Sunday, May 24, 2009

Top 30 Canadian Indie

I have spent countless hours since my arrival on the West Coast listening to CBC Radio 3 podcasts and several of my previous playlists refining the Top 50 Canadian 'indie' list I put together before I left Ottawa 3 weeks ago. Upon hopping into the car in Toronto with my friend and driving mate, I realized I left out several of my fave artists. Here's my revised list, to be revised several more times this summer I'm sure. It's one of my many West Coast projects.

To be eligible for the list, an artist must have 2 recent (2006+) songs that I've been listening to regularly. Here are my top 20 artists (Alphabetical), featuring a song or two for consideration. I also have a Top 15 "On the Radar..." list of artists about to break into the next top 30 list.

Top 30
1-10


1. Caribou- Melody Day & Desiree (Dundas, Electronica)
2. Chad VanGaalen- Willow Tree & Cries of the Dead (Calgary, Experimental Rock)
3. Forest City Lovers- Don’t Go & Waiting by the Fence (Toronto, Indie Pop)
4. Great Lake Swimmers- Your Rocky Spine & Imaginary Sky (Port Colborne, Melancholic Folk)
5. Hannah Georgas- The National & The Beat Stuff (Vancouver, Folk)
6. Hey Rosetta!- New Goodbye & A Thousand Suns (St-John's, Intense Gospel)
7. Numéro#- Chewing-Gum Fraise (avec Omnikrom) & La Vie D'Artiste (Montreal, Euro-Dance)
8. Sunparlour Players- Battle of 77 & If the Creeks Don't Rise (Leamington, Alt-Country)
9. Two Hours Traffic- Jezebel & Heroes of the Sidewalk (Charlottetown, Power Pop)
10. The Weakerthans- Pamphleteer & Tournament of Hearts (Winnipeg, Indie Rock)

11-20

11. Danny Michel- Feather, Fur & Fin (Kitchener, Folk Rock)
12. DL Incognito- Universal Love & Savoir Faire (Ottawa, Hip Hop)
13. Hot Hot Heat- Talk to Me, Dance with Me & Let Me In (Victoria, Dance Punk)
14. Metric- Rock Me Now & Gimme Sympathy (Toronto, New Wave)
15. Neko Case- Hold on, Hold on & Wayfaring Stranger (Vancouver, Alt Country)
16. Plants and Animals- Goodfriend & Feedback in the Field (Montreal, Indie Rock)
17. Rae Spoon- Come on Forest Fire Burn the Disco Down & We Become Our Own Wolves (Montreal, New Skool Folk)
18. Royal Wood- A Mirror Without & Juliet (Toronto, Chamber Pop)
19. Tegan & Sara- Call It Off & Take Me Anywhere (Calgary, Indie Pop)
20. Wintersleep- Avalanche & Weighty Ghost (Yarmouth, Indie Rock)


21-30


21. The Acorn- Crooked Legs (Ottawa, Folk)
22. Alex Cuba- Agua del Pozo (Smithers, Latin)
23. Jim Bryson- Clear the Crowds (Ottawa, Folk)
24. Classified- No Mistakes & Hard to Be Hip Hop (Halifax, Hip Hop)
25. Les Cowboys Fringants- Les Etoiles Filantes (Repentigny, Néo-trad)
26. Handsome Furs- Cannot Get Started & I'm Confused (Montreal, Indie Rock)
27. Newberry vs. Newberry- Upon the Boat (Peterborough/Toronto, Folk)
28. The New Pornographers- Adventures in Solitude & The Bleeding Heart Show (Vancouver, Power Pop)
29. The Souljazz Orchestra- Mista President (Ottawa, Afro Beat/Jazz)
30. Zaki Ibrahim- Joy & Die (Toronto, R&B)


Top 15 "On the Radar..."


1. Tricot Machine- L’ours (Trois-Rivieres, Pop)
2. Library Voices- Step Off the Map and Float (Regina, Indie Pop)
3. Dan Mangan- Robots (Vancouver, Indie Rock)
4. Deep Dark Woods- All the Money I Had is Gone (Saskatoon, Alt-Country)
5. Pierre Lapointe- Deux Par Deux Rassemblés (Alma, Rock)
6. The Arkells- Pullin' Punches (Hamilton, Indie Rock)
7. Sleepless Nights- Got Caught (Yarmouth & Halifax, Indie Rock)
8. Masia One- Return of the Bgirl (Vancouver, Hip Hop)
9. The Rural Alberta Advantage- Summertime (Toronto, Indie Rock)
10. Maybe Smith- You Would Never Survive the Winter Here (Saskatoon, Rock Pop)
11. Holy Fuck- Frenchy's & Jungles (Toronto, Electronica)
12. Julie Doiron- Consolation Prize (Sackville & Moncton, Indie Rock)
13. Hollerado- Got to Lose (Manotick, Indie Rock)
14. Paper Moon- People Were Talking But Now They're Forgetting (Winnipeg, Indie Pop)
15. Tanya Davis- Art (Charlottetown, Pop)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey, what about k'naan??

Emmie said...

Put these on the radar, if you haven't already/

The Burning Hell (peterborough's very own)---My top picks from their new album: "Things That People Make Part II", and "Precious Island".

How about Old Man Luedecke? Great road trip banjo music. He was practicing on a rock pile near Bonanza Creek when we were there :)

Others:
Snailhouse (Lies on the Prize)
Two-Minute Miracles (Lions of Love)

That's all I got for now---you have an awesome playlist so far...I especially love plants and animals, the acorn, wintersleep too. I'm going to check out some of the bands on your list---there are a lot of bands I haven't heard. Cheerio!