It’s about time that I post some sort of tribute to the Canadian music scene, seeing as how they are a huge portion of my iTunes. The American music industry is not only filled with a bunch of crap, but it is sure to collapse here in the near future. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of American musicians that I like, but the ones that I appreciate are not really the people you are likely to hear on the radio (although some have gained slightly more popularity over the last couple of years).

The Canadians, however, seem to have their stuff a little more together. And to top it off, they do a really good job of collaborating with one another, mixing it up a bit, and floating around from project to project instead of being tied solely to their specific name, as many American musicians do.

Take Broken Social Scene for example. They are an extremely talented group of musicians that constantly evolve while consistently having around ten members. Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning are the basis, with other musicians such as Leslie Feist, Amy Millan, and Emily Haines working with vocals on a seemingly random, “who’s available” basis. All of these artists also have solo projects, and Amy Millan is also a part of the band Stars. These guys produce consistently good music, and it seems as if they’re less in it for the fame and more in it for the music. Whatever their intentions, they really do produce consistently good music.

Here are a coupe of tracks by the likes of these Canadians (you can click on the artists name to buy CD from insound):

“Sea Lion Woman” - Feist
“Almost Crimes” (Acoustic) - Broken Social Scene
“Skinny Boy” - Amy Millan
“The Big Fight” - Stars
“The Maid Needs A Maid” - Emily Haines and the Soft Skeletons

Also, another one of my many obsessions, Tegan and Sara, are also Canadian. These girls are super-twins or something. Their music is amazing, and the craziest part about it is that their latest album was actually written while they were living in completely different parts of Canada. They’re just that good. I honestly can’t imagine anyone listening to The Con and not loving it. Well, anyone with good tastes, that is. HA. No, but seriously, these two are very talented and look very promising for the future. They’re still incredibly young, and I definitely look forward to where they head in the coming years.

A couple of tracks from Tegan and Sara:

“I Was Married”
“Nineteen”
“Call It Off”
“Like O Like H”

Seriously, I could walk around with my headphones and listen to these guys all day long. It’s like my favorite musician (not Canadian), Chan Marshall, once said, “Wearing headphones is certainly different than playing music in your house because it feels empowering, like you’re not there… like you’re invisible or something.” What better to be invisible to than a beautiful aura of Canadian sound?