May 22, 2007

Arts & Crafts

1xLP

The Reminder is one of the great Canadian albums that provided us not only with one of the first truly viral proto-memes, but it also cemented Feist among the brightest songwriters in the business, let alone the country. The early alliance with Apple when they were still fun and colourful and not economy crushing does nothing to steal from the immediacy of The Reminder's homage to Canadiana. You'd have to turn away to not see shades of Joni Mitchell in the melancholy songwriting, the brusk humour behind the delicate voice. Ron Sexsmith Chilly Gonzales and Brendan Canning make songwriting contributions. It didn't put Canadian songsters on a contemporary map, but rather helped trace out a map of our own. And that's why whenever your year-old iPhone breaks down, or whenever you wish you had an Aux plug-in, we still don't blame Feist.