Oh, Canada...

A lot of people like to make fun of Canada, and some people actually go so far as to in fact not have any respect for our neighbor to the north. I'm not in either of those categories; I like Canada, and I like Canadians. I really want to visit the country someday, but haven't as yet ... my only fear about doing so is that I'll love the place so much that I won't want to leave. I think my love affair with Canada started with the music -- yeah, big surprise there, right? So much of the entertainment we enjoy here in the United States is, whether we realize it or not, imported from Canada: William Shatner, Michael J. Fox, Jim Carrey, Alex Trebek, and many other television and film personalities were born there, and the mainstream music consciousness in the U.S. has no shortage of Canuck countrymen (and -women): Alanis Morissette, Barenaked Ladies, The Guess Who, Nelly Furtado, Bryan Adams, K.D. Lang, and the list goes on.

But I won't talk about the obvious and well-known ones here ... this is a briefing on some of my favorite Canadian artists who aren't particularly well-known outside of their borders. This, ladies and gentlemen, I present as evidence to counter the argument made by the less-enlightened amongst us Americans, who say that Canadians lack sophistication and vision. I look forward to one day browsing the aisles of a Canadian CD store, to see what other treasures I might be missing. But for now, these recording artists from the Great White North have somehow managed to tide me over....

The Moffatts -- You've heard me rave about them before, but there's a reason I can't say enough good things about them, and that reason's name is "Submodalities", their last album as a band. These four siblings were talented far beyond their teen (at that time) years, and cooked up this exquisitely eclectic alt-pop jukebox. If you like rock and/or pop music, you must buy this album now ... period. Their previous album, "Chapter I: A New Beginning" (which is available in the States), wasn't too bad either, by the way.

One 2 One -- This pop duo was comprised of vocalist Louise Reny and instrumentalist Leslie Howe. There was nothing earth-shatteringly different about their material, but for some reason, it caught my ear and never let go. (Okay, maybe the fact that they thanked the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in their liner notes had a little something to do with it, too.) I bought their U.S. release "Imagine It" (a modest hit in its day) when it came out in 1992, and to this day it's one of my favorite albums from that time period. It still sounds a bit dated, but all things considered, it's held up pretty well for being fifteen years old. It did compel me to track down their hard-to-find Canadian-only 1988 release, "1-2-1", although that one shows its age more.

Wave -- I'd almost say this duo was Canada's answer to Savage Garden, except Wave preferred more "natural" instrumentation (guitars, drums) and far less electronics. I think they're broken up now, but Paul Gigliotti and Dave Thomson put out two excellent albums of deliciously tuneful, radio-friendly pop: "Nothing As It Seems" in 2001, and "State Of Mind" in 2002. Again, nothing terribly unique or profound here, but it doesn't have to be different in order to be good, and these guys proved it.

Tal Bachman -- The son of Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive member Randy Bachman is probably the most familiar name on this list. Tal Bachman scored a sizable U.S. hit in 1999 with the single "She's So High". I don't know why this album wasn't a bigger success than it was -- and I don't think it was much of a success at all, seeing as how he never released another album in the U.S. -- because it was packed with one excellent rock-pop song after another, and produced by the renowned Bob Rock (who himself is Canadian, and also produced The Moffatts' "Submodalities"). Fortunately, he finally released a follow-up album in Canada several years later that I could sink my teeth into.