Canadian+Indie

= = =**//__Canadian Indie__//** =

= = Welcome to the page about Canadian indie! This is rather self explanatory...I will talk about a few of my favourite Canadian indie bands, and encourage you to check them out.

__//The Weakerthans//__
The Weakerthans have been one of my favourite bands ever since I really got into them about six months ago. This is a four-piece indie rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, currently signed to Epitaph records. The band was formed by John Samson, who left a punk band called Propaghandi so form a new band that played more melodic, less intense music than that of Propagandhi. The band was formed in 1997 and released their first album, Fallow, the same year. The band now has four albums and tour around Canada and the United States. Many of the band's song and lyrics are quite Canadian, such as the one in the following video, Tournament of Hearts, which is about curling. The band was nominated for the 2008 Polaris Music Prize for their most recent album, Reunion Tour. (The Polaris Music prize is an award given annually to the best Canadian album, regardless of genre).

(some of this information paraphrased from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weakerthans)

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__Great Lake Swimmers__
Great Lake Swimmers is an acoustic folk-rock band from Wainfleet, Ontario, in the Niagara region. The band currently works out of Toronto. Great Lake Swimmers is a band I only came across this past July, but I have been listening to them ever since. Their music is very relaxing; the instruments blend well together, the singer has a wonderful voice, and the overall composition of the songs is fantastic. They sound vaguley similar to Neil Young, in my opinion. The band is quite well-known in Canada, but not very popular anywhere else. Their fourth and most recent album, Lost Channels, was nominated for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize. I have not yet heard that whole album yet, but this song is from that album and it is very good:

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Hey Rosetta!
No, I am not just being enthusiastic about this band...for some reason, they decided to put an exclamation mark at the end of their name. Maybe they just really want to get Rosetta's attention, or something like that. Anyway, Hey Rosetta! is a fantastic indie rock band from St. John's, Newfoundland. Having seen this band in concert I can say that they put on an incredible show! The energy they bring to the stage is immense, and it is picked up on by the entire crowd, which makes for a great concert. They also perform absolutely flawlessly, with every instrument sounding perfect. Hey Rosetta! is unique in that they incorporate stringed instruments (violin and cello) to the typical rock insturments of guitar, bass and drums. Tim Baker, the vocalist, also plays piano, and his signing is so beautiful is should send shivers down your spine.

The band has two full-length CDs out, and their most recent album, Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood) was nominated for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize. The album was also produced by another prominent musician on the Canadian indie music scene, Hawksley Workman. It is hard to pick a favourite song by this band, but I hope you like this one!:

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__Propaghandi__
Propraghandi is a Canadian punk rock band from Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, although they now work out of Wininpeg. It is the former band of the guitarist and singer of the Weakerthans, John Samson. Propaghandi is a band unlike any of the other bands I mentioned above. They play a very aggressive style of punk rock, they are activists who support many causes, for example animal rights and anti-war causes, and they use their music to voice their opinions. The band supports animal liberation and veganism, and they have taken an active stance against human rights violations, sexism, racism, homophobia, imperialism, capitalism and religion. I agree with some of their opinions and I disagree with some, but the great thing about music is that I don't have to agree with everything they are saying in order to enjoy their songs.

The following song has a theme centred around animal rights. The song is actually written from a true story. The song is about a pig named Francis who escapes from a slaughterhouse, roams free for a while before he is eventually caught and taken to a farm where he spends the rest of his days. This actually happened in the city of Red Deer, Alberta, where hog processing is very important to the local economy. There was a statue put up after Francis the pig was caught in Red Deer, and at the end of the song you will hear a reference to this. Anyway, hope you enjoy the song!!!

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 * Some more bands I don't have time to get into detail about, but are also awesome:**
 * Wintersleep
 * Stars
 * Cuff the Duke
 * The Deep Dark Woods
 * Arcade Fire
 * The New Pornographers
 * Wolf Parade

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