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 #18: The Liptonians

The best thing about this (or that, depending on where you're reading this... not that these other sites aren't good) here blog is that people send me music (for free!), which incidentally is also the worst thing about this (not that) blog. As I discussed with Jonathan of Ketch Harbour Wolves, this internet thing has allowed just about everyone and their grandmother to make their music available, and as you may have guessed not all of them are good (but a good number of them get sent to me!). But, thankfully, one in every, I don't know, hundred is like the Liptonians: pretty awesome.

Why do I like the Liptonians? Well, because they sound like Ben Folds. Not shitty I'm-a-dad-and-I-write-about-my-kids Ben Folds, but awesome I-write-fun-songs-about-interesting-people Ben Folds. So, Ben Folds circa Ben Folds Five, Rockin' the Suburbs, Ben Folds Live (although after bagging on Ben Folds, his latest a capella project looks pretty kick ass).

Their energy is apparent from the beginning of the album with "Charlie's Back!", which I was expecting to be eeriely similar to "Stephen's Last Night in Town", but is actually more a pleasant story about someone coming back - rather than a friend outstaying their welcome. This kind of difference b/w CB! and SLNiT kind of exemplifies the core difference between Ben Folds and the Liptonians. Where Ben Folds tends to be a little edgier, more sarcasitic, and more bent out of shape about the world; the Liptonians tend to be more laid back, more at ease, and just more generally well adjusted.

And, although you're probably all sick of me closing just about every pick of the week by saying that the album I've just reviewed is probably going to be a top-10er at the end of the year, here's what The Liptonians have got going for them:

• A killer single in "Charlie's Back"
  
• An album with no weak spots and no songs that I skip over
• I find more to like each time I listen to it
• It was a complete surprise
• And, the chance that I'll probably catch them live once, maybe twice in the next week (they're playing Rancho Relaxo, Thursday May 7; and the Black Shire Pub in London Saturday the 9th), which usually helps.
• A bunch of dates coming up across Canada.
• A tour blog, which, should be viewed if you (according to Matt in the band) are: "bored and want to watch harry guys setting up tents"... SOLD!
  

[mp3] The Liptonians - Charlie's Back!
[mp3] The Liptonians - Twenty Dollars

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