THE POP WINDS

Origin: Montreal, QC
Category: EMERGING ANTLERS
Cherchez La Moose: It's tough to stand out in a city as artistic as Montreal. What I really like about The Pop Winds is how they stood out to me - not because of some sort of gimmicky band name, street hype, or zany look, but because they write very good music. They understand how to balance experimentation and structure really well. I also love how well they incorporate the saxophone into a lot of their music. It's been since Beck's The New Pollution since I really took that instrument seriously in indie pop. The Pop Winds are currently signed to so-hot-right-now Mile End label Arbutus, so you can expect to start hearing more about these guys soon.

LOVE INC. - 'Homeless'

**NOTE** The video that I had embedded has been taken down. Please enter "Love Inc. - Homeless" into YouTube to watch the official video - it's now the only one available and the embed code has been disabled. Here is the video for "Broken Bones" instead. 

Origin: Toronto, ON
Category: VOLCANO TOSS
Cherchez La Moose: Love Inc. found success in 1998 with their first two singles, Broken Bones and You're A Superstar. Those tracks still hold up today - but their third single? It was always terrible. Actual lyric from Homeless: 'time stands still, you mumble something about Jack and Jill, as you fall down the hill in this game of life.' Umm...what? When did they write these lyrics, grade 6?! It's all too obvious that Love Inc. has never been homeless, and that they've never met a homeless person before. The song drags on for what seems like ages, and even the video (which I like a lot more than the song) derails into a cheese factory at 3:52.

OUR LADY PEACE - 'Superman's Dead'

Origin: Toronto, ON
Category:  NORTHERN ELIXIR
Cherchez La Moose: The Superman's Dead video....Serial Joe....seemingly unrelated. But wait - who's the young guy/girl in this video? Could it be....Ryan Dennis from Serial Joe?!?! Sure is. I was madly in love with Our Lady Peace as an early teen. I used to have dreams about their music videos - it was that level of obsession. These guys put out some amazing stuff in the 90's; Naveed and Clumsy are still classic Canadian rock albums. It all went downhill after guitarist Mike Turner left the band in 2001. Have you heard their last few albums? Didn't think so - keep it that way.

SERIAL JOE

Origin: Newmarket, ON
Category: STUFFED CRUST PIZZA
Cherchez La Moose: Serial Joe have nothing to be ashamed of. If I landed a record deal when I was 13, I guarantee you I would have put out a nu-metal album as well. This video for Obsession is cheesy but harmless, and it brings back good memories. Frontman Ryan Dennis mostly stuck to rapping about skateboarding on Serial Joe's debut EP Kicked, which was a smart move - at least he wasn't rapping about thug life or hating how cold and heartless the world is (hi Staind! and Linkin Park!..and most other nu-metal). I recently discovered Serial Joe's new band; they're named High Kapitol. A picture on their MySpace shows the band dressed from head to toe in jeans, scowling at the camera....with frosted 90's hair. Shudder.

INFINITE

Origin: Toronto, ON
Category: LOST IN THE WILDERNESS
Cherchez La Moose: 1 EP. 5 songs. All singles, all made into music videos. This clip for Take A Look even won the MMVA for Best Independent Video. The follow-up? Never happened. Infinite was the truth; with lyrics reminiscent of Nas, he brought storytelling to the next level in the 90's. His former group Ghetto Concept also deserves a shoutout for their quality rhymes - these guys are as real as they come. Infinite showed so much promise on his 360 Degrees EP that I was convinced a full length would follow, especially after it became such a hit. Infinite was a compelling talent with an air of mystery, and his disappearance from the scene only made him more intriguing.

ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?

Origin: A campfire somewhere in Quebec
Cherchez La Moose: Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story.... The Tale of MY NEVERENDING LOVE FOR THIS SHOW. In fact, Are You Afraid of the Dark? is quite possibly my favourite television show of all time. Everything from its ingenious premise, scary opening credits, endless creativity, and appealing themes made it popular with kids, both on YTV in Canada and Nickelodeon in the US. It's pretty crazy - look up some of the old episodes on YouTube and you'll be surprised at how high the view counts are. Classic shows live forever. Goosebumps is still jealous.

FIVE GAMECHANGERS

Every once in a while, a Canadian band or musician comes along and totally rattles the music scene. Soon after, dozens and dozens of carbon copies start emerging from the woodwork. But they'll never be quite as good....and you know why? Because they're not GAMECHANGERS. Here are 5 Canadian success stories who switched up the game and made a huge impact. Please note that this is not a Top 5 list, and it will not be organized and displayed in any sort of order.

ARCADE FIRE

Year of Game Change: 2004
Origin: Montreal, QC
Genre Facelift: BAROQUE POP
Cherchez La Moose: Does the Arcade Fire really need more praise? No. Are they even the best band to come out of Montreal in the mid 2000's? Who knows. The stars truly aligned for these guys though, and they managed to eclipse fantastic bands such as Stars, Wolf Parade, The Stills, The Unicorns, and The Dears on their path towards world domination. I will say this much though - Arcade Fire are a very special band. 2004's Funeral is still amazing, and their latest release The Suburbs blew me away. If you don't believe the hype surrounding this band, listen to the song No Cars Go from 2007's Neon Bible - it will convert you. In the meantime, here is the video for the excellent Rebellion (Lies).

SLOAN

Year of Game Change: 1992
Origin: Halifax, NS
Genre Facelift: INDIE ROCK
Cherchez La Moose: Sloan might not be as hip these days as they used to be, but they were the band with supreme indie cred back in the 90's. I could have chosen a handful of other awesome bands from Halifax to fill this slot, but none of them wrote a song as flawless as 1994's pop gem from heaven Coax Me. Sloan also founded Murderecords, a label that started small in '92 and went on to release records for bands such as Thrush Hermit, The Inbreds, and The Super Friendz across the decade. 

AVRIL LAVIGNE

Year of Game Change: 2002
Origin: Napanee, ON
Genre Facelift: MAINSTREAM POP ROCK
Cherchez La Moose: "Dude, you wanna crash the mall?" Bahahaha. Avril Lavigne was a huge deal when she released Complicated. I'll admit that it was an ingenious move signing her to a Major. Who wasn't ready for an anti-Britney figure, feisty and rough around the edges? Too bad Avril was a total poser who quickly became the poster child for bratty suburban upper-middle-class punk wannabes. This list is about Game Changers though, and as much as it kills me to say this, she totally changed the game. Avril started a major fashion trend in this video, and her "I'm real and raw and, like, totally non-conformist" attitude spawned tribes of similar female recording artists in the early 2000's.

RASCALZ

Year of Game Change: 1998
Origin: Vancouver, BC
Genre Facelift: HIP HOP
Cherchez La Moose: It doesn't get more classic than Northern Touch. Rascalz are amazing - remember when they bitchslapped the Junos and rejected their award because the Best Rap Recording category never got televised? Talk about a defining moment. Their 1997 album Cash Crop is still one of the best Canadian hip hop albums of all time. Northern Touch posed the question 'how awesome would it be if 3 of the best MC's on the West Coast joined forces with upcoming legendary director Little X, star-in-the-making video model Melyssa Ford, and 3 of the best rappers to ever come out of Toronto?' and answered it with an unwavering 'VERY.'

BILLY TALENT

Year of Game Change: 2003
Origin: Mississauga, ON
Genre Facelift: SCREAMO
Cherchez La Moose: There were a handful of awesome screamo/post-hardcore/alt rock Canadian bands in the 2000's (I'll be covering them soon), but Billy Talent was the first to break through to the mainstream. Despite the fact that they are considered trendy and pop nowadays, they had a really fresh alternative sound back in 2003. Some might say that Billy Talent are "screamo-lite," and I'd agree with that - they're just a rock band with a style that became popular after releasing their debut album. Even the music video for Try Honesty looked different than what I was used to seeing on MuchMusic. It was a look that bands such as Three Days Grace grabbed hold of and butchered to death. Three Days Grace....Volcano Toss....destiny.

SUMMER 2010 TOP 5

Summer 2010 was a personal favourite of mine. Road tripping across the US, moving to Vancouver from Montreal, starting a new school...and starting this blog! There was a lot of great music that came out this summer as well. The following is a Moose Tracks exclusive - the Top 5 Canadian songs from Summer '10.

WOLF PARADE - 'Cloud Shadow on the Mountain'

Origin: Montreal, QC
Position: NUMBER FIVE
Cherchez La Moose: Wolf Parade has been one of my favourite Canadian bands since their 2005 debut, Apologies to the Queen Mary. Their sophomore album was criticized for being inconsistent and for sounding like two EP's had been glued together. I didn't really care - every song was great, and I consider it a pretty underrated album. Expo 86 was released a few months ago, and while songwriters Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner sound more unified and collaborative this time around, the album hasn't blown me away. It still has a ton of great songs though, most notably the opener Cloud Shadow on the Mountain. The song cuts off early in this fan video, which is pretty tragic, but it was the only one posted on YouTube.

CARIBOU - 'Jamelia'

Origin: Dundas, ON
Position: NUMBER FOUR
Cherchez La Moose: Jamelia, a fan favourite from Caribou's exceptional 2010 album Swim, is a bit of a grower. Once it clicks with you though, it really clicks. I would be happy to shower it with accolades, but here are some awesome YouTube comments that are way more entertaining:

iamloganhearmeroar: "The 9 people who disliked this video are living in the non-future!"
goldenpollen: "Jamelia is presenting you the funfair dreams of your childhood in gold."
brainlessBC: "I'm lovin it. McCaribou."
canyousaythat: "Absolute cosmic reassurance."
skizzle555: "...This is what listening to Nina Simone in outer space is like."

I highly recommend listening to album tracks Kaili and Odessa as well.

TOKYO POLICE CLUB - 'Wait Up (Boots of Danger)'

Origin: Newmarket, ON
Position: NUMBER THREE
Cherchez La Moose: Easily one of my favourite bands from the past few years, Tokyo Police Club never fails to put a smile on my face. Their latest album, the appropriately-titled Champ, continues their impressive winning streak. It says a lot that after several EP's and full-lengths, I have yet to hear a bad song from these guys. Although they tend to stick with one songwriting formula (short song, verses and chorus repeat a few times, soaring climax, end song abruptly right when you want it to keep going), it's a formula that is working really well for them. Wait Up (Boots of Danger) is a perfect summer single, and the video's dog pool party is cuteness done right.

RAGHAV - 'So Much'

Origin: Calgary, AB
Position: NUMBER TWO
Cherchez La Moose: When summertime rolls around, it's all about Top 40 for me. It just makes me happy. I discovered Raghav's So Much on MuchMusic back in July, and I didn't know what to think. The song is trendy, the video is pretty standard, and the obligatory Kardinal Offishall guest spot gives me CanCon vibes. The song has a great chord progression though, and Raghav swags up that melody as if he already knew that this was going to be his breakout single.

DRAKE - 'Over'

Origin: Toronto, ON
Position: NUMBER ONE
Cherchez La Moose: The anthem has arrived. Not only is Drake's Over the best single of the summer, but it's one of the best hip hop songs in Canadian history. Oh and don't even get me started on how flawless the eye-catching video is. This is Drake's Big Moment, and everyone knows it. The track's beat is cinematic drama, powerful yet understated enough to let Drake's memorable hook take center stage when it needs to. It's the best track off of his new album, the solid-yet-slightly-overpraised Thank Me Later, and it's what I'll remember of Drake once his hype machine eventually cools off.