They Came From the North Track Listing for The Blathering 2011

If you're looking for the Track Listing for the "They Came From The North" CD that was in the swag collection at The Blathering in Austin, TX - you've come to the right place.

Below, you'll find more information on the artists and even additional recommendations for songs by these or similar artists.

1. In the Beginning, K'naan
2. Scar That Never Heals, Jeremy Fisher
3. Sure Can Start, Two Hours Traffic
4. The Beat Stuff, Hannah Georgas
5. Pendulums, Sarah Harmer
6. Dead Letter, Wintersleep
7. Juliet, Royal Wood
8. Buffalo, Kathleen Edwards
9. Ahead By A Century, The Tragically Hip
10. A Million Dollars, Joel Plaskett Emergency
11. Red Heart, Hey Rosetta!
12. Bridge to Nowhere, Sam Roberts
13. Jolly Roving Tar, Great Big Sea
14. Head Over Heels, Blue Rodeo
15. Tournament of Hearts, The Weakerthans
16. You Wouldn't Like Me, Tegan and Sara
17. Gimme Sympathy, Metric
18. Tall Trees, Matt Mays & El Torpedo
19. Sold, Dan Mangan

Now for the additional info:

1. This track is from K'naan's The Dusty Foot Philosopher. He's Somali and grew up in Toronto You've probably heard Wavin' Flag. If not - check it out.
2. The song is on Goodbye Blue Monday. I have to admit that I'm not familiar with his work, but really like this song.
3. With a name inspired by a line from Romeo and Juliet, this band hails from tiny PEI - just like Anne of Green Gables! I adore the entire album on which this track is found. It's called Little Jabs and it's a staple for our road trips.
4. The track is from an EP of the same name. I find it RIDICULOUSLY catchy. Another single of hers I enjoy is called Drive.
5. We first saw her sing backup at a concert featuring a bunch of the bands on this album. She's great. This track comes from her All Of Our Names album. I love a whole bunch of her other songs including Silver Road, I Am Aglow, and Basement Apartment.
6. This song hails from the Welcome To The Night Sky album. These guys are talented and we've seen them in concert but they are, as Dave aptly describes them, "unhandsome." Another fun song of theirs is Weighty Ghost.
7. Royal's from Guelph, Ontario - the city in which I went to University. The track is from his A Good Enough Day and he's married to Sarah Slean, another talented musician.
8. This is the opening track to the sublime Asking For Flowers. Kathleen is from Ottawa, and we love her. I'd recommend anything from this album, particularly The Cheapest Key and I Make the Dough... Other stuff I love includes Six O'Clock News, Hockey Skates, and Back To Me .
9. Oh, The Hip. Canada's most popular band during my high school and Uni years - multiple platinum albums, concerts sold out in seconds.. I find this hilarious as they went to high school with my aunt and uncle (who was their volleyball coach). My Aunt paid $1 to see them play in the cafeteria! They are the most famous dudes to come out of Kingston, Ontario. That's saying something; our first Prime Minister was from there. ANYWAY - this track is from Trouble At The Henhouse, but there's great stuff in their HUGE catalogue. My favourite albums include: Fully Completely, Day for Night, and Phantom Power.
10. We are big Plaskett fans; he's so lanky you'd think he played bass! This track is from his Make a Little Noise. Another great song is Nowhere With You.
11. I don't know too much about these guys, other than that they're from Newfoundland. The track is from Into Your Lungs.
12. Sam is great; he's an anglophone from Montreal. This song is from Chemical City. It and We Were Born In The Flame are solid albums.
13. One of Canada's most popular bands. They hail from Newfoundland, and play a mix of traditional music and stuff they've written themselves. I am a sucker for the traditional stuff, like this track. It's from Play, and the whole album is great, as is Up.
14. These are our most prolific country-rock band. The track is an unreleased one from my favourite of their albums, Five Days in July. I also enjoy albums like Lost Together and Tremolo.
15. These guys are Winnipeg's finest. This track is from the amazing Reunion Tour, and I adore Left and Leaving. From a literary perspective, they are arguably the best song writers in Canada. This is song paints a wonderful picture of the LAST person with whom you'd want to spend time, let alone curl. Check out Aside, Watermark or One Great City!
16. Tegan and Sara are twin sisters. Also lesbians. (Gareth from "The Office: UK" would approve.) This is my favourite of their songs, and the album from which it comes - So Jealous - is one I would take on a desert island. Not a bad track on it.
17. The song is from Fantasies, and I think this track got a bit of US airplay (we heard it while hanging in Santa Monica) but the band is solid.
18. The songs is from Terminal Romance. I love the song, but am not too familiar with the band.
19. This track, and the wonderful Robots come from Nice, Nice, Very Nice. He's one of the few artists here we haven't seen live. YET.

A HUGE thanks to Dave for helping me pull this together. And if you are wanting to check out some free Canadian music, feel free to check out CBC Radio 3, where they have a free radio stream, podcasts and tonnes of archived concerts.

One final thing is a bit of information on WHY we have such a funky, thriving music scene. Since the 1970s, there have been Canadian Content Regulations for media. This means that things like TV and Radio are required to consecrate a certain portion of their airtime to original Canadian content. It was put in place to 'preserve Canadian culture' as we do get inundated by stuff from the US. It's kind of a drag for TV but it's allowed for an amazing, thriving Canadian musical landscape.