Hottest Bands in Canada 2009

This year marks the 5th edition for i(heart)music’s “Hottest Bands in Canada” poll. Happily, I was asked to chime in again. It’s a pretty straightforward process…dozens of the country’s top music writers, journalists and bloggers are invited to submit a ranked top 10 list of the hottest Canadian acts (bands or solo artists) in 2009, with both “hottest” and “Canadian” up to the individual writers’ discretion.

If you’ve been following my Polaris posts, you’ll recognize some of the names on this list. But the good thing about the Hottest Bands poll is that you can take chances on a few up and coming acts. I highly recommend you check out the full list…as in the past few years, it is a solid list of Canadian indie-rock (with a touch of hip hop, francophonie and Leonard Cohen). I also want to stress that just because Reverie Sound Revue didn’t make the official poll, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check their new album out. It is gorgeous.

Kudos to i(heart)music for his diligent work on this poll and on his almost daily reviews of great Canadian music.

10. Metric
After Live it Out, I thought Metric was just going to keep making albums that reminded me of how great they could have been. Fantasies gets me back to what I loved about their earlier tunes and gives me hope that they’ve still got a lot more solid songs left in them. The band has attitude, grit, and an album full of catchy hooks.

9. Andrew Vincent
I know Dan Mangan just won the Verge award for best artist, and that he should probably get the nod for hottest singer songwriter in Canada right now (and Nice Nice Very Nice is solid). But Andrew Vincent’s Rotten Pear is a witty and wry collection of sonic stories and musical memories that shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s understated and self-depricating. Sure, it doesn’t scream out “Hottest In Canada”, but that’s the point. How very Canadian.

8. Think About Life
Think About Life, Clues, and Parlovr are duelling it out for the title of Montreal indie act that’s on the cusp of breaking big. They all had great albums this year, but the one I keep going back to is Think About Life’s Family. You can’t have this album on and not smile/move your hips. If you can, then you are officially and old crusty bastard.

7. La Patère Rose
Coeur de Pirate was leading my list of top franco acts all year, and then, out of nowhere, La Patère Rose snuck up and unseated her. This album is a wild blend of genres and styles, but overall it’s wonderfully happy, dancey and fun.

6. Braids
As far as I know, this band is from Calgary but going to school here in Montreal. They mix indie and noise and experimental stuff in an impressively accessible way. One of their songs showed up in my inbox earlier this year, thanks to a friend, and my email program was literally happier for the next 4 months.

5. Belle Orchestre
As Seen Through Windows is a monumental instrumental journey. This band understands exactly how powerful dynamics are in making layered, thoughtful music.

4. Ohbijou
While we’re talking about beauty, I’d be remiss not to include Oh Bijou’s second full length album Beacons. Ohbijou has the market cornered on melancholy, orchestral epic, ballads. They do what they do well and they just keep getting better.

3. Reverie Sound Revue
The sheer fact that RSR released an album means that I had to include it on my list. The fact that it is full of wonderful sounds and songs is icing on the cake. I was bowled over by the band’s EP in 2003. The long long long awaited follow up reminds me exactly why. It’s delicate and catchy and gorgeously put together. Although they aren’t really a “band” (no tours, not even any “real” shows), they are still the hottest.

2. Timber Timbre
I’m so excited for winter because this album is going to be my soundtrack for the cold frozen months when the days are mostly dark and spooky. This unsettling, crooning self-titled album is easily one of my favourite discoveries of the year.

1. Bruce Peninsula.
I’ve made no secret of my unnatural love for this band this year. A Mountain is a Mouth is a religious experience. I’m a convert.

Hottest Bands in Canada

So this was kinda fun.
For the last three years, iheartmusic, one of the better mp3 blogs out there (and Canadian too), has been compiling a list of the hottest Canadian bands. Earlier this month, I got asked to be part of the loosely formed panel of 30 plus bloggers that gets brought together (virtually) to nominate artists for the list. Each voter gets 10 suggestions; the definition of what counts as hot and what counts as Canadian were up to the individual reviewer.

iheart then had the good heart to sift through the hundreds of nominees and rank them. The result is a top 33 list of bands you may know or maybe should know. Like any list of this sort, its not perfect. And it definitely skews to English indie crowds. But it's a pretty good summary of who's been kickin' musical ass in the last year and a testament to how much good music there is in Canada right now (especially when you consider the dozens of bands that could have just as easily made the cut).

I could spend this post doing a meta commentary on the influence (or lack thereof) of mp3 blogs in the critical chain. But that would probably be boring. Instead, I'll share with you my top ten (which may also be boring), and the reasons I included them.

A few notes: I didn't vote for the Arcade Fire, since I knew they'd make the list without my help. I'm a bit sad that the Most Serene Republic and Do Make Say Think didn't make the cut, since their 07 albums are easily as good or better than anything else on the list. And if someone can explain to me what everyone sees or hears in Basia Bulat, please do. She reminds me of a female Kermit the frog.

10. Patrick Watson
Overrated? Maybe. Hot in 07? Undeniably. One of my favourite musical memories in 2006 was randomly stumbling upon Watson and co. playing in a tiny outdoor park on the corner of St. Laurent and Rachel, Watson's voice soaring over the twilight traffic. For that show alone, I'm glad 2007 was good to them.

9. David Myles
This may be a throwaway vote, but David Myles had a good year, racking up a few songwriting awards and an ECMA "rising star" nomintation. His raspy blues-folk may be a bit too saccharine for the indie blogosphere, but if his next album is as solid on guitar plucking and storytelling as Things Have Changed, then 2008 should be a good year too.

8. Rock Plaza Central
After getting rave reviews from the Pitchfork gods for their equine-themed 2006 album (Are We Not Horses), Rock Plaza Central spent most of 2007 touring and spreading their twisted rock/folk goodness to fortunate citizens. I don't know if that qualifies as hot or not, so I've left them at #8.

7. Miracle Fortress
If there was a summer album for the sunny days of 07, it's Five Roses. Graham Van Pelt's solo project beams with shiny sounds. If you put this album on, and fail to smile, there is something wrong with your central nervous system.

6. Oh Bijou
I think this band just missed the cut on your list last year. So I'm pushing for their inclusion this year. I think I'm a sucker for strings. In 07, you could find Oh Bijou showing off their beautiful debut Swift Feet for Troubling Times (2006) and previewing songs from, what sounds like it will be, a stunning follow up. Oh Bijou makes songs that help the moon go to sleep at night.

5. Great Lake Swimmers
There must be something in the water. Great Lake Swimmer's contribution to 2007, Ongiara, is as vast and scenic as the country it describes. Tony Dekker's metaphors run deep. The album sounds like it came from the ground.

4. Feist
In a year of incredibly mediocre highly anticipated followups (Arcade Fire, Bloc Party) it's refreshing that Reminder is not only solid the whole way through, but even more enchanting than Let it Die. Her voice still reigns supreme. "1 2 3 4" is so catchy it may even be able to withstand the unbelievable overplay it's getting from iPod commercials.

3. Do Make Say Think
Who needs lyrics when you make music like this? Not only did DMST put on some monumental shows in 07, their album, You, You're a History in Rust, crashes my iTunes with its awesomeness. Post-rock and hot don't usually go together, so why don't we just call DMST post-hot.

2. The Most Serene Republic
This band is too all-over-the-map to ever be a really hot band. But their latest album has massive, messy moments that deserve your attention. They will be the new mayors of broken social scene ville, should BSS continue splintering off solo albums.

1. Chad VanGaalen
Even Patrick Watson thought Chad VanGaalen should have won the Polaris. But, CVG has been under appreciated for years, particularly here in Montreal (his shows at small clubs rarely come close to selling out). Hopefully the polaris nomination (and his stunning performance at the award show) brings this haunting and oddball signer-songwriter some much deserved respect.

Honorable mentions (or bands that were hot but I never got into enough to talk about with any credibility on this list: Plants and Animals, Besnard Lakes, Sunset Rubdown, Julie Doiron)