Que du vent

I asked Duncan to help out with some more info on Les Cowboys Fringants’ new album, Que du vent. I love typing French titles because they don’t require as much capitalization as English; it’s easier on the fingers, eh.

Que du vent, currently 5th on the Canadian Albums Chart, is, in fact, the band’s 8th studio album in 14 years, a very impressive accomplishment. The band consists of Jean-François Pauzé (guitar), Marie-Annick Lépine (piano and other instruments), Karl Tremblay (vocals), and Jérôme Dupras (bass). Pauzé is the primary composer while Lépine arranges the music.

Que du vent centers around the theme of meaninglessness of the world and of life. The weather vane pictured on the album cover, a device that whirls around in every direction by the wind, symbolizes modern life which has us bustling around in a hectic pace. The song “Shooters” focuses on how hard people of the Montreal suburb of Assomption (the band’s hometown) took the closure of the Electrolux plant, laying off 1,300 employees. “Hasbeen” deals with misplaced stardom. The songs address issues like poverty, lost love, and depression.

Just a month ago, Les Cowboys Fringants posted a message on their Facebook page asking fans not to vote for them in the upcoming Felix awards. Their fans ignored this, and they won Group of the Year – for the third time.

Les Cowboys Fringants Official Website

 

The Making of “Everybody Breaks a Glass”

LIGHTS has wrapped up the bulk of her U.S. / Canadian tour. She will be performing in eastern Canada in January, hitting a few more spots in the U.S. and crossing the Atlantic to perform in Britain. For now, she needs a good rest. Thank you to all who supported her by attending her gigs. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the song “Everybody Breaks a Glass” from her stellar album Siberia. It gives an interesting insight into the work of a musician.

 

A Quiet December

After a whirlwind of releases this Autumn, things appear to be quieting down in December. Most Canadian recording artists celebrate Chirstmas and want to be with family during the holidays, not travelling around to promote new albums. Here are a few things that are happening, however.

This is of course Grey Cup weekend, one of the biggest events of the year in Canada. The BC Lions are playing the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Incidentally, a big band leader in Vancouver rewrote the lyrics of “I Love the Sunshine of Your Smile” to “Roar You Lions Roar” to cheer on the Lions. His name is Dal Richards, the king of swing. An album of his material is coming out on November 29th titled Musically Yours. For those of you who fancy a cruise to Alaska, Dal’s band will be performing aboard Holland America’s Zuiderdam July 7th – 14th 2012. More info is on Dal’s website HERE. Dal is at the ripe old age of 93 and he’s still going strong. God bless him.

Next, we want to talk a little about Kevin Hearn who is probably best known as the keyboardist for The Barenaked Ladies. He has also played with the Rheostatis, Lou Reed, and his own group Thin Buckle. Kev was born in Grimsby, Ontario, growing up in the Toronto area. And we’re very excited because he is releasing a solo album on December 20th, called Cloud Maintenance. For those of you who are a bit tired of guitar-saturated rock and are pining for some cool keys, you can look forward to Kevin’s work. He has a background in classical piano. His website is HERE. He definitely gets our vote for the coolest album cover of the year!

 

Sir Francis and the Frisky Cowboys

Canada has a new #1 album, and it’s not from sea captain Sir Francis but a rapper named Drake. Take Care is the Torontonian’s second studio album. The title track, which features Barbadian artist Rihanna is #17 on the Canadian Hot 100 this week. Another new addition to the album charts is néo-trad, multi-award-winning Montréal band Les Cowboys Fringants with Que du vent (#5). Vancouverites, who are not as fond of rap as Torontonians and néo-trad as Montrealers, can take pride in the fact that Abbotsford’s Victoria Duffield has moved up a notch on the singles chart with her “Shut Up and Dance” (#18). Two Vancouver-based groups have released new albums this week: Nickelback (Here and Now) and Marianas Trench (Ever After). The former will be performing at the Grey Cup halftime show on Sunday.

 

Anjulie Is a Brand New PLATINUM Chick!

Congratulations to Oakville, Ontario’s fabulous singer-songwriter Anjulie (Persaud) whose song “Brand New Chick” has been certified a Platinum single in Canada. This is a remarkable achievement given that the only other platinum single released this year has been Simple Plan’s “Jet Lag”. Very well done!

Justin Bieber‘s new album Under the Mistletoe has been certified Gold. It is the 5th Canadian album released this year to do so.

Other recent certifications:

Nickelback‘s “When We Stand Together” – Gold

Drake‘s “Headlines” – Gold

Marianas Trench‘s “Haven’t Had Enough” – Gold

Hedley‘s “Invincible” – Gold

Karl Wolf feat. Kardinal Offishall, “Ghetto Love” – Gold

Thank you for continuing to support our Canadian artists who are working very hard to make great music.

 

A 604 Records Christmas

Tired of the same old rehashed Christmas tunes? Chad Kroeger’s production company, 604 Records, is releasing a Christmas album with mostly original Christmas-inspired pop songs from its signed recording artists. The album will be released on Wednesday and is available on iTunes. “604″ refers to the telephone area code in Vancouver where Kroeger’s company is based. They were named Best Vancouver Record Label by the Urban Culture Conference awards this year. We’ve listened to the tracks and are really impressed; they’re simply fantastic. Check it out on iTunes HERE.

Here’s a track list with blurbs on the artists:

1. “Our First Christmas” by Daniel Wesley

Wesley grew up in Langley, a suburb of Vancouver. He released his fifth studio album in July.

2. “For Christmas Time” by Suzie McNeil

Suzie is from Mississauga, Ontario. She released her fourth album this year. This is one of our favourite tracks on the disc.

3. “Sing in Celebration” by Faber Drive

This is a four-piece band from Mission, BC. Their “G-Get Up and Dance” was a Top 10 hit in 2009.

4. Christmas at My House” by Jessie Farrell

Jessie is a country artist. She has also collaborated with Faber Drive. She’s from Vancouver.

5. “Frostbite Kisses” by Jakalope

These guys are a Vancouver-based industrial outfit with rotating members. The band was assembled by Dave “Rave” Ogilvie who has worked with Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, and David Bowie.

6. “Mittens” by Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly is from Mission, BC and was a finalist in the 5th season of Canadian Idol. She currently has a Top 40 radio hit called “Call Me Maybe”. This Christmas song is just brilliant.

7. “Christmas Time” by Jackie Valentine

This is a new band from White Rock (suburb of Vancouver). They released their debut album and single “Brand New Car” last spring.

8. “Mrs. Claus” by Jessie Farrell

See above.

9. “Baby Please Come Home” by Josh Ramsay

Josh is a member of the popular Vancouver pop punk band Marianas Trench.

10. “Hello December Sun” by Frederick

There’s not much info on this male singer from Vancouver. Based on the beauty of this song, we hope to hear more from him in the future.

 

The Heartbroken

We are very happy that Labrador City’s Damhnait Doyle is still making great music. If you remember, she had a big hit back in 1996 called “A List of Things” which made the year-end Top 100 in Canada. She then hooked up with Kim Stockwood and Tara MacLean to form the all-female band Shaye who released two albums in the new millennium.

Damhnait is now leading a new Toronto-based band with Stuart Cameron, Peter Fusco, and Blake Manning called The Heartbroken. They released an album last year called Tonight Tonight with singles “Seventeen” and “The Truth”. Also on the album is the beautiful song “Cover Me”. Check out the cool video below. Their website is HERE.

 

 

Half of Canadian Albums Chart Top 10 by Canucks

Feist will be commencing the Canadian leg of her tour tomorrow with a sold out concert in Vancouver. She is promoting her new album Metals. She will be in Australia and New Zealand in the new year.

Mr. Bubbles has floated up to the top spot on the Canadian Albums Chart this week. The Biebs is at #3 and sandwiched between them at #2 is Hedley with their new stuido album Storms. At #5 this week is Blonde by Montreal’s Coeur de Pirate, stage name of Beatrice Martin. This is her second studio album. Her first was nominated for Francophone Album of the Year at the Junos in 2009. She has been playing piano since she was 3. Isabelle Boulay has released a new album called Les Grandes Espaces which is at #9 this week. Boulay dabbles in country and folk on this bilingual release.

New on the Canadian Singles Chart is The Next Star finalist Victoria Duffield (Abbotsford, BC) with “Shut Up and Dance” (#19).

 

4 Diverse Releases on the Ides of November

A quartet of new releases will be in shops tomorrow on the ides of November this 2011.

1. To celebrate their 45th anniversary, the great partying Canadian performers The Irish Rovers are releasing a live album, Home in Ireland, from their performance in Belfast, Northern Ireland. This is sweet for them because they immigrated to Canada from Northern Ireland in the first place. These were the guys that gave us their famous cover of “The Unicorn” in 1968 as well as the classic “Wasn’t That a Party” in 1980. As many Canadians have some Irish blood from their ancestry, music like this is bound to hit the spot.

2. From Irish-Canadian folk, we hyperwarp into territory where music isn’t sung but rapped. When we think of Canadian rap, the first name that comes to mind is probably Drake. A brand new studio album (his second) called Take Care will be out. Winnipeg songstress Chantal Kreviazuk contributed to some of the writing (and backing vocals) on the album.

3. For those of you who don’t like rapping, you can listen to the godfather of Canadian rock and roll, Mr. Paul Anka, while wrapping (with a w) Christmas gifts. His new Christmas album Songs of December will be on store shelves tomorrow.

4. If none of the above is your cup of tea and you dig the more alternative side of the musical spectrum, you might consider Calgary twin sisters Tegan and Sara who are releasing a greatest hits package called Get Along. It comes with a DVD. Although considered “indie” artists, they were featured in the radio hit “Feel It In My Bones” by Dutch trance artist Tiesto. 

Finally, if you’re more into rock bands, you need only to wait a week as new releases from Marianas Trench, Nickelback, and box sets of Rush material will be out.

 

White Sahara, Susan Aglukark

Susan Aglukark has released what appears to be a “greatest hits” album called White Sahara. It includes her classics as well as a new tune or two. It came out at the end of September and is available for download at iTunes and on CD at HMV. Susan was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2005. We have just finished writing a major profile on her which is filed under our 1990s section HERE. You can also check out Susan’s Official Website.

 

Major Profiles on Canadian Recording Artists of Asian Descent

We are pleased to make the following announcement.

In keeping with our policy of giving priority to Canadian recording artists of Asian descent, we will be putting major profiles of Raghav, Kristina Maria, Anjulie, and Elise Estrada up on the site.

Normally, we reserve major profiles for superstars like Celine Dion, Bryan Adams, and Alanis Morissette. To help break the racist mold of a blacks-and-whites-only club in the West, however, we are making this move.

Let us know if there are any other Canadian artists of Asian descent you would like us to profile. The only requirement we ask is that the artist has had a Top 40 radio hit single in Canada.

Additionally, we will be bumping up Susan Aglukark, the world’s most successful Inuk recordnig artist, from a mini profile to major profile.

 

Stereo Martini

Stereo Martini is a Toronto-based production / DJ duo consisting of Alonso Mendez and Gerard Briz. They have engineered dance remixes for artists like Jully Black. They also compose original music, such as THIS new single.

Check out their website HERE.

 

Something “Unexpected” from Theo Tams

Canadian Idol winner Theo Tams released a 5-track independent EP back in 2005 called “Unexpected”. This was before he entered and won the national contest in 2008. We are pleased to announce that this EP has just recently been made available for download on iTunes HERE.

Tams studied music at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta and, since winning the final season of the popular show, has relocated to Toronto. He released a full-length album in 2009 called Give It All Away which included his big hit “Sing“, a song that made our list of 50 favourite Canadian songs of all-time.

In related news, Carly Rae Jepsen‘s exquisite song “Call Me Maybe” has broken into the iTunes Top 40 chart. She was a finalist in the Canadian Idol season just prior to Theo Tams’.

 

Canucks at #1 and #2 on the Canadian Albums Chart

It appears that Canadians have decided to make albums by Canadian artists the best-selling in the country for the first time in a while. Last week, Canadians rushed out to buy the new album by British band Coldplay. This week, however, belongs to the Canucks.

British Columbia’s Michael Buble is still at #2 with his Christmas album. Calgary’s Jann Arden is at #10 with her new release Undercover Me 2. At 9th spot is Toronto rap-rock band Down with Webster and their Time to Win album. So the question is – who’s at #1? Well, never underestimate the power of youth. They are the lifeblood of the country with their vitality and energy, and they always help to cleanse our crusty hearts of accumulated rust. Justin Bieber has topped the albums chart with Under the Mistletoe.

The lead single, an original Christmas song, is “Mistletoe”. What’s special about the song is that it is Canadian. Bieber composed the song with Canadian songwriters Nasri Tony Atweh and Adam Messinger.

 

Official Music Video “When We Stand Together”, Nickelback

Hot off the press, here’s the official video for Nickelback’s Top 20 hit, “When We Stand Together”.