#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
23. Alanis Morissette
Tough to understate just how huge Alanis was for me and my peers in high school circa 1995-96. JAGGED LITTLE PILL was literally everywhere. It seemed *important*. And that means it probably was.
🎶 "Not the Doctor"
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
24. Joel Plaskett Emergency
For a long time, I knew only "True Patriot Love," but I have recently started exploring the rest of DOWN AT THE KHYBER and it's all GREAT. Looking forward to digging into his discography even deeper.
🎶 "Waiting to be Discovered"
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
25. Sarah McLachlan
For those keeping score—why are you keeping score? kinda weird, tbh—this is my sixth female solo artist or female-led band in a row, and the ninth in the last 10 days.
🎶 "Possession" (1993)
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
26. Feist
Here is Leslie finding the indie heart beating within a Bee Gees classic (albeit with an altered title for some reason).
🎶 “Inside and Out”
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
27. The Beaches
One of my live-music regrets was the time I *almost* got to see Beaches just as they were breaking out, but I was running late. As soon as I got to the venue, @jeremyhrussell.bsky.social told me all about the AMAZING opening act I'd missed.
🎶 "T-Shirt"
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
28. Whitney Rose
Rose is a PEI native (though she's been living in Texas for the last decade) whose blending of vintage pop & neo-traditional country caught the attention of Raul Malo, who produced two of her albums. Mavericks fans take note.
🎶"Little Piece of You"
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
29. Metric
Another act that just wasn't on my radar until relatively recently, even though they are clearly right in my melodic-indie wheelhouse. What the heck was I doing circa 2009?? Not listening to Metric, for some reason!
🎶 "Just the Once"
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
30. Avril Lavigne
🎶 “Complicated”
Yeah, I remain as susceptible to a well-crafted teen pop-rock song as I was 24 years ago.
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
31. NQ Arbuckle
🎶 "No Hands Bicycle"
Our host, @forty-too.bsky.social, introduced me to NQ last year & I instantly fell for this album. Alt-folk about the everyday struggles of marriage & parenting—not everybody's idea of a good time, but it's like it was made for me.
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
32. Nelly Furtado
🎶 "Magic" (2017)
Here she is, fresh off of an exciting run representing Canada in #PWC26. This is a later single, and trust me, it really kicks into high gear in the second half.
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
33. k.d. lang
🎶 "Luck in my Eyes"
Lots of amazing artists that I adore on this here list, but really only one absolute Icon with a capital I.
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
34. Alvvays
🎶 "After the Earthquake"
Is this band Canada's single biggest contribution to the '00s indie pop boom? Debate rages!
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
35. Blue Rodeo
🎶 "Til I Am Myself Again"
I've only gotten really interested in Blue Rodeo within the last year thanks to all the Canadian music fans On Here. I forgot all about this song's existence! And I'd somehow never heard "Lost Together" before.
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
LOL, so the musician I had lined up for today is actually an American that I just saw at a Canadian music festival, so we are skipping #36 and an honorable mention goes to ...
Spirit of the West
🎶"And If Venice is Sinking" (1993)
Accordion! And a mandola! Or bouzouki!
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
37. Patrick Watson
"Man Under the Sea" (2006)
A Polaris Music Prize winner, presented for all you orchestral indie cabaret pop fans.
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
38. PUP
"Kill Something" (2021)
One of those bands that kept turning up in unexpected places every few years until I realized I was a fan.
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
And now we're all caught up. Today's post is ...
39. Glass Tiger
"Don't Forget Me When You've Gone" (1986)
My mom & I took a 5-hour roadtrip together in the summer of '86, and in my childhood memory, the radio must have played this song at least 5 times on that drive.
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
(catching up)
40. Beyries
"Son" (2017)
Starts out simply enough as an acoustic folk-pop ballad, but midway through it shifts to a more darker, dramatic texture with thick layers of vocal harmonies.
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
I've somehow fallen behind, so doing some quick catch-up.
41. Plants and Animals
"The End of That" (2012)
Part of a collection of songs I discovered through SiriusXM's Canadian indie station during peak indie.
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
42. Indio
"Hard Sun" (1989)
I definitely remember this being all over the radio throughout the summer of 1989...I assume on the Canadian stations in our market, but maybe the U.S. stations picked it up, too? Then the dude disappeared until he sued Eddie Vedder in 2007.
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
43. Harrison
"Right Hook" (2016)
There won't be much (any) more electronic music on this list, so congrats to Mr. Harrison Robinson. I rejiggered my posting plan and *technically* he should've been at No. 44 between Rascalz & Loreena McKennitt, but who's keeping score?
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
44. "All Souls Night," Loreena McKennitt
Shoutout to my mom, who got me listening to McKennitt's bubbling cauldron of international New Age folk mysticism well before it (bafflingly, briefly) found its way onto the charts.
#CanadaDays
#MusicChallenge
OK, count me in. And I am counting down my Top 45 Canadian artists, starting with an absolute iconic JAM that I had never heard prior to last year and #20GreatCanadianTunes.
45. "Northern Touch," Rascalz feat. Kardinal Offishall, Checkmate, Thrust and Choclair
