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.

Pick of the Week #26: Dog Day

This album, Concentration, by Halifaxian band Dog Day has been steadily growing on me over the past couple of months. Its certainly taken a few mentions from some different blogs, a number of listens, but I've come to the conclusion that DD is some sort of bizzaro version of Stars (not, sissy In Our Bedroom After the War, Stars; but awesome Heart and Set Yourself on Fire, Stars).

Its entirely possible - nay, probable - that this isn't a fair (or accurate!) description, but something about the boy-girl dynamic, the catchy, poppy, hooky, nature of the vocals and composition recalls the best parts of what Stars did through the mid 00s. Of course, DD is not Stars. No. One only need to look at the album art (or this google images search "dog day band") that there is something slightly darker about the band, and its not just their hair colour! When I say "darker" it could just be the use of minor chords(?), because underneath that dark visage/hair they are still a catchy, poppy, hooky kind of boy-girl indie rock-pop band. And a very good one at that.

That said, there's something missing from Concentration that doesn't quite bring it over the hump to make it a pantheon level album the way that Set Yourself on Fire is. I'm not sure whether its a lack of contrast between the songs, the lack of a real 'knock you on your ass' single - although "Rome" is a pretty spectacular song that might be better than anything on SYOF, or just a lack of big label/Pitchfork type buzz surrounding the band. The shame of it all is that this is the type of music that I think is appealing to a pretty substantial cross-section of the public, should be on the radio, and not enough people will hear this record. So, do me a solid, listen to the mp3 and pass it on to a friend....

[mp3] Dog Day - Rome

"Happiness"


"Oh Dead Life" from Night Group [2007]

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
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

Tuesday Tracks: Pink Mountaintops, Arietta, Dog Day

In an effort to cover more of the music that's being sent my way I'm going to try to do more short blurbs about the stuff that goes in my ears (sorry, I'm exhausted) outside of the occasional cue tip or finger....



1. Pink Mountaintops
Despite the fact that Stephen McBean (pronounced Mc-Bain, like the Simpsons character)'s father was my MA thesis supervisor, I've never cared/paid attention to any of his work (Black Mountain). But something about the new Pink Mountaintops album, Outside Love, has really grabbed me. It's still that grungy kind of psych rock, but its calmer, less-brash, and consequently much more up my alley...
[mp3] Pink Moutaintops - While You Were Dreaming

For the record, Matthew likes it too.



2. Arietta
Bob is pretty into Arietta, and their new album Migration. For me, they're a little aggressive. Not that their music is completely unintelligable, because its not, Bob actually describes their music as more "angsty music for the sophisticed listener". That said, their brand of punk/rock probably would've been right up my alley about 7/8 years ago, now, its a little much...
[mp3] Arietta - Old Habits Die Young



3. Dog Day
If I have one goal for the rest of the week (yeah, I'm real over achiever), its to give Dog Day's Concentration a really solid couple of spins. Its an album that I think I'm going to really like if I give it some time. My first impression of the band is that they're like a darker version of Stars, but its possible that analogy is not at all accurate...
[mp3] Dog Day - Rome