Knowing that I planned to post THIS song and NOT do what I did last week again, I did check. No. Bedouin Soundclash has not collaborated with Lights on anything that I could find. But they DO have an album called Light The Horizon, and today's song is from that album.
Anyway, they are a band - a Canadian band, from Toronto. Their lead vocalist, Jay Malinowski, along with the rest of the band members, co-wrote the song, as well as all the songs from their 2010 album Light The Horizon. So, why single out this one guy?
Then I found the Juno nominees list. Americans - Juno Awards - they're like the Grammys but they give out bowls of poutine instead of little gramophones.
Geez, people, I was kidding. It's not poutine.
Meet 2022 Breakthrough Group of the Year nominee MONOWHALES. From Toronto, Ontario, Canada, they've had some success on alternative radio in a country where they are required to play a certain percentage of Canadian artists on the radio.
However, it doesn't hurt that a lot of the music is really really good. You don't get nominated for awards as an independent artist if you are making crap. And this song, full of emotion delivered by vocalist Sally Shaar, is anything but crap.
MONOWHALES have a habit of performing an acoustic version of this song, and here is that.
If you saw my social posts, you saw that there was a little Canadian surprise at the end. Here it is. It's too short for Totally Covered, but I couldn't not share it.
"For years, I had kind of a blindspot to Lights - I had trouble getting into her music. This is despite several friends of mine being huge fans, including the one who called her an "absolute queen". When I was researching music for #MapleLeafMarch, though, I decided it was time to give her a second chance."
Well, if you look at my Spotify stats all time, in just one year, Lights is now my second-most listened to artist. Ever. There's no artist we've posted more in the last year than Lights (I guess I could have spaced that out a little more). Hell, we even made a Lights song post #1000 (which is where we got that quote from). So, yeah, I think I'm on board.
This song, the lead single from the 2014 Little Machines album, represents one of the biggest hits Lights has had thus far. The video is a one shot - single take. No edits.
Lights does an acoustic version of everything.
On a personal note, today is my birthday. So, because of that, I'm going to share this INSTRUMENTAL version of the song.
Since I screwed with you all damn week, it seems only fitting that I end this week with an actual Lights song.
This song, a 2020 collaboration with MYTH, was the title song and lead single from a album of remixes and new songs.
Lights & MYTH also performed a lot of the songs from this album, live at Joshua Tree in California. I have taken the liberty of queuing this song up for you - but please, listen to the whole thing. It's incredible.
If you haven't noticed, this entire week has featured other Canadian artists collaborating with Lights. And also, if you haven't noticed, we question your reading comprehension skills.
This song is a single, from her 2012 album, Siberia. Like the rest of the album, it is fantastic.
Two days, two Canadian hip hop artists. There's no other reason to include this post.
From the 2013 album Flying Colours, the song is very much in your face. It reminds me of a younger Kanye West, who has clearly had an influence on Shad's music. The song is produced and co-written by Shad and Mike Tompkins.
Oh, there was a third songwriter, and she appears in the video.
Wesley Williams (born March 31, 1968) is a Canadian rapper, record producer, actor, and author. He is known professionally by his stage names Maestro Fresh-Wes.
He was born in Maple Leaf March, so how can we not feature him? He's also one of the first Canadian hip hop artists to achieve mainstream success, so that's an achievement. Originally from Toronto, Williams relocated to New Brunswick in 2020 - and who could blame him?
This 2013 single features vocals from another Canadian.
Let's talk about Felix Cartal. This Vancouver-based DJ and producer is best known for his splashy collaborations, and this one is among his best known and most danceable - making a splash on the US Dance charts in addition to its Canadian Top 40 splash. Although this single was released in 2019, the album on which it is features, Expensive Sounds for Nice People, was not released until 2021.
Lyrically, it's about unrequited love. It doesn't get much more straight forward than that.
Live versions of this song exist. This one is from a December 31, 2020 CBC broadcast, and features Cartal on bass.
this also happens to be one of my favorite Lights songs and since she does everything acoustic here you go.
Well, I didn't have to do it this way, but it was more fun.
As I alluded to earlier, without alluding to it, there's a second version of this song - with vocals provided by another Canadian artist. This isn't their most recent collaboration (there's this, for example), but it is probably their best known. This song was a dance hit in 2018, actually preceding the release of the Polar soundtrack.
The great thing about this song is that there are live versions of them doing the song together. This version is clearly a longer version - but really, the first half is "Drama Free" and the second half is "Midas Heel". It doesn't matter. Just enjoy it.
I can't not post this. We know that Lights does acoustic versions of everything. That includes this.
For our second go-round of this Month o' Great White North, we weren't going to leave out deadmau5. If you know this song, and have read this blog once or twice, you know that we aren't JUST going to talk about the pride of Niagara Falls, Ontario, but let's start there, and keep this post drama free.
Joel Zimmerman is one of the most successful electronic musicians and DJs in the world - and yeah, that's probably partially due to the mouse head. His work is unique and critically acclaimed - and Canadian. He's been at it for more than 20 years.
So when looking for an artist to do a soundtrack for the Netflix movie Polar, a dark and critically panned comic book adaptation, of course deadmas5 is who comes to mind. The first single from this soundtrack was this excellent electronic piece, which is of course all we're going to talk about.
I know this isn't really much of a video here - it's kind of dark and could use more lights - but it gives you a great idea for what the song is and what the deadmau5 sound is.
Quick, American reader - name one Glass Tiger song.
If you grew up in the 1980s, it's probably "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)", their only hit in the States. Sure, these guys were Canadian hitmakers - but they only got across the southern border once.
If you didn't grow up in the 1980s, you probably are wondering who the hell Glass Tiger is.
If you happen to be Canadian, you're probably shaking your head in disgust right now, because they actually had two top 10 hits in the States and everything I said about them being a one hit wonder was a complete lie.
This #MapleLeafMarch has not been nearly as much fun as it was last year.
Mostly because I had most of these songs in draft for a year and had to stare at them, their omissions teasing me like some siren, calling me back to Canada.
Take Rheostatics. They're iconic, they're unique... and they didn't fit in last year (probably because I overdosed on Cœur de Pirate). Even this year, I'm slotting them in on a Saturday. Do not take that as any reflection of their influence on Canadian music. They're not a band that generated a lot of hits, but they DO persist, still.
So, take this song, a classic from the 1996 The Blue Hysteria album, and enjoy it.
The song itself is an emotional electronic rollercoaster that is on brand for Grimes. Of course, the visual adds to it, but it's not necessary to drive home the charged message.
How many songs did Gordon Lightfoot write that blew me away?
This is a song that Lightfoot wrote that was intensely personal - in the wake of his divorce from his wife, Ingrid. A small lyrically change requested by this daughter made this from an angry to a mournful song - and an absolutely treasure that was a worldwide hit in the early 1970's.
Fifty years after the song's initial release - yes, that's 50 with a five - Lightfoot performed the song from his front porch in celebration of Canada Day 2020. The 81-year-old singer/songwriter brings a different, more knowledgeable feel to the song. It is still an absolute work of art and still blows me away.
Let's just get the Drake out of the way this month.
We chose a doozy, though. Canada's rap king came through big on this worldwide hit, which also won two Grammy Awards. And Drake brings the emotion, too - he has a presence that few others can reach, and yet can still pull off the angry sadness that goes with the lyrics of this song.
Cowritten by Drake, Timothy Thomas, and producer Nineteen85, I wasn't joking when I said it was a worldwide hit - and a top 30 year-end hit in BOTH 2015 AND 2016. It was a big hit with legs. Not bad for the guy from DeGrassi.
What I have not yet mentioned is that she's been compared to London Grammar - basically, a "London Grammar for Quebec". Canada does not need London Grammar. They have Cœur de Pirate. Even though France and Belgium have made her a bigger hitmaker than Canada has....
There's probably a lot of other stuff I haven't mentioned, either. But I digress. Carry on.
Roses was a bilingual album. This is the song that tied the two halves of the album together (as a bonus track that's included in literally every streaming service's version of the album). Lyrically, they aren't exactly the same - "Oublie-Moi" is not nearly as cheery. However, bookending the album with two versions of the same song - it gives the album a cohesive feel, almost like a Mobius strip.
I had SO MUCH Canadian music queued up for last March, I could not nearly fit it all in.
Arcade Fire is one band I really wanted to fit in, but I was way too busy cramming in as much Sarah McLachlan and Cœur de Pirate as I possibly could, I just didn't have room. No, seriously, I bumped them from March 31st to literally fit both of those artists in again.
But that's fine. We'll let them open this month. Welcome to the 2nd annual #MapleLeafMarch. Now enjoy your Arcade Fire.
This song would have fit in February OR March. We didn't have time in either month to fit it in last year, but I sure wasn't going to miss the opportunity this year.
When I stumbled upon this tune by Canadian indie-rock darlings DFA 1979, I began to think that I should have done a thing for February last year, like I did for March. I feel like we missed an opportunity there. So, even though this song really doesn't fit this month's theme, it makes for a nice transition between months.
This song got its title not because it was about black history, but because it was written in February... maybe it was meant to be plugged in exactly where it was this year.
No elephant masks were harmed in the making of this video. Mostly because they left them out, for some reason.
Good evening. This is Wicked Guilty Pleasures, an owned and operated blog of the Wicked Guilty Pleasure Broadcasting Corporation, with a picture signal strength of 77,000 watts and a sound signal strength of 7,500 watts. Our principal transmitter is somewhere inside a Google datacenter, which broadcasts to metropolitan Toronto and areas throughout the world. Repeat transmitters extend our broadcast area to include Wawa, White River, Hornepayne, Manitouwadge, Beardmore, and Geraldton. If you have any comments or suggestions about our programs, please address them to info@wickedguilty.com. We hope you've enjoyed this month's programming.
And now, our national anthem.
Bonsoir. Il s'agit de Wicked Guilty Pleasures, un blog détenu et exploité par Wicked Guilty Pleasure Broadcasting Corporation, avec une puissance de signal d'image de 77 000 watts et une puissance de signal sonore de 7 500 watts. Notre émetteur principal se trouve quelque part dans un centre de données Google, qui diffuse vers la métropole de Toronto et des régions du monde entier. Les émetteurs de répétition étendent notre zone de diffusion pour inclure Wawa, White River, Hornepayne, Manitouwadge, Beardmore et Geraldton. Si vous avez des commentaires ou des suggestions sur nos programmes, veuillez les adresser à info@wickedguilty.com. Nous espérons que vous avez apprécié la programmation de ce mois.
Et maintenant, notre hymne national.
(Special thanks to CLBT-TV, whose sign-off from the 1990s we shamelessly lifted)
We are closing this month of nothing but Canadian music the same way we started.
Not just with a band the American audience here had never heard. I mean, yes, that.
Wait. You did figure out the Canadian music thing before now, right? Every artist I posted in March was Canadian - even the covers. I was explicitly clear in every post. EVERY post contained the word "Canada" or "Canadian" - except for the one that contained the word "canadien" and was all in FRENCH. I spelled the word "favourite" several times. I pretty much beat you over the head with the damn maple leaf.
Which also brings us back to ending this month exactly like we started. You see, Armistice was a group - a duo, really, comprised of a man from Toronto band Bedouin Soundclash, named Jay Malinowski, and his girlfriend at the time, a Montreal musician named Béatrice Martin.
This collaboration was very much has a 60's mariachi band feel, which is very different than the reggae/ska sound of Bedouin Soundclash and the sound (although not the lyrical depth) of the chanson française of Cœur de Pirate (are you happy that I had to write the œ AGAIN?!).
Jay and Béatrice, while on tour together in 2011, performed a couple of songs on the streets of Paris. For reasons that will become clear in a minute and you can already guess, I decided to feature their song "City Lights Cry", which also tells a story in mariachi. The couple clearly had a lot of fun doing this.
And they were a couple - meeting at the Olympics in 2010 in Vancouver - but when that relationship ended, Armitice persisted long enough for some promotion of their EP, and then they went their separate ways. Thankfully, the songs didn't die with the relationship, as they have been performed by Cœur de Pirate regularly. Granted, they don't sound quite as mariachi on a piano.... but the songs still work.
