the Big Shiny late-90s/early-00s CanCon poll

I think OLP were ruined for me the day that I was at my painting job and we listened to an OLP mix about ten times. I never need to hear "Innocent" again.

As a side note, I'm amazed that 99.9 The Buzz is still around. For a US-based radio station, they played a surprising amount of Canadian alt rock.

I dimly recall being at this

https://www.setlist.fm/festival/2000/summersault-2000-halifax-43d6ebd7.html

the Pumpkins were shockingly awful

Catherine Wheel, eh? Interesting.

a note for brad re: the Catherine Wheel's set

The only sign of life came when Our Lady Peace guitarist Mike Turner joined the band on stage for a tune. They bid farewell to Halifax stating “We will never, ever see you again.” Good riddance!

so there was a brief OLP/Catherine Wheel crossover

For a US-based radio station, they played a surprising amount of Canadian alt rock.

I felt like kids in Buffalo, NY, might have been even more passionate about Canadian bands than Canadians were. It seemed to have aome kind of cachet. People would eagerly want to talk to me about Matthew Good, Tea Party, or the Hip when they found out I was Canadian. (I lived there 05-08, during my PhD!) OLP played our uni's Fallfest one of those years

loool, this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHu3ZKXZrf4

god, Edwin was such a prat

Just for the sake of balance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gljv7NNgQD0

And of course:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5gidM31MCM

We do get some good French radio in Ottawa. In my more enlightened middle age, I really enjoy listening to trad French country on CHUO every Thursday morning to get into a French headspace for that day's teaching.

(Portentous, Live 88.5 and Rebel 101.7 are both also happy to dip into the 90s alt vaults.)

Sund4r I was at that OLP show, ha

I’m think a lot of it might have been that those band played Buffalo/Upstate New York a ton, and felt like “big” bands, when other touring bands from farther away in the US hardly ever came through, so the fan bases got huge. Like I remember going to see BNL play the hockey arena before “one week” was a thing.

Heh, you're definitely more Québécois than I am if you can listen to country in French. I'll get there some day.

xp

weirdest bit of trivia related to this poll that I've dug up so far: MGB's "Omissions of the Omean" ('95) supposedly contains the first recorded use of the expression "first-world problems"

!

(Sorry for your loss, btw, portentous.)

Pomenitul, it helps a lot that the words are p much always crystal clear, and that it makes it harder to fall asleep on a longish morning drive, but I'm also somewhat fascinated by this show: I didn't think a French twang was possible beforehand, and the host of this show manages to come up with four new hours of music in a fairly specific vein every week.

Thanks, I'll check it out.

Prob goes without saying that it's super hokey.

(no idea what the PGMG connection is?)

― Simon H., Wednesday, April 3, 2019 9:08 AM (two days ago)

None, other than both were Matador labelmates at the same time for a brief moment.

That's alright, being abroad has a way of making even such things appear exotically palatable.

xp

not really poll-relevant but this is my fave pre-NPs AC Newman tune

https://youtu.be/TvTltNhTy-E

― Simon H., Wednesday, April 3, 2019 11:24 AM (two days ago)

Same, might even be my favorite of his including NPs.

This is probably way too under the radar for Big Shiny but this was one of my fave Canadian songs of the specified era:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrWq4J4GzLA

That's an interesting list. Always annoys me that "I'm an Adult Now" is the TPOH song people remember since it's so monotonous and says nothing to me. Much prefer "She's So Young" or "Beautiful White".

Yes! I thought I was alone on this. I'm an Adult Now drags so much compared to the rest of the album.

Also - is this the place where we can discuss how awesome the first Lowest of the Low album is?

im an adult now is a shitty song.

I like those Doiron records a lot

I don't know that I've ever consciously heard Lowest of the Low.

this is the LotL song that got much music play...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t06Kg3LwyE

I love it and the rest of the album, Ron Hawkins is one of my favourite songwriters.

ah now I see why you just referred to it as "the first LotL album" and not by name lol

I'll check it out!

haha, yeah brutal album name.

Heh, I just put on Radio-Canada in the van and they were playing Jean Leloup's "Joue de la Guitare".

Yeah that album is loaded with hits, top 10 Canadian albums ever for sure

*LotL that is

Fuck the system, do it, do it, do it, do it, yeah!

ugh i relistened to a bunch of olp records today and now i have to change my vote to them

happiness... is pretty perfect

I definitely bought Moist's Mercedes Five and Dime as a #teen for....some reason. Relistening now I have no idea what prompted that, but it's not bad. There's a certain lightness / airiness to the sound that's not very typical of the era.

Went with Odds. Their albums are consistently good, their live show fun and hilarious, and they are also my second CD purchase.

Though Pluto almost made it on the strength of "Paste" alone. Likewise The Killjoys on the strength of "Today I Hate Everyone"

My principal conclusions after going back through the MGB discography afresh is a) man, that guy wrote a lot of good songs that are more melodically clever than I remembered and b) Warne Livesey is a very dull producer who did them no favors. Loser Anthems is their most distinctive-sounding record and it's the only one he wasn't involved with. (OTOH he has a songwriting credit on the Mark Hollis solo album so he can't be all bad.)

I need to admit that I cannot remember how a single MGB song sounds. I'm not sure I consciously knew one at the time.

I'd be surprised if you put on "Load Me Up" or "Apparitions" and didn't have at least the slightest twinge of recognition.

Gob

I revisited a bunch of MGB singles the other day and while his songwriting does tend to surpass his contemporaries', the intervening decades haven't helped me warm up to his voice at all. And the production does indeed suck, although MGB are hardly alone on this one (I'd love me some Albinized CanCon).

I remember OLP working with THE Bob Rock was an actual talking point when Gravity came out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2KJDl-T-y4

JENNI
KILLED HER DAD WITH HER CAR
NOW SHE'S A MILLIONAIRE

idk i love the sound of those mgb records. they definitely sound like the '90s though

I tried to listen to Limblifter this morning but I just get nothing out of that guy's voice.

holy shit this thread is too much

keep clicking songs and having intense flashbacks to childhood

fucking i mother earth lmao

Def the most ridiculous of these bands