Awesome Canadian Musicians June 28, 2003 11:48 PM Subscribe
Paul Anka was born in Ottawa. Guy Lombardo hailed from London, Ontario. Believe it or not, but the Auld Lang Syne that we sing at New Year's was popularized by him. Neil Young was born in Toronto and sang (sometimes) about Canada. Oscar Peterson is from Montreal. Canadiana Suite, 1964. How have these amazing Canadian musicians affected your life, if at all? Are there other Canadian musicians that the world should know about, but for some reason does not (like the Tragically Hip, or Holly Cole, say)?
posted by ashbury (70 comments total)
How could you forget Bryan Adams? Oh wait... ;-P posted by mischief at 11:53 PM on June 28, 2003
How have these amazing Canadian musicians affected your life, if at all?
Hmmm... my obsessive love of Rush was responsible for me not getting laid as a teenager. At least, I like to blame the Rush worship... posted by jonson at 12:00 AM on June 29, 2003
I have a love/hate relationship with Bryan Adams, in that I didn't like his music at the time, but I now find his music catchy and reminiscent of my salad days. The bastard. posted by ashbury at 12:14 AM on June 29, 2003
I'd say the only Canadian who has done more for the Art of Music than Bryan Adams is Colin Mochrie...
Alright, that fills out MY sarcasm quotient.
Maybe I'm an aging '70s folk-pop fossil, but I have a soft spot in my heart for Gordon Lightfoot (even if I have to share it with ParisParasmus). I coulda sworn there was an early MeFi thread that referred to him as "Gordon Nanosecond" (for obvious scientific reasons), but I can't find it through any of the usual search enginery. Hmmmmm.... posted by wendell at 12:25 AM on June 29, 2003
Ian Tyson comes to mind, as do the Band. Man, is it just me or did Robbie Robertson end up seriously sucking. posted by y2karl at 12:34 AM on June 29, 2003
And somebody has to do some explaining about Dan Hill. posted by y2karl at 12:38 AM on June 29, 2003
I would consider Leonard Cohen an obvious and essential choice. I would add Moxy Fruvous (less obvious but still well worth mentioning). And Daniel Lanois certainly belongs in this thread.
For me, Leonard Cohen's music has been a perfect fit for a lot of emotions. Ironically (perhaps), Rufus Wainwright (another artist worth mentioning in this thread) participated in a big Leonard Cohen tribute in Brooklyn tonight that I was hoping to attend. posted by sueinnyc at 12:49 AM on June 29, 2003
... and Anne Murray, too! posted by mischief at 1:12 AM on June 29, 2003
Is this "Canada" something you would need a map to know about? (Sorry.)
Canada has produced a stellar crop of women musicians! You can't rightly mention Ian Tyson without mentioning Sylvia Tyson, imo. And Joni Mitchell, k.d. laing, Alanis Morrissette, Nellie Furtado.
Oh, and, um, Bare Naked Ladies, heh. posted by madamjujujive at 1:52 AM on June 29, 2003
...Cowboy Junkies, Glenn Gould (but I personally hate all that damn humming), The Band, Ron Sexsmith, The Pursuit of Happiness, Paul Shaffer, Bran Van 3000... posted by Vidiot at 2:13 AM on June 29, 2003
As a Canehdian living abroad I'm making it my personal business to ensure that I claim all the good Canadian artists that get invariably lumped into 'Americans' as one of ours.
I'm not above lying about our embarrassments (Celine? She's not one of ours. She's from Belgium.)
I love most of the stuff that's coming out of Montreal (Constellation Records' Godspeed, Fly Pan Am, Do Make Say Think, Exhaust, Sackville, Set Fire to Flames, A Silver Mount Zion -- they're all the same three people doing different projects, but still). Mille Plateaux' North American office is based in Canada, see Montreal Smoked Meat for a good sampler.
For fans of Low and Movietone, watch out for a band outta Victoria BC called Chet. And Beans, who sound a bit like Mogwai, are from Vancouver.
richie hawtin (aka plastikman, fuse etc) and john aquaviva changed the face of techno forever with plus 8 records.
venetian snares and knifehandchop are two young canadian electronica upstarts (i supported knifey, as i like to call him, on part of his recent uk tour, blag blag blag).
*this has nothing to do with her music, it's because she calls me bad names and steals my lunch money
**he comes round my house at night and scrapes sticks across my window posted by nylon at 3:48 AM on June 29, 2003
Fred Eaglesmith's gritty alt-country-or-what-have-you song stylings can break your heart, make you laugh out loud or make you want to floor the gas pedal in a rusty-ass V8 deathtrap and send clouds of dust floating above the nearest gravel road.
The Rheostatics may sorely need to update their webpage, but don't let that keep you away from their soaring, majestic art rock. They've done music for Paul Quarrington's novels and the Group of Seven's landscapes, written a children's book and immortalised Wendell Clark (and that years before the Hip did the same for Bill Barilko.)
And in the slightly more up and coming category, Kris Demeanor's words sting like barbed wire and he always leaves you wanting more. posted by arto at 4:06 AM on June 29, 2003
Daniel Lanois, as previously noted. Plus Jane Siberry and Sarah McLachlan, who I can't believe has not already been mentioned. And I have a new personal favorite, Monica Schroeder, who has a great, smooth voice which you should listen to. Right now. posted by jscalzi at 4:51 AM on June 29, 2003
I assumed most people knew of the T-hip... but don't think I don't know what you're doing ashbury. No stacking the deck in Canada's favor. You people sent us Celine Dion and I'll never forgive you for that. posted by KnitWit at 6:31 AM on June 29, 2003
Actually, I was recently having a conversation with Canadian born mefite where I told him a story about wandering into a rock and roll bar in Quebec City on a family vacation at age 17. As I sat their sipping my Labatt's the usual suspects came of on the wide video screen- AC/DC, Metallica, etc - and the clientel politely bobbed their heads in time. Then "Hold On" by Triumph came on and the place went batshit. When I told the aforementioned Maple Leaf mefite this he said that basically, Rik Emmett never has to pay for his own drinks again. The point being that our neighbors to the north take good care of their shaggy old mullet rockers, as well they should since they produced a lotta the best ones.
Along with the aforementioned Triumph there's boogiemeisters April Wine, creators of one of the great power ballads in "Just between You and Me," legendary early thrash band Anvil, Red Rider who used an amplified steel guitar to weird effect on "Lunatic Fringe," anthem masters Helix, Quebecois death-metalists VoiVod, one-hit wonders (but what a hits they were) Aldo Nova and Toronto.
On the less metallic end of things, there punkers DOA and the Forgotten Rebels (who could create the world's most offensive split 45 withe their songs "Tits On The Beach" and "Fuck Me Dead"). Proggers Rush and Saga are still around. There's goofball Cape Breton fiddler Ashley MacIsaac, cuddle core innovators Cub, (who are a blast on stage), polka meister Walter Ostanek, the Payola$ creator of the classic aggro single "A Place Like This," indie rockers Jale and if were gonna get real obvious here 4/5ths of the Band(one of the 10 or so most important bands in history) and The Guess Who.
Ahem. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to have some back bacon and crack a La Fin Du Monde.
* Canada also has given us one of the funniest writers in history in the late Mordecai Richler and Quebecois women are the most beautiful in the world(NSFW). Consider my toque doffed. posted by jonmc at 6:41 AM on June 29, 2003
Great lyricist, and tones of things to say. posted by Sijeka at 7:05 AM on June 29, 2003
I like The Odds. They had two minor hits, "Heterosexual Man" and the excellent power pop "Someone Who's Cool."
The Band's great. I've always thought it was interesting that a Canadian band could do "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," which sounds like it was written and recorded during the Civil War.
Canada is the world's leading exporter of power trios. posted by kirkaracha at 7:31 AM on June 29, 2003
All of the above, some of the punkier of whom I drank with in Vancouver, back in the day.
y2karl, you are right. Robbie Robertson really, really sucks. Heroin probably doesn't help. But in the matter of Ian Tyson, I believe that he rode the coattails of Sylvia Fricker for the greater part of his career. I mean, I love Ian's voice, it's one of the great voices of the 60s folk era. But Sylvia -- man, what a songwriter! She was responsible for their best material ("There is a young man that I know...") Her solo albums are chock full of great songs that are too little noticed. She's not a very strong singer, unfortunately. But, hey, she wrote "You Were on My Mind" -- a song which sounds great in the We Five version, and every other version. That gal is good. posted by Faze at 7:42 AM on June 29, 2003
.. but you forgot avril. posted by mrplab at 7:55 AM on June 29, 2003
I do not disagree Faze, Sylvia is/was wonderful. I was in the Toronto art museum a few years ago - stayed over for a day after a business meeting - and to my delight, Sylvia Tyson was performing free that afternoon - what a treat!
Great Speckled Bird's first album is still among one of my all time faves - Sylvia, Ian and Buddy Cage on pedal steel, oh my! posted by madamjujujive at 8:06 AM on June 29, 2003
I'm not sure leaving Avril out is necessarily a problem of "forgetting". She's not nearly as toxic as Celine Dion, but she has the potential.
As for jonson's comment, Rush obsessions can do weird things - they kept you from losing your virginity and kept me from maintaining several friendships! hehe
I developed my Rush obsession (they're playing right now, as I type, in fact) when I started listening to them in order to comprehend what a guy I was trying to get was saying. He spoke mainly in Rush lyrics and Tolkein quotes. Over the years, though, I've seen them in concert 5 times, but finally had to stop going. Each time, whomever I took to the show with me and I would end up not speaking to each other not long after the concert. I don't think it was their fault, but now that I'm finally married and have converted my hubby to Rush fandom, I'm not taking any chances.
Rik Emmit and Triumph were definately a great band - anyone know if they're still doing anything? posted by thorswitch at 8:07 AM on June 29, 2003
I'd like to add hayden to the list. His shows always affect me like no other live act I've ever seen.
Looking at my music collection, I realized that many of my favourite 90s Canadian rock bands have either broken up or disappeared (hHead, Gandharvas, Doughboys, Pure, Limblifter, Age of Electric). Some are in new projects or gone solo, but I didn't really get into the next iteration of these groups. I guess I'm trying to keep my high school/college memories intact.
I really like The Tea Party, but their last album turned me off of them - beyond the single "Lullaby" it was really overblown and pretentious, even for them. :)
I'm scared to admit this here, among so many music afficiandos, but I also get a big kick out of Robin Black and the Intergalactic Rockstars. The show I saw was completely over the top (in a good way), but when I met them at their meet and greet after the show, they were the sweetest bunch, and very good to the fans. Upbeat stuff to listen to while out and about.
We also can't forget one of Canada's leading critics of music and pop culture - Ed the Sock! posted by melissa at 8:08 AM on June 29, 2003
Heh — my last MeFi Swap contribution was an all-Canadian disc. I feel vindicated.
Sloan, the Weakerthans, the Rheostatics, hayden, the Odds, and Nomeansno have already been mentioned, which warms the cockles of my heart. To add something worthwhile to the discussion, though: if you're in the mood for something even better than it is bizarre, check out Hawksley Workman. If you're more into the power-pop side of things, Sam Roberts put out the catchiest EP I've heard in a while last winter, and although I haven't checked out his full-length debut, it's supposed to be just as good. Duotang is also on the power-pop side of things; they're probably the most intelligent and catchiest bass-drums duo out there (and I'm not trying to damn with faint praise here.) And the sadly defunct Glueleg was a musical kick in my ass when I first heard them — kind of a post-modern funk band. posted by Johnny Assay at 8:22 AM on June 29, 2003
Is this "Canada" something you would need a map to know about?
Yes, and the map you want can be seen here (scroll down past the Time covers).
Is anyone else sick of the fashion of ending every MeFi post with "How has this phenomenon affected you?" If so, how has your nausea affected your life? Can you think of other examples of habits that are not always appropriate? Are these questions ever anything other than a blatant plea for comments? posted by languagehat at 8:27 AM on June 29, 2003
On preview, Johnny Assay beat me to it but let me add my strong advice for you to check out Hawksley Workman, one of the best Canadian acts out there. Hard to define but think Glam-era Bowie mixed with the multi-instrumental prowess of Prince (not to mention the polarity between his raw sexuality and wide-eyed tenderness) plus the operatic reach of Queen. Add a splash of the romanticism of Sinatra and you're getting close. In a word...unique. posted by Jaybo at 8:29 AM on June 29, 2003
Make of this what you will. posted by wobh at 9:13 AM on June 29, 2003
Our Lady Peace. posted by bargle at 9:18 AM on June 29, 2003
I'm showing my age here, but so many of the old CanCon songs take me back to my teen-hood....Five Man Electrical Band ("I'm a Stranger Here" is my favorite, but I also like "Absolutely Right" and "Moneyback Guarantee"), The Guess Who ("Raindance", "Albert Flasher"), and Lighthouse ("One Fine Morning," "Sunny Days.")
Lots of great songs by one- or two-hit wonders:
"Where Evil Grows" by the Poppy Family
"Daytime, Nightime" by Keith Hampshire
"Jodie" by Joey Gregorash
"(Make Me Do) Anything You Want" by A Foot in Cold Water
"Touch of Magic" by James Leroy
No, my Canadian favorites aren't ground-breaking, alternative, high-brow musicians. They're Top 40 pop hits, and I'm darned proud of my plebeian taste. posted by Oriole Adams at 9:25 AM on June 29, 2003
Fond Memory: skipping school and drinking beer at a friend's house, listening to Max Webster posted by davebush at 9:40 AM on June 29, 2003
Roger Whittaker rocks my world. Did anyone else catch him at Bottom of the Hill? posted by scarabic at 10:27 AM on June 29, 2003
On our long drive to an Ontario fishing camp in 2001, we noticed that the one radio station we could pick up was really into a lot of older American music, but really strange choices. The strangest of which was an apparently deep and abiding devotion to REO Speedwagon. Disconcerting, to say the least.
And you all forgot Shania. Pair her with Celine and some really large amps and I believe Canada would represent an imminent military threat to the US. I vote for containment in Las Vegas. posted by dglynn at 10:36 AM on June 29, 2003
Am I the only Edmontonian on Mefi? SNFU, The Wheat Kings, The Smalls, Euthanasia, and The Loved One were all decent bands. Bing Jesus? Jerry Jerry and the Sons of Rhythm? k. d. lang? Ford Pier?
I'll second the mention of no means no, and add Andy Kerr's band Hissanol.
Skinny Puppy? Bah! I was in a band that opened for them about 15 years ago. Not only did they leave their gear on stage, so the opening bands had a 5-foot wide strip at the front of the stage to set up and perform on, but that lead singer (Kevin Ogre, is that what he called himself?) was a total dick. Still I suppose I should thank them, as my humour-punk band Chinnchilla got to perform for 900 confused big-hair types that night. Now if we'd only gotten paid... posted by alex_reno at 12:16 PM on June 29, 2003
forgive the repeats from above. off the top of my head:
thrush hermit, salteens, sloan, dears, stars, broken social scene, joel plaskett emergency, starling, new pornographers, inbreds, by divine right, pure, duotang, eric's trip, mike o'neill, jale, limblifter, flashing lights, weakerthans, pluto, young and sexy, super friendz, mystery machine, neuseiland, plumtree, beans, hardship post, north of america, sam roberts, rymes with orange, matt barber, age of electric, tigre benvie, hawskley workman, zumpano, and on and on and on.
some defunct, some not. all good. posted by chumptastic at 12:23 PM on June 29, 2003
Stavros, that link to the Vancouver 1977-1988 compilation sent me into a nostalgic spin, especially seeing the link to the Animal Slaves. They used to practice in the basement of the house I was living in.... If you were busily vomiting, as you say, over that scene, we were probably rubbing shoulders at least part of the time. posted by jokeefe at 1:19 PM on June 29, 2003
Man, is it just me or did Robbie Robertson end up seriously sucking.
Yes, it's you. All of Robertson's solo work is highly textured, often haunting and beautifully arranged. I suspect you haven't actually listened. I'm sure a casual listener (someone who's only heard one or two tracks from Storyville on the radio) might consider it MOR crap, but that would be so, so wrong. posted by davebush at 2:03 PM on June 29, 2003
But Sylvia -- man, what a songwriter! She was responsible for their best material ("There is a young man that I know...")
Oh, she was? Sorry, Faze, but, once again, you're talking out of your ass--you think Sylvia wrote Someday Soon, probably because it was written from a woman's point of view and was sung by Sylvia on Ian and Sylvia's Northern Journey. Ian Tyson wrote the song. That's common knowledge--really it's a no brainer. I've certainly known better for the last forty odd years.
Sylvia Tyson has a wonderful voice and has written some fine songs. I feel no need to trash her gifts to hold an informed opinion concerning the craftmanship and quality of Ian Tyson's songwriting or singing, then or now. Your compulsion to repeatedly pee on my tastes in thread after thread--your trashing of my Harry Smith thread comes to mind--is beyond me. Especially when your facts aren't even straight. posted by y2karl at 2:09 PM on June 29, 2003
y2karl, why do you hate Faze so much? Dammit, now I have to update my notes... *takes out journals, scribbles furiously * posted by jonson at 2:44 PM on June 29, 2003
I'll try not to get too worked up, but let me suggest there's more to music from Quebec than Celine and Leonard Cohen -- who both deserve to go into tuneless exile somewheres, in my opinion -- although 99% of english Canadians -- who account for most all of the Canuck MeFites, I'm guessing -- wouldn't know Jean Leloup if they were standing beside him. So, to defend la belle province from the dominance of La Celine: Voivod (Metallica's ex-bassist joined Voivod), Grim Skunk (their ex-bassist went on to form Canada's Maijuana Party), les Colocs (I have no idea who their bassist even is), Loco Locass (independantiste hip-hop), Dubmathique, Muzion, the aforementioned Bran Van 3000, more DJs than you can shake a poutine at (Ramasutra, Fred Everything, DJ Maus, etc), Kevin Parent, Erik Lapointe, Daniel Belanger...
Oh, isn't it now "godspeed! you black emperor" now? Farkin' tools.
Oh, and alex: Jerry Jerry is _ours_, mofo! posted by lupus_yonderboy at 3:49 PM on June 29, 2003
Don't forget Daniel Lanois. He's on tour right now, catch him if you can.
No mention as yet of the great Ian Blurton, leader of the late Change of Heart, now frontman of Blurtonia. Quel dommage. posted by danwalker at 5:21 PM on June 29, 2003
do you include Contact from the Underworld of Red Boy in this category, davebush? I wasn't too impressed with what I heard of that. Storyville, I liked a little. posted by y2karl at 5:38 PM on June 29, 2003
jonson, about these symptoms of pronoia you've been displaying... posted by y2karl at 5:39 PM on June 29, 2003
Lupus, so it's not enough that the west subsidizes Quebec financially, now we have to support your culture too?
I realize there's not really that much going on in Montreal, I guess that with Edmonton being such a hotbed of the arts, the least we can do is let you have some of our artists. Just send Voivod by a little more often, ok?
(For the humour-impaired: only the last sentence is meant to be taken seriously.)
Hey, if you see Jerry, tell him I said hi... posted by alex_reno at 7:43 PM on June 29, 2003
Melissa Auf Der Maur of Hole and Smashing Pumpkins is from Quebec, isn't she? Jonmc might be on to something. posted by Devils Slide at 8:42 PM on June 29, 2003
"And somebody has to do some explaining about Dan Hill."
He bagged Faith Hill, which is more than you or I will ever accomplish. posted by websavvy at 8:47 PM on June 29, 2003
Just one more day, ashbury. posted by timeistight at 9:01 PM on June 29, 2003
[Disclaimer: I'm musically unsophisticated, don't know bad from good and don't care - so no flames please.]
Hmm, well in my music collection I see a few not previously mentioned - Blue Rodeo, Crowded House, Alannah Myles, the Leslie Spit Treeo, Jeff Healey, Sass Jordan, Paula Cole.
I did not know that Dan Hill was Canadian. Good God. As if Celine Deon and Shania Twain weren't shame enough. [Hides head under orange-feathered wing.] posted by orange swan at 9:38 PM on June 29, 2003
Uh, I believe that Crowded House were from New Zealand. posted by websavvy at 9:53 PM on June 29, 2003
Canadian Industrial: Skinny Puppy Front Line Assembly, Download, and Numb, of course. Them you have Delerium (back when they made tonal/ambient music, not this newer euro-trash stuff), Vromb, Godspeed, Szkieve. Oh, and Malhavoc, Decree, Waiting for God, Phycus, Iszoloscope, Antigen Shift, Liar's Rosebush, L'ombre, Displacer... etc etc etc
Too much good Canadian music to list it all, actually. This is just off the top of my head, but the best industrial music in the world comes out of Canada, IMHO. Maybe it's something in the water.
(Secretly, I think it comes out of living next door to the self-proclaimed greatest nation on earth, but that's an entirely different subject...) posted by Jairus at 4:06 AM on June 30, 2003
You got me, timeistight. :) posted by ashbury at 7:15 AM on June 30, 2003
Ivanna Santilli? posted by Sijeka at 8:07 AM on June 30, 2003
I've got to admit I have a real soft spot for Kim Mitchell. That man writes some damn catchy tunes. posted by kindall at 8:53 AM on June 30, 2003
[checks liner notes] Oops on claiming Crowded House, websavvy. Now where did I get that idea?
But maybe New Zealand wouldn't mind trading Crowded House to Canada for Dan Hill... we'll even sweeten the deal by throwing in, say, Mitsou. posted by orange swan at 10:28 AM on July 2, 2003
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posted by mischief at 11:53 PM on June 28, 2003