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Canada Clean
by Tom Southam | 05/06/09
During my research for a musical accompaniment to our upcoming racing trip to Canada, I found that a lot of good and some almost forgivable badness have come out of the Canadian music scene.
The thing is I really wanted to do Canada justice, I quite like Canada. I just seem to find that, certainly amongst the people I’ve spoken to of late, it seems Canada bears the awful tag of being ‘dull’. On hearing that such a cool place could be perceived like this I was a little put out and knew I would have to try to find the reasons why.
Turns out of course, that Canada does have itself to blame. You see the idea of using the World Road Race Championships as a platform to showcase some of the beauty of your country had been lost on the Canadians; when, for some almost unfathomable reason they put the 2003 Worlds on in Hamilton. I remember telling my mother, who did spend a year of her life actually living in Hamilton that I was going there, screwing up her face in response and saying something along the lines of ‘what the hell for?’.
So yes anyone involved in that particular trip would have a very jaded view of the place. It was I have to admit about as stimulating as having the flu. But that was one brief week back in October 2003; surely Canada can be forgiven for that, think of the Rockies, think of Mario Lemieux (that’s for the hockey fans).
Then of course the really bad news struck me while going through a list of Canadian musicians. There are in fact two absolutely unforgiveable things Canada has done to us; that to be honest more than deserve the dull tag put atop their heads like a big fat dunce cap. I am talking of course about the musical sins that are Bryan Adams, and worse still, my most vehemently detested group, Nickelback. Dull doesn’t begin to describe how bad this is.
At first I wanted to give up on Canada, throw away my Toronto Blue Jays T-shirt, float my Maple Syrup off down a sewer system, and scratch Canada’s face out of all the photos of us together. But I fought off the tears and remembered instead the good times Canada and I had shared, I thought of walking in the Rockies, playing street hockey on roller blades and the fact that oddly enough I spent my last Christmas day with Canadians, who would be devastated if I gave up on them.
So here in a sort of Playlist of Redemption is what Canada can really do, to be honest I’m glad I persevered as going by this lot as I don’t think absolution can be too far away for the lumberjack nation…
- Bedouin Soundclash – When the night feels my song
- Feist – One Evening
- Wintersleep – Weighty Ghost
- Bob Dylan & The Band – Goin’ to Acapulco
- Louden Wainright III – Me and my friend the cat (this one’s for me Ma)
- Leonard Cohen – Suzanne
- Daniel Lanois – The Maker
- Howie B ft Robbie Robertson – Take your partner by the hand
- The Smashing Pumpkins – Stand inside your love
- K’Naan – In the beginning
- The Arcade Fire – Rebellion
- Indochine ft Melissa Auf del Mar – J’ai demande a la Lune
I have of course stretched the non-existent boundaries of what can go on this list, Howie B is Scottish, Indochine are French, The Smashing Pumpkins (!?), but trust me, it not only sounds good but is open for debate. I’ll be in Rapha Condor c.c’s virtual clubroom, waxing lyrical about Louden Wainwrights’ kids; meet me there and bring your best Canadian musical knowledge, any mention of Chad Kroeger though and it’s all over.
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