Music

How many of these Canadian album covers do you recognize?

by Mark Teo

The 2000s were arguably—maybe indisputably—a breakthrough decade for Canadian music. Regional scenes not only received plenty of attention stateside, but earned international recognition: Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, and New Pornographers put the spotlight on their respective city-scenes. Two of the biggest labels in Canadian music, Arts and Crafts and Dine Alone, rose to prominence in the ’00s. Canadian hip-hop earned international recognition thanks to the likes of Kardinal, Swollen Members, and K-Os. Electro rose and ebbed and left still-sizzling electronic scenes throughout the country, and among their stars were MSTRKRFT and Chromeo, who are still international stars. Not too shabby, eh?

Indeed, the aughts treated Canadian music well, and plenty of northerners produced some of our all-time favourite albums. We’ve compiled and cropped a selection of them above—and we’re issuing a challenge. How many of them can you name? If you can rattle off more than 10, much respect. Rattle off 20, and you’re likely in the top percentile. Manage to get 30? We bow down to you, oh founding member of Broken Social Scene. Have fun, and drop your answers in the comments.

P.S. Here’s the answer key. 1. Arcade Fire—Funeral 2. Cadence Weapon—Afterparty Babies 3. Death From Above 1979—You’re A Woman, I’m a Machine 4. Broken Social Scene—You Forgot it in People 5. Career Suicide—Attempted Suicide 6. Caribou—Andorra 7. Gorguts—From Wisdom to Hate 8. Chad VanGaalen—Soft Airplane 9. Chromeo—Fancy Footwork 10. MSTRKRFT—The Looks 11. Alexisonfire—Crisis 12. Comeback Kid—Wake the Dead 13. Feist—The Reminder 14. Drake—So Far Gone 15. Final Fantasy—He Poos Clouds 16. Junior Boys—So This is Goodbye 17. Devin Townsend—Terria 18. Attack in Black—Marriage 19. Wolf Parade—Apologies to the Queen Mary 20. Joel Plaskett—Ashtray Rock 21. Fucked Up—Chemistry of Common Life 22. Julie Doiron—Woke Myself Up 23. Shad—The Old Prince 24. Arcade Fire—Neon Bible 25. Miracle Fortress—Five Roses 26. Constantines—Shine A Light 27. North of America—Brothers, Sister 28. Moneen—Are We Really Happy With Who We Are Right Now? 29. New Pornographers—Twin Cinema 30. No Warning—Ill Blood 31. 100 Dollars—Forest of Tears 32. Protest the Hero—Kezia 33. Weakerthans—Reconstruction Site 34. Timber Timbre—S/T 35. Women—S/T 36. Propagandhi—Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes 37. Ohbijou—Beacons 38. Ladyhawk—S/T 39. Deadly Snakes—Porcella 40. Constantines—Kensington Heights