20. Braids – Native Speaker
A lot of people were sipping the Braids lemonade this year. The Montreal via Calgary band put together a seven track abstract album that paints outside the lines. The band made lots of noise this year, including being a shortlisted nominee for the Polaris Music Prize. Most of the songs clock in at over the six minute mark, providing the band lots of space to throw together layered sounds that swirl around and allow the listener to get lost in the music.
19. Racoon Bandit – Into the Hills
In 45 minutes, Raccoon Bandit manage to put together a mature sounding record showing the different sides of the folk to folk/rock spectrum. From a quiet folk drenched opener like “Wooly Toque” to an upbeat barn burner like “Silver Bullet”, this album has enough variety to keep things fresh the whole duration of the album. It has a raw, barebones feel to it, which comes as no surprise considering it was recorded in an old farmhouse.
18. Feist – Metals
Everything Leslie Feist has done since being that girl in the iPod commercial for the song “1 2 3 4″ has been closely followed. The song really provided her a springboard to dive into the bigger pools of the music world. Arena tours now instead of mid sized music venues. With Metals, she could have taken the safe route and try to win over new fans while alienating her old fan base. Instead, she makes an album that sounds just like what you would expect from the talented songwriter. Individually the songs stand on their own. As a whole album, some of those fun Feist moments that were present on her previous albums are lacking. The album needed just a little more life injected into it.
17. Young Galaxy – Shapeshifting
Young Galaxy are a band that previously built themselves on heart sweeping emotion through haunting vocals and atmospheric textures. On Shapeshifting, the band trade in their organic beauty for an icy cold electronic laden album. Those emotional heartfelt moments may still be present, but instead are buried deeply in the textures of the album. While Shapeshifting shows the band can be stretched and challenged creatively, it can become almost boring and lifeless stretched over eleven songs. The ability of the band to constantly change up their sound makes them one of the most exciting Canadian artists to check out album to album.
16. The Darcys – self-titled
The album takes emotional songwriting, combined with tight guitar and piano instrumentation, and mixes them with a certain amount of noise and chaos. Songs like “Shaking Down the Old Bones” and “Edmonton to Purgatory” makes it sound like they put every drop of sweat and energy that they possibly could into each song.
15. Ivy Mairi – No Talker
Ivy Mairi, a member of Bruce Peninsula (who made our honourable mentions list this year) put together one of the most timeless albums of the year. No Talker has that nostalgic and comforting sound that comes with the plucking of a banjo, picking of the mandolin, strum of the guitar, and a voice that gently commands your attention. At times it can seem a little repetitive or bland, but even those moments have the potential to turn into something special. An album that can leave you with that satisfied feeling of stumbling across something you’ll come back to time after time.
14. Hooded Fang – Tosta Mista
Sophomore jinx? What jinx? If such a thing does exist, then just like a beach ball, the members of Hooded Fang took it and drop kicked into the ocean with their second full length album. Tosta Mista is the sound of a group of friends jamming. The album contains that sun bleached indie guitar sound from start to finish. It sounds like it was recorded on vintage audio equipment with it’s raw and organic feel. A slight departure from the self titled sound that was tighter and more polished.
13. Rich Aucoin – We’re All Dying to Live
After years of waiting, Rich Aucoin’s latest album became available to the masses this fall. While most of the songs have been floating around on the internet in some shape or form for quite a while now, the final polished product has been rewarding. Anybody who has gone to a Rich Aucoin live show knows it is basically a big sweaty party of dancing, singing along, confetti and the occasional game of spin the bottle. We’re All Dying to Live is a more intimate and intricate affair that these shows. With over twenty songs, you get quiet songs like “All You Cannot Live Without” along side live classics such as “Undead” mixed with a bunch of shorter instrumental movements. Featuring countless guest contributions from musicians and friends, the album is ambitious. Pushing the envelope and thinking outside the box is nothing new to Rich Aucoin. Consider this album worth the wait.
12. Timber Timbre – Creep on Creepin’ On
The masters of creepy, Timber Timbre deal with themes of broken relationships, inner struggles with moving on after heartbreak, and self discovery. Creep on Creepin’ On gives listeners the opportunity to peer into the introspective narrative that touches on the darker side of feelings and emotions. It can be almost uncomfortable to listen to at times as it is not particularly uplifting. However the sweeping strings and instrumental segments help paint a beautiful painting that shows the light that lives in darkness.
11. We Are the City – High School EP
On the High School EP, We Are the City capture those high school moments we all went through. The relationships, the jealousy, the energy and the carelessness. Telling a girl that he is the one that she wants, not some guy from “France or Quebec or something else”. High School started off as a experimental side project where the band would tie shirts over their faces and adopted fictional aliases. From start to finish, the six songs on the album bring something fresh and creative to the table each time. There are elements of prog rock thrown in there, but condensed into the time frame of pop songs. The EP takes unexpected turns taking you everywhere you’d want an EP to take you.
