Repatriation

This is a small country. We live in a place where family, community and national kinship are stretched over thousands of miles of land, but there are not that many of us. So when you try to have a conversation about national definitions it's hard for us to talk to each other stretched over miles and regions. I have been struggling over the last few weeks to write about what it means to live in Canada. More and more there seems to be a sense of a slipping identity. I think it started when I went to visit England and had a conversation with my brother-in-law about how the UK has lost it's way. When you travel in England now you don't see the Union Jack as much. The St. Georges cross flag is much more prevalent, a little less iconic for sure but that's just the start. People don't believe in an England as much as they did. It could be the Europization of the country, the struggles of identity are an obvious side-effect of mass immigration, which is made worse by the fear of xenophobia (especially in Europe) if the line is crossed when speaking about nationalism to strongly. This is my country right or wrong-but who's mine or yours? The economic downturn and the effects of Globalization have added to the malaise where a country once so powerful is on the verge of being a middle power at best. The military is strong for sure but the belief in it's mission and purpose is muddy. As a result of the inability to have a national conversation on identity there is an undercurrent of racism and anti-semitism that is quietly boiling over in many countries in Europe. We are in the midst of a re-definition of cultural and racial identity as the process of trying to figure out who the good guys are is infinitely more complicated than it was in our parents generation. The result being either indifference which turns at best to ignorance as it's just too overwhelming to understand how our increasingly mixed societies define themselves, or as we have witnessed in France-violence.

My thoughts have turned to multiculturalism as of late as the talks at the dinner table have been about the youth culture in our country. It exists on two distinct parallels that are increasingly on a convergent path of complete indifference and ignorance about what it is to be Canadian. The first group being what I would define myself as coming from-the picture of the Queen on wall group-predominately white and Christian, quietly respectful but with a hint of intolerance and the lack of true understanding beyond our country's borders. The other, Toronto. Integrated, with a focus on diversity, modern and urban but one with no context of a greater country beyond community borders but with a world view that is surprisingly educated. The war cry from historians over the last 2 decades has been that history in Canada is irrelevant. That there are no common lines that can join together to create a unified theory of Canadianism. We have the Two Solitudes, The Depression, WWII, post-war nostalgia and the first wave immigration and than there is a post Vietnam 1970s multiculturalism that has been going ever since with Canada being defined by what it is and what it is not: We're not America, we are more inclusive, we leave more room for cultural identity-you know the score.

To boil this down to it's relevance to the news today of the repatriation of three soldiers from Afghanistan-- if you don't know what this country really means to you how does that define your emotional response to the death of three of our nations soldiers? Do we all know why they were there? Do you think it's right or wrong? If you cheer too loudly are you supporting war or supporting the mission? What is the mission? I have taken the time to know why we are there but I'm an obsessive politico with political science education, I can't not know about this stuff! But how we have been educated on this war-if it is one- has been exceedingly difficult because we can't have a conversation as a country anymore. It's beyond language, it's about commonalities that seem to be slipping away, however much they were there in the first place. It's the failure of our government the education system and ourselves and the casualty of trying to live our daily lives. But we get up go to work come home watch TV go to sleep and sometimes NEVER think about so, ya, I'm Canadian. If there is ever a place to start to ask each other hard questions about who we are, what do we mean to each other and what our role in shaping the world is going to be than it's on one of the many bridges that cross the MacDonald-Cartier from Trenton to Toronto. Watch the TV and listen to the news and stop just for a moment what does this mean? Where are we? Where are we going? Is it right or wrong? Our parents and grandparents generations had it hard for sure, but they don't have to deal with the consequences of living in the post-modern mindf#ck that 21st century Canada.

Up All Night

So this song is a monster in the UK and may spill over here. The mainstreaming of "let's just outright copy the Beatles now for a while" has begun. Instead of the music industry trying to help create another Beatles in terms of impact and new ideas and such, lets just carefully rip them off but also make it obvious (note the John Lennon J-160E, oh and ya...the song). As much as Panic! at the Disco really tried in terms of sounds on their Pretty Odd disc of last year at least the songwriting was unique, this though...uuuugghh. Lennon just got up and shot himself.

Of America: I'm Sorry, Can We Be Friends?

The first time I ever went to the US was just over 2 years ago. I'm was nearing my mid-30s and had never crossed the border. I, like nearly 75% of Canadians live within 100miles/160kms of the United States and had traveled to Ireland, England, all over Canada (except Newfoundland and the far North) and South Korea but never hopped in the car and drove to friggin' Niagara and kept going. I had stared at the US from The Falls (finally seeing it from the other side earlier this year, we REALLY do have the better view) and wondered. I wondered what it would feel like to be within the confines of it's borders? Would I get swallowed up? Would I instantly forget what it's like to feel Canadian? Or would all the stereotypes play themselves out and I would be hyper-sensitive to my roots-British Canadian, a colonial child. I think I seriously was afraid. Alex and I had traded so many half-joking/half serious "what the fuck is wrong with America?" MSN txts that I thought FOR SURE I'm on a list. If you read some of my earlier posts in this blog you'll see I had a real typical spoiled Canadian hate on for the US, Bush or no Bush, I really did paint with a wide brush. Tomorrow is a truly meaningful day. Not just a hyped, cyber-marketed bullshit day, a truly splendid day to be living in the 21st century. We don't have flying cars, or teleportation, or replicators, we don't have world peace and universal translators (although I hear they're working on it) we have a broken economy and we have the legacy of ignoring our history to contend with, but hallelujah, a black man will be President tomorrow! I offer this post as my thanks and best wishes to this country I discovered a couple of years ago while driving Alex to Connecticut. We drove through the Berkshires and they were dream like on account of a frosting. We drove through Springfield and fell to a deep sleep in Hartford. I awoke in America and was scared. I was still Canadian, not in Guantanamo, and the first American I said hello to smiled and said "good morning, beautiful day isn't it", I said, "ya eh", he stopped smiled, he knew who where I was from. And I drove downtown Hartford and felt the enormity of a country that moved the world into the 20th century, that lived the promise of the Enlightenment and has never looked back.

Below are things we can be thankful for that our big brothers and sisters to the south have accomplished. The people, places things and events in history that to a new friend and admirer of The Union, will always inspire fear, love and awe. A place that a Frenchman, Tocqueville, even a hundred and eighty ears ago, knew was destined for greatness. He wrote, "The more closely one examines the country's social and political situation, how marvelous the harmony between fortune and human effort seems".



New York, New York.

The Empire State building, will out live us all, and our kids, and our kid's kids and so on, and on and on. It is the great pyramid of our epoch. Also, bless New York City for Levain cookies, Patsy's pizza, Gray's Papaya, Dallas BBQs, Buttercup cupcakes, the New York Public Library building, Central Park, Lincoln Center, Times Square/Broadway, Brooklyn, Fishs Eddy, the train (otherwise known as the best subway system in the world, not the cleanest but wow nothing like it.) The 1980s Islanders teams-Billy Smith, Mike Bossy, Al Arbour, Dennis Potvin, Trottier-come on! I could go on, and most importantly showing me how to love again. Thank New York State for Seneca Falls, the Erie Canal and William Seward ( Lincoln would have been lost without him)


Wisconsin Dells

I have not had the pleasure of finding myslef in what is known as The Water Park and Rollercoaster Capital of the world, but it is on my list before the Mayan Ruins and Rome. I have heard tales from breathless travellers that it is a wonder, with miles of go-kart tracks, endless mini-golf and water slides the size office towers-come on!!! Topped off with being in the cheese capital of North America, what more could you wan?!. If there is a Nirvana for the JD Smith species, for all who know him, this is it.

M&Ms

So anyone who knows me knows I have a special kinda drug problem. I'm a hard core user. Listen everyone's got there vices. I gave up smoking, I don't do drugs, I enjoy a beer and whiskey every once and a while, but don't dare give me a bag of fucking M&Ms. We were in Boston and I had a relapse late one night and haven't been the same since. Thank-you America for M&Ms. Those US troops in WWII needed a portable sugar rush that wouldn't melt and could tuck nicely into a helmet. Yay WAR!! We got the bomb and candy coated chocolate out of it. Only in America. Oh, and the fact that Dairy Queen puts them in Blizzards in the US is enough for me to apply for a Green Card.

America the Good

To say America's image abroad is in trouble, well everyone knows what everyone outside of America thinks about the America the Bad of the last decade. But you know what, I have often asked myself where the fuck would we be with out them? See what my friend Pat has said.

"1) Americans are proud. They do nothing small, everything with gusto, enthusiasm, and considerable optimism. 2) They modernized what we know of democracy, and painful as it is sometimes, it works. Churchill put it this way: “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” This, in a broad way, gave people the ability to disagree, argue, worship, defend themselves and speak their minds as never before in history. 3) Their involvement in WWII, via Lend Lease act, and their later active participation in that conflict changed how the world might have otherwise turned out. For better or worse, we're probably better off that they did. 4) Most global disasters feature a strong humanitarian response from US charities and civilians, as well as government support. When the 1989 San Fran earthquake hit - they were largely left to care for their own."

I would add that in international development the work of the World Bank, the IMF, UN agencies, Christian relief organizations, private foundations are lead by many Americans-The Gates Foundation, The Ford Foundation, the Rockefellers, The Clinton Global initiative, have done more for human development in the last decade than any other country's work.

Buddy Holly

Rock n' roll for me has a white father. I'm sorry Chuck Berry, I'm going to hell rock Hell for saying this but I think history will continue shine its light brighter and brighter on the Lubbock Texas native. Elvis created the persona of the modern pop star, but he didn't truly translate rock n roll for America. Buddy Holly did. He took on the country music establishment and with his school boy looks hiding searing musical brilliance he made it safe for everyone north of the Mason/Dixon line to tap there toes at 120bpm, lose control, shout, lust, and take the plastic veneer off 1950s America.

Indigo Girls

There is a particular mix of musical history, a place and time and serendipity that created my favourite musicians. If I was at a world music conference and had to give just one group that defines modern American music I would give them a copy of Retrospective by the Indigo Girls. Amy Ray and Emily Sailers would define themselves in may ways. Musicians, artists, activists. I first heard them nearly 15 years ago. Airplane was the first song I heard and it still gives me goosebumps. I take some razzin' from the more ignorant music fan for my respect and love for this duo. But their blend of country, folk, rock, pop, literature, history and passion for the world around continues to inspire.

The Final Frontier

When I was a child I was obsessed with space. I went through the obligatory I want to be an astronaut phase. I was an Eighties child and the decade was bittersweet for the space program. The Challenger tragedy aside, amazing advances were made that took the dream of Kennedy to the next level, one of a more scientific and discovery phase as opposed to the race and conquest model that propelled us in the 60s/70s. For my friends on the left the space program is a poster child for the mis-allocation of public funds, minds and investment. However, we live not just on Earth but within a incredibly complicated almost ethereal existence bopping along at a thousands of miles a minute heading where? What we learn from these trips to the 'back forty' are nothing short of miraculous. Great science has so many by products of learning. If you look around your house, your office and especially your local hospital, much of the science and technology that exists came out of the 'need' to go to the moon.

The New Deal

Thank God that FDR was a traitor to his class. As much as Obama naturally should lean toward the spirit of the Lincoln administration and the the strings through time that attach the two men's destinies, the 12 years FDR guided the great ship America are loaded with How-To's and Playbooks for our time today. There has been a subtle education of the public form Team Obama so far on what will be a New Deal like administration program. What came out of the New Deal in the 1930s was not just an economic recovery that was finished unfortunately by a war, but a re-invigoration of American civil society, arts, culture, science and industry. The example of 1930s America I think is the most brilliant and true to its soul. As Clinton said this past year, America needs to be prepared to show the world the power of it's example, not make and example of it's power.

MLK

There is nothing I can say about this man that hasn't been said by better, much smarter people than I. Just watch the I have a dream speech and say thanks.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1732754907698549493

WHHAAT THAAA F*CK BUDDY?!

Sometimes we turn to absurdity and really basic humour when confronted with images and news that overruns our minds capacity for understanding and emotional context. I recently thought this week of JD's humorous observation on our last tour that kept us going for days and I still find hilarious. We were in New Glasgow, our first show and we were setting up and doing the haul when JD overheard one of the locals exclaim-WHHAATT THHAAA FUCK BUDDY! He was dismayed to find that a great deal of the couches had been removed from one of the rooms in the upstairs portion of the bar. "Where are ya supposed to get laid now??" I believe was the root of his problem with managements decision. I thought of this guy while walking past the line of newspaper boxes with images and headlines from Gaza spread across the front page. What the fuck buddy indeed. What would this guy think? What would anyone from the East Coast think of this war? I'll try not to stereotype all of our Maritime friends but what I'm getting at is there is a particular view of the world form the East Coast that is unique in Canada. Beyond the Maritimes is known as "Away". Ah your from away! Is what your told. Doesn't matter where, it's just not here. I understand why everywhere else is away. A great deal of the East can be mistaken for the Garden of Eden. But the spirit of the East that arises from this notion is of interest to me when trying to come at the Middle East quagmire. As absurd as it is to have your local barfly analyze a situation as this, the very problem would seem absurd to the local barfly. "What you mean you're fighting over a bit of land by the sea buddy?" Why's it gotta come to war? Just get a couple of your best boys head down to the local and have at it with a hard night of drinkin". Many a sad situation and political dispute is solved over a bottle and some tunes there. But as wishful as our man's solutions make me, I know they belong in a different world than ours.

Our world is one of hard politics, religion and their unending war over power. In school I dabbled in trying to wrap my head around a stream of political science known as comparative politics. I found it useful in my nationalism class when trying to understand when studying Eastern Europe to look to Latin America as a source of possible solutions and pathways for development (both civil and economic). Latin America (LA) was a colonial shitting ground for centuries and has always had an affinity in it's post-colonial time toward socialism and state centered development. Eastern Europe was just coming out of the haze of communist power and was looking for ways to live in the capitalist world so taking state structures, economic and social development models from the LA region and seeing if they could work in places like Bulgaria seemed like a good idea. I'm not sure how much past theory this comparative politics approach has come but it makes sense. So in such a hard Realpolitik arena such as the Middle East you have two choices-emotional fatigue brought on by the rationalization of events and trying to assess blame and figure out who is right and wrong and who has the moral advantage thereby should have the political advantage and our support OR ask political science for an answer.

Israel is a very young country. It just passed it's 60th anniversary. Sixty years in barely a couple of generations. When your talking state clock time this is just a few minutes passed 12 noon. What we have all been privy to in our lives is the growing pains of a new state set within the confines of geography divided by millenia of history. As a political structure, Israel is in it's youth and we will not see a resolution of it's growth in our lifetimes. The Arab/Israeli war has never stopped since 1948. Egypt has been the most crucial country in Israel's history as a country that it has continued to battle with as the representative of the Arab league. The history of the conflict is enough for many books. But what has brought the world's eyes back is the fight over a 41km long stretch that has been bounced around like a hot potato that everyone has tried to eat. As part of the Oslo Accords, Israel ceded control over Gaza and removed the Jewish settlers by 2005. The PLO has maintained administrative control since but the State of Israel really is still the one that calls the shots in terms of airspace water rights and travel. Further, they put up a giant fucking wall to keep Gazans out. Walls don't work when you have rockets. The Palestinian Authority (it's own recent political history has been well interesting- lets just say the wrong family members are currently in charge) have declared “Israel still controls every person, every good, literally every drop of water to enter or leave the Gaza Strip. Its troops may not be there … but it still restricts the ability for the Palestinian authority to exercise control.” Human Rights Watch and Democracy Now have both recently called Israel on its actions. So you have a jumpy, young militaristic nation supported by the largest superpower on Earth, surround by nations intent on their removal, a region right next door that is currently being supported by World Public Enemy #1 Iran, a group of people starved, unemployed, turning to God, and his chosen prophets telling them to fight for your very life, and well you get rockets, answered by gunships, jets and tanks.


During my recent trip to England my cousin looked at the TV with a Gaza report on and just shook his head (A What The Fuck Buddy in his head, if you will). An appropriate response. We got to talking about the UK and it made me think that England was a kind of Israel of Europe. You want to see a country surrounded by people that HATE it! England has had the Welsh, the Scots, the Irish, the French, and at many times the Germans, and the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire war machines and political vitriol trained on it. The English have given many of these countries solid cause for their discontent no doubt, but has not Israel? The English up until the late twentieth century have been a pretty racially homogeneous bunch, especially by North American standards. They have held to a particular religious vision for the last 400 plus years and have been a militaristic and economic empire. Through the lens of comparative politics, Israel is a baby England. Now this is true reductionism, but come on this is a blog. Israel has not forged an imperial path (yet) but it does have an enormous diaspora around the world that through its religious conviction fights various economic and social battles on it's behalf. The state of Israel is supported from outside its borders and inside it has become an extremely tough military nation bent on it's protection and development. In the course of historical time, this will get very tiring, and very expensive and eventually the memories of 1948 and 1967 will fade and the world will say enough is enough, just like we all did with England and Germany. The problem, is in non-historical time, in OUR lifetimes. England had to go through a couple of wars that brought the world in before it learned how to play nice and its neighbours realized compromise was the only path to political survival and economic prosperity. England let go of vestiges and made good with it's neighbours. A political solution was what solved Northern Ireland. A political compromise is what it gave Scotland. A political and economic agreement and trust is what the Allies gave Germany. A belief in popular sovereignty and economic independence is what it gave to India (some would ague here it was kinda like selling off capital to pay its creditors and Gandhi was becoming a royal pain in the arse) With great power comes great responsibility.

There is little wonder why a vast majority in Europe have not supported the current response to rocket attacks by Hamas from Gaza. Been there, seen that, done it. Although the high Muslim population in France and England and that natural tendency toward distrust and hate of Israel notwithstanding, the general consensus is that this will not solve the problem and that innocents are the ones as always who will shoulder the burden of war. As simplistic as what Pres. Elect Obama has said, that if someone was throwing rockets in my backyard I'd do everything I could to stop them, it is not the answer. Europe as a political force will not be able by itself to realign the political powers that be in the Middle East toward peace. The U.S. has to moderate it support for Israel and get back to a closer form of neutrality. Hillary Clinton has her hands full and the first thing is not to go to war with Iran. The first thing is to isolate Iran by bringing everyone in the Middle East to the table and making sure Egypt gets back to its leadership position. No one but the insane or the pathologically obsessed or the truly invested few want war. The trick is in the Middle East to make sure these people don't get and hold office. How? The only way that has worked- through hearts and minds and stomachs.

Terrorism is not new to our time. It's a plague that keeps mutating to fit the DNA of our present body politik. If we keep forgetting how we solved problems before, if we keep to such isolated views of how we are to go about living together, we are doomed to a recycled life of death. Israel will grow up. It must find peace for its survival and the majority of Jews know this, more than anyone on this planet, they know this. This fight is a preamble to the real work that will be done this century. The tools, and templates are their. The resources and possibilities are there. It's just what happens between now and then that scares us all.

Post Script:

I failed to mention Tony Blair is the latest peace envoy for the UN. Good Luck. Northern Ireland taught him a lot. Let's just hope they're gonna listen.

On a sad note, Canada was the lone voice in opposition to a UN resolution citing the attacks by Israel are creating a humanitarian catastrophe. Harper said that is was inflammatory. The U.S. abstained.

The Music Letter-2008

I hate critics. Our band has been on the good and bad side of their graces, and to be honest, they don't get it either way. Thom York is one of my heroes for sure on this point. Actors have The Screen Actors Guild, and they get to evaluate the work of their peers and in a lot of cases, they get it right. Then there is the Academy and well it's a joke. The Grammy's they're a joke. I have been caught calling fans 'the idiots'. What would 'the idiots' like, because for popular mainstream success (whatever that is these days) you really do have to find the lowest common denominator, dress it up and hide a few nuggets for the 'true' fans and hope for the best. I wish musicians were a more united bunch. We have SOCAN and ASCAP thank God, and various unions but when it comes to be being united in an association that evaluates our work as an industry we leave it to hacks, failed artists, and the fans. Man I sound really bitter. But it's the truth. This year has been amazing for music though. The Indie has really started to be well an oxymoron. Some of the most successful acts that are breaking through are doing it on their own dime. The definition of Indie is being stretched but we are starting to see the beginning of a maturing in our industry after years of insanity.

My list below is just that...My List. We all have our favourites but as I said above, we should look to the creators for their point of view on what is the best music you should spend your well earned ducats on (or your well earned time ripping it off from some site).

Themes on my lists are geographical first. New York has reasserted itself as capital of music cool. The National, Vampire Weekend, We Are Scientists and The Hold Steady all hail from the 5 boroughs. The Brits get it right. Coldplay really put it away this year. The record, love or hate'em demands respect as a beautiful ballsy journey that stripped off the guitars, reigned in Chris Martin and showed that the best bands always have the most kick-ass rhythm sections. The Kings of Leon and The Killers are RIPPING up the charts in England, and have made but a blip on this side of the pond. Will we always have to be taught by the British how to respect our own rock? And this is not to mention fucking capital records by Keane and Radiohead. Finally, as every year goes by more and more amazing Canadian rock keeps getting made. The Stills and Wintersleep have made a couple of my favourite records in the last couple of years.

The last theme on the lists below is the return of the male singer/songwriter. This has been building for a few years but we've hit critical mass. Jason Mraz, Ron Sexsmith, Jack's Mannequin, Sam Roberts, Ray Lamontange and my favourite Luke Doucet have put out stellar records. But this is not to mention some of the work that was already out there like Alexi Murdoch, Joel Plaskett (last years darling) James Morrison and Damien Rice to name a few. The lone woman on either list is Kathleen Edwards, who just keeps getting better-"Buffalo", what a fucking GREAT song!!. I am a huge fan of a great many female artists but it seems that the male voice seemed to grab me the most this year.

So here are my votes, with explanations and qualifications.

Best Songs

20. Violet Hill Coldplay
There aren't many guitar parts on Viva La Vida, but that's OK 'cause of the HUGE parts in this tune.
19. Archeoligist Wintersleep
Although the album came out in 2007 this tune was released in '08 and it was the second tune I heard from them, and it's wicked. They make shouting 'Belly of a whale' not as silly as you would think.
18. Them Kids Sam Roberts
His second record Chemical City was a disappointment. It sounded rushed and a little under-inspired. The new one takes off from We Were Born in a Flame and I love the motivation of this song-'The kids don't know how to dance to rock n' roll'. So true.
17. You Are The Best Thing Ray LaMontagne
This tune has big brassy horns a Motown pocket and an amazing earnestness. He is an old soul making music that is so hard to find.
16. This Is How I Know Ron Sexsmith
This is a fine wine of a tune. He is an effortless writer with a gift to send you such a simple idea in a really stylized and vivid package. And again I'm a sucker for horns.
15. The Resolution Jack's Mannequin
This is the most classic 'big record' sounding tune I've heard this year. It is sonically large, lush and skilled. The idea of the song resonated with me a lot this year, you really have to look to yourself sometimes for the answers.
14. Jigsaw Falling Into Place Radiohead
It takes a while for some bands to admit that what they do the best they should do more often. This song is the closest they have come to a re-interpretation of Paranoid Android. Thom York hasn't sounded this great in years.
13. Hard Sun Eddie Vedder
I love it when Eddie Vedder SINGS! He has one of the most honest cool voices in rock. He can fill a room, it excites you. If you're Canadian you may have heard this song on the radio about 18 years ago as it was written by Gordon Peterson and was a minor hit. This is a sprawling reverb cranked version that stood out on the radio for me.
12. I Will Possess Your Heart Death Cab for Cutie
Simplicity is all you need when you have an amazing melody. Benjamin Gibbard's voice is singular and really effective. Another tune that was played on a great deal on radio that just stood out.
11. Human The Killers
This song grew on me as I heard it about 100 times while in the UK. Flowers is very clean and plaintive in the tune. This sound I think suits the band and they are back doing what they do best-New Wave/U2.
10. Beckoning Vacuity
I heard he demo for this song a year and a half ago and was into it instantly. What a groove. The song pulls you in and then throws you around for a sonic ride at the end. 'cause I'l do it , I'll do it all.'
9. I'm Yours Jason Mraz
This tune is very 2008. It was a viral success. Something that would never have happened 10 years ago. He writes it, plays it live a recording gets out through a MSN live version and it's a hit-THEN he puts it on an album and it's a monster. I enjoy the live version and the first time I heard it was by my friend Mandippal Jandu who does a wicked cover of it.
8. 9 In The Afternoon Panic! At the Disco
I discovered this tune with Jesse and Al at a Best Buy in Massachusetts. We bought the disc right away and loved it. The hook is the biggest one of the year for me. The Beatles will always live in a musicians heart and we will always be guilty of trying to re-do what they did using the musical equivalents of stone axes and chisels.
7. The Only Way Home The Free Press
Shameless self-promotion but I really love this tune of ours. It is the favoured child for me. It's the closest to what I would do by myslef and it's I think the most inventive tune on our record. When we play it live I really do feel like I'm playing it for the first time every time.
6. Being Here The Stills
More of this PLEASE!! Best bass line of the year. The middle eight is epic. This is rock n' roll.
5. Sex On Fire Kings of Leon
If you haven't heard this tune, find it and listen to it, and be schooled in the basic tenets of rock. Screaming guitar, sex, edge of your range singing, crashing on the ride and a "I don't care a fuck what you think" attitude.
4. Coming Down to Earth Peter Gabriel
As JD said to me "It sounds like an older PG song. And he decided that Tom Waits should arrange it. It's very cool but very peculiar in places, too. Vintage Gabriel ending, though, with the last twenty seconds being absolutely beautiful." Also, it's so hard to make a new song about caring for mother earth and not sounding like your geography teacher on Earth Day.
3. How Far We've Come Matchbox Twenty
Talk about a comeback tune. I think I have tried to write this song tens this year since I heard it. Can't wait for the record.
2. Washington Square Counting Crows
Duritz has the singular ability to put you right in front of him tell you a story and make you cry. This song has a lot of personal resonance for me. The piano work at the end is stunningly crafted. It's a song that brings you to a point of peace and acceptance about transitions in life.
1. Viva La Vida Coldplay
Martin didn't steal this song form Satriani. He borrowed it from the countless composers of hymns and Psalms of the last 1000 years. Before there was rock, jazz, blues, damn-before there was Mozart and Beethoven there were priests, pastors, deacons and monks that put the prayers of the faithful to music to get closer to God. So much classic melody we have heard, again and again. That's the point, it is a re-telling of a story. Music is the great oral tradition, Martin gave us a re-interpretation inspired by the time spent making a rock record in some of the oldest churches in the world.

Best Albums (There not dead...yet)


10 Stay Positive The Hold Steady
What a LOUD record. Bam. In your face like a punch after a Hard night of drinking. Frank Black meets Bruce Springsteen meets Guns N Roses meets Iggy Pop and Neil Young with Crazy Horse. 'Cause who hasn't been "subpeanad in Texas and sequestered in Memphis?"
9 Asking for Flowers Kathleen Edwards
I'm still in love. This is a 5 year crush for me and she just keeps getting better. She makes sad sound so beautiful. "Buffalo" is my vote for a truly Canadian song. This music is far too smart for the average country listener (no offence-but have you listened to a country station lately?) and Hot AC has imploded this year, so where does this leave exceptional acts like her? It's up to you and me to listen, buy and respect, and tell everyone you know.
8 Perfect Symmetry Keane
This record continues to surprise me as does the band. The main writer is not the singer, the lyrics aren't really even his but Chaplin just delivers. What a voice! I was afraid of the way-too-eighties vibe at first and a couple of the songs are still too much for me but the layers and depth are there regardless. "You Don't See Me" is just awesome.
7 In Rainbows Radiohead
The record I have been waiting for since 1997.
6 Oceans Will Rise The Stills
Our music scene, as vibrant as it is, has WAY too much posing, manicured sideburns hipster pretentious bullshit associated with it. These guys buck the trend of a lot of Canadian Indie Rock by not trying to sound...well...Indie. They have a real American rock aesthetic and awesome melody. The bass playing on this record is fantastic.
5 Pretty Odd Panic! At the Disco
This probably would have been at the top of my list if there was a little less self-indulgence, more maturity and about 4 less songs. Having said that, the production on this record is world-class and blows the doors off anything I have heard in years from an arrangment perspective. George Martin must have heard this and said, "not bad, not bad at all." "Northern Downpour" is exceptional.
4 Exit Strategy of the Soul Ron Sexsmith
Music for adults. You have to be of a certain vintage to really appreciate this work. It's like the music equivalent of Restoration Hardware. Gorgoeus, almost perfect in spots. He is a John Irving singing songs. "Brandy Alexander" is a stand-out album cut.
3 Blood's too Rich Luke Doucet
"Long-Haul Driver", revamped from his acoustic EP he put out a while back is big Texas style driving song and I love it. "Cleveland" is an amazing love song only he could write and a bad ass version of "Love Cats". Awesome
2 Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend
Believe the hype and believe what your 21 year old tells you, this is a great record. Paul Simon, Talking Heads, The Cure, and Elvis Costello are all worn quiet brightly on this record. But it is a happy and honest piece of work.
1 Boxer The National
Sombre, beautiful and really smart. Although released in 2007, I'm sneaking this in as a slow grower and I love it sooo much. It's at the top because I think I have listened to it top to bottom the most out of any record in the last 10 years.

Having said all this, I did a straw poll the past week of people's favourite tunes..."Single Ladies (Put a Ring On it) Beyonce and All Summer Long Kid Rock were the clear winners. What do I know?

What to Look For This Year

No Line On The Horizon U2
Daniel Lanois is not known for is bravado so when he says this is the album of the decade I think we should take note. Part of me thinks it will be a let down, that they have been spent and will fall into a middle age malaise to be reborn some newer band that can still be a the proto post-modern rock band and be on their way to 60. I thought Bruce was done, and fuck now look at him, bigger than he ever was. So Fingers crossed. I know one thing, even if its their worst effort, it will still be better than 98% of the shit that the majors will put out this year.

Guster untitled
With titles like "Jesus and Mary" and "Hebrew Joe" I think we're in for a treat. Fatherhood I think will make these guys look at the funnier side of life, and man if you have seen them live, they are capital comedians.

Bruce Sprinsteen Working On A Dream
More great work form the Magic sessions. After completing Magic he went to a hotel room in Atlanta, and well wrote another g#ddamn record (in between stops getting Barack Obama elected). He is The Bruce.