Last year, Canada’s longest running music blog Quick Before It Melts started DOMINIONATED, an ongoing compendium of Canadian classics as played by contemporary acts out of Canada.
“What happens when you ask a group of contemporary artists from the Dominion of Canada to voice their opinion on their favourite Canadian artists and songs of the 80s and 90s? You get DOMINIONATED, a cover song compilation with a uniquely Canadian perspective”
The featuring favourites such as Eammon McGrath and The Provincial Archive, the first edition must have proved pretty popular, as this Canada Day saw the release of the second. The rules were the same as before, each artist (who had to be Canadian) would pick a Canadian song recorded before 2006, the year QBIM was launched. The result, unsurprisingly, is something inherently Canadian, managing capture a country proud of its traditions yet unafraid to be forward-thinking. As QBIM’s Jim Di Gioia puts it, this playlist exhibits:
“[A] spirit of play and exploration, along with deep respect and celebration of Canadian music culture and heritage”
If you enjoyed the first edition then you will be pleased to find a few familiar faces, and these have been joned by some excellent additions such as The Holy Gasp, covering Donald Himes, and Nick Faye & The Deputies, covering ‘Left & Leaving’ by The Weakerthans. My current favourite is a Sarah McLaughlin cover by Evening Hymns (who we love) and Jon Hynes (who we wrote about here). Check out the full tracklisting below:
The Holy Gasp – “Theme Song from Mr. Dressup” (Donald Himes)
VIRE – “Swing Shift” (Nash The Slash)
Evening Hymns (& Jon Hynes) – “Sweet Surrender” (Sarah McLachlan)
Nick Faye & The Deputies – “Left and Leaving” (The Weakerthans)
blackpaw society – “Girl With a Problem” (Northern Pikes)
CHAMPION LOVER – “Not Happy” (Jale)
WHOOP-Szo – “The Animals” (Elevator)
Jonathan Pearce (of Winchester Warm) – “Need” (Eric’s Trip)
Stonetrotter – “Constant Craving” (k.d. lang)
TV SETS – “I Just Wanna Stop” (Gino Vanelli)
Valery Gore – “Deed I Do” (Elyse Weinberg)
Camp David – “Nova Heart” (Spoons)
Venus Sans Fur – “I Think Of Her” (Forgotten Rebels)
Whale Eye – “I Hear You Calling” (Gob)
Alex Bent + the Emptiness – “Heaven In Your Eyes” (Loverboy)
Las Venus Skyway – “Have Not Been The Same” (Slow)
No Museums – “Any Sense of Time” (The Inbreds)
Crossley Hunter – “Tripoli” (Matthew Good Band)
Hollowphonic – “Broken Man” (Sianspheric)
Matt LeGroulx – “Rising of the Sun” (The Rabble)
KASHKA – “You Wouldn’t Like Me” (Tegan and Sara)
You can download DOMINIONATED (deux) right now (up until the 24th November), and be sure to go back and listen to the first edition on Soundcloud.