Art by Lindsey Hampton
So as we say goodbye to 2009 and the awkwardness of not knowing what to call the ten years that preceded it (”The aughts”? “The 2000s”? “The zeros”?), let’s get down to that favourite activity of compulsive music nerds (and indeed, compulsive nerds everywhere): making lists.
For Discorder’s Best of the Decade, we contacted 33 local music journalists, DJs, critics and broadcasters to find out everyone’s favourite ten local bands or artists of the past ten years. To be eligible, an artist simply had to play a show or release an album between January 1, 2000 and December 1, 2009. Each respondent to our survey rated their ten favourite acts in order, and out of more than 150 acts named, we have calculated this Top 50 using our highly scientific polling methods.
It was quite a decade for Vancouver music, and a number of the artists on the list have achieved success and acclaim internationally. Some of the highest-ranking acts are virtually unknown outside the city, but well-loved by the local population. Meanwhile, some of the Vancouver acts to have gained the most notoriety (coughNickelbackcough) don’t appear on our list at all.
Looking over these 50 names though, it’s been a pretty rich decade with some really creative people doing some really cool things. It seems to suggest that when it’s raining outside, lots of people are staying indoors, writing great songs, tinkering away at keyboards and pounding away on guitars, and making all kinds of cool, weird sounds. Here’s to another ten years of more of this.
Our esteemed jury:
Jules Andre-Brown (CiTR, Crimes & Treasons)
Anita Bee (CiTR, Samsquantch’s Hideaway)
Sarah Charrouf (Discorder)
Jenna Chow (CBC)
Chris-A-Riffic (Discorder, CiTR, Parts Unknown)
Shawn Conner (Guttersnipe)
Shea Dahl (AMS)
Aisha Davidson (Discorder)
Steve Edge (CiTR, The Saturday Edge)
Kaitlin Fontana (Spin, Exclaim!)
Simon Foreman (Discorder)
Dan Fumano (Discorder)
Darren Gawle (CiTR, Stereoscopic Redoubt)
Alex Hudson (Discorder, Chipped Hip, Beat Route)
Marielle Kho (CiTR, We All Fall Down)
Bob Kronbauer (Vancouver Is Awesome)
Ben Lai (Discorder, CiTR, Thunderbird Radio Hell)
Grant Lawrence (CBC Radio 3)
Chris Little (Discorder)
Michelle Mayne (Discorder)
Duncan McHugh (CiTR, Duncan’s Donuts)
Luke Meat (CiTR, Anoize)
Quinn Omori (From Blown Speakers)
Tristan Orchard (Winnie Cooper)
Cam Reed (Music Waste, Only)
Mark Richardson (CiTR, Pop Drones)
Al Smith (Discorder, Exclaim!)
Spike (CiTR, Canadian Way)
David Stansfield (Discorder)
Tanya Vanthournout (the Skinny)
Curtis Woloschuk (West Ender)
Quentin Wright (CiTR, Chips With Everything)
Jordie Yow (Discorder)
50. Elizabeth
Straight-up Joy Division revival of the best kind.
49. Gangbang
Unabashedly lo-fi, charmingly fun and undeniably sexy, the two gals in Gangbang serve up a bratty mix of songs about heartbreak, robots and Elvis Stojko.
48. Tas 1000
The best music you will ever hear with an answering machine on lead vocals.
47. The Be Good Tanyas
The three ladies who make up this acoustic folk trio sprinkle beautiful hints of blues and country throughout their music making each of their songs a gem.
46. No Gold
Audible sunshine. A tropical dance party.
45. The Green Hour Band
’60s-inspired psychedelia in really tight pants.
44. Said The Whale
Hugely likable pop-rock combo with a distinct Pacific NW vibe.
43. Doomeastvan
The name says it all: death metal from East Van. Amazing.
42. My Project: Blue
Now defunct, everyone still holds out hope for a reunion of these pop maestros.
41. Brasstronaut
Hauntingly beautiful melodies, thoughtful lyrics and, yes, brass.
40. The Smugglers
Even at the tail end of their career they still kicked it this decade.
39. The Jolts
The Jolts rip shit up.
38. Ladies Night
Noisy.
37. The Rebel Spell
Vancouver’s finest politically motivated punk rock.
36. Vancougar
Hook-filled pop, but with just enough edge to keep you coming back.
35. Fond of Tigers
More like fond of this band. Post-rock never sounded so good.
34. Snfu
Godfathers of the local punk scene. It’s probably safe to say that they’ve influenced a good number of the other 49 artists on this list.
33. Bend Sinister
Listening to Bend Sinister is like a lesson in the history of rock. There’s a little bit of everything here.
32. B-Lines
Bus punk. They’ve been written up in the Buzzer. Who else can make that claim?
31. Secret Mommy
Andy Dixon takes everything from acoustic instrumental samples to the sounds of people at judo practice and makes brilliant electronic blends.
17 Comments
This is not your last issue of the decade. Unless of course you are planning on skipping the last year of it completely. When counting to 10, the last number is 10. Not nine.
LOL
Sean – a decade is 10 years. In this case, year 1 is actually year 0. 2000 to 2009 = 10 years.
Ah, the decade debate… Sean’s right. I graduated high school in 2001. After all the silly millennium hype in which the class of 2000 thought they were so special, we actually researched this and corrected them with our sad grad slogan… “Class of ‘01, the ’01st class of the new millennium.”
The number looks different, so we think the decade is different. But who cares. Howabout we just leave it as: it can be whatever you want it to be! Sunshine, smiles and all that.
Thanks for a great list of great local talent, Discorder! :)
Oh fuck, not you too! Dude, a decade refers to ten years. Deca meaning ten. By your definition, 1980 was part of the 70s. 1990 part of the 80s. Fuck this year zero, jesus christ Gregorian calendar bullshit.
The oughties were and are 2000-2009
The nineties were 1990-1999, not 1991-2000.
Can we put this to rest and let everyone do their damn decade lists now?
PS. seriously though, love the Beyond Robson Morning Brews. Keep ‘em coming!
Stoked to check the list out, biggity ups.
i’m right
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decade
I’m not sure whether Mr. Orr actually believes he’s right, or if he just wants to be contrary (but I have a feeling it’s mostly the latter).
“between January 1, 2000 and December 1, 2009″ — that definitely sounds like a decade.
But does anyone have any thoughts about the list itself? Some surprising omissions (especially STREETS?) and some surprising ones made the list… I guess that’s what happens when you have a jury-selected list like this… not necessarily a bad thing. Still, lots of great music on here! Quite a decade.
there are some SERIOUSLY surprising ommissions!!
where the fuck went:
the doers!
blood meridian!
clover honey!
robosexuals!
i’ve seen all of those bands throughout the last decade areound town live and they rocked in a crazy-pants way.
WHY IS VANCOUGAR SO LOW?
what about THE BUTTLESS CHAPS?
what about BELLA?
all of these bands were hard-working, good bands that should get some credit. this is some messed up list.
the doers
hot hot heat
victoria victoria
book of lists
ewoks
the winks
daddy’s hands
probably just goes to show that this city has such a wealth of talent
How´s about some Black Rice, Sharpteeth, WPP? The first half of the decade is definitely a little more on the ignored side. But even current groups like Nu Sensae and Defektors could have easily made the list. I had a hard time singling out ten bands. I made a list of about 40 and it took me a few days to shave it down to ten. A top 50 was just not enough to contain ten years of Vancouver music. I say keeps it coming!
FUCK ME DEAD ??
STREETS ??
MARGARET THRASHER ??
MODERN CREATURES ??
And seriously, NEW PORNOGRAPHERS and SNFU!? This is 2009 right? I acknowledge the history but wow, can we mention any bands that actually did something in the past 10 years?
Uuuummmm…
What about:
White Lung?????
Modern Creatures????
S.T.R.E.E.T.S????/???
Fucking Destroyer and the New Pornographers? You got to be kidding me…
Vancougar sucks.
Why’d the B-Lines make this list and almost none of the bands from the Emergency Room scene didn’t? There was some great shit from Vancouver in the last 3 years and almost none of those bands made this list. Weird.
HAHA looks like that went over well.
ya, seriously….NU SENSAE, WHITE LUNG, DEFEKTORS could have easily been on this list…any band that stands out in this city currently that is not signed to Mint Records (thankfully for them, unless they wanted to be on this list)??
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