Oh! Canada - Vol. 5 (Canadian music compilation from the UK)

The UK music blog The Line of Best Fit has a segment called Oh! Canada, where they highlight some great Canadian indie bands and give them some more exposure in the UK. I just found out they want to include two musicians I've blogged about in the past — Olenka & the Autumn Lovers and A Horse & His Boy — on their next compilation.

This compilation, the fifth in the series, is a fancy little number with some of the sweetest indie tunes I've heard assembled in one spot —and it's all free.

Download it here [mp3]

Filled to the brim with 20 tracks, the comp includes less known bands like the Burning Hell and Octoberman along with even lesser known gems like Language-Arts and 21 Tandem Repeats. (They've also got Tragically Hip in there because you can't say it's Canadian without them, apparently.)

What's mostly slow-listening indieness is appropriately interjected by Duplex! (exclamation mark inclusive), a little experimental troupe with enough reverbed singing to qualify for an indie moniker. Kind of like Matt and Kim in their chantalong verses, but a little more mature with time signatures you can't pin down, it's a certain standout.

Otherwise you'll get your fill of sweet indie darlings who sing awkwardly about this and that. What a nice little album.

And why the hell don't you download it? Free great music, highly recommended. Just do it.

Track listing:
1. 21 Tandem Repeats – On Frozen Pond
2. Metal Kites – Schoolyard
3. Aaron Read – Forest Falcon
4. Language-Arts – Cavity
5. Grassmarket – Endless Summer
6. Ox – Burnout
7. York Redoubt – I Said Slightly
8. Duplex! – Alive
9. Milks & Rectangles – Slander Debunked
10. Great Bloomers – The Young Ones Slept
11. Dirty Beaches – Low Rider (Demo)
12. Carolyn Mark & N.Q. Arbuckle – All Time Low
13. Octoberman – Run From Safety
14. Analog Bell Service – There She Goes
15. Makeout Videotape – Heat Wave
16. Construction & Destruction – Balaenoptera Borealis
17. Owl – Airport
18. Yukon Blonde – Streets
19. The Burning Hell – The Things That People Make, Part 2
20. The Tragically Hip – Coffee Girl