It’s about damn time I got around to this, but cut me some slack, as it’s my first December as a blogger and I’m new to the rigours and stress that comes with the making of a good year-end list. In this case I’ve limited things to my favourite Canadian albums of the year.

Basically, the dozen albums listed below are simply those that I’ve gone back to this year without fail and I’d be happy to have any of these on vinyl (which says a lot, as I don’t have much space in my apartment). They’re pretty much listed in order from 12-1, but I couldn’t be bothered with numbering. Enjoy!

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Rick White Album - Memoreaper
(Blue Fog)

Rick White can sure set a mood. His trademark vocals and feisty acoustic guitar always tend towards the gloomy and supernatural, and Memoreaper is what it would sound like to run for your life, disoriented and lost, through a haunted forest in the middle of the night.

Rick White Album - Grim Unintention

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Timber Timbre - Medicinals
(Independent)

Medicinals grabbed my attention upon first listen, but I let it fall off the radar soon after, which is a shame, as I’m only now realizing the months of enjoyment I could have had! Haunting and intimate, it’s ghostly without being somber and is able to rollick without losing the overall delicacy—a shaky acoustic gem.

Timber Timbre - Like a Mountain

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Nifty - A Sparrow! A Sparrow!
(Blocks Recording Club)

I have no idea what is going on with this album…and I love it. Ranging from sonic meandering, rich bass grooves and pretty folk, A Sparrow! A Sparrow! is a grab bag of genre bending ingenuity. Definitely the most unorthodox album on this list, but hey, we all need to branch out some time right?

Nifty - Tune Into You

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Kevin Drew - Spirit If…
(Arts & Crafts)

Between the high profile guest stars and people taking issue with the Broken Social Scene Presents prefix attached to this album Spirit If… got a lot of press that had nothing to do with the music, which is a shame, as it’s pretty damn good. In fact, just about every time I gave it a spin someone else within earshot went clamouring for a copy. You just can’t argue with well-crafted and expertly executed pop tunes, of which Spirit If… has more than its fair share.

Kevin Drew - Safety Bricks

Check out my previously posted review here.

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Sandro Perri - Tiny Mirrors
(Constellation Records)

Soothing, mellow and completely enveloping, Tiny Mirrors is full of beautiful songs with subtle melodies fit to hypnotize. Let it sink in.

Sandro Perri - Double Suicide

Check out my previously posted review here.

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Andre Ethier - On Blue Fog
(Blue Fog)

This album really polarizes my opinion. Some days I can’t get enough of it and others I think it’s overrated, but I always come back for more. I’ve got to attribute this to jealousy on my part, as this is the sort of album I’d love to make—cocksure and loose, while intimate at times and bombastic at others. Ethier wears his influences on his sleeves, but is still confident in his own delivery and this results in some of my favourite tracks of the year.

André Ethier - Nothing is Written in Stone

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Dog Day - Night Group
(Black Mountain)

Fierce and intense, Night Group is the perfect soundtrack to a demolition of your old bedroom. You get the sense that there’s something cute and amicable beneath the spurts of aggression, but you’ve got to earn the trust of these wily marsupials by thrashing around with them first.

Dog Day - Lydia

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Jim Bryson - Where the Bungalows Roam
(Kelp Records)

Zamboni folk—that’s the first thought that popped into my head as I saw Jim Bryson live earlier this year and I think it accurately depicts how endearing this record is.

Jim Bryson - Clear the Crowds

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Miracle Fortress - Five Roses
(Secret City Records)

I didn’t really get on board for the whole gelatinous Beach Boys sound that seemed so favourable this year (Panda Bear, Besnard Lakes). Even so, given the infectious melodies of songs like “Next Train” and “Maybe Lately” Five Roses was able to sink its teeth into me enough upon first listento keep me coming back for more—and I’m glad I did, as this record has something new and enticing to offer with every successive listen.

Miracle Fortress - Next Train

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Feist - The Reminder
(Arts & Crafts)

What can you say about The Reminder? It’s been played constantly on television and in just about every coffee shop throughout the year, which ought to have driven me mad, but I still find myself enjoying it—which I suppose is just a testament to the great songs on display here. Sure, I think it could have been chopped down by a few tracks, but that’s just nitpicking, which is the only type of criticism there can be with an album this good.

Feist - Brandy Alexander

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Wooden Stars - People Are Different
(Sonic Unyon)

Talk about an album that doesn’t know how to stay still, People Are Different is a challenging and varied sonic assault from start to finish with some damn fine guitar work. Just when I thought I had songs like “Pretty Girl” or “Orphans” pegged they hit me with a melodic riff that knocked my socks off, leaving me very glad that the Wooden Stars re-emerged from suspended animation this year.

Wooden Stars - Pretty Girl

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Wintersleep - Welcome to the Night Sky
(Labwork Music)

I pretty much gave this one away when I named Wintersleep the band of the year in my last post, but here I go again: This is undeniably the album I have listened to the most this year, hands down, and I never get enough of it.

Wintersleep - Dead Letter & the Infinite Yes

Read my previously posted review here.

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There you have it. It took me long enough, but those are my top Canadian albums of the year. I might post my international picks at some point, but they’re pretty much the run of the mill choices that made everyone else’s lists anyway (which is why I went with just Canadian albums in the first place).

By the way, HAPPY NEW YEAR!