Canada Listens 2021: Day 1 highlights

For 20 years, Canada Reads has been getting Canadians to talk about books, asking five prominent Canadians to go head to head defending the one book they believe everyone in Canada needs to read.

Now, it's time to expand that idea to the musical arena. 

Think of Canada Listens as Canada Reads but with albums. Same rules, new rivalries and five celebrity panellists debating the question: "What one album does Canada need to hear?"

Hosted by CBC Music's Saroja Coelho, one album will be voted off each day of the four-day debate, eventually leaving us with our Canada Listens winner.

We kicked off the first day of this great musical debate, starting with introductions to our five esteemed celebrity panelists and the albums that they are championing:

• Actor, improviser and comedian Andrew Phung of Kim's Convenience champions Joyful Rebellion by k-os. 
• Award-winning writer and author Alicia Elliott champions The Con by Tegan and Sara
• Writer, podcaster and Refinery29 senior editor Kathleen Newman-Bremang champions Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1 by Kardinal Offishall. 
• Comedian, actor and The Beaverton co-anchor Miguel Rivas champions Freudian by Daniel Caesar. 
• Actor and comedian Carolyn Taylor of Baroness von Sketch champions Illuminations by Buffy Sainte-Marie. 

After these friendly introductions, the question at the heart of our first debate was about album cohesion, with host Coelho asking the panellists: is your album pick a collection of songs that holds together to take us on a journey? Is it a complete piece of art, to be enjoyed as a whole? 

The conversation quickly focused on the two hip-hop albums in the debate, with Phung defending Joyful Rebellion as "a complete piece of work that reflects the inner workings of a man at a crossroads in his life. Every song is different, but any of them could have been a single."  

Rivas took the first swing, saying, "The reach for different styles can feel a bit put-on, specifically toward the back end of the album. The working in of salsa and flamenco guitar can feel like a reach-out, an unsureness in terms of what he wanted to accomplish and what sound he was trying to unify as a whole idea. So to me I feel like Joyful Rebellion has some of the great singles, but as an album it loses me two thirds of the way through in terms of cohesiveness."

Elliott agreed, adding, "I loved the first half of the album so much. Every song is a banger, and then 'Commandante' hits, and it all starts to lose steam."

This was his first album released with a major record deal, MCA, which was actually an American label, because Canadian labels were not offering him deals that were worthy of his time or his talent.- Kathleen Newman-Bremang, defending Kardinal Offishall's Quest for Fire

Phung then quickly pivoted the conversation to Kardinal Offishall's Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1, stating "I love Kardinal, but this album as a whole isn't even his best work ... it's a recompilation album of his demos and his older songs."
    
Newman-Bremang staunchly defended her album pick, saying, "This was his first album released with a major record deal, MCA, which was actually an American label, because Canadian labels were not offering him deals that were worthy of his time or his talent. He put together the best of his music for his first album. That happens in hip hop all the time."     

Taylor then brought Caesar's Freudian into the conversation, saying "It's nice, there's a nice groove. I'm nodding my head, I'm listening ... and then I'm just being lulled to sleep."

Rivas defended his choice, stating, "I think people are searching for hope and a sense of belonging and a sense of 'What am I looking forward to? What does life mean to me? What is important?' I think this album is a wonderfully executed version trying to highlight what your life's purpose is and what something means to you."    

As you can see, it all started off very friendly, but the gloves came off during the first elimination round. 

Keep in mind, the panellist whose album was voted out stays at the table and is a free agent for the rest of the week, taking part in the conversation and the voting each day.

Here's how you can tune in to Canada Listens 2021:

On radio: Canada Listens airs from April 12-15 on CBC Music at 8 a.m. during Mornings, with a 5 p.m. daily repeat airing on Drive.

Online: If you missed today's debate, you can stream it on demand at CBC Listen.

Listen to Day 1 here.

Which Canadian album would you suggest? Tweet us @CBCMusic with #CanadaListens and let us know!