Tag: Wintersleep

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

Playlists

Playlist: May (or May not)

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date May 10, 2025
No Comments on Playlist: May (or May not)

It’s been quite a while since I’ve put together and shared one of these playlists on here. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I purposely put together a mix of any sort, even for myself, for my own consumption. I typically just press shuffle on a massive collection I have on Apple Music of some of my favourite songs and go with whatever Apple puts forward. And yeah, of course, it’s always good. However, I felt inspired this week, even as I recover from a nasty spring cold, and decided a new mix was in order.

The inspiration? This winter felt very, very long to me, even longer than normal. December and January actually feel like a complete void to me because of the health issues I was experiencing at the time and then February got cold, real cold, and we received dumping after dumping of snow. March was a mixed bag weather-wise and April seems to have been unseasonably cold and rainy*. Things finally felt like they turned the corner when the calendar was flipped to May last week, even though I haven’t necessarily felt well enough to get outside to enjoy it just yet. The sun has been out, brightening everything and warming everything up. I’ve heard the chirping of birds every morning, the grass on the ground is coming in green and the trees lining my street are starting to bud. All of this has cheered me considerably and has me hoping for good things for the rest of the year.

So I wanted to put together some tunes that reflect this feeling. You know? A collection of the kind of songs that just scream sunshine and flowers. A melody that brings a smile to your face and lyrics that beg to be sung along with. Tunes that perk you up from the very first notes and have you wanting to get up and dance, wherever you are, whoever you’re with.

Many of these songs are old favourites (like “Lay back in the sun”, “Everything you’ve done wrong”, and “Movin’ on up”) and have appeared on many of my mixes over the years, some of which may have already appeared on playlists on this site. Some of these songs are newer ‘classics’ (like “Weighty ghost” and “Dreaming of you”) and some are even brand new tunes that I can’t seem to loosen from my head when the mood takes (like “Somebody new” and “Simmering”).

I’ve kept the playlist to twenty-five songs to keep it from being unwieldy but there were many more that I could have added. Perhaps there will be a volume two to share if the summer turns out to be as positive as I’m hoping it will be and if the mood takes me to make another mix to share so soon. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this collection of songs as much I’ve enjoyed putting it together and that you play them on repeat like I’ve been doing this week. Perhaps they’ll bring the same wide smile that I’ve had on at times while listening. I sincerely hope so.

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

1. Spiritualized “Lay back in the sun”
2. Bedouin Soundclash “When the night feels my song”
3. The Waterboys “Glastonbury song”
4. The Cure “Friday I’m in love”
5. The Submarines “You me and the bourgeoisie”
6. The Verve “Bitter sweet symphony”
7. Real Estate “Somebody new”
8. Wintersleep “Weighty ghost”
9. Sloan “Everything you’ve done wrong”
10. Pixies “Here comes your man”
11. The Coral “Dreaming of you”
12. Suede “Beautiful ones”
13. Luna “California (all the way)”
14. Doves “Catch the sun”
15. Violent Femmes “Blister in the sun”
16. Allo Darlin’ “We come from the same place”
17. Primal Scream “Movin’ on up”
18. Morrissey “Sing your life”
19. Belle & Sebastian “The boy with the arab strap”
20. The Radio Dept. “This time around”
21. Young Galaxy “We have everything”
22. Blind Melon “No rain”
23. Pale Blue Eyes “Simmering”
24. The Clientele “Bookshop Casanova”
25. The High Dials “Our time is coming soon”

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

*Yeah, I know, April is known to be rainy… but still…

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.

Live music galleries

Live music galleries: Broken Social Scene [2017]

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date January 27, 2022
No Comments on Live music galleries: Broken Social Scene [2017]

(I got the idea for this series while sifting through the ‘piles’ of digital photos on my laptop. It occurred to me to share some of these great pics from some of my favourite concert sets from time to time. Until I get around to the next one, I invite you to peruse my ever-growing list of concerts page.)

Broken Social Scene at CityFolk 2017

Artist: Broken Social Scene
When: September 15th, 2017
Where: Main stage, CityFolk, Lansdowne Park, Ottawa
Context: Broken Social Scene were a big part of the Canadian indie rock renaissance of the mid-2000s and really epitomized the sense of community and collaboration of that scene. They truly were a collective, built around the core of Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, but boasting upwards of close to twenty members at different points in their history, including members of Stars, Metric, Apostles of Hustle, and many others. But to be honest, I couldn’t actually get into them back then, always claiming that they were a band with whom I preferred their parts to their sum. Somewhere along the way, though, I gained an appreciation for them and finally got a chance to see them as part of the line up for the 2017 edition of Ottawa’s CityFolk festival. As with many collectives of this ilk, you never know whom you might see perform with them on any given night. We were lucky enough to have Stars members and husband/wife duo of Evan Cranley and Amy Millan make the two-hour drive up from Montreal, partly as a way to celebrate Cranley’s belated birthday with his musician friends. It was an incredible show and so amazing to see so many talented musicians trade instruments and vocals and contribute to a huge and cohesive sound. I was so impressed that I saw them again six months later and would definitely jump at the chance to do so again.
Point of reference song: “Protest song”