It’s not easy being a Canadian musician. The vast size of the country — and the spread out metropolitan centers — makes touring an incredible slog. That, coupled with a music industry that was, for a long time, behind the times, meant musical luminaries like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell had no choice but to make the trip down to the States to make it. In the ‘90s, the joke was unless you were Alanis Morissette or Celine Dion, your highest hopes were to become household names in the country and learn to deal with playing small bars when you dipped down to the States. All that has changed now. A lot of the top leading lights in rap, rock, folk and pop all hail from Canada. The world’s biggest star is a Jewish guy from Toronto. We did it, and now we’re taking over.
With that said, here’s a smattering of Canadian albums that should be considered essential for diving into the national canon. “Canadian-ness” is a hard thing to define in records, but the idea was to try and pick albums that reflected the times and scenes surrounding it in some way. Sometimes that’s an overt reference to the 6, sometimes it’s something more. The Canadian music industry is a small place; while a lot of the works represented here differ from one another, you’d be surprised at how many players and musicians pop up on others’ work, or how respect for an elder group transcends tribal lines. Everyone likes the Tragically Hip. Chantal Kreviazuk and Chilly Gonzales have appeared on Drake albums.
You might be hoping that listening to these records will give you a better appreciation of the finer things of Canadian culture like poutine, maple syrup and the Hockey Night in Canada Theme Song. Unfortunately, that’s not something easily promised.