Canada Day Playlist

June 28, 2010

I don't have a lot of time to revamp last year's Canada Day playlist, so here it is again with a few surpries thrown into the mix.

Clicking play will take you through the videos one by one, and you can read my commentary on each song if you scroll down. And if want even more videos, check out my Canada Day Playlist - 80s Edition.

"Oh Canada" - Big Sugar

Few bands wore their Canadian pride on their sleeves quite like Big Sugar. They even went so far as to re-record their final album with French lyrics for the Quebec market. That disc, "Brothers And Sisters Are You Ready?", also featured their version of "Oh Canada", which was obviously inspired by Jimi Hendrix's performance of "The Star Spangled Banner". This live version comes from the Mike Dullard Show, but you can poke around YouTube to find the studio version as well as Gordie Johnson performing the anthems at the opening of an NHL game.

"Big League" - Tom Cochrane & Red Rider

Before Tom Cochrane found worldwide MOR success with Life Is A Highway, he was successful on the homefront thanks to his years fronting the band Red Rider. What could be more Canadian than this story of a small town boy practicing hockey every morning with hopes of escaping a cold, dead-end town by making it to the NHL. And in typical Canadian fashion, Cochrane doesn't tack a Hollywood ending on to the story, making it all the more poignant.

"Gold In Them Hills" - Ron Sexsmith

If respect from your peers lead to album sales, Ron Sexsmith would be a billionaire by now. Elvis Costello once appeared on the cover of Q magazine holding up a Ron Sexsmith album, K.D. Lang covered one of Sexsmith's songs on her "Hymns Of The 49th Parallel" CD, and other artists regularly mention him as one of the greatest songwriters working today. Alas, not even guest vocals from Coldplay's Chris Martin on this track could help Sexsmith cross over into the mainstream.

"Hallelujah" - K.D. Lang

Speaking of great Canadian songwriters and K.D. Lang, here's her version of Leonard Cohen's oft-covered classic, "Hallelujah". I must admit that I liked K.D. Lang a lot better when she was confusing the crap out of country music fans everywhere, and even though everyone and their dog has recorded a version of this song by now, I must admit that she nailed it during this live performance at the Junos.

"Dance Me To The End Of Love" - Leonard Cohen

Speaking of the man, here he is with one of own distinctively eccentric performances. In many ways, Leonard Cohen is Canada's answer to Tom Waits. Both have voices guaranteed to alienate 97% of the human population, but their status as songwriting geniuses can not be denied, which is why both of them have been covered so many times. Note to Scarlett Johansson: don't even think about it!

"Fiddle Medley" - Ashley MacIsaac

From one of the country's most noted wordsmiths, we move on to a gifted instrumentalist. Ashley MacIsaac was a child prodigy on the fiddle, and this clip shows both sides of his musical personality at the peak of his powers. Like many child prodigies, the early adulation went to his head and his career quickly imploded, but "Hi, How Are You Today?" remains essential listening, and his early traditional albums are very fine indeed if you're into that sort of thing.

"Something To live For" - Barney Bentall & The Legendary Hearts

If Barney Bentall could have continued writing songs like this and the equally wonderful "Come Back To Me", he would have been huge. This song has all the best elements of Bruce Springsteen while replacing the bombast with an easy-going, West Coast charm. For whatever reason, none of Bentall's later work made much of an impact, and now he's just one of the million Bobby's across this land who used to have real big plans. Still, his family's stinking rich, so I can't feel too sorry for him.

"Anna Is A Speed Freak" - Pure

Pure were a terrific Vancouver band who were probably too eclectic and unpredictable for their own good. Their first full length was produced by Jerry Harrison of the Talking Heads and drew upon the dance rock sound coming from the UK. Their next album brought some incredibly meaty guitar riffs to the forefront, and songs like "Anna" and "Denial" got heavy airplay on modern rock radio here in Vancouver. Their next album tried to combine elements from both previous efforts, and even though I enjoyed each of their albums very much, success had eluded the band. They called it a career soon thereafter, but "Generation 6-Pack" remains one of my favourite Canadian albums of all time.

"Have Not Been The Same" - Slow

For such a short-lived band, Slow certainly had an eventful and memorable career. After one single and an EP on a local indie label, the band managed to start a riot at Expo 86, nearly got arrested, and broke up soon thereafter. You can read all about it on their Wiki page, and you'll also get an idea of how they became a benchmark for indie cool in Canada. And I'm not saying that Slow invented grunge, but considering that this was released in 1985 and that Seattle is only 100 miles away, there may have been an influence there.

"Rebellion (Lies)" - The Arcade Fire

Just to prove I'm not completely stuck in the past, I added my favourite song from The Arcade Fire, one of the hottest, hippest indie bands on the planet. They hail from Montreal, and they're one of the main reasons the international press has focused on Montreal as a scene in much the same way they focused on Seattle during the grunge era.

"Take Me To The Riot" - Stars

It used to be so easy to make fun of pop music from Quebec. It used to be all about Roch Voisine, Mitsou, and Men Without Hats, with the occasional decent song from the likes of the Doughboys. But now, thanks to bands like the aforementioned Arcade Fire, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Wolf Parade, The Stills, Broken Social Scene, and Stars, Quebec can almost be forgiven for unleashing Celine Dion on us. Almost.

"Viewmaster" - Eric's Trip

When a band takes their name from a Sonic Youth song, what would you expect them to sound like? If you said "Sonic Youth" you'd be correct. Eric's Trip is the only band on this list that hails from my home province of New Brunswick, and for that they'll always have a special place in heart. You see, when I was a kid, nothing cool had ever come out of New Brunswick, and Eric's Trip threatened to change all that. It never quite happened, but Viewmaster remains a favourite to this day.

"Last American Exit" - The Tragically Hip

It just wouldn't be Canada Day without the Hip. If you're not from Canada, you can't appreciate just how iconic this band is at home. They've had at least two albums awarded Diamond status, which means they've each moved a million units in Canada, where the population is just 33 million. And yet, despite selling out stadiums nation-wide, the band is still respected by critics and hipsters from coast to coast. There are probably people in Canada who hate the Hip, but they usually don't dare admit it in public. I was a bit surprised when this track was excluded from the Hip's Greatest Hits CD, "Yer Favourites". This song came from their debut EP, which wasn't a big hit, but I clearly remember the video getting lots of airplay on MuchMusic back in the day. It's not the greatest song they've ever done, but certainly one of the most patriotic.

"Hockey Night In Canada Theme"

I started this off with "Oh Canada", so it's only appropriate that I finish with our unofficial national anthem. When I first heard that the CBC was no longer willing to pay for the rights to the HNIC theme, I initially thought that it was a typical CBC blunder, doing away with one of the few things on the network that the average Canadian actually enjoys. But, later, I realized that the CBC was probably doing the right thing since that weekly dose of nostalgia isn't worth spending a ton of taxpayer money on. And now that the privately owned CTV has picked up the theme, the melody will live on and it didn't cost any of us a dime.

Well, that's the end of the playlist. If you listened to the whole thing, your ears are probably hurting from the horrible sound quality featured on most YouTube videos. I'll bet you wish there was a place online where you could listen to great music with sound quality that's vastly superior to what's offered by YouTube or conventional radio.

Good thing you're already here.