23 May 2024 - Nelly Furtado - Turn Off The Light

The Juno Awards happened back in March.  For those not familiar and who don't read this damn blog, that's basically the Canadian Grammys, for Canadian artists (with one award exception).  

Nelly Furtado was the host of the 2024 Junos.  She also hosted the 2007 ceremony.  

And, with more than 45 million records sold, she is one of the most successful Canadian artists in history.

Her debut album - Whoa, Nelly! - was a huge hit - generating two top 10 singles in the US.  Her first, "I'm Like A Bird", is well-known, and hit #9 on the US charts in 2001.  Its follow-up, this song, written by Furtado, hit #5 and was a bigger hit in the States.  

Neither song was as big a chart hit in Canada (the former did hit the top 20, and both got a fair amount of airplay), but she would continue to record hit after hit on both sides of the border, and also in other countries.  

This is a song for which two official videos exist, and yes, we have them both. Same song, sparser video.

Nelly has been known as something of a musical shapeshifter, bridging pop, rock, folk, hip hop and even Latin music.  In 2006, she was in her hip hop period, and this live version of the song surfaced.

It's actually pretty much the same song.

Furtado, whose parents were Portuguese immigrants to Canada, performed the song for a very small audience - the cast of Big Brother Brasil.   Yes, she speaks Portuguese.

When she recorded the song in 2012 for Walmart Soundcheck... well, it was harder and slower.  Still, very cool version of the song, even if it was comissioned by Walmart.

Guys, this is our last post until next week.  Please stay safe this weekend.

5 April 2024 - Flower Face - Cat's Cradle

I knew it was a possibility that Flower Face would come out with new music soon, and starting in late February, she started teasing a new video and a new song.  There are very few posts I would not have immeduately bumped in favor of a brand spanking new Flower Face single.   Maybe not The Beaches, but anyone else.  

I gave up waiting early and put up another of her songs for Maple Leaf March.   

Well, she would release it just after March was done.  April 4th, 9pm Eastern time.  As I am writing this post, the song has been out for less than an hour, and now I'm rescheduling my Friday post to get this out, quickly.  I just moved it to next week, so no big deal.

Seriously, she was very public on social media when she was recording her new album, and now a single is out.  It still is written and performed by Flower Face, and it still features her rich, soft voice.  It has a slightly more poppy sound - and her lyrical maturity shows through strong here.  I can't wait to hear what comes next.

I suspect this is going to be in my heavy rotation for the next several weeks.  I hope you enjoy it.  

3 April 2024 - Felix Cartal & Lights - Feel Less

Thanks for sticking with me through my fourth #MapleLeafMarch.  I didn't think it would last, and I didn't think it would change my musical taste forever, but both of those things happened.  

I also didn't think I'd have to push a post from March to April 2nd just to make sure it was posted in a timely manner.  For those who are regular readers of this blog, I asked a couple of days ago, "Why the hell couldn't I just move Lights?"  This is the post I was referencing.  I ended up moving it for something ELSE important.  

At this point, I know what a Lights release cycle looks like at this point.  This is the point where she ends an "era" - in this case, the "PEP" era - and spends time collaborating with other artists.

Well, in this case, it's an artist she's worked with before.  Felix Cartal is a Canadian DJ - Vancouver - who has done a LOT of great collaborations.  This is their latest one - written by Cartal and Poxleitner-Bokan (because she does have a last name) (also, Felix Cartal is a stage name - Taelor Deitcher is his real name) (how the hell is Lights NOT just a stage name but Felix IS?!) (InB4 "but she was born Valerie" - I know! I know! You do know who you are talking to here, right?) released in February - and it is, once again, phenomenal.   

Also, sorry about all the Lights recently.  But I couldn't ignore this one.

Also, NOW we're at 20.

31 March 2024 - The Beaches - Blame Brett

Maple Leaf March ending on a Sunday is kind of a downer.  

You see, we get reduced readership on Sundays, in general.  

We don't publish on Sundays for 11 months of the year (or Saturdays, for that matter) unless there's a Special Edition need to do that.   

During March, we do.

On these weekend days, we usually feature either 1) smaller, up-and-coming artists or 2) artists we feel like we have to feature even though we don't love them.  (We do love that song, though). Also, Lights.  

This year, we had WAY too much content.  We almost doubled up on weekdays - and DID on some days.  The Beaches getting pushed to a weekend feels wrong.  

And yet, here we are. 

Why the hell couldn't I just move Lights? (Editor's note: Yeah, we did end up moving Lights to another day OUTSIDE OF MARCH because this month was THAT packed, so there's no link there!)

The Beaches are a Toronto band that have been around for a decade, and finally broke through to US alternative radio in 2023 with this absolutel banger.  As of the time I am writing this, they are nominated for two Juno Awards this year (Group of the Year and Rock Album of the Year, for Blame My Ex, who absolutely is a real ex of Jordan Miller named Brett) (edit: they WON both of those Junos), but those were awarded last week as of the time you are actually reading this, so hopeful we remember to update this post. (Edit: we did but a little bit late) 

  

We really feel badly for relegating this absolutely great song to a weekend.  We're going to promote the hell out of this post.

But, to be fair, they really ARE up and coming.  They only just appeared on Jimmy Kimmel's show last month.... and they were spectacular.

'

Here is the band in Ottawa last summer, performing the hell out of this song.  They give off a Go-Go's vibe, and not Loverboy, for sure.  

We promise to post more of them on weekdays in the future.  We may not even wait until next March.

When possible, I like to include concert footage with a personal connection.  My sister went to their show in Toronto on Nov. 1, 2023 - and got footage of this song.

Wanna see it?

Wanna see the crowd go nuts?!

Here ya go.

30 March 2024 - Maryze - FBP (Female Brad Pitt)

Some days, I don't want to choose.  

This is why you're getting your 2nd Maryze post within five minutes of the first.  

In this post, though, we're going to talk about this 2021 non-album single that is just a fun song about being pretty and poor. Also, it's about owning your identity and who you are - Maryze identifies themself as queer, gender-fluid and non-binary, and this video features Maryze with a lot of their friends being who they are.  Filmed in Montreal, it makes me want to go there now. 

And yes, I know.  The song is called "Female Brad Pitt" so that seems to really imply a gender.   Maryze's pronouns are she/they.  

Also, it's pronounced "mar-ize".  Now you know.

30 March 2024 - Maryze - Emo

It is always a struggle for me to choose what music to include and what to leave out every March.  It is especially hard this year, when there are so many weekend days.  

This is really the only time of year we post on Saturday and Sunday, and I try to turf lesser-known artists to those days - up and comers, if you will.  

One of those up and comers is Maryze (her real name - Maryze Bernard), based in Montreal but originally from Vancouver, who released their debut album 8 in 2022.  It took me a few listens to really get the alt-pop feel of the whole album - of which this song is an absolute centrepiece - but I'm in.  I'm all in.  

This song starts a little slow but build quickly, and the seizure warning is no joke.  Directed and concieved by Maryze themself, the video is visually appealing and draws you in.  

29 March 2024 - Cœur de Pirate - Place de la République

Some artists don't release bad albums.  

It took a while for Blonde to grow on me, but it did.  Her solo catalog is eight albums deep at this point, and I'd put at least three of them in my top 20 of all time - Roses (easily top 5 and probably top 3), Perséides,  En cas de tempête, ce jardin sera fermé - and the rest aren't far behind, including Blonde.

This absolutely stunning song, written by Béatrice Martin (who by now you should know is Cœur de Pirate), is the reason Blonde exists.  It is a hauntingly dense and beautiful song that she was dying to record.  Named for the plaza in Paris, it is a melancholy love song, and it sits smack dab in the middle of the album.  

Voici Cœur de Pirate interprétant la chanson en direct et en beauté à l'Aéroport international Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau de Montréal. Est-ce une salle de concert insolite ? Bien sûr. Est-ce absolument magnifiquement réalisé ? Absolument. Ai-je utilisé Google Translate pour vous écrire ? Vous pariez que je l'ai fait.

28 March 2023 - Neil Young - Rockin In The Free World

Born in Toronto, and a Canadian citizen, Neil Young is an absolute national treasure. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1982 - 7 years before today's song was released.

This song, from Young's 1989 album Freedom, is one of his biggest hits ever, being both a Canadian chart hit and a US rock radio hit.... plus MTV loved this song, which you can't say about every song and video he made. 

This song was something of a career revolution for Young, who subsequently toured to packed houses and released a live album - Weld - that was also a hit.  Written by Young, it is absolutely a song of revolution.

The song was actually on the album twice.  This acoustic version was also featured.  They're both really powerful.

Young also performed the song live on Saturday Night Live in 1989, a performance Dennis Miller called the greatest ever for the show.

This is the REHERSAL.

It was so important to include Neil Young this month, and this song specifically, I moved Lights.

27 March 2024 - Loverboy - Turn Me Loose

Anyone who knows me personally knows that I spent several months in Calgary, Alberta in 2019... and visited for a day in 2022 as well.   I love the city.  It was a great place to work and live and visit, and I would gleefully return. 

Why am I spending time evangelizing Calgary?  

Because today's Wicked Guilty Pleasure hails from Calgary.  Formed in 1979, they got their start as Kiss's opening act in Vancouver.  

Seriously.  That was their first live performance.

An album followed in 1980, and their first single, released in 1981, was "Turn Me Loose".  Mike Reno really sells the song - practically begging to do it his way or no way at all.  It ended up being a Top 40 hit in the US (and a huge hit on rock radio in the States as well) and Top 10 in Canada.  It also won the 1982 Juno Award for Single of the Year. 

It would be their biggest Canadian hit (but by no means their only!), but they did a lot more in the US, where MTV embraced them.

And, yes, they are Canadian Music Hall of Famers - 2009 inductees - beating Shania Twain there by 2 years. 

And yes, they are still together - after a brief hiatus in the late 80s, they reformed in the early 90s and never looked back.

And Mike Reno is older, but still commands the stage.  That classic bassline is still there.  The classic guitar is still here, more than 40 years after its initial release.  

26 March 2024 - Riit - qaumajuapik

I don't think I've ever featured an artist from Nunavut.

Hell, most of you don't know where Nunavut is.

Riit is from a town in Nunavut called Panniqtuq located on Baffin Island, which is about 45 km. south of the Arctic Circle.  For those who measure distance in screaming bald eagles instead of kilometers, that's about 28 miles.  Nunavut is a Canadian territory, formed in 1999 when the Northwest Territories were split roughly along ethnic lines.  Nunavut is primarily Inuit, who are a First Nations group that you may know by another name we're not saying.

(There are certainly Inuit outside of Nunavut, which you already know if you read Totally Covered, so, you can miss us with that).

Riit is the stage name of Rita Claire Mike-Murphy, who is a children's television show host. She hosted a show in English and Inuktitut called Anaana's Tent.  Here's the Season 1 promo in English.

And here it is in Inuktitut.

We don't make this stuff up.

In 2017, she released her debut album, and followed it in 2019 with the critically acclaimed Ataataga - a 2020 Juno Award nominee - which included the lead single "quamajaupik".  Her music is traditionally Euro-synth, except the lyrics are all in Inuktitut.  Literally translated to "you are shining", this is a love song that preserves her native First Nations language, which is exactly her intent.

As part of the release of this single, Riit also had a performance for CBC Music in which she debuted this song.....

The performance is just spectacular, and that's why we're doubling up today and not pushing Riit's Maple Leaf March debut to 2025.  

26 March 2024 - Carly Rae Jepsen - Beach House

It's funny.   We've been doing this Canadian music thing in March for four years now. 

We've now had Carly Rae Jepson posts in three of them.  The year we missed?  2022.  

This song is from Jepsen's 2022 Juno-nominated album The Loneliest Time.   

The video is absolutely hilarious, and the song is a bop (and hilarious in its own right) that should have been a hit everywhere. 

We know from past experience that Carly Rae puts on a hell of a good show.  Here she is in Montreal putting on a hell of a great performance of this banger.

25 March 2024 - Charlotte Cardin - Confetti

Congratualtions to Charlotte Cardin on her multiple Juno Award wins.

I don't know as of this writing (I wrote this in February) whether she won last night or not, but, given all her nominations and critical acclaim, I'm going to bet she did.  I'll edit this post if I was wrong (but I won't be).

(Edit:24 March - she won Pop Album of the Year. and one of the major awards, Album of the Year.  She did lose Artist and Single of the Year - both to Tate McRae.) 

This song was nominated for Song of the Year this year (one of her six Juno nominations, including two for the album 99 Nights).  Written by Cardin, Jason Brando and Lubalin, this song is funky and has a strong R&B influence, with Cardin's husky voice carrying the track.  The song is lyrically a little depressing - reminding me a bit of "Habits (Stay High)".   

The song has been Cardin's biggest hit in Canada - her first top 10 entry - and she is absolutely an artist that deserves attention outside of Canada. 

Could Charlotte Cardin be the Canadian Taylor Swift? Who knows, but this crowd is really into her performance. 

I failed to mention earlier that Cardin is from Montreal, is of course still Canadian, and currently lives in Paris.  

I mention this because, on her 99 Nights Deluxe release, which was mostly French, she included 4 extra songs.... and really, this was just 99 Nights plus her EP,  Une semaine à Paris.

Actually, I think we mentioned this before.

The EP was centered around a French version of this song.

By the way, I am partial to this piano version - Cardin is an accomplished pianist, and performs her own song so well in such a stripped-down fashion.

(Edit: 25 March 2024) Of course, there is the version she performed at the Juno Awards...

24 March 2024 - Begonia - Marigold

Yes, Begonia is nominated at this year's Juno's (Adult Alternative Album of the Year, for Powder Blue), which are TONIGHT. 

Begonia is the stage name of Alexa Dirks, a singer/songwriter from Winnipeg, Manitoba, which, to those in the States who aren't following along this March, is in Canada.  She is unique, and flamboyant, and entertaining, and she deserves a bigger spotlight, which is why we're featuring her on a Wednesday and not a Sunday.

This song is a centerpiece of her nominated album, and was co-written by the artist with Matt Schellenberg and Matthew Peters (the three of them also produced the song).  It is a short song, sure, but also, it's a great showcase for one of the more unique voices in music today.

Begonia's songs are known to be even more epic live.  This is an in-studio live performance of this song at incredibly influential CFNY in Toronto - so maybe not so epic, but still, amazing. 

23 March 2024 - Feist - Of Womankind

If you didn't know that Feist was still making music after "1 2 3 4",  you're missing out on a fabulous solo artist.  The Nova Scotia-born and Calgary-raised artist released her comeback album Multitudes, nominated for a Juno and shortlisted for the 2023 Polaris Music prize (it lost that), in 2023, and it is truly delightful.

The album documents the death of Feist's father and the adoption of her daughter - which makes for a rich tapestry of just beautiful folk-pop music.

As is typical of Feist, she puts on a hell of a live show - and in this show, she also shows the phenominal video she made for this beautiful song.

Also, this month is so packed we've got Feist on a SATURDAY!

22 March 2024 - Céline Dion - Pour que tu m'aimes encore

In this week where we are posting about absolute monstrous superstars, we bring one of the biggest stars on the planet.

I mean, her name - Céline - is synonymous with her.

Who is the best selling French language artist in history? Céline Dion.

Who is the best selling Canadian artist in history?  Céline Dion.

Who is the biggest gaping hole in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame? Céline Dion.

She is the first Maple Leaf March post-ee to be a Eurovision winner - in 1988, representing Switzerland, despite being a Canadian, from Charlemagne, Quebec, just outside of Montreal.   1988 was also the year she learned how to speak English, having grown up a French speaker.  She was 20 and had been recording music for almost a decade - and music that was relatively well-known in the French-speaking world.

After she broke through in the Anglo market, she did not forget her roots.  In 1995, she released a Francophone album called D'eux in most of the world.  In the United States, it was called The French Album.  

OF COURSE the English speaking world didn't embrace the ALBUM like the French speaking world did, but it was a big hit in Europe and Canada. This was one of her best-known singles of that era - in her very distinctive style, only in French.  This particular single was actually a hit in the UK as well, making the top 10.  

It is her biggest French language hit by far.

When she performs the song live in the French-speaking world, it is like "My Heart Will Go On".  Everyone knows EVERY word.

Even during her Vegas residency, she performed the song, because of course she did.  The song is clearly very important to her, and English audiences do respond.

21 March 2024 - Gordon Lightfoot - Canadian Railroad Trilogy

Gordon Lightfoot passed away last May, and we didn't do a Special Edition post for him.  

That's because I was saving it for today.  This week, when I am posting about some of the giants of Canadian music.

Gordon Lightfoot was a goddamn Canadian treasure, and there's no fucking way we weren't putting a fitting tribute into Maple Leaf March. Inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986, we aren't just saying things like this to say them.  We're saying them because he is revered to this day across Canada, and he truly spoke to life in Canada in a lot of his songs.

This song was released in 1967, having been commissioned in 1966 by the CBC to commemorate the building of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, which is transcontinental, as part of a celebration of the Canadian Centennial.

Lightfoot's debut album was released in 1966, and he had a few top 10 hits as far back as 1962, so he was already a big enough deal to do this.  This song was also included on his 1967 album The Way I Feel, and is a huge and epic song of labor and national pride.

He re-recorded the song for his 1975 greatest hits album Gord's Gold. 

We could think of no greater tribute than a performance of this song from Reno, NV in the year 2000. This is one of the videos that is included as part of his official Canadian Music Hall of Fame record. 

Not good enough?  How about this 1972 performance from the BBC?  It's different, equally beautiful, and spreads the Canadian pride.

OK, you want peak Canadian pride.  I get it.

Here's Gordon Lightfoot performing "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" on Ottawa's Parliament Hill on the occasion of Canada's 125th birthday party. 

20 March 2024 - Shania Twain - You’re Still The One

For four years, we've had this draft ready to go every March.

For four years, we've ignored Shania Twain (except for this cameo on a Anne Murray post two days into the first #MapleLeafMarch). 

Shania Twain is arguably the biggest hit singer to come out of Canada in a generation (arguable because Céline Dion is from the same generation) With over 100 million records sold, she is the biggest female country artist of all time.  Her 1997 album Come on Over is recognized as the biggest selling album by any female solo artist, ever, in any genre, and the eighth best selling by any type of musical artist, anywhere.

And yes, the best selling album by any Canadian artist.  

Shania Twain is a monstrous pop-country crossver superstar.  

This song is a huge part of all of that.  The 1997 ballad is far and away the biggest hit song she ever had - the one that truly crossed her over to a pop audience and out of her country pigeonhole.  The song, cowritten by Twain and her then-husband (more on that in a minute), producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, is a mandolin and pan flute driven track, a beautifully written love song.  It peaked at #1 on the country charts and #2 on the pop charts in the US, and was a top ten hit worldwide, including in her native Canada.  

The video was the first by a female country artist to be nominated for an MTV Video Music award - for Best Female Video in 1998 (she lost to "Ray of Light" which was admittedly a fantastic video that also won Video of the Year).  

She was, and is, a huge crossover superstar.

She, of course, became a worldwide superstar.  In this 1998 performance, the very large crowd at the Prince's Trust concert in Hyde Park knows every word.

In this acoustic performance of the song, she talks about her unlikely relationship with her husband - their 17-year age difference, their different cultural backgrounds.

Also, stick around to the end to hear Shania talk about her cleavage.

    

Twain divorced her husband in 2010 after reports he was having an affair with her best friend.  Her best friend's husband also divorced his wife.  That man, Frédéric Thiébaud, married Twain in 2011.  

I just love that story.  

Also in 2011, Shania was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, which she richly deserved, by her friend and fellow Canadian Bryan Adams.

Even though Robert wasn't the one for life, this song is, and she still performs it - she just doesn't mention who it's about.  In this performance from last year, she nailed it.

19 March 2024 - Alanis Morissette - Reasons I Drink

It has been four years, and this is the FIRST time we're featuring Alanis Morissette in Maple Leaf March.  That's so odd to me.  

True story - I actually had an Alanis song slated for the very first day of the very first Maple Leaf March, but moved it (without regret) for a lesser known artist.  I did end up posting that song in another month. 

The lead single from her 2020 album Such Pretty Forks In The Road, the song was actually released in late 2019.  Co-written by Morissette and Michael Farrell.  It is at once a beautiful and obviously personal song about her life in the music industry - and let's be clear - she has really been working since she was single digits - so, 40 years.  

She was double digits when she got slimed, though.

It's also a really relatable song - who hasn't done something, like drinking or eating, emotionally? 

The video is simple, a support group in which Alanis is several of the participants. 

This is one of Alanis's most performed songs... and still performed, four years later.  Here she is, performing the song a few weeks ago, as a duet with Kelly Clarkson.  

The song shines most when it's just Alanis, though - like this, one of the very first public performances of the song from a 2019 performance at a Connecticut casino.

18 March 2024 - Sarah McLachlan - Building A Mystery

We've mostly avoided really big international artists during the last few Marches.  This week, we're not doing that.   

We start with Nova Scotia's Sarah McLachlan - who we did feature in our first Maple Leaf March, but not since.  And what a lot of people don't really realize when thinking about McLachlan, 1) she's Canadian and 2) this was her first really big hit - her first top 20 hit in the States (peaking at #13), and her biggest hit on the Canadian pop charts - her only #1 (for eight weeks!) in her home country, but also, the biggest hit of ANY song in Canada in 1997.  

In addition to winning Sarah a Juno Award for Song of the Year - one of four she won in 1998 (Album of the Year for Surfacing, Songwriter of the Year (partly for this song), Female Vocalist of the Year) (she had previously won a Juno in 1992 for "Into The Fire") - this song won a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance the same year (she also won for Best Pop Instrumental Performance the same year).

Let's remember that this 2017 Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee also brought us Lilith Fair.  She brought us a real life Sarah McLachlan School of Music - with three locations (Vancouver, Edmonton, Surrey BC).  She's truly amazing, and she shares her gifts with others so generously.

The song, written by McLachlan and Pierre Marchand, is about insecurities and building a facade.

The song holds another distinction.

When Steve Jobs intrioduced the very first iPod in 2001, what was the first song he played?

"Building A Mystery".

The song is at its most beautiful when performed just by Sarah on an acoustic guitar, as she did a few years after the song's release.....

.....and she did again in this 2019 performance (because she still performs, people).

She doesn't just perform the song acoustic, but also with a full band, like this performance from 2022.

She's even been known to perform the song with a full symphony orchestra, like this performance from 2011.

She's even been known to perform it with Shawn Colvin and Paula Cole at the 1998 Grammys.

17 March 2024 - Lu Kala - Hotter Now

A 2023 Juno Award nominee for Breakthrough Artist, Lu Kala is one of the more successful Canadian aritsts in that category - even appearing on the US Billboard Hot 100 in a collaboration with Latto.

This song was a top 30 hit in Canada in 2023 - her biggest hit to date.  The Congolese-Canadian singer (born in Congo, but raised in Toronto) has a bright sound and a bright future.  Her sound is happy, a throwback to an earlier era - with a pop/R&B confidence without disrespect.  

It's only a matter of time for her.