My Top 10 Hottest Canadian Bands 2008

As I mentioned in my last post, last Friday I (Heart) Music had posted the annual Hottest Bands In Canada list. I gave a few comments about my choices and omissions, etc. but after noticing that Mike at For The Records put up his personal choices, well, copycat that I am, I figured that I'd do the same.

Each of us who contributed to the list were basically given only two rules: the bands had to be Canadian, and they had to have a particularly "hot" year. We were aloud to define both of those terms anyway that we liked. The first one was pretty self explanatory, but determining what would be considered hot, well, that's another story. I basically decided that it meant that my personal views should be set aside (for the most part), and the bands in question had to have received quite a bit of recognition from the public, other artists and the critics and fans. I mostly stuck to that criteria, except now that I think about it, maybe my number one choice was based on more personal opinion that I consciously intended:

1. Cuff The Duke – Cuff the Duke was everywhere in 2008. They’ve opened for Feist and Calexico as well as playing backup for Hayden and holding their own with Blue Rodeo and Basia Bulat. Their live show is amongst the best that I’ve seen all year. They have the youthful vigor of a new band, but the musical abilities and tightness of a band that’s been doing this for decades. (And on a personal note, any band that can make me nostaligic for Oshawa is worthy of some form of recognition.) Myspace

2. Feist – Although last year was a particularly hot year for Feist, she managed to keep that momentum going in 2008. She appeared on SNL at the tail end of ’07, was on Stephen Colbert in April, will be headlining the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize Concert with Diana Ross and won 5 Juno awards. However, what really makes 2008 an especially hot year for her is the fact that she got to sing with the monsters of Sesame Street. It took R.E.M. 16 years and 11 albums to get there. Feist did it in 9 years and 4 albums. Myspace

3. Shad - I know a lot of people that felt that Shad should have won the Polaris prize that he was nominated for this year. The fact that it wasn’t necessarily hip hop fans that felt this way really says a lot about how all encompassing his appeal really is. Like Cadence and K-OS before him, Shad has introduced impressive rhymes and beats to those who wouldn’t usually spend a lot of time with hip hop. Myspace

4. The Dears – What makes these guys so hot is the fact that they’ve struggled through a year of difficulty and adversity which included severing ties with both their label and most of their band, yet they still came out on top by releasing an album as inventive and brilliant as Missiles.
Myspace

5. Neil Young – It’s never easy for an artist to remain relevant throughout a career spanning 40+ years, but in many ways Neil is now more relevant than ever. He has the ability to play a large stadium and still make you feel as if his show was prepared just for you. Myspace

6. Caribou – Although I’ve got my personal views on all things Polaris, there is no denying the fact that winning this prize is a sure fire way to get your name on the map. Although Dan Snaith was already there in many ways, being included in every Polaris related conversation certainly adds to your hotness factor, and to do so with a style of music that many people find indefinable is twice as impressive. Myspace

7. Amos The Transparent – There are two kinds of hot: the kind that you notice immediately and the kind that sort of sneaks up on you. I’ve been following these guys closely and I’ve noticed that people will literally stop what they’re doing and become instantly awestruck when they hit the stage. They’re still a relatively small name right now, but they undoubtedly gain new fans with every show that they play. Myspace

8. Ruby Coast - For a bunch of kids fresh out of high school to put out music that is miles ahead of some of their (more popular) contemporaries, one has to wonder if this is just the tip of the iceberg. There may be no limit to what they can accomplish. Myspace

9. Broken Social Scene – Technically they didn’t even release an album this year, but when slapping the tagline “Broken Social Scene Presents…” to the front of your name guarantees that you’ll receive double the exposure, that’s pretty impressive. Myspace

10. Crystal Castles – Unfortunately my personal opinion doesn’t seem to have much of an impact on a band’s overall hotness factor so my list begins with a band that I don’t get, but for some reason a lot of people do. Although I’ve never been one to listen to video game music for enjoyment, a Crystal Castles show seems to have become synonymous with crazy antics and controlled chaos. They’ve successfully used negative publicity to their advantage, and you’ve got to respect that (to a certain extent anyway.) Myspace