November playlist — including the best hop-hop album to come out of Canada. Ever

The current soundtrack to my life would scare you. It’s disparate, nerdy, and bizarre. A mix of pop, hip-hop, soul, jazz and anything else that feels good, my November playlist pays no regard to genre or subject — so long as the tune bumps.

I haven’t listened to her entire album but judging from her singles, Nelly Furtado’s Loose is pretty hot. If Goldfrapp are mining left-field disco, Furtado is digging up its long forgotten distant cousin: 80’s style electro. Promiscuous Girl, Maneater, Somebody to Love, and the Calle 13 remix of No Hay Igual are all bananas.

It may be a year old but Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra La La Band’s God Bless Our Dead Marines is on heavy rotation in my playlist. I was re-introduced to the tune while listening to Brave New Waves a couple of weeks ago. Clocking in at a meandering 11:43, God Bless is an ambivalent anti-war tune which defies the notion that protest music has to be succinct and blunt to convey a message.

Elizabeth Shepherd may be a piano player and singer but make no mistake: she has nothing in common with the likes of Diana Krall or Norah Jones. Her trio’s debut, Start to Move, on Toronto’s Do Right! Music is more for chin-stroking, jazz-obsessed, club kids rather than the stank-face bourgeoisie crowding the jazz section of music shops. This is jazz with life, fire and all that other good stuff. Her reading of the standard Ton Visage will get the most circulation, but the real killers are her own compositions. Start to Move is passionate music that grooves, it’s music to dance to. Not for the faint of heart.

Forget K-OS and K’naan — in a couple of years journalists will be quizzing Cadence Weapon for his opinions on everything from the state of hip-hop to ozone layer depletion. Hell, he’s already giving them up on Razorblade Runner — his music blog. Kid’s all of 20 years-old and he’s produced and recorded the best hip-hop album to come out of this country. Hard and gritty drums, solid rhymes and a fierce flow. It begs the question: Is this kid really from Edmonton?