, which is really saying something. Thematically, the album isn't alot different - death, destruction, death, dying, the aging process unto death - but musically, the album finds a nice median between the experimentation and more classic singer-songwriter stuff.

If you don't believe me, Ack of Herohill is thinking roughly the same thing about the album, although more articulately, saying its 'probably the best he's heard all year'. Allan likes it too. And, I suspect those won't be the last of the positive reviews for this album that has got to be a favourite for the next, next Polaris Prize.

[mp3] Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree

"Molten Light" written and illustrated by Chad VanGaalen

I'm back, Baby!

I'm back, I've moved, etc...

I'm hoping to get to see a few more shows, which, I suspect will be much easier considering Toronto is, well, not half dead; also, I'm not working 60 hours a week. So, if you live in London (Ontario) and were following the site for London show listings you probably stopped a while ago, but, I'll start posting some Toronto shows I'm thinking about seeing. Starting with:

Shad @ the Mod Club September 17

Plants and Animals @ the Horseshoe September 18

Two Hours Traffic @ Lee's Palace September 26

Land of Talk @ Lee's Palace September 27

Common/NERD @ Kool Haus September 28

Chad VanGaalen, Women @ the Mod Club October 4

Lykke Li @ Mod Club October 24

Hayden @ Massey Hall November 1

The Acorn/Ohbijou @ Lee's Palace November 27

The odds of me getting to all these shows, of course, is somewhere between slim and none, but we can all dream can't we...

Also, you can expect me to pick up the posting pace a little bit now that the weather is getting shittier, and I'm back at school meaning back near the ole femputer...

New Chad VanGaalen

I feel compelled to mention that Chad VanGaalen's new album - Soft Airplane due out September 9th - if only so I can post his single 'Willow Tree'. A few other things:

• I really like him, but just about everyone of his songs sounds, or starts off the same way that 'Willow Tree' does... maybe it's just me.
• Seeing Chad at Call the Office a year ago September was probably the clincher for me to start this blog. I had a great time at their show, had a hilarious run in with one of the guys in the band where I told him something along the lines of 'you guys were great, thanks for coming to London', and he responded by saying 'I can't believe this many people payed to see a bunch of drunk idiots like us play our songs'. I recall the bands' banter being quite good.
• I'm still convinced that VanGaalen's first album Infiniheart earned him the Polaris nomination for Skelliconnection, which was, in my opinion, a much weaker album. So, it'll be interesting to see where Soft Airplane comes out. By the sounds of 'Willow Tree' it seems as though its going to take a less experimental, electronic bent and more of the dark, cryptic, folky sound that made me really grab on to his debut album.

[mp3] Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree

A Mix CD For Your Sister

I think I've got some good stuff for next week, including a story about hip-hop yoga, and some thoughts (hopefully photos and video as well) from Hayden. For now, just a tracklist for a MixCD that I made for Liz's friend Jenn for her birthday. Usually these CDs turnout being music that I think should be played on Muchmusic, MTV, Muchmoremusic, but don't make the cut for whatever reason. Until we acquire mp3 hosting my suggestion is, that you try and track these down from the Hype Machine, and support the artists (although neither Bob Dylan nor Rihanna really need your money).

If I was more ambitious or artistic, this would have been the cover art:

A Birthday Kiss for Jen P.

1. Bon Iver “Skinny Love” For Emma, Forever Ago
2. Patrick Watson “Luscious Life” Close to Paradise
3. Hayden “Message from London” Folk Music for the End of the World
4. Chad Van Gaalen “After the Afterlife” Infiniheart
5. Lupe Fiasco “Superstar” The Cool
6. Bodies of Water “We Are Co-Existors” Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink
7. Jenn Grant “White Horses” Orchestra for the Moon
8. Handsome Furs “Hearts of Iron” Plague Park
9. Broken Social Scene “Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl” You Forgot It In People
10. Great Lake Swimmers “Back Stage with the Modern Dancers” Ongiara
11. Jim James & Calexico “Going to Acapulco” I’m Not There OST
12. Bob Dylan “I’m Not There” I’m Not There OST
13. Great Bloomers “Catching Up” Great Bloomers EP
14. Jens Lekman “Kanske Ar Jag Kar I Dig” Night Falls Over Kortedala
15. Crime Mob vs. The Shins “Rock Yo Sea Legs” thehoodinternet.com
16. Rihanna “Don’t Stop the Music” Good Girl Gone Bad
17. Feist “Intuition” (unreleased version)
18. Jose Gonzalez "Down the Line" In Our Nature