Oh wow, so many great Canadian bands that just completely get ignored south of the border. Montreal and Vancouver especially have amazing music scenes. I'll tout off some of my favourite.

For those of you who STILL haven't heard of "Godspeed You! Black Emperor" you NEED to check them out. Probably the greatest post-rock band of all time. Amazing sprawling orchestral rock music.

Patrick Watson who just won the Polaris Prize award in Canada is one of the best new artists up here. I hesitate to say new because he's been around for quite a few years dabbling in other music and working on collaborations. The album he won the award for is "Close to Paradise" and I HIGHLY reccommend it for anybody interested in any music whatsoever. I'm actually going to see his show tonight in Victoria BC.

Ohbijou - Phenominal serene indie-pop
Final Fantasy - Loops and loops of intricate violin work until one man sounds like an entire orchestra
Frog Eyes - Frantic, ecclectic indie rock. Check out the song "Bushels". 9 and a half minutes of some of the most powerful song-writing I've heard
Hawksley Workman - Pipes like you wouldn't believe and a hilarious stage presence
Sarah Slean - Beautiful piano driven cabaret pop.
The Tragically Hip - One of Canada's most important stadium rock bands.

I could go on. Not to mention the ones already popular in the states such as Feist, Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Wolf Parade.

And for the record Nickelback are cringe-inducing blather. I'm not a fan.

But for anybody looking for great new music, check out Patrick Watson.

Well the Canadian music scene is blossoming, however, you wouldn't know it if you had not been paying attention. The Canadian music showcased by the media is some of the worst music ever made in the history of the world (Hedley, Simple Plan, Default, Theory of a Deadman, etc.) However, I stopped listening to the radio altogether a long time ago, so I forget all those artists.

Essential Canadian music:

The Constantines - blows my fucking mind how this band has been so over-looked. The best band Canada currently has to offer.

The Arcade Fire - I don't need to say anything else. "Funeral" is a contender for album of the decade by any artist.

Wolf Parade - These guy will get even bigger yet. Could take on the world.

Sunset Rubdown - Well, you guys all know about these.

Sam Roberts - A great Canadian songwriter. Kinda like a classic rock focused Neil Young. Seriously, both his records are worth it, I saw him live at a grey cup party(CFL) and he was better than I could ever have anticipated. I subsequently bought both his albums.

Metric - Kinda like the Yeah Yeah Yeah's but more interesting actually....

Tragically Hip - Took over Rush's throne as the essential Canadian rock band.

Feist - I love her.

Tegan and Sara - Canadian indie royalty.

Truth is, I'm an amateur on the Canadian music scene, I have trouble finding music of a lot of the artists I hear of. However, there are many good suggestions from other posts(of course some people are just slow), also check out iheartmusic.com, they have good summations on music in general.

Some other good Canadian artists include:
Handsome Furs
Islands
Broken Social Scene
Deadly Snakes
Royal City
Oneida
Caribou

Most importantly, you should focus on the Neil. Neil Young is the essence of Canadian, or any, music. Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Sloan, but especially Neil. Hear everything by the Neil. That man breaks my heart every time.

quote:

Originally posted by smileyface:
The Arcade Fire - I don't need to say anything else. "Funeral" is a contender for album of the decade by any artist.

Man, so many people mention Arcade Fire. The chief songwriter, singer is American, not Canadian.

quote:

Originally posted by smileyface:
Most importantly, you should focus on the Neil.... Hear everything by the Neil. That man breaks my heart every time.

Only love can break your heart...

When it comes to indie rock...it feels like the people of Toronto (most of them anyway) know very little about Toronto bands. Sure we're great for bands that come outside of Toronto but yeah it's quite disappointing.

Here are some other bands that haven't been mentioned yet:

The Stills -one of the first indie bands I liked but they've lost some stream since "Logic Will Break Your Heart"

Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains - these guys are pretty good. This is Grainger's new project after the split of Death From Above 1979.

City & Colour - pretty big fan of Dallas Green. To hear him song in the middle of all the screaming on Alexisonfire's song were generally the highlight for me.

Also check out Hello, Blue Roses - it's with Bejar (of the New Pornos/Destroyer) and his wife. Based on the two songs I've heard, it's really great stuff. I have a link to an MP3 I got in my e-mail if you'd like.

Did anyone mention Our Lady Peace? Newer stuff I don't really like but when they were in their prime, they were one of the bests Canadian bands.

quote:

Originally posted by FragileKidA:
Man, so many people mention Arcade Fire. The chief songwriter, singer is American, not Canadian.

Well, you are arguing semantics. If you are referring to Win Butler, yes I realize he was born in the United States. However, he's lived in Canada for the entire existence of the Arcade Fire, and has Canadian citizenship. The Arcade Fire are based in Montreal, which makes them Canadian. Come on man, just let Canada have this one....

I'll give ya the AF, but we get Neil Young.

lol. touche. Neil's music screams the Canadian landscape too much. He started his career and got his start in Toronto. He's from the same city I'll live. I realize there is no consistency to my determinants but I don't care.... you can't take Neil. Is Neil as appreciated in the States as he is in Canada? I'm not looking for an argument, I'm just curious. I'm from Winnipeg, where Neil is from, so my take may be biased. We just had "Neil Young" weekend lol....

quote:

Originally posted by smileyface:
lol. touche. Neil's music screams the Canadian landscape too much. He started his career and got his start in Toronto. He's from the same city I'll live. I realize there is no consistency to my determinants but I don't care.... you can't take Neil. Is Neil as appreciated in the States as he is in Canada? I'm not looking for an argument, I'm just curious. I'm from Winnipeg, where Neil is from, so my take may be biased. We just had "Neil Young" weekend lol....

I can't answer for sure, but he is well loved here in the U.S. I didn't know he was Canadian until I was in high school. I always thought he was a California boy.

Perhaps this should go under long lost classics from the 80s, but I blew the dust off my copy of Love Junk by The Pursuit of Happiness. I can't get over how well that album has aged. I remember buying it for the "I'm An Adult Now" single, but that's probably the weakest track on the record. "She's So Young" is about as good as pop gets.

quote:

Originally posted by KnivesOut12:

For those of you who STILL haven't heard of "Godspeed You! Black Emperor" you NEED to check them out. Probably the greatest post-rock band of all time. Amazing sprawling orchestral rock music.

Patrick Watson who just won the Polaris Prize award in Canada is one of the best new artists up here. I hesitate to say new because he's been around for quite a few years dabbling in other music and working on collaborations. The album he won the award for is "Close to Paradise" and I HIGHLY reccommend it for anybody interested in any music whatsoever. I'm actually going to see his show tonight in Victoria BC.

But for anybody looking for great new music, check out Patrick Watson.

it s weird not to see any love here for Patrick Watson's album "close to paradise".its a brilliant album with beautiful melodies n production that could put him easily in the front line of the great canadian acts.its such a shame that people say that his just a jeff buckley's copyist!if you ll hear the album you are gonna understand that his has his own magical world that definitely worth a listen or two n well...some love...

i could say the same things about Malajube , an exciting francophone Montréal band.
their second album "Trompe-l'oeil" released in 2006(Pitchfork gave it a 8,2/10)
you should definitely hear their amazing single "Montréal -40°C" n then i bet you ll ask for more!

no comments about Godspeed You! Black Emperor.they are not just a band .they are the sound of the Second Time!

not to forget to say a word The Junior Boys.
with only two albums so far they are probably my favourite canadian band of the 00s!
the most beautiful indie electronic music around.

quote:

Originally posted by sk:
not to forget to say a word The Junior Boys.
with only two albums so far they are probably my favourite canadian band of the 00s!
the most beautiful indie electronic music around.

Great choice I love them so much, I saw them about 8 months ago, it's been one of the best live shows I've ever seen.

Another great artist from canada is Protest The Hero, these guys play amazingly well and have excellent songwriting, their new album Fortress is coming out on January and from the looks of it, it's gonna be amazing.

I can't believe no one's mentioned Celine Dion.

Locally, I like Said the Whale a lot. They sound a bit like the Shins (back when they still kicked ass), and have 2 great singer-songwriters. http://www.myspace.com/saidthewhale

Prairie Cat is another great local, a multi-instrumentalist who writes catchy keyboard tunes that are simulataniously bouncy and sleepy http://www.myspace.com/priariecat

For better known bands, I like:
The New Pornographers/A.C. Newman
Broken Social Scene
Tokyo Police Club
The Arcade Fire
Feist
Wolf Parade
The Unicorns
Land of Talk

There's always the shamefully overlooked Forest City Lovers...

www.myspace.com/forestcitylovers