In a lot of ways the decade 2000-2009 has really (yes, I know it's not over for another year but I've caved in) been a breakout era for Canadian music. Some of the biggest, most influential albums have come from proudly Canadian artists.
Here's our list of the top 50 Canadian albums of the last nine years:
50. Soft Airplane- Chad VanGaalen
49. Missiles- The Dears
48. Down at the Khyber- Joel Plaskett
47. The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse- The Besnard Lakes
46. Sounding a Mosaic- Bedouin Soundclash
45. Goddess- Emm Gryner
44. The Beat Stuff- Hannah Georgas
43. New Seasons- The Sadies
42. In the Future- Black Mountain
41. Arm's Way- Islands
40. Back To Me- Kathleen Edwards
39. He Poos Clouds- Final Fantasy
38. Close to Paradise- Patrick Watson
37. Live It Out- Metric
36. Apologies to the Queen Mary- Wolf Parade
35. Reconstruction Site- The Weakerthans
34. Ongiara- Great Lake Swimmers
33. Are We Not Horses?- Rock Plaza Central
32. Broken Social Scene- Broken Social Scene
31. Situtation- Buck 65
30. Five Dollar Bill- Corb Lund
29. LP- Holy Fuck
28. Honey from the Tombs- Amy Millan
27. Evil Dead: The Musical- Original Cast Recording
26. Twin Cinema- New Pornographers
25. You Forget It In People- Broken Social Scene
24. Andorra- Caribou
23. Make Up the Breakdown- Hot Hot Heat
22. Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?- Metric
21. I Know You're Married, But I've Got Feelings Too- Martha Wainwright
20. So Jealous- Tegan & Sara
19. Library Voices EP- Library Voices
18. Beast- Beast
17. Neon Bible- Arcade Fire
16. Lost Channels- Great Lake Swimmers
15. Hair In My Eyes Like a Highland Steer- Corb Lund
14. You're a Woman, I'm a Machine- Death From Above 1979
13. Elephant Shell- Tokyo Police Club
12. Dead Man's Bones- Dead Man's Bones
11. The Con- Tegan & Sara
10. The Reminder- Feist
9. Set Yourself On Fire- Stars
8. No Cities Left- The Dears
7. At the Moment of Our Most Needing...- Rock Plaza Central
6. Going Steady- Rah Rah
5. Face Control- Handsome Furs
4. Funeral- Arcade Fire
3. Outside Love- Pink Mountaintops
2. Mass Romantic- New Pornographers
1. Let It Die- Feist
I know, I know. You disagree with something. I left off one of your favorites. Something is too high on the list, something is too low.
Feel free to correct me.
Monday, November 30, 2009
50 Best Canadian album of the decade (2000-2009)
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50 praise/complaints:
i would politely suggest Justin Rutledge.
Awful list! Where is City and Colour, Mathew Good, the Trews, OLP, Alexisonfire, The better Joel Plaskett albums (i.e. three), the Stills, Finger 11, Billy Talent, Sum 41, the Hip, Death from Above...ARE YOU CRAZY? DO YOU LISTEN TO MUSIC?
haha hmmm just a little biased to the canadian hipster indie scene, nice try though....
Should be called top 50 Canadian indie hipster albums of the decade. From all your friends down queen west lol
i would and expect bss to be on the list but tnot that low. you forgot it in people should be top 10 and self titled should be top 20.
It's good to see Hot Hot Heat and Tegan and Sara on this list. However not one OLP cd, that is blasphemy. Also Matthew Good Band should be on this list. The first Billy Talent record should be on here as well.
Great to see Death From Above 1979 and Great Lake Swimmers on there, and of course Arcade Fire. Solid list!
where's k-os at?
umm, there are way too many great albums throughout those years that you left off..
and a lot of the the other comments mentioned some of them.
However, there is one glaring omission, and that's of this years Polaris award winner; Fucked Up - The chemistry of common life! It really should've been titled differently, like best indie, best radio friendly, best 50 in our opinion, etc.
I do agree that there is a bias with your top50. I would also argue Feist as number 1. However, that being said, your list does have merit. What criteria did you use to judge who got what in rank? Money / albums sold was not a criteria as other artists would have made your list. Language was obviously one criteria. Anyhow, thank-you for the list :)
Okay a lot of comments to respond to.
1. OLP? Sum 41? Rainbow Butt Monkeys...er I mean Finger 11? You listen to too much 102.1 The (blunt) Edge.
2. Yes, there is an indie bias. This is an indie music blog. That also explains why there's not much hip hop like K-OS, K'Naan, Cadence Weapon, etc.
3. Alexisonfire, Matt Good, Trews, Moneen, etc are good, but there's only so much space and an assload of great Canadian records.
4. The criteria is simple. No sales stats, airplay or any of that stuff. Otherwise there'd be nothing but Michael Buble, Celine Dion, and Nickelcrap.
The main factor is, what album do I reach for to play, even ten years after it came out.
It's totally subjective. I appreciate everyone's input and hearing what some of your favorites are.
City and Colour Number 1 Always
Fair enough, but if we are talking indie then you missed the best (early) plaskett albums and wintersleep...how can you have a top 50 indie list with NO wintersleep!? List needs much work...
I don't really understand. Are you saying you're striving to list the most influential Canadian albums of the past ten years? or are you listing the top 50 albums that you "reach for to play, even ten years after it came out." Wouldn't that then mean that you wouldn't reach for The Reminder until 2017? Haha sorry, stupid quibble.
Anyway, if you are in fact mixing indie records along with the most influential of the past decade, Matt Good should definitely have made at least one appearance on this list if BSS and associates can account for almost 10%. Moreover, it would be in keeping with your snob music mantra because chances are you liked The Audio of Being before all those other assholes.
As has been said, it's nice to see DFA1979 on here, but I will reject this list for it's supreme lack of Protest The Hero and Billy Talent.
Duuuuude, the acorn. If nothing else, the acorn. wow.
Can't believe Moneen - The Red Tree isn't on there. That is a triumph of an album and should be recognized as such.
Wow so many meaningless bands that dribble with pretentiousness. How about some music that actually matters like Propagandhi or Fucked Up
a) i love how no one understands what "pretentious" means anymore
b) i'm super-psyched about the inclusion of rock plaza central. ...at the moment of our most needing literally changed my life.
c) check out bruce peninsula. they're absurdly amazing.
awful list
Metric - Fantasies
Mother Mother - O My Heart
Alexisonfire - Old crows/young cardinals
Our Lady Peace - Spiritual Machines
Fantasies is Metric's best work. The other albums are pretty awful. I think you focussed on what would please the hipster crowd by giving them stuff they want to see, but I'd gamble one look at your last.fm wouldn't have Feist even in the top 10.
Also, one of the highest grossing and popular music acts, Matthew Good, isn't on the list yet Metric is on twice, not to mention most of your other selections.
If you aren't just trying to find a niche in the hipster crowd and actually believe in this list, I feel sorry for your speakers. This is an awful taste in music.
Just because Matthew Good sold a lot of records doesn't make him good.
...and Billy Talent licks balls.
Solid list.
Wow. I'm surprised so many people are passionate about their mainstream bland rock (Billy Talent, Matt Good, City and Clour, Our Lady Peace).
I guess if you shove something down people's throat long and hard enough someone's bound to cave in and "like" it.
Really? Dead Man's Bones before Broken Social Scene? This blog has no credibility and this list is total horseshit
Broken Social Scene is overrated...
neat! thanks!
I agree wholeheartedly with the list (probably because I have most of the albums myself, and most are on high rotation!). Probably the most beautiful list of music I'll see as the year wraps up. Thank you!
You're welcome Cidney!
Whoever that is that said billy Talent, Finger Eleven, and all that other shit on here, is an idiot... they are all terrible bands, thats why they were leftv off this list...
Into Your Lungs by Hey Rosetta! should be on this... that album is amazing.
Probably one of the greatest Canadian bands ever not on the list. Rush - Snakes and Arrows. Great album
I would certainly add Ron Hawkins' "10 Kinds of Lonely" (would be my #1, but YMMV).
Great to see Rock Plaza Central getting so much love!! Also a great call putting The Besnard Lakes up there! Phenomenal album!
I'm amazed with the love for Our Lady Peace. They're from the 1990s! Elliott Brood should be up there though.
LOUD NOISES!!!
where are THE CONSTANTINES!
One thing that everybody seems to be in agreement about is Matthew Good and personally, I am in there too. Audio of Being and Avalanche should definitely be on here. Also, OLP is quite the amazing band as well but most of there better, more influential stuff was in the 90's so as much as I agree with those comments about them being awesome, I agree with the list maker for not including them. I do also believe that City and Colour should be making an appearance in here, as should Alexisonfire. Billy Talent is nowhere near influential. They are influenced! So good on ya for not including them, but you seriously missed out on some amazing acts. Im not gonna call this a bad list, but it certainly isnt good.
I agree with some of the last commenter's statements. 1) Alexisonfire should probably be here, 2) OLP hasn't done anything worthwhile since about '96 3) Billy Talent are derivative.
I do disagree on Matthew Good though. His stuff is about as safe and mainstream as "alternative" rock gets.
Fun list....good to see RAH RAH in the top 10
I suspect their new album will be on many top tens in 2010..
I agree with the guy above, one massively glaring omission from this list... Constantines. They've made two of the best Canadian albums ever, let alone this decade.
I think you did a good job at evaluating full albums and not just looking at singles. Some of the comments made by people complaining about Finger 11, Sum 41,OLP, and Billy Talent etc. not being on this list are clearly just radio listeners and single lovers. Granted,the first two OLP albums in the 90's were great, and the first Billy Talent record was decent, but both bands have regressed since then to make us realize that they have little range/creativity within their music. People need to explore albums and not just accept what is shoved down their throat on a daily basis.
If there are any albums I would make an arguement for to be included on this list, they would be the following:
Said the Whale - Howe Sounds/Taking Abalonia
City and Colour - Bring Me Your Love
Matthew Good - Hospital Music
Sam Roberts - Love at the End of the World
Joel Plaskett - Ashtray Rock
Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II
Pretty good list. Check out another list of the best Canadian albums of the decade over here:
Ca Va Cool's 20 Best Canadian Albums of the 2000s
What? No "In Between Evolution"?!?!?! Best album since "Day for Night", in my books! Who's with me?
Oh yeah...No Rascalz or Kardinal? Booooo, Big boooo on you,..you..YOU LIST!!!
I'm not done yet. Matthew Good is a stain on the Canadian music scene. He's a bigger A-hole than Raine with 1/10th the talent. I'd like to see Edwin rip off Matt Good's strumming arm and flog him with it. Then Edwin can good back into hiding until he rejoins IME. please no more solo stuff.
making a list like this, for ppl to comment on is just such a bad idea!!
..and Broken social scenes self titled at number 32!!!!?!?!? Its absolutely brilliant!!!
(and i have 6 of the top ten cd's listed here, so i'm allowed to say that)
Nyet to the Neins and Voyd belong on this list.
Good list. Not my exact list, but that's what these are for. But still good list.
People are whiners. Radio listening whiners.
Not a bad list. Feist way too high, no Constantines is a glaring omission, Return to Sea should be the entry from Islands, you overrate metric, stars and Amy Millan, and underrate Wolf Parade and the various Spencer Krug projects. 09 albums from Sunset Rubdown, Clues, and Japandroids would make my list.
Miss Dog Day and Constantines
i would have put billy talent and OLP on this list
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