A brief education in Canadian music
So, apparently, I listen to way too much Canadian music and most of my flist is lost on the casual references I make. Anyone interested in quintiessentail Canadiana, there are a few real gems here.
Home for a Rest is a 1990 Canadian Folk Rock classic recorded by Spirit of the West. It's an anthem for just about any gathering that involves liquer and dancing... or just liquer.. but it is essential party music. Actually, it was played at Alison's wedding and the whole gathering, young and old, were singing along. If you'd like to have a listen, you can download the song here for the next 7 days.
If you have any interest in band in a similar genre, Great Big Sea is another Canadian essential. From Newfoundland, they take the island's rich oral tradition and update it (some only a little, some quite a lot). If I could recommend a CD (and there are so many it's hard to choose just one) I would probably suggest "Courage, Patience and Grit" which is a Live album and has a mix of their more contemporary and traditional songs. It also comes with a fun DVD that captures the mermaid dance... you have to see it... really. This is my absolute favourite band, bar none, and a few measely words don't do them justice. For some raunchy mermaid fun, go here
More trad than the rest is The Barra MacNeils... who I met last summer!!! They are a sort of celtic hybrid that leans towards Irish trad as is in their heritage. From Cape Breton, this family group does instrumental as well as vocal pieces in both English and Gaelic. They've been performing professionally for 20 years now and released many fabulous albums. My personal favourite tune is called "Canso Causeway" but isn't available on any recordings. A close second, however, is "Haven't got a Care" which is on their album 'All at Once' as well as the 20th anniversary compilation.
There are so many other folk/trad/hybrid groups that I can never express my full appreciation for from older artists like Gordon Lightfoot (only nominally folk but wrote the fabulous Canadian Railroad Trillagy for the centennial in '67) and Stan Rogers (sadly passed on, but Northwest Passage expresses so much of the longing of the North to me) to newer and localized groups too numerous to mention.
From the trad to the ridiculous, one can only look to the Arrogant Worms. Perhaps not the most well known band, but very funny. I think "We are the Beaver" sort of sums up their humour. They also recorded the prarie classic, "Last Saskatchewan Pirate" which I think lot's of people outside of the prarie provinces don't completely get. Still, it's funny to almost everyone as are most of their songs, but, not surprisingly really, they don't do so well outside of Canada. Some of their humour leans a bit heavily on American stereotypes or is almost exclusively funny to Canadians and our culture. Something like 'Me like Hockey' pokes just as much fun back at us though.
There's so much fabulous Canadian music out there that just doesn't get the credit it deserves outside our borders. Most of my favourite music is home grown, and I can't help but want to share it. I would put more files up, but my dial-up has died three times while trying to upload this stuff. If there is anything anyone would like to hear a sample of, I'd be more than happy to send it along.
Home for a Rest is a 1990 Canadian Folk Rock classic recorded by Spirit of the West. It's an anthem for just about any gathering that involves liquer and dancing... or just liquer.. but it is essential party music. Actually, it was played at Alison's wedding and the whole gathering, young and old, were singing along. If you'd like to have a listen, you can download the song here for the next 7 days.
If you have any interest in band in a similar genre, Great Big Sea is another Canadian essential. From Newfoundland, they take the island's rich oral tradition and update it (some only a little, some quite a lot). If I could recommend a CD (and there are so many it's hard to choose just one) I would probably suggest "Courage, Patience and Grit" which is a Live album and has a mix of their more contemporary and traditional songs. It also comes with a fun DVD that captures the mermaid dance... you have to see it... really. This is my absolute favourite band, bar none, and a few measely words don't do them justice. For some raunchy mermaid fun, go here
More trad than the rest is The Barra MacNeils... who I met last summer!!! They are a sort of celtic hybrid that leans towards Irish trad as is in their heritage. From Cape Breton, this family group does instrumental as well as vocal pieces in both English and Gaelic. They've been performing professionally for 20 years now and released many fabulous albums. My personal favourite tune is called "Canso Causeway" but isn't available on any recordings. A close second, however, is "Haven't got a Care" which is on their album 'All at Once' as well as the 20th anniversary compilation.
There are so many other folk/trad/hybrid groups that I can never express my full appreciation for from older artists like Gordon Lightfoot (only nominally folk but wrote the fabulous Canadian Railroad Trillagy for the centennial in '67) and Stan Rogers (sadly passed on, but Northwest Passage expresses so much of the longing of the North to me) to newer and localized groups too numerous to mention.
From the trad to the ridiculous, one can only look to the Arrogant Worms. Perhaps not the most well known band, but very funny. I think "We are the Beaver" sort of sums up their humour. They also recorded the prarie classic, "Last Saskatchewan Pirate" which I think lot's of people outside of the prarie provinces don't completely get. Still, it's funny to almost everyone as are most of their songs, but, not surprisingly really, they don't do so well outside of Canada. Some of their humour leans a bit heavily on American stereotypes or is almost exclusively funny to Canadians and our culture. Something like 'Me like Hockey' pokes just as much fun back at us though.
There's so much fabulous Canadian music out there that just doesn't get the credit it deserves outside our borders. Most of my favourite music is home grown, and I can't help but want to share it. I would put more files up, but my dial-up has died three times while trying to upload this stuff. If there is anything anyone would like to hear a sample of, I'd be more than happy to send it along.