Tag: Tallies

Playlist: O Canada – 45 indie and alternative Canadian anthems

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date July 1, 2025
No Comments on Playlist: O Canada – 45 indie and alternative Canadian anthems

Happy Canada Day everyone!

This is one of those holidays that I love and have always appreciated but have even more so in recent years. I am blessed to live in a beautiful country and one that is relatively safe and free. And though I haven’t gotten downtown to take in the festivities that our nation’s capital puts on for quite some time, I do try to observe the birthdate of my country in my own way, usually by spending time outside, hiking or biking, tending the bbq, enjoying a brew or two or three, and taking in a closer (to me) fireworks display. The weather forecast is looking a bit rough to start today so I’m not sure yet what we’ll get up to but I plan to enjoy the holiday nonetheless.

I often try to do a post on these pages to observe the return of Canada Day in some way, so I’m actually surprised I haven’t done a playlist yet, something I am remedying this year. And honestly, I slapped this one together pretty quickly and it was really easy to do so because there’s lots of great material to pull from. These 45 songs represent some of my favourite tunes by some of my favourite Canadian artists from the last four or five decades. I start the almost three hours of great tunes with the “alternate” Canadian anthem by North Vancouver’s Spirit of the West and end it with my favourite song by Kingston’s The Tragically Hip, the band that for nearly twenty years was indisputably Canada’s band and its frontman Gord Downey, our poet laureate. In between those two tunes, you’ll find alt rock classics from the 80s and 90s (Grapes of Wrath, 54.40, Sloan, Northern Pikes), as well as a slew of tunes from the Canadian indie rock renaissance from the mid-2000s (Stars, Metric, Dears, Arcade Fire) when the ears from around the world seemed to be turned in our direction, and of course, more recent stuff as well (Alvvays, Elliott Brood, Nap Eyes, Tallies). There are bands and artists here representing almost all of the ten provinces but unfortunately, none from the three territories.

So this is mostly for all of my fellow Canadians out there but like my home country, I would welcome anyone from around the world to come and enjoy our riches. I invite you all to put this playlist on, along with your red and white clothes and maple leaf temporary tattoos, and enjoy the music, whether you’re out barbecuing, enjoying a cold one, out for a swim in your pool, sitting on your porch, out for a hike, camping out, or looking for a parking spot close to a Canada Day celebration somewheres.

Cheers!

For those who don’t use Apple Music, here is the entire playlist, with links to YouTube videos:

“Home for a rest” Spirit Of The West (North Vancouver, British Columbia)
“Archie, marry me” Alvvays (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island)
“Stay out” Elliott Brood (Toronto, Ontario)
“Ageless beauty” Stars (Montreal, Quebec)
“Rosy and grey” The Lowest Of The Low (Toronto, Ontario)
“When the night feels my song” Bedouin Soundclash (Kingston, Ontario)
“Don’t haunt this place” The Rural Alberta Advantage (Toronto, Ontario)
“Everything you’ve done wrong” Sloan (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
“The safety dance” Men Without Hats (Montreal, Quebec)
“Follow me down” Nap Eyes (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
“I go blind” 54-40 (Tsawwassen, British Columbia)
“Mari-Mac” Great Big Sea (St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador)
“Hare tarot lies” No Joy (Montreal, Quebec)
“Red” Treble Charger (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario)
“Weighty ghost” Wintersleep (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
“I’m an adult now” The Pursuit of Happiness (Toronto, Ontario)
“I wanna be in the cavalry” Corb Lund (Taber, Alberta)
“Teenland” The Northern Pikes (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
“Sprawl II (Mountains beyond mountains)” Arcade Fire (Montreal, Quebec)
“Claire” Rheostatics (Etobicoke, Ontario)
“Still” Great Lake Swimmers (Wainfleet, Ontario)
“Don’t walk away, Eileen” Sam Roberts (Westmount, Quebec)
“Temptation” The Tea Party (Windsor, Ontario)
“Tournament of hearts” The Weakerthans (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
“Lost in the plot” The Dears (Montreal, Quebec)
“All the things I wasn’t” The Grapes of Wrath (Kelowna, British Columbia)
“Infamous” Basia Bulat (Toronto, Ontario)
“Spiritual pollution” Pure (Vancouver, British Columbia)
“Greater than consequence” Amos the Transparent (Ottawa, Ontario)
“Ordinary people” The Box (Montreal, Quebec)
“Memorize the city” The Organ (Vancouver, British Columbia)
“Walking with a ghost” Tegan and Sara (Calgary, Alberta)
“Breathing underwater” Metric (Toronto, Ontario)
“Made for TV” King Apparatus (London, Ontario)
“Use it” The New Pornographers (Vancouver, British Columbia)
“Rossland Square” Cuff The Duke (Oshawa, Ontario)
“Eat my brain” Odds (Vancouver, British Columbia)
“Goodnight goodnight” Hot Hot Heat (Victoria, British Columbia)
“The ghosts that haunt me” Crash Test Dummies (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
“Paper girl” July Talk (Toronto, Ontario)
“Don’t you know” Elephant Stone (Montreal, Quebec)
“Brian Wilson” Barenaked Ladies (Scarborough, Ontario)
“Mother” Tallies (Toronto, Ontario)
“Swing your heartache” Young Galaxy (Montreal, Quebec)
“Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)” The Tragically Hip (Kingston, Ontario)

And here is the promised link to the Apple Music playlist.

If you’re interested in checking out any of the other playlists I’ve created and shared on these pages, you can peruse them here.

Tags 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s, 54.40, Alternative, Alvvays, Amos the Transparent, Apple Music, Arcade Fire, Barenaked Ladies, Basia Bulat, Bedouin Soundclash, Can Con, Canadian, Canadian Rock, Corb Lund, Crash Test Dummies, Cuff The Duke, Elephant Stone, Elliott Brood, Great Big Sea, Great Lake Swimmers, Hot Hot Heat, Indie, July Talk, King Apparatus, Men Without Hats, Metric, Nap Eyes, No Joy, Odds, Playlists, Retro, Rheostatics, Sam Roberts, Sloan, Spirit of the West, Stars, Tallies, Tegan and Sara, The Box, The Dears, The Grapes Of Wrath, The Lowest Of The Low, The New Pornographers, The Northern Pikes, The Organ, The Pursuit of Happiness, The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Tea Party, The Weakerthans, Tragically Hip, Treble Charger, Wintersleep, Young Galaxy

Albums

Best albums of 2022: Albums #10 through #6

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date December 19, 2022
6 Comments on Best albums of 2022: Albums #10 through #6

Good morning everyone! And happy Monday!

I don’t know about you folks but I am looking forward to the holiday season. I’ve just got a couple of working days left and then, I’m off until early in the new year.

The new year. New beginnings always bring hope for better things. I’ve already heard stirrings of some great music coming out in 2023 but before we get ahead of ourselves, we should take care of closing off 2022.

Indeed, there’s been lots of great music this year as well. And though I’ve had to curtail my vinyl collecting a bit with all the supply chain issues and the rising costs all around, this doesn’t mean I haven’t been listening to all the new music coming out via the various streaming services.

I’ve discovered lots of new artists and rekindled my relationship with many others. Just a couple of days ago, I shared five great albums that didn’t quite make the cut but are worth your attentions nonetheless. Today, marks the start of my top ten countdown in earnest, starting with albums #10 through #6. Then, I plan to post about my favourite five over the next week and half, hopefully, getting them all in by the end of the year.

With all the excellent releases, I am sure I missed out on one or two so as we go through my own 10 favourite albums, I welcome your comments and thoughts and perhaps even your own top ten favourites in the comments space provided.

Let’s do this.

#10 Blushing “Possessions”

Yes, Virginia, social media does work for good sometimes. I kept seeing Blushing pop up on my Twitter feed because of their interactions with some of my favourite shoegaze bands. Well, at some point, I must’ve started following the Austin-based shoegaze quartet because I definitely knew in advance of their self-titled debut’s release back in 2019. I was pretty sure I knew what I was in for when I gave it a go but was still pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it. For their sophomore release, Blushing convinced one of their heroes, Miki Berenyi, to collaborate on a track, really showcasing the similarity in vocal styles. And the rest of the album sounds to my ears like a huge step forward in all senses, fitting neatly on a shelf right next to the best of, not just Lush’s back catalogue, but alongside many of their ilk.

#9 Just Mustard “Heart under”

I haven’t yet heard the 2018 debut by the Dundalk, Ireland-based five piece but I am pretty sure it would fit right in my wheelhouse given that the adjective most used to describe it is shoegaze. I definitely plan to check it out over the upcoming holiday season, the period I usually use to catch up on music I might have previously missed, especially given how much I love this sophomore release. Of course, “Heart under” has a bit more industrial racket and gothy gloom added to it for the shoegaze adjective to be reapplied here. But it’s the haunting vocals of frontwoman Katie Ball that really sets this album apart for me this year and has everyone I’ve recommended it to likening their sound to dark dream poppers Cranes. My friend Tim, who actually turned me on to that latter band back in 90s, had said of “Heart under”, “Not sure about Just Mustard as a band name, but I added that album to my spotify”.

#8 Jeanines “Don’t wait for a sign”

Slumberland Records first came to my attention in the early 2010s when I discovered Allo Darlin’s sophomore record “Europe” and went down the rabbit hole exploring various twee and indie pop bands. Ever since then, they’ve become one of my favourite indie labels, being home to so many excellent bands over the years. And after purchasing a copy of Black Hearted Brother’s lone album off of them one Bandcamp Friday a couple of years ago, I have been getting emails from them every time they release a new album and usually it’s been worth my time to check it out. Jeanines’ sophomore album was definitely one of these this year. It very much fits in the vein of DIY twee and indie pop Slumberland sound. The rapid fire tracks all come in around the one and a half minute mark so that the total of all thirteen on the album is a measly twenty minutes. And yet, it’s far from fleeting. Each impression is deep and each melody will hook you until long after the last note reverberates away.

#7 The Reds, Pinks and Purples “Summer at land’s end”

I came across Glenn Donaldson (aka The Reds, Pinks & Purples) last year and his album “Uncommon weather” ended up being my favourite album of 2021. I loved it so much that I immediately doubled back to investigate his previous two (excellent) albums, released in 2019 and 2020 respectively. The man has been on a serious productive streak of late. This fourth album, “Summer at land’s end”, is far from the only collection of new music he’s released this year. Indeed, it seems like every other week I am getting a notification that he has concocted a new EP, mini-album, or companion album, and all of it is consistently excellent. This just happens to be the first thing that came out of his camp this year and the one I’ve spent the most time with. It is just more romantic, hazy, retro, atmospheric diary entries from Donaldson, whose voice I could listen to at any hour of the day. And yeah, he’s another artist on the Slumberland Records roster.

#6 Tallies “Patina”

It’s kind of a cliché that sophomore albums are considered to be challenging to most new artists. For this reason, I was somewhat surprised to realize that four of these first five albums in my top ten list are just that. So as great as they are, it makes me think that the future can only be brighter, and for Tallies especially. The Toronto-based indie pop band had already wowed those with a keen ear to the past glories of the indie pop renaissance in the eighties with their self-titled debut in 2019. Just around the time they announced the forthcoming release of “Patina” earlier this year, they were signed to Simon Raymonde’s UK label Bella Union. The album arrived on a welcome cloud of Sunday afternoon bliss, jangly wind chimes floating on memories of a warm breeze, all of it a haze from yesterday. Lovely stuff, all nine tracks.

Stay tuned for album #5 on this list. In the meantime, you can check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

Tags 2020s, 2022, Alternative, Alternative Rock, Best of 2022, Blushing, Canadian indie, Dream Pop, End of year, Indie, Indie Pop, Indie rock, Jeanines, Just Mustard, Shoegaze, Slumberland, Tallies, The Reds Pinks and Purples

Playlists

Playlist: New tunes from 2022, part three

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date November 4, 2022
5 Comments on Playlist: New tunes from 2022, part three

If I was still looking at this blog as something that should be scheduled or on schedule or whatever, I might consider this post a couple weeks behind that “s” word. I’ve been trying* to post these quarterly playlist updates a couple of weeks after the end of each quarter but well, the two week vacation I took that spanned the end of August and the beginning of September put me a bit behind.

Yeah. That’s right. I took some vacation. Two weeks! It was the longest period from work that I’d properly taken since before the pandemic. I spent as much of it as I could experiencing nature, sitting by the water, going on hikes, and just generally taking in our province’s natural beauty. It wasn’t exactly restful, per se, but it was definitely good for the soul.

Prior to that, I actually attended several evenings of an honest-to-goodness music festival at the beginning of July. It was an amazing feeling to return to a bit of normalcy, see some bands I’d seen before and some I hadn’t, and seeing people outside of my bubble, all revelling in the ecstasy that is the live music experience. I say again, I t felt great. Then, the day after the festival ended, a friend of mine who I had attended a couple of the dates with texted me to say he had tested positive for COVID. So I tested myself and thankfully came through it clean. But it was definitely a bitter reminder for me that though we may be done with the pandemic, it may not necessarily be done with us.

Otherwise, the summer flew by in a haze and blur of sameness. With all the work, eat, and sleep, I am super thankful of my continued employment, general good health, and that I am continuing to spend my life with my very best friend and love of my life. And of course, there is always the music.

This third part of this annual playlist represents the music that has followed me and kept me going through this third pandemic summer. It is yet another great 25 tunes (for parts one and two, check here and here) representative of the best that’s been released during the last three months. Highlights include:

- - Opening things up with “Rockstar”, this ripping track off the third album by Momma calls to mind 90s rockers, like maybe Babes in Toyland and L7, but most definitely Veruca Salt
  - “Circumference”, a brilliant synth-pop gem by Working Men’s Club ripped right from the heart of the 80s
- - More dream pop beauty from Toronto-based indie pop quartet Tallies, a sweet explosion called “Wound up tight”
- - I’ve not been a fan of Animal Collective, nor Noah Lennox’s solo work as Panda Bear but his recent collaboration with Pete “Sonic Boom” Kember is pure sunshine, “Gettin’ to the point” is just a case in point
- - When I think of Kasabian, I typically think of blistering high energy numbers but this ballad called “The wall” off their latest record is equally full of passion
  - “It’s always the quiet ones” by Suede – that’s right, they’re back and it’s majestic
  - Kristian Mattson, aka The Tallest Man on Earth, covering “Pink rabbits” by The National is like a collision of some of my favourite music from a decade ago
  - Finally, Yeah Yeah Yeahs teamed up with Perfume Genius for “Spitting off the edge of world”, the magnificent first single of their latest album