10/15/2007
Mix Disc Monday Home / Music Home / Bullz-Eye Home
For all of the artists Canada has given us, among them Rufus Wainwright, Sarah McLachlan and Melissa Auf der Maur, , there is still a certain snobbery that most Americans have toward Canadian musicians. But really, some of them are quite good, and those that we sometimes poke fun of have some songs that you should hear that you might not have. So lend an ear, because Terrance and Philip would be proud.
"Beautiful Goodbye," Amanda Marshall (Amanda
Marshall)
You’ve never heard a breakup song like
this. It’s sad, uplifting and extremely powerful
at the same time, and Marshall’s screams toward the
end will make you wonder why you don’t know who she
is.
"Time," Chantal Kreviazuk (What If
It All Means Something)
These Canadian female artists have a way
with melody, and Chantal is no exception. This whole
album is like radio candy.
"I Feel It All," Feist (The Reminder)
She’s got an almost smoky, sexy growl, and
sings with a passion that isn’t over the top. In
short, Feist is just fucking awesome.
"Hello Time Bomb," Matthew Good (Beautiful
Midnight)
One of the best rock albums of the past
decade, and only Good could make a song with a title
like this sound so beautifully awesome.
"Nobody Understands," The Midway State
(Met a Man on Top of the Hill)
Interscope put out this four-song EP to
see if the band would have legs, kind of like throwing
spaghetti at the wall to see if it will stick.
Anyway, this track will remind you ‘80s kids of
Alphaville.
"In Repair," Our Lady Peace (Spiritual
Machines)
Not to get all spiritual (get it?), but
this song had a serious emotional impact on me when
it came out. The kind of impact that made me want
to listen to it over and over. And six years later,
I’m still not sick of hearing it.
"Lonely Nights," Bryan Adams (You
Want It, You Got It)
Before Bryan Adams was an MTV darling and
way before he went all Don Juan DeMarco on us, he
actually wrote some really good rock songs, including
this one.
"Lay It on the Line," Triumph (Just
a Game)
Rik Emmett had a voice that could break
glass, and his spandex clad three-piece band rocked
as hard as anyone.
"Sinking Like a Sunset," Tom Cochrane
(Mad Mad World)
Former Red Rider frontman Tom Cochrane released
this under the radar album in the early ‘90s, and
more recently watched his mailbox fill up with
money when country mega-stars Rascall Flatts cut
his song, "Life Is a Highway," also from this album.
"Help Me," Joni Mitchell (Court and
Spark)
A classic song from a classic songstress.
"You
danced with a lady with a hole in her stocking
/ Didn’t it feel good?" It sure did.
"Crash and Burn," Pat Travers (Crash
and Burn)
Pat Travers is a hell
of a guitar player, but this bluesy song featured
some synthesizers that, at the time, sounded
groundbreaking. Today they sound a bit cheesy,
but this song still kicks ass.
"Southern Man," Neil Young (After
the Gold Rush)
This song may have pissed off Lynyrd Skynyrd and
a host of other artists from below the Mason Dixon
line, but it’s still one of Young’s best, with
some incredible guitar work.
"When the Day Is Short," Martha
Wainwright (Martha Wainwright)
She’s got an intoxicating voice, similar
to Feist. No surprise, since she comes from this
family of talented and somewhat quirky musical
artists.
"Limelight," Rush (Moving Pictures)
My editor would kick my ass if I didn’t
include Rush on this mix. That, and well, classic
rock just doesn’t get any more classic than this.
"These Eyes," The Guess Who (Wheatfield
Soul)
I bet many of you didn’t realize Randy Bachman
of Bachman Turner Overdrive was in this band before
BTO. And they sure weren’t too shabby.