What Are the Best Canadian Albums Ever?
So, it's still Polaris Music Prize day and just a few hours ago I announced that Julie Doiron won our Shadow Polaris Prize for 2009. Now we're moving straight on to the next question:
What are the best Canadian albums ever?
We'd like your nominations for the Canadian albums you've liked the best but we're taking out any 'flavor of the month' possibilities. Here's how it's going to go. You can nominate any albums that you like in the comments section, Facebook, by emailing northbyeastwest@gmail.com or via Twitter @NxEW.
Nominated albums
1) Must be CanadianIt doesn't matter how well the album sold, we're only looking for quality but in order to weed out any albums that are only momentarily popular we want to put a few years between the prize and the recording. So we're looking for the albums that, looking back five years or more, still resonate - the ones that you still listen to, that haven't been relegated to the back of the closet or sold at a used CD place.
2) Must be a full album (not an EP or a single)
3) Cannot be 'greatest hits' collections although live albums that revisit past material are eligible.
4) The album must be from 2004 or previous - so anything from the dawn of recording until 2004 is acceptable.
Nominations will be open from now until October 10, 2009. After that the voting will begin and the nominees will be whittled down to 50 and then a second round of voting will begin (if your favorite didn't make the top 50 you get a second chance to pick a winner.) The short list, of 5 albums, will ALL be inducted into our album Hall of Fame.
So, let the nominations begin: Nominate your favorites in the comments section, via Facebook, by emailing northbyeastwest@gmail.com or via Twitter @NxEW.
Nominated albums to date (alot more to come)
please don't nominate these again, they can't be more nominated.
Alanis Morissette - 'Jagged Little Pill'
Alexander 'Skip' Spence - Oar
Apostle of Hustle - Folkloric Feel
Arcade Fire - Funeral
The Band - Self Titled
The Band - Music From Big Pink
Barenaked Ladies - Gordon
Barenaked Ladies - Maroon
Blue Rodeo - Five Days In July
Blue Rodeo - Nowhere To Here
Bran Van 3000 - Discosis
Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People
Bruce Cockburn - Stealing Fire
By Divine Right - Bless This Mess
Constantines - Constantines
Constantines - Shine a Light
Cuff the Duke - Life Stories for Minimum Wage
Dan-e-o - The Book of Daniel
Daniel Lanois - For The Beauty Of Wynona
Dears - No Cities Left
Death From Above 1979 - You're a Woman, I'm a Machine
Do Make Say Think - & Yet & Yet
Eric's Trip - Love Tara
Eric's Trip - Purple Blue
Esthero - Breath From Another
Feist: Let It Die
Godspeed You! Black Emporor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F♯A♯∞
Hayden - The Closer I Get
Hayden - Everything I Long For
Hidden Cameras - Mississauga Goddam
The High Dials - A New Devotion
Inbreds - Kombinator
Ivana Santilli - Brown
Joel Plaskett - In Need of Medical Attention
Joel Plaskett Emergency - Truthfully, Truthfully
Joni Mitchell - Blue
Joni Mitchell - For The Roses
Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark
Junior Boys - Last Exit
Julie Doiron - Goodnight Nobody
Kardinal Offishall - Quest for Fire: Firestarter, vol. 1
K-Os - Exit
Leonard Cohen - Songs From A Room
Leonard Cohen - Various Positions
Limblifter - Self Titled
Matthew Good Band - Audio of Being
Mecca Normal - Mecca Normal
Metric - Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?
Moist - 'Silver'
Neil Young - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Neil Young - Harvest
New Pornographers - Mass Romantic
New Pornographers - Electric Version
North of America - Brothers, Sisters
A Northern Chorus - Before We All Go to Pieces
Our Lady Peace - Naveed
Our Lady Peace - Clumsy
Our Lady Peace - Spiritual Machines
Pilate - Caught By The Window
Raising the Fawn - The North Sea
Rascalz- Cash Crop
Rheostatics - Whale Music
Royal City - Alone At The Microphone
A Silver Mt. Zion - He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes
Grace the Corner of Our Rooms…
Skinny Puppy - Bites
Sky - Piece of Paradise
Sloan - Smeared
Sloan - Twice Removed
Stars - Set Yourself on Fire
Stills - Logic Will Break Your Heart
The Super Friendz - Mock Up, Scale Down
Tegan and Sara - If It Was You
Tagan and Sara - So Jealous
Thrush Hermit - Clayton Park
Tragically Hip - Road Apples
Tragically Hip - Fully Completely
The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
Venetian Snares - Huge Chrome Cylinder Box Unfolding
The Weakerthans - Left & Leaving
The Weakerthans - 'Reconstruction Site'
Labels: Album Hall of Fame, Awards, Contests, Survey
posted by Justin Beach at
4:48 PM
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21 Comments:
I could easily list 50, but I'll start with five post-1990 albums:
Arcade Fire, Funeral
Constantines, Shine a Light
Death From Above 1979, You're a Woman, I'm a Machine
Sloan, Twice Removed
Thrush Hermit, Clayton Park
Music From Big Pink - The Band.
Without. A. Doubt.
The first 5 albums that Maddie listed have to be considered STRONG contenders for the top 20. Nice!
The Super Friendz - Mock Up, Scale Down
Julie Doiron - Goodnight Nobody
The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
The Weakerthans - Left & Leaving
North of America - Brothers, Sisters
Neil Young - Harvest
If we don't end up with enough, I'll be back with more. But these! These are pure gold.
Oh, I want to add:
Eric's Trip - Love Tara
Eric's Trip - Purple Blue
Blue Rodeo - Nowhere to Here
Blue Rodeo - Five Days In July
Hayden - The Closer I Get
Royal City - Alone At The Microphone
Daniel Lanois - For The Beauty Of Wynonna
Neil Young - Harvest
Neil Young - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
The Band - The Band
The Band - Music From Big Pink
Leonard Cohen - Songs From A Room
Bruce Cockburn - Stealing Fire
godspeed you black emperor! - lift yr skinny fists...
A Silver Mt. Zion - He Has Left Us Alone...
Joni Mitchell - Blue
My list of nominees is going to make me look like an anti-indie jerk, but someone needs to champion these things.
Rap
These three albums (particularly k-Os) marked the transition of Canadian hip-hop from novelty/imitation of the United States (some genuinely great singles aside) into its own unique sensibility.
Rascalz- Cash Crop
k-Os- Exit
Kardinal Offishall- Quest for Fire: Firestarter, vol. 1
Electronic
Seriously, listen to Discosis.
Bran Van 3000- Discosis
Junior Boys- Last Exit
The mainstream, yet genuinely great
the Tragically Hip- anything, really, but Road Apples and Fully Completely in particular
the Barenaked Ladies- Gordon or Maroon
The indie, who somehow are yet to be nominated
The New Pornographers- Mass Romantic/Electric Version
The forgotten pop gem
Sky- Piece of Paradise (YouTube Some Kinda Wonderful, Love Song, and All I Want)
And, honourable mention goes to bands that produced great singles and whose greatest hits are essential, but cannot be nominated because Greatest Hits albums aren't allowed (I don't disagree with this policy, but it's important not to forget these guys)
April Wine
Trooper
Chilliwack
Prism
Bryan Adams (yeah, I said it. As if you didn't love 'Summer of '69' the first time you heard it).
Dan-e-o - The Book of Daniel
Esthero - Breath From Another
Ivana Santilli - Brown
Bran Van 3000 - Discosis
Venetian Snares - Huge Chrome Cylinder Box Unfolding
All I can think of off the top of the dome.
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Stars - 'Set Yourself on Fire'
The Stills - 'Logic Will Break Your Heart'
Our Lady Peace - 'Clumsy' and 'Spiritual Machines'
Tegan and Sara - 'If It Was You' and 'So Jealous'
The Dears - 'No Cities Left'
The Weakerthans - 'Reconstruction Site'
Alanis Morissette - 'Jagged Little Pill'
Moist - 'Silver'
I know some of these aren't 'indie' but I still listen to them, and they're (to me, anyway) gateways to different styles that weren't as mainstream, or they brought different styles to the public's attention. Plus, I'm 20, and some of these bands were imprinted on me pretty young!
I'm also 100% behind ak17's nom's for Barenaked Ladies.
[edited, just in case anyone is confused how I thought Alanis Morissette was indie. I missed the n't... >_<]
Alexander 'Skip' Spence "Oar" (1969)
This man was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario until leaving for California to join Jefferson Airplane. Then formed Moby Grape before releasing this solo album that influenced Tom Waits, Beck and others.
Skinny Puppy "Bites"
Started the Industrial path that Nine Inch Nails and Ministry made millions from - NIN's "Down In It" is an homage to Skinny Puppy's "Dig It"
The Band "Music From Big Pink"
Absolutely agree.
Did anyone say Moving Pictures by Rush?
Also:
You Were Here -Sarah Harmer
Ron Sexsmith -Ron Sexsmith
sit down young stranger/if I could read your mind -Gordon Lightfoot
Mad Mad World -tom Cochrane
and how has no classical been nominated yet?
Goldberg Variations: Glen Gould
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matthew good band - beautiful midnight
matthew good - avalanche
I nominate:
Sam Roberts - We were born in a flame and
Hawksley Workman - For him and the girls
I Nominate:
1) Klaatu - Sir Army Suit
2) Skavenjah - Light It Up
I've got a few classics that haven't been mentioned yet. Royal City and Julie already have album listed, but these two will always sit as my favorites by them...and Kepler seems to be perpetually under-appreciated, despite the amazing albums they put out...
Julie Doiron - loneliest in the morning
Royal City - at rush hour the cars
Kepler - missionless days
The Band - The Last Waltz, The Basement Tapes, Stage Fright
Neil Young - After the Gold Rush, Rust Never Sleeps, Tonight's the Night, On the beach, Harvest Moon, oh and Decade
Joel Plaskett - Down at the Khyber
Robbie Robertson - Self titled
Blue Rodeo - Outskirts
Cowboy Junkies - Trinity Sessions
Sadies - Favorite Colour
The Hip - Up to here, Day for Night
Rush - Moving Pictures, 2112
Sir Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man
The Guess Who - American Woman, Wheatfield Soul, Share the Land
Joni Mitchell - Hejira, Ladies of the Canyon
Stompin Tom - Bud the Spud
Ian Tyson - Cowboyography
and where would we be without Hot Shots by Trooper.
(that's all I can think of for now...)
While I agree that this is the type of blog we are...where's the other music categories? O_o Skinny Puppy/Venetian Snares is all there is?
*seeks to rectify, if only a little*
The Real McKenzies - The Real McKenzies (1995)
[without these guys, The Dropkick Murphys wouldn't exist. Seminal album in the invention of Celtic punk]
D.O.A - Hardcore '81 (1981)
[One of the founding bands of hardcore punk; this album is considered by many to have named the movement as hardcore]
Strapping Young Lad - City (1997)
Great albums. My top five:
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People
Stars - Heart (it's not on there, it should be though.)
Feist - Let It Die
Stars - Set Yourself On Fire
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