1990s Canadiana
Dec. 13th, 2005 01:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
peteryoungHaving had one foot in Toronto for much of the 1990s meant there was plenty of music to be discovered that might be hard to find elsewhere. Four albums which were never huge outside Canada but are each worth some commentary:
Susan Aglukark, This Child, 1995
Jann Arden, Living Under June, 1994
Tom Cochrane, Mad Mad World, 1991
Alex Lifeson, Victor, 1996
Susan Aglukark, This Child, 1995
Susan Aglukark has always written 'small-town' music, the kind of thing best played in front of small audiences as opposed to large stadiums. This Child was her second, breakthrough album, eventually going triple-platinum and from which came 'O Siem', the first Canadian Top 40 hit by an Inuk performer. To my mind she's a better songwriter than a singer; her voice is kind of one-dimensional, as if she is singing along with the vocal track rather than pushing her voice to the front where it needs to be. This makes most of the compositions too insubstantial for my taste but there are some good tunes here, all of which draw on her Inuit background and focus on themes of self-respect, strength and identity, turning her into something of a role-model for aboriginal people of Nunavut and Canada in general. Lightweight but heartfelt.
Jann Arden, Living Under June, 1994
Unlike other female Canadian vocalists I could name (stand up Alanis Morrissette), Jann Arden never had to re-discover what it is to be musically honest with yourself because she had it all along. True to her upbringing and roots in Calgary, Living Under June is one of the best soundtracks to a girl's life from the time she first moves out of home to then (maybe –) discovering her first love. There are plenty of pitfalls and incident in between but she rarely complains about it all, just writes very good observational and descriptive songs about discovering what's worth it and what ain't. But her main point of reference is always her family, passing on how her parents taught her to approach life ('Feet on ground, heart in hand, facing forward, be yourself') – there is an openness here that can still make a grown man shiver, and a guest vocal from Jackson Browne puts the final seal of approval on an excellent album which I would love her to equal in emotional impact, but has not yet done so.
Tom Cochrane, Mad Mad World, 1991
Tom Cochrane's constant touring with his band Red Rider meant he'd built up a very loyal following by the time he released Mad Mad World, his eleventh album and actually a mainstream rock album of a pretty high order. 'Life is a Highway' became the major 'road' hit that had airplay everywhere and briefly made his name outside North America, but despite that one exception this is an album which keeps its lyrical themes mostly in the city, for instance the toughest and most vicious track is 'Get Back Up', a frank depiction of how it is to love a heroin addict. There's a tad too much filler on a few of the more mellow songs but it still has enough light and shade to hold it together rather well a decade and a half later.
Alex Lifeson, Victor, 1996
If W.H. Auden were still alive and wanted to see if he was part of modern times then he needn't look any further than Victor, which contains a musical version of his disturbing narrative poem of the same name. Alex Lifeson's teaming up with Edwin of Toronto's now defunct I Mother Earth might have been an unexpected move to some but to my ears each track delivers in spades, recorded between Rush's Counterparts and Test for Echo albums. Victor falls somewhere between alternative and mainstream rock genres which partly works against it becoming a memorable album in itself as there is probably too much diversity, but given that the whole album is very much infused with the character of Lifeson himself means it makes sense if you know what to listen out for. And any guy who doesn't recognise the bitching contained in 'Shut Up Shuttin' Up' simply hasn't been there and should count himself lucky.
Susan Aglukark, This Child, 1995
Jann Arden, Living Under June, 1994
Tom Cochrane, Mad Mad World, 1991
Alex Lifeson, Victor, 1996
Susan Aglukark, This Child, 1995
Susan Aglukark has always written 'small-town' music, the kind of thing best played in front of small audiences as opposed to large stadiums. This Child was her second, breakthrough album, eventually going triple-platinum and from which came 'O Siem', the first Canadian Top 40 hit by an Inuk performer. To my mind she's a better songwriter than a singer; her voice is kind of one-dimensional, as if she is singing along with the vocal track rather than pushing her voice to the front where it needs to be. This makes most of the compositions too insubstantial for my taste but there are some good tunes here, all of which draw on her Inuit background and focus on themes of self-respect, strength and identity, turning her into something of a role-model for aboriginal people of Nunavut and Canada in general. Lightweight but heartfelt.
Jann Arden, Living Under June, 1994
Unlike other female Canadian vocalists I could name (stand up Alanis Morrissette), Jann Arden never had to re-discover what it is to be musically honest with yourself because she had it all along. True to her upbringing and roots in Calgary, Living Under June is one of the best soundtracks to a girl's life from the time she first moves out of home to then (maybe –) discovering her first love. There are plenty of pitfalls and incident in between but she rarely complains about it all, just writes very good observational and descriptive songs about discovering what's worth it and what ain't. But her main point of reference is always her family, passing on how her parents taught her to approach life ('Feet on ground, heart in hand, facing forward, be yourself') – there is an openness here that can still make a grown man shiver, and a guest vocal from Jackson Browne puts the final seal of approval on an excellent album which I would love her to equal in emotional impact, but has not yet done so.
Tom Cochrane, Mad Mad World, 1991
Tom Cochrane's constant touring with his band Red Rider meant he'd built up a very loyal following by the time he released Mad Mad World, his eleventh album and actually a mainstream rock album of a pretty high order. 'Life is a Highway' became the major 'road' hit that had airplay everywhere and briefly made his name outside North America, but despite that one exception this is an album which keeps its lyrical themes mostly in the city, for instance the toughest and most vicious track is 'Get Back Up', a frank depiction of how it is to love a heroin addict. There's a tad too much filler on a few of the more mellow songs but it still has enough light and shade to hold it together rather well a decade and a half later.
Alex Lifeson, Victor, 1996
If W.H. Auden were still alive and wanted to see if he was part of modern times then he needn't look any further than Victor, which contains a musical version of his disturbing narrative poem of the same name. Alex Lifeson's teaming up with Edwin of Toronto's now defunct I Mother Earth might have been an unexpected move to some but to my ears each track delivers in spades, recorded between Rush's Counterparts and Test for Echo albums. Victor falls somewhere between alternative and mainstream rock genres which partly works against it becoming a memorable album in itself as there is probably too much diversity, but given that the whole album is very much infused with the character of Lifeson himself means it makes sense if you know what to listen out for. And any guy who doesn't recognise the bitching contained in 'Shut Up Shuttin' Up' simply hasn't been there and should count himself lucky.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-13 05:18 pm (UTC)Jann Arden is very good though not really my thing as a rule. I like her style and attitude though. She's very funny too.
Tom Cochrane. Yes have rocked many times to Life is a Highway and i think i had this cd at one time. No idea what happened to it.
never heard of the first lady.
There's some good stuff coming out of Canada that doesn't always make it out of the country unfortunately. Bif Naked seems to be one of those.
One of my favourites is Great Big Sea who are a band from Newfoundland that do a lot of traditional east coast kitchen party stuff, and they have lots of energy and put on a fun concert.
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Date: 2005-12-14 11:27 pm (UTC)no subject
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