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20 Criminally Underappreciated Canadian Albums from '93 to '03

Scott Reid :: 4 April 2003 |                


It's hard to write something like this without sounding authoritative, but this is really just meant to be twenty (of many) albums that I feel are needlessly ignored and also happen to come from my home country, Canada--twenty that I can only hope might find some new fans through my fan-boy style gushing. I tried to narrow down my options by keeping it in the last decade, and I realize that the list leans heavily toward the late '90s and early '00s, but I feel that there is enough range of styles (though I certainly didn't include any albums purely for their style; I absolutely love every album listed here) and enough picks from the mid '90s to warrant not just cutting everything before '98 and just fleshing out the list from that point on. There was no way I could make this list without the Inbreds, Eric's Trip, Super Friendz, Zumpano, Gandharvas and Rheostatics picks, really. There are a few more recent releases--like the self-titled Arcade Fire and Chad VanGaalen albums, for instance--that are far too recent to be considered "underappreciated" or "ignored," that are still highly recommended, even if they wouldn't make sense in an article like this.

I didn't set many "rules" around writing this, but I did try to include only one album per artist, which meant trying to make sure there weren't two albums created by the same core members; it explains why I left off the offshots of Eric's Trip (Elevator, Elevator to Hell and Julie Doiron, for instance) or releases by Weeping Tile (Sarah Harmer's old band with Luther Wright), Thrush Hermit (Joel Plaskett's old band), The Flashing Lights (formed by ex-Super Friendz frontman Matt Murphy), etc. I guess all of these branches are inevitable within a country of a mere thirty million people; band cross-pollination is pretty much unavoidable. For this particular list I wanted to portray as many different scenes and minds as possible, but I'm sure I'll include some of the albums that had to be cut because of this in the future (I doubt I'll keep this to a one-part piece).

I also tried, to some degree, to evenly cover many of the different scenes across Canada (Vancouver, Toronto, Halifax, Montreal, Winnipeg, New Brunswick, etc.), but I realize some scenes got a lot more picks than others (Halifax, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto, especially). I probably could've evened it out more (or even included other scenes, like Edmonton/Calgary, Saskatchewan or the other Maritime provinces), but I wanted to keep it mostly about what albums I love more and not just decide to keep or cut an album based on how many artists from its scene were already listed. I've also listed three recommended songs for each album in case you want to try out a few individual tracks on your file-sharing program of choice to get a taste before, if you like it, supporting some artists that could use and certainly deserve support.

Destroyer
Streethawk: A Seduction
(Misra)

A case could easily be made for any of the post-We Will Build Them a Golden Bridge Destroyer albums, but it was Streethawk that found Bejar hitting the perfect balance between his clever lyrics, highly distinctive vocals and, following more in the vein of Thief than the subdued lo-fi air surrounding City of Daughters, fully realized songwriting. It somehow avoids the pitfalls of Bejar's other releases; it's succinct, unlike the massive excess of This Night; appositely arranged unlike the layers of superfluous synths on Your Blues; consistent unlike the hit-and-miss Thief; easily digestible and linear unlike the truncated, patchwork feel of City of Daughters. Though This Night found enough traces to be a worthy follow-up, this is undoubtedly Bejar's finest hour and a lasting testament to one of this country's best songwriters.

Recommended tracks: "The Bad Arts," "Virgin With a Memory," "The Very Modern Dance."

Scott Reid

Local Rabbits
This Is It Here We Go
(Brobdingnagian)

This is the kind of album that makes me want to make a list like this in the first place. A four piece from Montreal that effortlessly switch from east-coast pop similar to Sloan and Super Friendz to Built to Spill-ish indie rock and even touches of R&B, all with their tongues placed lightly in cheek. This Is It is their third and probably final album, which is a damn shame, but it is their most definitive statement, combining everything that was remotely great about their first two records and cutting them down into a streamlined, ten track tour-de-force that remains one of the best records to come out of eastern Canada and one of the best "rock" (I hate to limit it by calling it that) albums released in the '00s so far. It takes a few listens to become accustomed to an album this autonomous, but it's well worth the time and effort. I really can't recommend this enough.

Recommended tracks: "At Least You Got The Cake," "Poured All That I Got," "Fill Them In."

Scott Reid

Inbreds
Kombinator
(Atlantic)

Like Winnipeg's Duotang, the Inbreds were a two piece consisted merely of bass and drums. Yeah, it sounds limiting, especially for a fourteen track indie-rock album (to be fair, some of these tracks did utilize a slightly larger arrangement), but the Inbreds pulled out more hooks with each of their albums than most rock bands with a full lineup. Dave Grohl openly praised the band for quite some time and it's not hard to hear why; their second of four albums, Kombinator found vocalist O'Neill, one of the best rock vocalists out of Canada, at his songwriting peak (though Winning Hearts, their last release, certainly had its moments, as did his terrific solo album, What Happens Now?), resulting in thirteen (the superfluous interlude excluded) songs so well crafted they stand up after all these years without needing anything except their own bare essentials.

Recommended tracks: "Any Sense of Time," "Amelia Earhart," "She's Acting."

Scott Reid

Loscil
Submers
(Kranky)

Scott Morgan, another piece of the tightly knit Vancouver scene (he played drums on the aforementioned Streethawk and crafted the weirder numbers on Thief, including the gorgeous "M.E.R.C.I."), released my favorite ambient record of 2002 with Submers, the follow-up to 2001's excellent Triple Point. It's a beautiful song-cycle based around an aquatic theme; each track is named after a submarine and each is produced as though we are floating underwater, hearing ambiguous sounds from unknown origins and depths. Like most ambient records, it's as intricate as you're willing to let it be while listening, but to let yourself be surrounded by these nine tracks is an immensely rewarding experience, one which is as moving as any other album on this list, just in drastically different ways. Even if it usually isn't your style, it's something to look into; you might be surprised by its beauty.

Recommended tracks: "Mute," "Triton," "Diable Marin."

Scott Reid

Eric's Trip
Love Tara
(Sub Pop)

Forever Again may be considered by some to be their finest hour, but Love Tara remains my favorite. I couldn't make a list like this without mentioning Eric's Trip or one of the eleventy million offshoots that have resulted from their break-up (Julie Doiron's solo material being something I regularly recommend), and when it came down to choosing, Love Tara seemed like the most logical choice. Still early enough in their career to be stubborn about their art, the group sounded like they had something to prove and fifteen infectious ways to prove it. It rarely gets recognized as an "important" record, even for fans of the group -- and perhaps it never had much of a cultural influence -- but it remains one of the best Canadian indie-rock debuts of all-time, and still enjoyable to me now, nearly six years after first hearing it. For fans of lo-fi pop, Love Tara is truly one of the pinnacles of the genre. Recommended tracks: "Stove," "Behind the Garage," "My Room."

Scott Reid

The Rheostatics
Blue Hysteria
(Cargo)

It'd be impossible to put together a list like this and not include the Rheostatics. Certainly in the running for the "most Canadian" band of the last decade, they, like the Tragically Hip, have perhaps understandably remained a national treasure that could only thrive in the Great White North. I pick Blue Hysteria mostly because I think it has their strongest single tracks ("Bad Time to Be Poor" especially, which stands as one of the best Canadian singles of the '90s), even without the inclusion of their only other minor hit, "Claire" (from Whale Music). There's something uniformly affecting flowing underneath this record that makes even the less immediate moments seem perfectly in place and cleverly thought out. It's hard for a single release to encapsulate all that is great about the Rheostatics, but this is good a place as any to fall in love.

Recommended tracks: "Bad Time to Be Poor," "Never Forget," "A Mid-Winter's Dream."

Scott Reid

Buck 65
Man Overboard
(Anticon)

It was really a tough race between Man Overboard and Square, but this will continue to be my favorite Buck 65 release (unless he manages to surprise us and top it, though Talkin' Honkey Blues, while far from terrible, wasn't exactly a step in the right direction) for a number of reasons. "Pants on Fire" is on this record and remains one of the best Canadian hip hop singles; though conceived and initially recorded before becoming a part of the Anticon collective, it manages to fit into its mould without some of the excess that infiltrates many of his brethren; lyrically, it's one of his strangest releases and his strong sense of imagery, coupled with his long-standing obsession with a good metaphor, brings a good deal of these songs to life. Square and Vertex are both fine choices as well, but this is really the best place to start.

Recommended tracks: "Pants on Fire," "Up The Middle," "Achilles And The Tortoise."

Scott Reid

Zumpano
Goin' Through Changes
(Sub Pop)

Carl Newman is perhaps better known these days for his work with the pop supergroup The New Pornographers -- and they certainly deserve all the attention they've been receiving -- but it was his first group, Zumpano, that put his name on the indie-pop map. Signed to Sub Pop before releasing their debut, Look at What the Rookie Did (pretty much on par with Changes, and the choice here is arbitrary), Zumpano hit us with a Zombies-meets-Love-meets-Brian Wilson sound that probably won't shock any Pornographers fans, but they might just be surprised to hear just how strong and subtle his writing was, even eight years ago. Their sound would go on to clearly influence recent celebrated pop acts like the Shins and help propel the Pornographers from just another pop act to one of the more revered and respected groups of the '00s.

Recommended tracks: "Throwing Stars," "It Doesn't Take a Genius," "The Only Reason Under the Sun."

Scott Reid

Hayden
The Closer I Get
(Outpost)

Hayden often gets passed over as just another singer/songwriter without enough tricks up his tear-soaked sleeves, but his sophomore effort proved surprising, even to fans of his somber debut, Everything I Long For. The overall tone is certainly still one of nostalgia, melancholy and a stubborn optimism, but it's also far more confident and realized with a wonderful variety (first single "The Hazards of Sitting Beneath Palm Trees," for instance, really came out of nowhere) and some of his best lyrics to date. "Between Us to Hold" and "You Are All I Have" certainly aren't the strongest he's written, but they are really the only expendable moments; even the instrumentals sound great, especially the brief "Instrumental With Mellotron" which, uh, lives up to its name. Not only his most accessible album, The Closer I Get remains his strongest work to date.

Recommended tracks: "The Hazards of Sitting Beneath Palm Trees," "Better Off Inside," "Bullet."

Scott Reid

The Plan
This Time is Not This Place
(Matlock)

Hardcore and math-rock has never been my favorite genres; in fact, most of it tends to grate my nerves like nails on a chalkboard, but once in a blue moon I'll hear someone do it right and finally get what so many have been getting out of the other math-rock shit all these years. This Time Is Not This Place, featuring Michael Catano from North of America (who missed this list basically because they've yet to release a cohesive record), is, for those unable to connect the dots here, one of those records. Though it has the annoying tendency of most math-rock to aurally simulate those guys that stand in front of the mirror and flex for themselves, the songwriting is far too strong for that to matter. The vocal interplay between Catano and bassist Mackenzie Ogilvie seals the deal, incorporating the sing/scream duality found in most hardcore without, amazingly, being annoying.

Recommended tracks: "Arabesque," "Insinuation," "3x3 Lines."

Scott Reid

The Heavy Blinkers
Better Weather
(Brobdingnagian)

There certainly isn't a shortage of groups that pay homage to Brian Wilson's brilliance, but there definitely is a shortage of groups that have the talent and know-how to pull it off. Hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, this is certainly one of the most ignored groups that have been demanding attention since their debut, through to their upcoming The Night and I Are Still So Young. Better Weather isn't drastically better than their other major achievement, their eponymous sophomore effort, but it is probably the best (or at least most succinct) introduction to the group and their aesthetic. While it doesn't have the stunning "Rise and Glide," there are enough immediate, infectious pop numbers here (and a handful of surprisingly affecting chamber-pop style ballads, as well) to keep this in your player for weeks on end.

Recommended tracks: "I Used To Be A Design," "Helicopter Blues," "Weight That Can't Be Carried."

Scott Reid

Sarah Harmer
You Were Here
(Universal)

For any Canadians reading this list, it might seem weird that I refer to an album that had two fairly successful singles and mountains of positive press as being "underrated" or "ignored," but even with the attention (mostly from up north, though some Americans have begun to catch on in the past few years since its release) paid, anything less than recognizing this as being one of the best releases of the '00s so far --and not just Canadian, I mean overall -- is to ignore just how seminal it is. Sarah's first solo record after the demise of her group Weeping Tile, You Were Here is far and away one of the best singer/songwriter albums I've ever heard, combining one of the most perfect voices in contemporary pop music with solid, intricate songwriting and lyrics that undeniably found Harmer at her most personal -- all without ever approaching insincerity or cliché.

Recommended tracks: "Lodestar," "You Were Here," "Coffee Stain."

Scott Reid

Venetian Blinds
Songs About My Cats
(Planet µ)

Probably one of the more renown Canadian electronic producers, which is pretty much akin to being one of the better known Brazilian singer/songwriters, Venetian Snares (a.k.a. Aaron Funk) has released a series of excellent drum'n'bass and, though I hate to use this term, IDM records. Often compared to Aphex Twin and Kid606, Cats is a harsh and unapologetic listen, at times even moreso than the acts he is compared to; it'd be easy to toss most of these songs off as random bursts of noise and arbitrarily programmed percussion, but the effect of its attack on our senses is far too direct and engaging for this to be something merely tossed off in a bedroom. Even the less interesting tracks, like the child-smashing-keys-on-a-piano "Katzesorge" pieces or the tongue-in-cheek "Cleaning Each Other," are only mildly distracting. Besides, look how thrilled the cat on the cover looks.

Recommended tracks: "Bobo," "Nepetalactone," "Chinaski."

Scott Reid

The Super Friendz
Slide Show
(Murderrecords)

More east coast pop? Why not. I pick Slide Show here, but really Mock Up Scale Down would act as fine an introduction to the group (the latter has their semi-hit single "Karate Man" but is less solid overall). From the opening charge of "Up and Running" -- which, along with the incredible "Everything Writes Itself," is up there with the best written by Sloan -- to the closing epic "The World's Most Embarrassing Moment," Slide Show rarely falters ("Slow Motion Blues" is the only one that comes to mind that probably should've been cut). After breaking up in '97, all three original members would regroup for last year's Love Energy, but it was nearly devoid of everything that made Slide Show such a thrilling record: the songs didn't sound as loose, the melodies sounded reserved and the "three guys just having fun" vibe so apparent here was sorely missing.

Recommended tracks: "Up and Running," "Everything Writes Itself," "Forever A Day."

Scott Reid

Jim Guthrie
Now, More Than Ever
(Three Gut)

An album I really wish I could've reviewed for this site, but for some reason that never got around to happening. Lusciously arranged and produced pop music ala Sufjan Stevens (who've worked together in Guthrie's other project, Royal City), Now really hits home with the personal touches that lay underneath all the strings and production extras (overall it works quite well, though if you're not a fan, tough luck; the wall of strings really don't stop). His songwriting is stronger than most anything that Royal City have put to tape and his lyrics, running with a sly sense of humour throughout, are far less soul-crushing than the music might suggest. It's a big step up from his other 2003 release, the Playstation produced Morning Noon Night, and promises great things for the future of Guthrie's music. Now if Royal City could just learn a little something from this.

Recommended tracks: "Problems With Solutions," "Time's a Force," "Lover's Do."

Scott Reid

K-Os
Exit
(Astralwerks)

Originally released in 2002 and re-released with extra tracks (including the stellar single "Superstar Pt. 0" --part of which you've heard in the breakdown of Missy Elliott's new single, "I'm Really Hot") in 2003, Exit is an extremely self-assured debut that explores issues far beyond the spiritual quest found in his explosive single "Heaven Only Knows." It won the International Album of the Year at last year's Source Awards, so maybe it's not as criminally ignored as other albums on this list, but it still seems to be finding resistance in being as widely recognized as the fantastic debut it is, one that instantly made K-Os (known to his mother as Kheaven Brereton) one of the most promising and unpredictable and acts out of Canada; he clearly proves himself capable of many styles here and I doubt his genre-bending will yield results any less stunning in the future.

Recommended tracks: "Heaven Only Knows," "Superstar Pt. 0," "Freeze."

Scott Reid

Gandharvas
Kicking in the Water
(MCA/Watch)

Former Gandharvas singer Paul Jago once said that this album was made for people to either strongly love or vehemently hate, erasing any ground in-between. In that, I think the group succeeded; for many, the cheesy production that washes all over the record will render it instantly laughable, but for those willing to look past these superficialities, Water is a stunning and enveloping sophomore effort (their debut featured the semi-hit single "First Day of Spring") from a group that failed to ever find (or settle on) a "sound." Like their debut, this record is all over the place, but, unlike it, the songs consistently work and its highlights are phenomenal. They'd follow it up with their far more commercial final album, the decent Foo Fighters-led-by-Perry Farrell Sold for a Smile, effectively ending their stint as the completely unpredictable and anomalous group displayed here.

Recommended tracks: "Held to the Ground," "Drool," "Masochistic Minstrel."

Scott Reid

Gordon Downie
Coke Machine Glow
(WienerArt)

What better place to end this list off than the album I "borrowed" the title from for this site. Like a few others on here, I've already reviewed this for the site, but its creative genius cannot be stressed enough. Ignored by most Canadians as being too weird and ignored by the rest of the world on the basis of "uh, who?," CMG was Downie's musical half of his book of poetry, using the primarily sparse songs to accentuate his prodigal writing. He went a completely different route for Battle of the Nudes, but this tops it in nearly every way; the lyrics are, for the most part, the best the man ever penned, the songwriting shines with a Leonard Cohen-esque simplicity and his willingness to experiment with production space yield a variety of pieces, none of which fail at what they attempt, that I still find myself in awe.

Recommended tracks: "Trick Rider," "Chancellor," "Vancouver Divorce."

Scott Reid

One of the more confusing exclusions would probably be the Tragically Hip (though I do include their frontman Gordon Downie on the above list), who certainly fit the description of being underappreciated outside of Canada; they've released five albums that, by my account, are at the very least great (Day For Night, Fully Completely, Road Apples, Phantom Power and Trouble at the Henhouse; I'm also a sucker for their latter-day material, but I won't be naive enough to think many agree with me), but I chose to keep them off this particular list (they'll most likely be on the next I write) because I felt Downie's album is far more ignored, even in Canada, and didn't want to break the "one album per artist" rule I had arbitrarily set for myself. Seems petty, but that's just the kind of person I am.

Sloan, on the other hand, probably couldn't be considered "underappreciated;" Twice Removed is certainly up there as one of the best Canadian albums of the '90s, but seems to be generally lauded as such, even if a surprising amount of people I've talked to remain in the dark about their terrific run from Smeared to One Chord to Another. So rather than taking away one of the following spots by writing a blurb on it, I'll just say that Twice Removed is one of our classics, with Smeared not far behind (more of a shoegaze influence here) and One Chord to Another being fine in its own right. Navy Blues and Between the Bridges both have their moments, but are far too uneven to really recommend to anyone except huge fans of the first three records. Pretty Together is the only album they've made that boarders on terrible, but Action Pact, last year's release, thankfully shows the band (who have alluded many times over that they're really only together now for the money) getting back to writing catchy pop songs again.

Some albums, like Propagandhi's How to Clean Everything, Rufus Wainwright's eponymous debut (or Poses for that matter, though the debut kills it), Daniel Lanois' For the Beauty of Wynona or Blue Rodeo's Five Days In May, I feel have gotten enough attention or respect to exclude themselves from a list like this. Then there are underappreciated albums by more well known acts, like Blue Rodeo's Nowhere To Here, Daniel Lanois' Shine or Neil Young's Greendale, that could certainly be added as well (and as such are listed in the honourable mentions list below). I didn't really include them above because I wanted to keep the list full of artists that, for the most part, might be a little less known to a non-Canadian audience.

Knowing that I'll probably do another one of these articles later in the year to cover another twenty or so albums that were bastards to cut from this list, I'll just loosely name-drop a few more (under the terribly lame heading of "honourable mentions") that will most certainly make it next time around with fun little blurbs attached to them, including several of the artists/albums I just mentioned: Tamara Williamson: All Those Racing Horses; Jim Bryson: The Occasionals; The Dears: End of a Hollywood Bedtime Story (not to be confused with their extremely disappointing 2003 LP, No Cities Left); Weakerthans: Left and Leaving; Julie Doiron: Loneliest in the Morning; Do Make Say Think: Goodbye Enemy Airship The Landlord is Dead; Hawksley Workman: For Him and the Girls; The Tragically Hip: Day for Night; Thrush Hermit: Clayton Park; Blue Rodeo: Nowhere To Here; Flashing Lights: Where the Change Is; Akufen: My Way; Set Fire to Flames: Sings Reign Rebuilder; The Sadies: Pure Diamond Gold; Barzin: Barzin; Deadly Snakes: Ode to Joy; Cool Blue Halo: Kangaroo; Neil Young: Greendale; Sloan: Smeared (I'd probably pick this one because it seems to be glossed over in turn for the praise Twice Removed certainly deserves).