Category Archives: top Canadian albums

Best of 2010: Canadian Albums 1-5

Posted on December 15, 2010 by jbriggins| 2 Comments

Here they are, my top 5 Canadian albums of 2010. Just a small disclaimer, although I am calling this a “Best of” list, it is really based on personal preference and technically could be called a Favourites list. What Canadian albums didn’t make the top 20 that you loved this year? What were your top 5?

5 Land of Talk – Cloak and Cipher

“Like the scene of a crime carried out by lazy criminals, this album has the fingerprints of some of Canada’s current indie stars all over it. While it has all these fingerprints on the album, it is Liz Powell who really shines through on this album. Her vocals have a soft and beautiful tone to them, but still enough of an edge to remind you that you are listening to a rock and roll album and not some disposable soft rock tune. While Broken Social Scene (who Liz has worked with before) may be the poster child for Canadian indie rock, it is Land of Talk who have developed the essential Canadian indie rock album of the summer. This album sounds focused with the guests really bolstering the tracks rather than distracting. When best of lists are made at the end of the year, this album deserves to be on it.” Look at that, it’s high on my year end list!

Favourites: Quarry Hymns, Swift Coin, Hamburg, Noon

4 Aidan Knight – Versicolour

So here is the story: back in September during our Polaris Panel, Kirk mentioned that he wished Aidan Knight’s album Versicolor was nominated for the Polaris. Aidan sent me an honour saying it was a ridiculous claim but he was also honoured and gave me a copy of the album. Then I started listening to the album and haven’t been able to stop listening to it. Long story short, I agree with Kirk. A song like Jasper is one that will stick around on Canadian playlists for a long time. With his honest sounding voice, acoustic guitar licks, and personal lyrics, this young rising Victorian has a very promising future ahead of him.

Favourites: Jasper, Fighting Against Your Lungs, The Sun

3 Caribou – Swim

“Moving away from a nostalgic rock feel, Swim is full of songs tickle the feathers of the listeners eardrums through complex and layered dance songs. While the album is densely packed with a multitude of sounds, it is an easy and enjoyable listen. There is a real organic feel to his songs, a refreshing contrast to electronic and experimental music that sounds like it is programed by robots instead of created from the mind of a brilliant musician. This album shows how Daniel Snaith continues to push himself and remains one of Canada’s most innovative musicians.”

Favourites: Odessa, Bowls, Leave House, Sun

2 The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night

Liz Powell (Land of Talk) describes lead singer/guitarist Jace Lasek as a wizard. After listening to The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night it is hard not to agree. They throw together the perfect blend of classic rock, prog rock, and indie rock to make an enjoyable sound. This album was my favourite Polaris nominated album from the opening note to the final sound. It has great vocals, well placed guitar solos, sweeping intros and outros, and bass lines throughout that transport the listener to another world. It may have taken a few listens to get into the band, but was it ever worth it. Seeing them live twice this year in Quebec City and Halifax helped completely cement The Besnard Lakes as one of my favourite Canadian bands.

Favourites: Chicago Train, And This Is What We Call Progress, Albatross

1 Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

You probably saw this one coming. This album was the most anticipated album of the year for the Broken Speaker. Between album and track reviews, video posts, and two concert reviews, and even an editorial piece, this year really was the year of the Arcade Fire on the blog. While the album seems to be a love it or hate it album that has divided the Arcade Fire fan base, I admit to be far on the love it side. In regards to the length of the album,  Will Butler said “If a year later you find We Used To Wait on the second half, and you’re like, what in the heck is this song, this is an amazing song, I think that is an equally valid way to experience the record” during a BBC Radio 1 podcast when the album first came out. Over the past 6 months I have found myself finding beauty and something to enjoy in each and every track. Seeing them live obviously has influenced this ranking. It is great to see a Canadian band taking the front and center stage of the global music community.

Favourites: We Used To Wait, Ready To Start, Sprawl II

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Best of 2010: Canadian Albums 6-10

Posted on December 14, 2010 by jbriggins| 1 Comment

10 Yukon Blonde – self titled

You may or may not have noticed that this album is nestled right beside the Zeus album. Both albums take that fun vintage rock and roll sound thrown in with a punch of modern indie rock. That being said these albums are in no way identical, they just elicit that same nostalgic retro fun sound. Vancouver’s Yukon Blonde’s self titled album is full of songs with catchy choruses and riffs that drill into your ears and stay there for days. Just listen to Wind Blows and see if you can get through the entire song without singing along.

Favourites: Wind Blows, Brides Song, Ghosts On Film

9 Stars – The Five Ghosts

“While Stars is a fairly predictable band that sticks to a similar formula from one album to another, they know how to execute their game plan well and create albums that tug at the heart strings a little and make for an enjoyable listen.” This album really cemented Amy Millan as one of Canada’s premier musicians. Her vocal delivery on this album (and live too) really help keep the band a float and balance out Torq’s shenanigans (which are entertaining and enjoyable).

Favourites: Changes, Wasted Daylight, The Passenger, Daylight

8 Gramercy Riffs – It’s Heartbreak

“They have that perfect blend of female and male vocal taking turns on songs, great soft guitars covered in atmospheric synths and keys. Something that will stir up your emotions quickly and make you want to dance or bob along.” Over this past fall as I’ve listened to It’s Heartbreak, I’ve found that I’ve cycled through the entire album 2 or 3 times in one sitting not realizing it. It truly is one of those can’t-put-it-down type of albums.

Favourites: Little One, Call Me, The Freezedown

7 Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record

“Overall this is an enjoyable album with no glaring weaknesses. While many of the members and contributors to this album came from various points in their career, they were able to put together a cohesive album that is able to both show off the member’s specialties but also do it in a focused manner. It is not another You Forgot It In People, but listeners shouldn’t be surprised as this is a band with many different people in many different places now.  The effort is more focused and easier to follow than the self titled third album, which at times seemed a little all over the place. It’s unclear who is supposed to do the forgiving here, band members? Listeners? Friends? Family? People? But whoever it is, it doesn’t matter as this is one of the year’s unforgettable albums.”

Favourites: Sentimental X’s, Chase Scene, Forced To Love

6. David Vertesi – Cardiography

“Every year there are a couple albums that catch you off guard, the type of album that when you here it you are instantly impressed. David Vertesi’s debut solo album Cardiography is one such album. If you’re looking for a well rounded and well put together album, look no further than Cardiography.”

Favourites: Caroline! A Ghost,! All Night, All Night, All Night, Learn To Run

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Best of 2010: Canadian Albums 16-20

Posted on December 13, 2010 by jbriggins| 1 Comment

As a blogger, my favourite thing to do is create best of lists at the end of each year. It is a great chance to look back on the year that was, maybe remember a few albums or songs you had sort of forgotten. The next section of our “Best of 2010″ section looks at the top 20 Canadian albums of the year. For this list I only looked at full length albums released in 2010 (not EPs) by bands based in or from Canada.

20 Holy Fuck – Latin

This nine track album is full of electronic songs without sounding like your computer, printer, and cellphone are simultaneously trying to self implode. The lack of computers and backing tracks makes an album like Latin stand out as the real musicianship comes out of the woodwork. Whether that is the tight rhythm section of Matt McQuaid on bass and live drums by Matt Schulz, or keys, guitars, and effects throughout the album from Brian Borcherdt and Graham Walsh, the creativity bleeds through. While sometimes Latin has quite a few of moments that are repetitive throughout different songs on the album, they get away with it since it brings framework and continuity to the album.

Favourites: Red Lights, Stay Lit, SHT MTN

19 Karkwa – Les Chemins de Verre

This album certainly will be making more best of lists after winning the 2010 Polaris, and rightfully so. The backlash against them winning, with naysayers claming  they only won because they were French or because the jury was biased is ridiculous. While it was not my favourite eligible album, it certainly stands up on it’s own. “Les Chemins de Verre contains many of the elements you would want in an indie folk/rock album. The vocals sound like Bon Iver meets Patrick Watson (who makes a guest appearance on this album). The guitar sounds raw and contains a heavy dose of reverb. In fact this whole album sounds very raw which is not surprising considering the way it was recorded without any preproduction in an effort to keep an organic sound in a spontaneous way.”

Favourites: Le Pyromane, Marie Tu Pleures, Les Chemins de Verre

18 Wintersleep – New Inheritors

This album really seemed to divide the Wintersleep fan base. I ended up buying a cheap ticket to one of their shows from a fan who wanted to get rid of it since she didn’t like the new album. While yes this album does contain some dull moments or songs that sound like they would have better been served as b-sides on Welcome to the Night Sky, it has those classic Wintersleep moments that made us all like the band in the first place. The majority of these songs were written on the road and recorded when their tour schedule allowed and it shows. Many of these songs reflect that live feeling you get from going to one of their show, spectacular drumming from Loel Campbell and extended instrumental pieces such as those found in the track Baltic. A dividing album? Certainly, but still an enjoyable listen.

Favourites: Experience the Jewel, Mausoleum, Baltic, Echolocation

17 Shad – TSOL

While being open to other genres, I am not a regular listener of hip hop. The fact that Shad’s album TSOL has struck such a chord with me and other similar music fans shows how great this album truly is. Bringing in indie heavy weights like Lisa Lobsigner and Brendan Canning from Broken Social Scene certainly help, it is the honest hard working and fresh sounds of Shad that keep listeners glued. His honest and clever lyrics that look at deep topics like gendered society, love, and death cause the listener to become engaged and think. This album is refreshing and different from a large quantity of music that is covered in profanity and explicit material. It is the type of album I wouldn’t be afraid to play around my grandmother or around my cool friends.

Favourites: Keep Shining, A Good Name, Yaa I Get It

16 Apollo Ghosts – Mount Benson

Possibly the best short story to be released on record this year, Mount Benson moves at breakneck speeds coving 13 songs in just over 25 minutes. “The songs are more like moments as they only last around two minutes, three minutes at most. But they are catchy songs, featuring guitar hooks and lyrics that draw the listener in.” There are no moments on this album that sound out of place, overwhelming, or underwhelming. In honour of the album I am also keeping this review short.

Favourites: To A Friend Who Has Been Through A War, Sons of Norway, Things You Go Through

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