The Best Canadian Albums of 2013

There’s a thrilling breadth of styles and approaches explored by the best albums hailing from Canada in 2013, ranging from good ol’ garage rock to East-West “noh-wave”, from traditionalist country to First Nations’ EDM.

 

Artist: Ketamines

Album: You Can’t Serve Two Masters

Label: Mammoth Cave/Southpaw

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List Number: 15

Ketamines
You Can’t Serve Two Masters

Paul Lawton made waves early in the year for taking serious digs at the Canadian music industry on his Slagging Off blog. Fortunately, the Ketamines frontman was able to back up his smack talk with the wild, weird, but incredibly enjoyable You Can’t Serve Two Masters. Previous releases leaned too much on the weird side just for the sake of it, yet Ketamines have pulled in the reins just enough. There’s a ton of punchy, garage-influenced hooks and it’s tough to imagine Ketamines slowing down anytime soon. Lawton and Ketamines are waking crowds up to the thriving garage scene north of the 40th parallel. Joshua Kloke

 

Artist: Shad

Album: Flying Colours

Label: Black Box

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List Number: 14

Shad
Flying Colours

On his fourth album, Vancouver-based rapper Shad offers a mature, utterly assured collection of often personal, always thoughtful tracks that feel revolutionary in their refusal to play ball with the conventions of hip-hop. I mean, here is a rapper who doesn’t curse, is respectful toward women, has a head for politics, and a healthy but not inflated ego. Shad seems, to put it plainly, like a pretty nice guy. And this nice guy offers infectious jams like “Fam Jam” (about his postcolonial consciousness as a Kenyan in Canada), slow-burning political mind-benders like “Progress” (which reimagines Don McLean’s “American Pie” as a kind of forbidden fruit), and groovy head-bobbers like “Love Means” (featuring Eternia, possibly Canada’s best rapper), each of which lives in richly constructed soundscapes and rides on irresistible beats. Stuart Henderson

 

Artist: The Highest Order

Album: If It’s Real

Label: Idée Fixe

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List Number: 13

The Highest Order
If It’s Real

Out of the ashes of One Hundred Dollars came the Simone Schmidt-led the Highest Order. (Not to mention Fiver, another Schmidt project which released a full-length in 2013.) If It’s Real is a perfect marriage of psych and country, and allows Schmidt’s songwriting the room to breathe and wind as it perhaps has always needed to. Schmidt is at her pensive best and listeners get a clear look into the haunting minds of the characters she writes flawlessly. Canadians have always prided themselves on rooting for the underdog. If Schmidt keeps up her pace she won’t be considered an underdog at all. Joshua Kloke

 

Artist: The Sadies

Album: Internal Sound

Label: Yep Roc

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List Number: 12

The Sadies
Internal Sounds

Alongside the extraordinary record the brothers Good made with their parents and friends under their family name, the Sadies managed to produce one of the year’s most flat-out pleasurable alt-country albums. Internal Sounds takes the by-now fairly well-worn Sadies sound and pushes for new ground to let it run. Their brand of psychedelic Americana songwriting is exemplary (as always), as is the fine musicianship on display here at every turn. None of this is a surprise. What is surprising for this longtime listener is just how great it all sounds. The Sadies have always been an amazing live act that, frustratingly, turned out iffy studio albums. This time around, those shoes won’t fit. On this, their best record yet, perhaps they’ve finally found the way to put that persistent pattern to rest, once and for all? Stuart Henderson

 

Artist: Basia Bulat

Album: Tall Tall Shadow

Label: Secret City

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List Number: 11

Basia Bulat
Tall Tall Shadow

On her third record, the haunting Basia Bulat has finally achieved the level of songwriting and performance to match her rather peerless voice. And with its honeyed vibrato conveying both wisdom and vulnerability in equal measure, Bulat’s voice has never sounded better than on this terrific collection. Though live these songs are routinely performed in the bare-bones style in which they were likely written — Bulat’s instrument of choice is the autoharp — here they have been fleshed out to dramatic effect. Rhythmic, pulsing, and dynamic, Bulat’s best work here (the title track and “The City with No Rivers”) is hypnotic in its groovy darkness. And it all winds up in the dreamy, sublime “From Now On”, perhaps the best album-closer of the entire year. Stuart Henderson

10 – 6

 

Artist: Brendan Canning

Album: You Gots 2 Chill

Label: SQE

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List Number: 10

Brendan Canning
you Gots 2 Chill

Broken Social Scene were the type of band whose genius could often only be found in the crevices of their songs; layer upon layer of noise drowned out some of their more talented performers. You Gots 2 Chill puts Brendan Canning‘s relaxed approach front and centre with engrossing acoustic tracks, the kind that could keep you warm while alone on a harsh winter evening. Canning finds a happy balance within each of the 14 tracks as none sway much longer than absolutely necessary. It’s tough to stop listening to You Gots 2 Chill as it’ll raise your spirits without forcing you to break a sweat. Joshua Kloke

 

Artist: A Tribe Called Red

Album: Nation 2 Nation

Label: self-released

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List Number: 9

A Tribe Called Red
Nation 2 Nation

Perhaps it was merely an accident that A Tribe Called Red emerged at the same historical moment as Idle No More, the pan-Aboriginal movement toward self-determination and political autonomy that has come to haunt Canadian political consciousness. However, there is nothing accidental about the way this group of three wildly talented DJs has channeled the form and passion of First Nations’ cultures, histories, and visions into this dazzling record. Such a fervent expression of identity and urgency was rarely heard this, or any, year. At once a howling cry of anguish over historical and persistent political realities, and an ultra-progressive sweaty dance-club of an EDM record, Nation 2 Nation manages to challenge settler complacency even as it marshals native pride. As I wrote about Tribe last year on this site: This is what the future sounds like. Hear it, now. Stuart Henderson

 

Artist: The Good Family

Album: The Good Family Album

Label: Latent

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List Number: 8

The Good Family
The Good Family Album

Who else but the Goods could make the list twice? About as unassuming as any record you’re likely to hear, the Good Brothers and their kids — you may know them as the Sadies — along with a cousin and a mum, have managed to make a future Americana classic. Too bad so few know it yet — this album has somehow flown below the radar of most major media outlets. A collection of traditional country, bluegrass, and folk, all given the cosmic-Kool-Aid wash the Sadies bring to whatever they touch, The Good Family Album bubbles over with great songs. Lovingly produced by Michael Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies and featuring a pair of songs co-written by Blue Rodeo’s Greg Keelor, this is less a family affair than a multigenerational Canadian supergroup. The individual performances are warm and compelling (especially the expressive vocals from cousin D’Arcy Good), the group’s familial synergy is palpable and infectious, and the overall effect is like a crackling fire on a crisp autumn night. The best record nobody heard this year. Stuart Henderson

 

Artist: Solids

Album: Blame Confusion

Label: DineAlone/Fat Possum

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List Number: 7Solids
Blame Confusion

It’s almost comical to think that the two members of Montreal’s Solids started the emphatic guitar-drums duo as a side project they wouldn’t take seriously. Blame Confusion bowls you over at first spin. It’s an empowering listen that captures everything we love and originally fall for in music: big choruses give us a chance to sing along, dramatic rises allow us to join hands with our friends and become part of something larger than us, and, hey, it’d be tough to find a better record to crank up to 11 with the windows down and an empty road in front of you. Joshua Kloke

 

Artist: Kobo Town

Album: Jumbie in the Jukebox

Label: Cumbacha

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List Number: 6

Kobo Town
Jumbie in the Jukebox

Toronto-based Kobo Town has been building towards this extraordinary record for the better part of a decade. Fronted by Trinidadian-born Drew Gonsalves, this innovative but criminally underheard band blends traditional calypso with elements of hip-hop, ska, reggae, and zouk, crafting something that is as excitingly fresh as it is comfortingly familiar. A politically charged record — see, for instance, the blistering “Postcard Poverty” for a taste of Gonsalves’ cutting social commentary — Jumbie is nevertheless happy to get your toes tapping and your head bobbing. All over this record, the grooves are deep, the words are smart and true, and the energy is pitched just right; this is what my summer sounded like. Stuart Henderson

5 – 1

 

Artist: Yamantaka//Sonic Titan

Album: Uzu

Label: Suicide Squeeze

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List Number: 5

Yamantaka//Sonic Titan
Uzu

Toronto-based genre-benders Yamantaka//Sonic Titan have taken noise rock, Asian pop, post-punk, and metal, and combined them into a sound entirely their own. They call it “noh-wave”, cleverly pulling from Japanese alternative theatre and 1980s New York art-rock scenes to describe their hybrid artistry. Reflecting their own mixed heritage and identities — founders Alaska B and Ruby Kato Attwood are both of Euro-Asian backgrounds — Y//ST play music that eschews boundaries, turning comfortably (if unsettlingly) from Western classical influences to Asian pop to First Nations drumming to brain-melting power guitar. Though their debut was rightly hailed as an astonishing piece of work, few of us were prepared for just how affecting their second record might be. It’s a strobe-lit trip through a hall of mirrors. See you on the other side. Stuart Henderson

 

Artist: Hayden

Album: Us Alone

Label: Arts & Crafts

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List Number: 4

Hayden
Us Alone

Every Hayden release is usually dubbed his “comeback” record and the Toronto-based folk rocker did indeed take four years to release the follow-up to 2009’s The Place Where We Lived. Yet there is a renewed sense of purpose from the 42-year-old veteran on Us Alone. Perhaps the birth of his first child served to inspire him; he sings with poise, clarity, and even a sense of reflection. His voice is crisp and he hasn’t lost his dour sense of humour either. Hayden doesn’t meddle whatsoever throughout the cohesive eight-song effort and if he wasn’t already part of the conversation already, Us Alone cements his place as one of the greatest Canadian songwriters in recent memory. Joshua Kloke

 

Artist: Tegan & Sara

Album: Heartthrob

Label: Warner Bros.

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List Number: 3

Tegan & Sara
Heartthrob

Amazingly, on their seventh record, these critically acclaimed and deeply revered indie rockers took a left turn into synth-pop and crafted their masterpiece. Not only is this the best record of their career, it is one of the best pop records of the past half-decade or more. Gloriously produced to dance-club specs by a team of pros, these ten impeccable pop songs match peerless melody with often clever, accessible lyrics about love gone wrong, sex, desire, heartbreak. From “Now I’m All Messed Up” to “Closer” to “I Was a Fool” to “How Come You Don’t Want Me”, every song here is instantly catchy, an immediate earworm, a radio-friendly chartbuster. This record was simply unavoidable in 2013 — not that we were hiding from it. Though some have (quite mindlessly) fretted that this straightforward approach to pop music marks these erstwhile indie artists as “sell outs”, many more have recognized the deeper, more salient point here: Tegan and Sara have managed the rare feat of shifting artistic gears only to find themselves creatively reborn. Many try it. Almost none succeed. Stuart Henderson

 

Artist: Daniel Romano

Album: Come Cry with Me

Label: Normaltown

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List Number: 2

Daniel Romano
Come Cry with Me

For so many long-time fans of traditional country music, people who were raised on post-hippie So Cal country-rock and who cut their teeth at shows in the alt-country 1990s, Daniel Romano appears as a kind of culmination, a startling convergence of all of these sounds, these approaches, these mythologies. His lyrics — often as quirky and as wise as the best of the ’70s-era outlaws — always ring true; his voice — pitched somehow between the high sweetness of a Gram Parsons and the deep earthy baritone of a Johnny Cash or Stompin’ Tom Connors — is disarmingly affecting and deeply distinctive. His approach to traditional melody and arrangement looks backward and forward simultaneously, pulling from influences while pushing at boundaries. Daniel Romano’s uncanny ability to find freshness in the eminently familiar is what makes the timeless songs on Come Cry with Me all feel so vibrant, so essential. Stuart Henderson

 

Artist: Tim Hecker

Album: Virgins

Label: Constellation/Kranky

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List Number: 1

Tim Hecker
Virgins

For about a decade now, each new record from this Montreal-based experimental artist has impressed listeners in powerful ways. Tim Hecker has a mainline into darkness, but he is uncommonly adept at finding the beauty down there in the murk. On Virgins, these soundscapes, these messy, grooveless noises he pulls into something approaching harmony, are as unfamiliar as they are electrifying. A unified, seamless whole, when listened to under the right circumstances, Virgins has a hypnotic effect on its listener, pulling her into its vertiginous rotation. Perhaps it is Hecker’s way of finding unity in the disunity of the sounds that both compels and, thrillingly, unsettles. This record is phenomenally pleasurable, and part of the reason (and this isn’t too far from what I wrote about Hecker’s Constellation label-mates Godspeed You! Black Emperor last year) is that it is genuinely scary. But it’s a rich scary, a quiet and contemplative scary. The album of the year. Stuart Henderson