Big in Canada

On part two of Big in Canada's special year-end wrap up episode, we count down our favourite albums from 4-1.Also discussed: Bryan Adams' A Great Big Holiday Jam, other Bryan Adams Christmas songs, Three Strong Words, fatherhood, the location of Pho No Café and more. SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

Because yeah, we're a music podcast too. On the first of two special year-end wrap up episodes, we count down our favourite albums from 10-5. Next week, we go 4-1. The suspense is getting you killed. CanCon laws ARE in effect. Also discussed: Three Strong Words, the Toronto (Still) Loves Jacksoul Map, Christmas music contradictions and mistakes, Tate "Cars" McRae, the band "Christmas" and more.

While Michael Bublé and Céline Dion may be the king and queen of CanCon Christmas, the system churns out an endless stream of MAPL-safe Christmas music to ensure the most wonderful time of the year is distinctly Canadian. We dig into our personal Christmas music preferences, check out some Big in Canada-favourites' contributions to the canon and count down our Top 5 Canadian Christmas songs.Also discussed: Chantal Kreviazuk's upcoming album of "her" songs, Christmasy artists, shopping, the birth of Jesus Christ, blue christmases and much more.

His vestige haunts the bathrooms of several Toronto bars years after his death, but the music Haydain Neale made with jacksoul and the impact he had on CanCon will never die. Had Neale lived, he would be Canada's king of soul. Even in death, he may still be. Also discussed: slow jams, sex jams, being a live band, the Philosopher King to hit-maker pipeline, cover songs, Ashlee Simpson, more Three Strong Words, the rule of three, "Les", Mac "CanCon Nostradamus" Cameron and much more.

Before Drake, Swollen Members were the benchmark for commercially successful hip-hop in Canada. Combining hardcore and halloween aesthetics with hip-hop, they won JUNO Awards, MMVAs and were constantly on MuchMusic. But was CanCon ready for rap to be pop? Will it ever be?Also discussed: Canadian Idol vs. BSS, cool words, extreme sports, being Ringo, getting into hip-hop, rapping at parties, Madchild and Prevail being fated, Bad Dreams, Nelly Furtado and much more.

Last week Big in Canada went viral. Well, relatively speaking. In this episode, your hosts react to the reactions from Instagram users about Mac's theory on three word band names and, for all of our new listeners, we lay out the official rules of Three Strong Words. 

soulDecision is probably the most successful Canadian boy band of all-time. Which is somehow not the greatest musical achievement of the band's lead singer Trevor Guthrie. This bland man has it all figured out. Good for him! But also, what the hell is going on? Also discussed: capitalization, the power of sports, 5 people 1 guitar!, Big Shiny Tunes (The Yellow Album), CanCon charity concerts and compilations, marketing, the same old story, songs concerning consent, pop bands and much more.

In the 2000s, Burlington was the de facto centre of Southern Ontario's hardcore music universe, thanks largely in part to Silverstein, whose local shows eventually got too big for the city's biggest venues. Silverstein's bassist and archivist Billy Hamilton takes us through the various bands, people and players who have roots in the Burlington scene and explains why Silverstein are not spiritually CanCon - or are they?? He also dishes on Silverstein's biggest brushes with CanCon elite: Bublé, Theory of a Deadman, Avril, Bryan Adams, Down With Webster, Shrode and many more.

In a surprise and live off the floor episode, Mac and Laura recap all the great CanCon moments of the World Series: Drake. Rufus. Geddy. JP. The cast of Schitt's Creek. National anthem thirstiness and more much.Then, Mac goes over his experience of DJing a wedding while Game 7 unfolded.

Skye Sweetnam crashed onto YTV and the Family Channel under the shadow of Avril, but from the jump, she knew she was no Avril-lite. Through sheer force of will, Skye managed to escape CanCon pop punk princess purgatory and sever into something else entirely.Also discussed: the Big Shiny Tunes 2 controversy, Katy Perry (somehow unrelated to her new boyfriend), the hair salon to major label pipeline, Sumo Cyco, and more.

And the winner is...For this two-part bonus episode of Big in Canada, Mac and Laura listened to over 100 shiny major label CanRock tunes and determined once and for all what the best Big Shiny Tunes compilation is based solely on their Canadian content.Also discussed: the history and legacy of the Big Shiny Tunes franchise, the evolution of the Canadian rock sound, the notable absence of women, who listens to The Tea Party, and much more.

As Rocktober rolls on, another list is born! For this two-part bonus episode of Big in Canada, Mac and Laura listened to over 100 shiny major label CanRock tunes and determined once and for all what the best Big Shiny Tunes compilation is based solely on their Canadian content. Also discussed: the history and legacy of the Big Shiny Tunes franchise, the evolution of the Canadian rock sound, the notable absence of women, who listens to The Tea Party, and much more.

Welcome to Rocktober!They were a Boston-based rock band, until fate intervened.Big Wreck wanted to conquer America, because, well, most of the members were American. But Canada had different plans for Ian Thornley and co. Trapped in Canada after a failed border crossing, the band's not-quite grunge classic rock worship got picked up by Canadian rock radio and the rest is....Nickelback? Also discussed: Thornley, Lilith Fair draft, Dragonette rumours and gossip, Deryck Whibley is...a Jonas brother??, more Nickelback, Berklee College of Music, Big Wreck's long tail and more.

Countless choirs across the country, and across generations, have sung "O Siem" thanks to its uplifting message of oneness. But when Susan Aglukark began recording music, the thought of anyone even hearing her songs seemed improbable if not impossible. We look at how Susan Aglukark became the first Inuk artist to have a top 10 hit in Canada and the unsettling tension underlying her early recordings.Also discussed: Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, songs that insist you have a good time, accidentally becoming a pop star, country music, how phones ruined everything, and much more.

You've heard it. On the radio, in the club, the gym, the mall and in commercials. It is ubiquitous. And yet, who the hell are Dragonette? We trace the many sounds of Martina Sorbara and her band/moniker to try and figure out when CanCon became the realm of anonymous, uncontroversial mega successes.Also discussed: The Big in Canada Movement, "indie sleaze", late stage-Myspace Music, "music for tampon commercials", Girls, Gossip Girl, fake bands, DJ x Pop Singer CanCon collabs, being the CanCon version of other CanCon artists and much more.

On Big in Canada’s first trip out East, Laura and Mac discuss bad boy fiddler, Ashley MacIsaac. Blending traditional fiddle music with alt-rock and a punk attitude, Ashley MacIsaac was plucked from Cape Breton and found mainstream success with his surprising smash hit “Sleepy Maggie”. But as the age-old story goes, this too-fast-fame took its toll. After all, he just wants to be known as “Ashley MacIsaac, from Cape Breton, playing the fiddle.”Also discussed: the newly rebranded Great Big in Canada Concert Experience, Canadian rock operas, Jully Black on the Amazing Race Canada, the “poisoned” Canadian music atmosphere, indexes, and much more.

In America, Snow was a novelty. "Informer" was considered a one-hit wonder and a joke that everyone seemed to really like. But around the world, Snow continued to pump out hits post-"Informer" and he finally made his way back to the Canadian charts with the poppy patois of "Everybody Wants to Be Like You." Given all this, we had to talk about the Super Notorious Outrageous Whiteboy aka the Snowman aka Daddy Snow aka Darrin O'Brien aka Snow.Also discussed: the Jully Blackout, Laura's interview with Sarah McLachlan, the latest on The Great Big in Canada Singalong, woah woahs, the end of the Family Channel, being Big in Jamaica and Japan, "Imposter" and much more.

Jully Black is a foundational figure in Canadian R&B, a mainstay on your television, an incredible singer, the winner of Big in Canada’s Young Artists for Haiti RANKED Special, and the list goes on and on. Even if you can’t name a single Jully Black song, you know who Jully Black is.Also discussed: the Power of Music, the intellectual launch of the Great Big in Canada Singalong, Artists for Feel Out Loud, Snow Job (again!), the (bad) vibes, and much more. Note: This episode contains mention of suicide. 

Bienvenue to an alternate universe of our own alternate universe of song. Lili Fatale were not big in Canada, but in Quebec they were as cool as it gets, and popular too. Jasamine White-Gluz aka No Joy is on the show to give us a peek into the world of music that was Big in Quebec.Also discussed: MusiquePlus, the influence of Cirque du Soleil, bands with many members, Bran Van 3000, the state of Francophone pop in Quebec in the late 90s, the long shadow of France, Francophones singing in English and much more.No Joy's new album Bugland is out now via Hand Drawn Dracula. Get it!

Whether in song, print, or on daytime television, Bif Naked is never afraid to bare the truth. After cutting her teeth in the Winnipeg and Vancouver punk scenes, Bif emerged as a singular, genre-blending, solo artist in the mid-90s. She played Lilith Fair and Warped Tour in the same year, has conquered cancer, and released a bunch of great records - rock on, Bif. Also discussed: Snow Job, Summersault Fest, Done With Dolls, the Canadian Circuit, and much more.