December 18, 2017
What better way is there to end the year than by exploring a massive chunk of what one of Canada’s Prairie provinces has to offer? Often, provincial music industry associations will put together massive compilations as tools to nationally and internationally broadcast the depth and breadth of talent that exists back home. These compilations can be used to set up networking and industry contacts abroad, help communicate what kind of musical trends are going on in the province, and—this is most important—just be a really fantastic, free way for listeners to discover a huge amount of music you may have otherwise never heard.
SaskMusic, the provincial music industry association that represents Saskatchewan, has just recently released just one such compilation named In Tune 2017. You can listen to it directly on the SaskMusic Radio website, or through Spotify (one caveat is that not every track is available on Spotify). Saskatchewan, like many provinces across the country, never seems to find as much recognition as it deserves in the national conversation, but this playlist makes a major case for why that’s just not right. Of course, the major breakthrough of Regina’s indie folk darling Andy Shauf (who’s represented here by “The Magician”) may have been a step for the scene, but there’s so much more to look into.
Case in point: the thrashy, breakneck rock ‘n’ roll of Shooting Guns’ “French Safe;” Megan Nash’s transcendent pipes on the quietly furious, orchestral “Bad Poetry;” the spooky and doomed melancholy of “Healing Waters” by The Garrys; the sorrowful and sinewy bluegrass of “Every Man Needs a Chew” by The Dead South; Close Talker’s blissed out and gauzy indie pop on “Reptiles.” There are 40 tracks to get into here, so that’s just the tip of the iceberg. And if you’d like to follow along with the rest of the country’s music industry associations—it’s a great way to keep up to date on what’s going on around Canada—you can find a full list of them at the CIMA website.
In Other News:
- Daniel Caesar made history with his current sold-out five day run in Toronto.
- Neil Young’s model train collection went for almost $300k USD.
- The Ticket Sales Act was passed by the Ontario Government.
- See Canada’s most searched phrases on Google.
- Apple bought Shazam.
- The Copyright Act will undergo review hearings next year.
- You could win a $100k prize package with one song in the It’s Your Shot contest.
