The CanCon Catalogue

June 12, 1990: "No, Mr. Speaker"-- Manitoba MLA Elijah Harper draws the Meech Lake Accord to a halt.

And so as it begins, it ends. Three songs, all Canadian, all from the year 1990, to complete our list of fifteen. So now that you've seen them all, what's the verdict? I would have to say 1990 was a pretty good year for homegrown music, launching the mainstream careers of two very big names (Celine Dion, the Tragically Hip) and giving us enduring classics, from the Dream Warriors' "My Definition" to Maestro Fresh Wes' "Let Your Backbone Slide," to this next song.

Spirit of the West- "Home for a Rest" (from Save This House)

A lot of Canadians have Celtic roots, and this song taps into that with its musical style. But the real beauty of it is its actually an extended complaint about being in "the old country," and wishing to be back in Canada. A St. Patrick's Day classic.







MCJ and Cool G- "So Listen" (from So Listen)





From Nova Scotia, this duo traded in what they called "Double R&B," and this album garnered them Juno nods for Best R&B Soul Recording and Best Rap Recording. The chorus actually kind of sounds like the Backstreet Boys in their early days, the rap is locked firmly in the transition between Run-DMC and Rakim, and the beat is clearly influenced by Afrikaa Bambaataa. Fresh.




Jane Child- "Don't Want to Fall in Love" (from Jane Child)

Also very much of the time, yet still great thanks to its bouncy bass line and "woo-oo-oo-oo" chorus, is this track, which sounds like any number of teen-pop-mall idols, but was actually done by someone who was apparently quite goth.


So that's it, my list of fifteen Canadian songs from 1990 is complete. What did you think? Did you discover anything new? Did I miss something important? Let me know in the comments or using the contact info in the "about me" section to the right.

So even though I'm "of" Prince George, I'm not currently "in" Prince George, having taken a gig in Victoria for half a year or so. During this time, I'm taking advantage of the change in locale by going to a bunch of great shows that, unfortunately, don't and probably won't come up to PG (until I do something about it, that is). I've already seen Sam Roberts with the Stills, Kathleen Edwards, and Jeremy Fisher, and today it's Mother Mother. Interestingly, I got into the band as a result of my fact-finding mission to Victoria while looking for a place

to stay. I'd thrown together an iPod mix of bands I'd wanted to check out, and the song "Body of Years," was in there. Normally I'm not a fan of the 80s style production, but as my ltgf pointed out the odd goodness of the song, I couldn't help but agree.

It's been in constant rotation since then, as has the rest of the album Oh My Heart, the follow-up to the band's 2005 debut, now-called Touch Up. I think what really works is the arrangement-- it's got a clean, minimalist feel, but manages to maintain the vitality that's often sapped from those sort of projects. It'll also be my first trip to Sugar, and I've noticed the opening act is Victoria group the Racoons, who seem to be generating a fair amount of buzz themselves. Oh, and Mother Mother are originally from Quadra Island, so it's something of a hometown show, which is always good. This tour marks the debut of new vocalist/keyboardist Jasmin Parker.



From mothermothersite.com:

O My Heart is Mother Mother’s second album on Last Gang Records (Metric, DFA 1979, The New Pornographers, Crystal Castles) and since its release in September of 2008, has achieved great milestones:

             - #1 on Chartattack’s weekly Campus Radio Top 50 for four weeks
             >- #1 on !Earshot’s weekly Campus and Community Radio Top 50 for six weeks
             - #1 on !Earshot’s monthly Top 200 for two consecutive months (ranking at #13 in the                  Top 200 albums of 2008)

In its yearend accounting of noteworthy albums during 2008, iTunes Canada positioned O My Heart as:
             - #3 Best Canadian Album of The Year
             - #3 Best Indie Album of The Year
            
- #5 Best Alternative Album of the Year
             - #5 Best Overall Album of the Year

The song “Body of Years” won the band a CBC Radio 3 Bucky Award under the category of Best Vocals and was rated #31 by iTunes for Best Song of the Year - All Genres. South of the border, O My Heart made its American debut as the #6 most added album on CMJ’s Top 20 weekly adds, charting as high as #24 on the CMJ Top 200."

I'll let you know how it goes.

The point of this blog is to highlight art and ideas coming out of Canada. So when you see an album full of songs by the above artists, it' definitely something you want to share. Most of the time, I would post a song or two and let you decide if you want it. However, in this case I've noticed that the forces behind the album-- an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS through popular culture called the Red Hot Organization-- have been asking people to not post the tracks as they fear it would hinder their fundraising efforts. I think they are wrong on this point-- I got interested in it through other blogs-- but so as not to draw their ire, I am instead posting the :30 snippets that are freely available on Amazon. If you want to hear full tracks, you can head over to myspace.com/darkwasthenight where they're streaming one song a day. Today (Friday) it's the New Pornographers. The whole thing comes out on February 16.


Feist + Ben Gibbard- "Train Song"


Grizzly Bear + Feist- "Service Bell"


The Arcade Fire- "Lenin"


Buck 65 f. Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti- "Blood Pt. 2"


The New Pornographers- "Hey, Snow White"


Kevin Drew- "Love vs. Porn"

So in case this is your first day here, all this week I'm embarking on a quest. A mild quest, mind you, but a quest nonetheless. And that quest is to post three Canadian songs a day from the year 1990. Part one is here, part two is here, part three is here, and this is part four. Read on!




The Northern Pikes- "She Ain't Pretty" from Snow in June.


I didn't even know this song was Canadian before doing this project, so now it's fun AND educational. After Colin James' "I Just Came Back to Say Goodbye," on Tuesday, I think it's safe to say 1990 was the year of using extended sentences to create an idea in the listener's mind, pause, and then completely flip those ideas around. "I just came back--" (YAY!) "...to say goodbye" (sadness). This song does much the same in the chorus. "Oh, hey, this song is about someone who isn't pretty-- wait, what? She just looks that way? But that means she.... oh, geez, he's talking about INTERNAL prettiness." Not only does this song challenge us to address our preconceived, skin-deep notions about beauty, it anticipated the 90s elementary school trend of using "NOT!" at the end of sentences to completely reverse the meaning of everything you just said. Well done, Northern Pikes. Well done.

The Dream Warriors- "My Definition (of a Boombastic Jazz Style)" from And Now, the Legacy Begins

I feel kind of bad including this song, because it's pretty much all anyone knows the Warriors for anymore, despite the high quality of their other work (see "Ludi" or "Wash Your Face in My Sink" from the same album, just for a start). Yet at the same time it's just so undeniable-- the riff, recycled from the Definition game show and later incorporated into Canadian comedian Mike Myers' Austin Powers vehicle is undeniably part of the Canadian landscape (even if it is by Quincy Jones). And you have to love Capital Q's vocals at the 2:38 mark. (Fun fact: L.A. Luv from Tuesday's 1990 post (part one) was the Warrior's DJ and would officially join the group in 1993.

The Jeff Healey Band- "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," from Hell to Pay

You hear that guitar? You feel the emotion? This is what a proper cover sounds like.

Last post in this series comes tomorrow, so if you're wanting to get a word in, now's the time.

Homegrown music appreciated: Poll

The name of this blog is a tribute to CanCon, a rule that states 35% of all music on Canadian radio stations must be Canadian in origin. It used to get some people mighty upset, but now it seems that 1/3 of the music Canadians are listening to-- and enjoying-- is Canadian anyways. Here's the highlights, if you want the full story click above.

A Decima Research survey of 1,505 Canadians done for the Department of Canadian Heritage found almost three-quarters of us are familiar with Canadian music artists. One-third of all music we listen to is by Canucks.

We think it's darned good, too. Two-thirds say its quality matches that of foreign artists, and nearly a quarter think it's better. A mere six per cent feel it's worse.

...

More than seven in 10 believe it's important to buy music by Canadian artists, rising to 85 per cent in Quebec.

My first real post on here was about Prince Rupert/Haida Gwaii artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas pioneering a new art he calls "Haida Manga." Well, I thought I'd point out to anyone interested that he does some other very interesting work, including the above and below photos, which were two of my favourites when I visited the UBC Museum of Anthropology (the car was on loan, lucky me). So, definitely check him out.

So I have a TV on my work desk. This is what's on right now:

A battle to the bottom

Sharpen your blades, Red Bull Crashed Ice is back! A combination of hockey, downhill skiing and boardercross, Red Bull Crashed Ice will return to the historic district of Old Quebec on January 24, 2009. But this year, it's bigger and badder.

With its massive vertical drops, highway speeds, jumps, berms and gaps, the Red Bull Crashed Ice course has carved its place in frozen water history, settling right between the first pond hockey game and slushies. With the bar set so high, we've sent the country's top scientists and Zamboni revolutionists to the toughest region of Siberia, where they are currently training on a remote compound before going toe-to-toe with a superhuman boxer trained scientifically and ruthlessly by an evil regime. As a result they will return tougher, wiser and with a master blueprint on what is sure to be the most entertaining stretch of ice ever touched by a hockey blade.

I guess I'm late to the game since this a rerun, but still-- I'm kind of surprised this exists, yet at the same time I'm surprised it hasn't been around for longer, it just seems so obvious.


Link: redbullcrashedice.ca

The 9th Annual Independent Music Awards (via the Ampersand)

It seems to hit a nice balance between mainstream appeal and artistic integrity, including everyone from Theory of a Deadman to the Arkells to Lights to Coueur de Pirate. It also acknowledges the passing of time, highlighting the new landscape of Canadian music everywhere. Even the international categories are good: Cut Copy, Girl Talk, Bon Iver, M.I.A., and yet still making room for Taylor Swift and Seether. A nice antidote to the Juno nominees. Full list after the jump.

FAVOURITE ALBUM

Constantines -- Kensington Heights
Fucked Up -- Chemistry Of Common Life
Hey Rosetta! -- Into Your Lungs
Theory Of A Deadman -- Scars and Souvenirs
The Trews -- No Time For Later

FAVOURITE SINGLE

Addictiv -- Tonite
City and Colour -- Sleeping Sickness
Lights -- Drive My Soul
The Trews -- Hold Me In Your Arms
USS -- Hollowpoint Sniper Hyperbole

FAVOURITE GROUP/DUO

Arkells
Beast
Crystal Castles
Matt Mays & El Torpedo
USS

FAVOURITE SOLO ARTIST

Brendan Canning
Chad VanGaalen
City and Colour
Kathleen Edwards
Lights

FAVOURITE VIDEO

City and Colour -- Sleeping Sickness
The Midway State -- Never Again
Sam Roberts -- Them Kids
The Trews -- Hold Me In Your Arms
The Waking Eyes -- All Empires Fall

FAVOURITE LIVE ARTIST/GROUP

Bedouin Soundclash
Matt Mays & El Torpedo
Stars
The Trews
The Weakerthans

FAVOURITE ARTIST/BAND WEBSITE

Hey Rosetta!
Kathleen Edwards
Martha Wainwright
The Midway State
We Are Wolves

FAVOURITE BLUES ARTIST/GROUP

Amos Garrett
Daddy Long Legs
Julian Fauth
Marshall Lawrence
Treasa Levasseur

FAVOURITE CHILDREN’S ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO

Bobs & Lolo
Étienne
The Funky Mamas
Jack Grunsky
Rik Barron

FAVOURITE CLASSICAL ARTIST/GROUP

Canadian Brass
The Gryphon Trio
Isabel Bayrakdarian
James Ehnes
Karina Gauvin

FAVOURITE COUNTRY ARTIST/GROUP

Aaron Pritchett
Doc Walker
Gord Bamford
The Higgins
Tara Oram

FAVOURITE ELECTRONIC ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO

Crystal Castles
Deadmau5
Fidgital
Ghislain Poirier
Woodhands

FAVOURITE FOLK/ROOTS ARTIST/GROUP

Elliott Brood
Fred Eaglesmith
Kathleen Edwards
NQ Arbuckle
One Hundred Dollars

FAVOURITE FRANCOPHONE ARTIST/GROUP

Bonjour Brumaire
Coeur de Pirate
Karkwa
Plants and Animals
We Are Wolves

FAVOURITE JAZZ ARTIST/GROUP

Elizabeth Shepherd
Francois Bourassa
Nikki Yanofsky
Oliver Jones
Susie Arioli

FAVOURITE METAL ARTIST/GROUP

Annihilator
Bison BC
Cryptopsy
Cursed
F*ck The Facts

FAVOURITE POP ARTIST/GROUP

Carly Rae Jepsen
Danny Fernandes
The Latency
Lights
The Midway State

FAVOURITE PUNK/HARDCORE ARTIST/GROUP

Brutal Knights
Cancer Bats
D.O.A.
Fucked Up
Protest The Hero

FAVOURITE ROCK ARTIST/GROUP

Black Mountain
Matt Mays & El Torpedo
The Stills
The Weakerthans
Wolf Parade

FAVOURITE URBAN ARTIST/GROUP

Cadence Weapon
D-Sisive
DL Incognito
Moka Only
Shad

FAVOURITE WORLD ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO

Beautiful Nubia
Constantinople
Eccodek
Jayme Stone & Mansa Sissoko
Lorraine Klaasen

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL GROUP

The Kills
My Morning Jacket
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nine Inch Nails
Radiohead

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL SOLO ARTIST

Adele
Bon Iver
Girl Talk
Santogold
Taylor Swift

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL ALBUM

Cut Copy -- In Ghost Colours
Elbow -- The Seldom Seen Kid
Fleet Foxes -- Fleet Foxes
Taylor Swift -- Fearless
Vampire Weekend -- Vampire Weekend

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL SINGLE

Adele -- Chasing Pavements
M.I.A. -- Paper Planes
Radiohead -- Bodysnatchers
Seether -- Rise Above This
Taylor Swift -- Love Story

Here's the drill: five days, fifteen Canadian songs from 1990. Part one, part two, here's part three.

Type rest of the post here
Blue Rodeo- "Til I Am Myself Again" (from Casino)


Blue Rodeo went 4x platinum with their debut, 3x platinum with Diamond Mine, and "only" 2x platinum with 1990's Casino. One of their weaker albums, yes, but for a group of this calibre it doesn't mean much. This track is rightfully a greatest hit.

Kon Kan- "Puss n Boots" (from Move to Move)

Kon Kan was a snythpop duo back before there was anything ironic/hipster about it. Oh, and they were doing crazy mainstream mashups (Led Zeppelin, Nancy Sinatra) years before Girl Talk. One is now a semi-pro golfer, the other is in Thunderpuss. The name, by the way, is a take-off on "Canadian content," which is what insired the name of this blog. Keen!

Celine Dion- Where Does My Heart Beat Now? (from Unison)

A young francophone singer learns English, enlists soft rock/adult contemporary producers, and repeats dozens of times over the next nineteen years. It started here, folks!

The third person to criticize Ignatieff in the article was… no one. There was no third person."

-on the Globe and Mail front page story "Ignatieff draws criticism for letting MPs break ranks."

I will openly admit, I'm not much of a hockey guy, but in an effort to make small talk around my new workplace, I have tried to become fluent in at least certain aspects of it. Fortunately for me, the Canucks debcale that we're currently witnessing has made that conversation very easy (simply ask co-worker if they watched the game, but say it in a despairing/sarcastic tone. Question the wisdom of the Mats Sundin deal. Repeat).

I am, however, interested in the politics of sport and have followed the attempts of Jim Balsillie to get another Canadian hockey team be thwarted by the evil NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman, and therefore enjoyed the following open letter very much.

Dear Gary: An Open Letter to the NHL Commissioner via brentstephensmith.wordpress.com

The above is part one, here is part two and part three.

I guarantee, even with that one bong hit, Phelps is 100 per cent healthier than the average human being.

-Olympic gold medalist Ross Rebagliati on Michael Phelps' drug controversey

John Manley was succeeded by Bill Graham, who was succeeded by Pierre Pettigrew, who was succeeded by Peter MacKay, who was succeeded by Maxime Bernier, who was succeeded by David Emerson, who was succeeded by Lawrence Cannon. Seven foreign ministers in less than eight years. Most African countries have more stable ministries."

-on the how domestic politics interfere with Canada's ability to matter on the world stage

"Obama represents the high-minded ideals of the 1791 U.S. Bill of Rights, while Canada treats our history like yesterday’s soup cans."

-Pieta Wooley in the Georgia Straight on Why Canada Will Never Have an Obama

All this week, I'm posting three songs a day that help define the year that was 1990, ending up with a final list of fifteen. I suppose a disclaimer should be put in place-- in 1990, I was only five, so I'm doing this based on retroactive research rather than any first-hand knowledge. So if you have any additions/revisions, feel free to give me a holler-- comment or use my contactify. Now, on to Part Two. (Part One is here)

Colin James- "Just Came Back" (from Sudden Stop)

Before the swing of 1993's Little Big Band and fresh off the success of his self-titled debut, James released Sudden Stop, a blues rock album that would spawn five singles, the most successful of which is this snarky send-off.

Maestro Fresh Wes- Let Your Backbone Slide (single)

"This is a throw-down, a show-down, hell no I can't slow down." The first Canadian rap single to go top 40, the number one selling Canadian rap single (as of 2008), and the sound of rap commercials on MuchMusic while I was growing up. A classic.

Voivod- "Nothingface" (from Nothingface)

From Jonquiere, Quebec, they started out as speed metal but discovered the industrial scene and Pink Floyd, making them focus on structure over showboating. Nothingface is considered their best release, and hit spot 64 in the Top 100 Canadian Albums.

From today until Saturday, I'm posting three songs a day that have two things in common: they're Canadian, and they're from the year 1990. Other than that, anything goes, as can be seen from today's songs, which you can read about (and hear) below. More info in the previous post, which you can access here.

The Tragically Hip' "Blow at High Dough" (from Up to Here)




OK, so technically the album came out in 1989, but I'm putting this on here because 1990 is the year the Hip won the Juno for "Most Promising Group." If only the Juno's could be this right more often.

Michie Mee & L.A. Luv- "Jamaican Funk, Canadian Style" (single)
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In looking at the list I've come up with, in many ways 1990 was the last year of the 80s, perhaps moreso than it was the first year of 90s. This is exemplified by the hip-hop of the time, which garnered enough prominence in 1990 to have the Junos add it as a category the next year. Nominated was Jamaican-Canadian pioneer Michie Mee, with collaborator L.A. Luv, for "Jamaican Funk, Canadian-Style."

Alias- "More Than Words Can Say" (from Alias)




And if 1990 was the last year of the 1980s, how could any list leave off the hair-rock international chart-topper "More Than Words Can Say," from Toronto quartet Alias? A super-group for the 80s, it consisted of members of the forgotten Canadian group Sheriff and three guys from Heart (yes, that Heart). This one has it all-- emotive vocals, tinny production, and a guitar solo that doesn't stray below the twelfth fret.

That's it for today-- I'll be posting three more tomorrow, so until then let me know what you think.

I realize I've already posted one CBC Radio 3 supplement on here, but this one goes beyond that. On their R3-30 Podcast this week, they did a "Salute to the 1990," playing the Rheostatics and Eric's Trip. But that's not enough. And that's where I come in.

One of the limitations of Radio 3 trying to do throwback shows is that their library is limited to the tracks that artists have chosen to make available on their site. And while that's often enough for contemporary acts, anyone whose career highlighted pre-2000 doesn't have much reason to get on there. So when you do a show like that, you're pretty much limited to, well, the Rheostatics and Eric's Trip. Hardly indicative of the state of Canadian music in 1990.

So I did a little research (ie. Wikipedia and allmusic.com) and came up with my own list of Canadian songs from 1990. There is no method to my madness-- some of these are award winners, some were chart toppers, and some were underground burns. Some artists are familiar and some I never heard of before doing this. But all songs came from the year that was 1990. So from today through Saturday, I will post three songs a day, resulting in a playlist that will be known as 15 Songs: 1990.

Unlike Celine, the Juno's aren't taking chances.

Well, the Juno nominees are out today. They're better than they could have been, I suppose, though that doesn't mean much when you look at their track record...

The same names you see every year are there-- you have to wonder whether there's a clause somewhere that says Celine Dion must always be nominated. Bryan Adams is there as artist of the year, as is k.d. lang. I mean, due respect and all that, but it might be nice if we maybe just took a list of these perennial nominees, stuck them in a hall of fame, told them the Juno's love them, they're the greatest of all time, and then made room for some newer artists. Here's my play-by-play of what's wrong and what's right.

Right: Alternative Album of the Year

Really, there's no qualms here. There's lots of worthy choices that aren't on there, but nothing wrong with what is. Black Mountain, Chad VanGaalen, Fucked Up, Plants and Animals, and the Stills all put out potential future classics that have been garnering critical acclaim at home and abroad.

who should win: Chad VanGaalen

Chad VanGaalen- "Willow Tree"



Wrong: Album of the Year

Black Mountain, Chad VanGaalen, Fucked Up, Plants and Animals, and the Stills all put out potential future classics that have been garnering critical acclaim at home and abroad. But in choosing the five albums that represent the ABSOLUTE BEST in Canadian music from the past 365 days, the Juno's have chosen to overlook those in favour of Nickelback, Hedley, and Simple Plan.

The worst part is these look like downright great choices when you take a look at the last two nominees: Sylvain Cossette and the Lost Fingers. Never heard of them? Me neither, til today. Turns out they're both from Quebec, and they are both nominated for-- wait for it-- COVER ALBUMS. That's right: in choosing the five albums nominated for the ABSOLUTE BEST Canadian music has had to offer, the Juno's have chosen an aging pop star doing earnest covers of 70s hits (the album is called 70s: Vol. 2) and a folk-rock trio doing tongue-in-cheek covers of 80s hits (in a remarkable bit of symmetry, the album is called Lost in the 80s).

On top of it all, they don't exactly go out of their way to interpret they're material in ways that haven't already been done a few times before-- Prochaine's "Get Back" sounds almost exactly like the Beatles' "Get Back" while "Tainted Love" by the Lost Fingers is more a cover of a cover (of a cover) as if they knew the Living End version better than Soft Cell's (let alone Gloria Jones'). Don't get me wrong, I like a good cover as much as the next person, and would probably love the Lost Fingers if I saw them in a bar somewhere-- but you don't deserve best album nods just because you can play a decent set of covers.

who should win: no one, but if I had to choose, Nickelback for catching the zeitgeist

Nickelback- Gotta Be Somebdoy


Right: New Group of the Year

We won't get into the debate about what "new" means given the longevity of some of these groups, but once again Plants and Animals deserve it, as do the Stills. I haven't actually listened to Beast so I can't say much, and Cancer Bats kind of surprises me. But the best choice is eaily Crystal Castles, who have taken the world by storm with their agit-pop tunes

who should win: Crystal Castles



Wrong: Juno Fan Choice

Nickelback, Celine Dion, Hedley, the Lost Fingers, and Feist. I mean, I guess it's who the fans like, and I have nothing against liking any of these artists, but then again its a category sponsored by Pepsi, which just cheapens the whole thing.

who should win: the Lost Fingers, because they fit in best with the spirit of an artistic category being sponsored by a soft drink

The Lost Fingers- Tainted Love


And the rest...

Hits:

"Dangerous" by Kardinal Offishal and "Gotta Be Somebody" by Nickelback getting single of the year nods. A single is different from an album, and the more commerical the better.

Tokyo Police Club for group of the year. It's cool to see Great Big Sea there, too, since their new album (produced by Hawksley Workman) is a step forward for them.

Hawksley Workman and Kathleen Edwards in Adult Alternative Album of the Year, though Album of the Year would have been better.

Rock Album of the Year, particularly Matt Mays & El Torpedo and Sam Roberts.

Snacktime! by the Barenaked Ladies for Children's Album of the Year

Auk/Blood by Tanya Tagaq in Aboriginal Recording of the Year

Fred Eaglesmith's Tinderbox and Elliot BROOD's Mountain Meadows for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year, solo and group

Misses

Aside from my complaints about perennial nominees earlier, the ones who were overlooked: Cadence Weapon, Destroyer, the Acorn, Final Fantasy, Attack in Black, Wolf Parade, Shad, Basia Bulat, Holy Fuck, the Constantines, the Weakerthans, Gonzales, the list goes on. I know not everyone can be nominated, but it hurts that much more when great artists like this are being overlooked in favour of Celine Dion compilations. Anyways, that's my thoughts on the whole she-bang, take a listen to the tracks and let me know what you think in the comments.

The good stuff.....

Best Alternative Album: Black Mountain, Fucked Up, Plants and Animals, the Stills


Adult Alternative: Hawksley Workman, Kathleen Edwards


Rock Album: Matt Mays & El Torpedo, Sam Roberts


Children's Album: The Barenaked Ladies


Aboriginal Recording: Tanya Tagaq


Roots and Traditional: Fred Eaglesmith, Elliot BROOD

Further Reading: Juno Oddities via canoe.ca and Exclaim's take on the whole thing

For a certain generation of Canadians, particularly those who, like me, didn't have cable growing up, the world of politics was introduced through the lens of CBC's long-running series This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Back before John Stewart and Stephen Colbert became America's most-trusted news anchors, starting in 1993 we here in Canada had the four-person 22 Minutes team, anchored by Rick Mercer.

Buoyed by the success of his petition to have Stockwell Day change his first name to Doris, getting George W. Bush to thank Canadian PM "Jean Poutine", and "Talking to Americans,"* Mercer left the show in 2001 to focus on the series Made in Canada, a smart, dark comedy that was apparently before its time (the lead character talked to the camera of all things!) and some dark years set in. Most of the original cast left, Colin Mochrie tried to be the host, and, worst of all, Mercer returned to the fake-news-show game with the glad-handling Mercer Report which is more a love-in with the establishment than a skewering of it (a sleepover with Stephen Harper? Skinny dipping with Bob Rae?), It seemed like the Canadian news parody was dead.

But something wonderful has happened. Infused with new cast (minus Cathy Jones, who manages to not be a deadweight but is probably the weakest link), 22 Minutes is funny again. The news bits are on par with anything coming out of Stewart or Colbert, and the sketches are at least 50-50, but by far the best bits are the "field assignments" where cast members, in various guises, talk to Canadian celebrities (mostly politicians and hockey players). 

Nathan Fielder
And by far, the best of these segments are those handed over to Nathan Fielder, who is not a cast member, but is easily the best part of the show since Mercer's rants. Completely deadpan, his segments parody the heavy-handed "consumer affairs" docu-series like "Marketplace" and "The Fifth Estate," for a program called "Nathan on Your Side," which does everything from warn of the responsibilities that come with dog ownership to find out which winter tires best protect your family. Previously, his bits were only on once in a while, but this season he's had at least one segment per show, stretching out into Rick Mercer's "streeter" territory. There's a danger of the schtick wearing thin, but for now it's all been gold, so if you're looking for a Colbert for Canada, once again 22 Minutes is for you.

This Hour Has 22 Minutes is on 8:30 on Tuesday nights, on CBC television.

Further reading: The Last Laugh: Why Canadian Satire Can't Live Up to Stewart and Colbert. The Walrus magazine takes an interesting look at freedom of speech laws and its effect on news parodies.


Nathan Fielder and Jim Flaherty This is one of the weaker videos, but the only one I can embed on the site. To watch the rest, either browse through the 22 Minutes website, or watch this playlist with your proxy disguised.


Rick Mercer: Talking To Americans- Mike Huckabee, George W. Bush, Al Gore, et al.


*It seems a bit of a cheap shot to make Americans look dumb by displaying their ignorance of Canada. You could easily have someone from Greenland doing the same thing to Canadians-- they are our neighbour to the north, after all, and what do YOU know about them? But it's still pretty funny.

Damn it Chilliwack! While you're busy rocking, Carmen's getting away!


I was listening to the song "My Girl" by better-than-you-think rockers Chilliwack today when I noticed something-- it sounds a lot like the theme song to "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?" The chord structure, the vocal harmonization, the tempo, it's a lot a like. Let's compare....



Chilliwack- My Girl

Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?

k-Os gives props to Tokyo Police Club (see track below)

This week, the CBC Radio 3 podcast is a remix special. All in all it's a good show, if you like that sort of thing, nothing particularly mind-blowing. My favourite tracks is the MSTRKFT remix of Metric's "Monster Hospital," which I already have in my iPod, and the two I'm most likely to listen to again are the Tiesto remix of Tegan and Sara's "Back in Your Head," and the RAC mix of Tokyo Police Club's "Be Good." I've put them below, along with a track that should have been on there, except for some reason k-Os refuses to sign up for New Music Canada. He really makes it hard to like him sometimes.







Tokyo Police Club- Your English is Good (k-Os mix) (link via eastofla.com)




Playlist for CBC Radio 3 Podcast Episode #193: The Remix Special, download it here.

Rough Gem (Remix) Islands
Be Good (RAC Remix) Tokyo Police Club
Monster (rac mix) You Say Party! We Say Die!
Monster Hospital (Mstrkrft Remix) Metric
Back in Your Head (Tiesto REMIX) Tegan & Sara
The Cansecos “Rise Up” (Cadence Weapon Mix) Cadence Weapon
Blood On Our Hands - Justice Remix Death from Above 1979
Fatty Wants to Dance (Paronomasiac Remix) Hawksley Workman
Secret March (Nik 7 Remix) The Wet Secrets
Your Ex-Lover is Dead (Final Fantasy) Stars

If you look to the right, I have a set of links called "Northern Tunes." These are the Canadian-based music sites that I look at on a fairly regular basis. One of them is Herohill, and they have this thing called the Great Canadian Mixtape Project, in which, province by province, they create a mixtape of regional tunes (focused on lesser-known acts, no Neil Young in Manitoba or Celine Dion in Quebec). Anyways, they released the latest one today; it's for Saskatchewan and is titled Elgaard Your Grill, after the CFL Hall of Famer Ray Elgaard. You can download the mix here, and following are links to the rest of them:

• The Big Doe-nair Rehab (Nova Scotia)
• Give Us Our Nickel Back (Ontario)
• Ultra-Magnetic … hill (New Brunswick)
  
• Hoodoo You Think You Are? (Alberta)
  
• GOULET! (Quebec)
  
• Stay Gold Manitoba, Stay Gold (Manitoba, though I would hope this is obvious)
  

Edmonton rapper/producer/ex-Pitchfork writer Cadence Weapon has just released a pay-what-you-want mixtape (or it would be a mixtape, if it were the 1980s). It's called Separation Anxiety, and you can download here. I haven't listened to it yet, but I do know one track is definitely worth getting-- his live cover of the Chad VanGaalen song Mini TV's with Final Fantasy, which you can hear below. As for the rest of it-- well, it's free, right?


Cadence Weapon and Final Fantasy - Mini TV's (live Chad VanGaalen cover from Separation Anxiety)



Chad VanGaalen - Mini TV's (from Skelliconnection)



*UPDATE* I have now listened to it, and if you like the more dissonant moments of C.W.'s production, then you'll like this. Plus, there's a shout-out to Joel Plaskett on "Kennedy Curse."

Haida Manga is a new style of artwork being pioneered by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, an artist born in Prince Rupert and raised in Haida Gwaii. The art is basically a fusion of Japanese-style manga with traditional Haida style. To see it in action, check out some of Yahgulanaas' work here, here, and here, or watch it get animated by clicking "Read More."






The book, Flight of the Hummingbird: A Parable for the Environment, is out now.