Get our latest free Canadian music mix with new tracks from Do Make Say Think's Justin Small + more

Once again the selections come from all over Canada - from the East Coast to the West - so from stark reverberations to joyful power-pop, and lots of things in between, Oh! Canada has you covered.

This edition kicks off with an offering from Toronto’s Marker Starling (formerly known as Mantler), a well loved figure on the Toronto circuit who has played with Maylee Todd, Junior Boys and Devon Sproule amongst others. The delicate, woozy "Bright As Day" floats by gently, loaded with Chris A Cummings’ piano and low harmonies, calling to mind Robert Wyatt. Plus, of course, nothing marks the transition from Summer to Autumn like a vibraphone solo.

"Slow Motion Hearts" is the first track of a 52 song project by Do Make Say Think founder Justin Small. Each week Small is creating a song from scratch and an original artwork for just $1, every week for a year, effectively creating a 52 track album. Stylistically Small’s music varies from the atmospherically charged, acoustic post rock of this track to more scattered electronics, drones and noise patches.

Nova Scotia’s Vulva Culture win the prize for best record title for Rolling In The Creep, a split tour release with Mauno (who also feature later in the compilation). "Human Garbage" continues the reverb-heavy atmosphere, but tempers it with the sweetness of the harmonies. The track sways by in 6/8 time, a time signature so beloved of the group they had it tattooed on themselves while making a video for the song.

While readying the release of third album "Quiet Energies" in September, Evening Hymns’ Jonas Bonetta found time to head into the studio (which handily is in his back garden) to lay down a cover of Sarah McLachlan’s "Sweet Surrender" for Quick Before It Melt’s Dominionated Deux compilation. You can download it, and a host of other Cancon covers from QBIM until 24 November.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from the prolific Mark Hamilton of Woodpigeon. Having relocated from Canada to Europe and back again, the bearded Calgarian is making up for lost time, with a completed Woodpigeon album and a collaborative single with Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub as part of the WIAIWYA singles club. Given the strength of the jangle and the harmonies, we can only hope that there is more to come from the duo. Montreal’s Folly & The Hunter are another act making a welcome return, in the shape of Awake, and their fine line in shimmering folk-pop and irresistible melodies are back in full effect, no more so than on "Arrow".

Harley Alexander are still hanging on to the sunshine out in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where loose-limbed bouncing baselines and soft, chiming psychedelia are very much the order of the day. While they are busy making the most of their time in the sun, Blimp Rock are very much more business minded. Claiming to be a band hired by a company to raise $700,000 for a music festival to be held in a blimp over Lake Ontario, "Music Industry Blues" catalogues the travails of getting a record out and hitting the road, from pressing a record and folding the sleeves, to getting pulled over at the U.S. border, and chasing music writers up about one-sheets. Good luck to them. As they say, some day they might break even. Winnipeg’s Human Music are just looking for a cool party, and in doing so have managed to put out one of the most joyous records of the year. The band have just completed a tour with Adrian Teacher and The Subs and Shotgun Jimmie.

Mauno followed up their split with Vulva Culture with album Rough Master on 19 August. Reeling is the first track taken from the album, which finds the band destructing then reconstructing their tracks, making for an unusual and engaging listen. Calgary’s Gender Poutine start moving things in a noisier direction with a hymn to wasted days and nights on 'Wasting Time', while Vancouver’s Soft Haze continue the garage-pop "Freaky Feelings". London, Ontario’s So Young call out scene bullshit in the triumphant "Cock Rock", while back in Vancouver, Supermoon headed to the studio with Mint Records’ Jay Arner to record their tape-only release Comet Lovejoy.

Knife Pleats is the latest project from Rose Melberg (Tiger Trap/The Softies), and forthcoming album Hat Bark Beach is packed with charging fuzz-pop harmonies and driving baselines. The Adam Brown just returned to Canada following an opening slot touring with Alden Penner (The Unicorns) and Michael Cera. Solo on that tour, for the record The Adam Brown, probably Montreal’s biggest QPR fan, has a full band that charges through "Silly Boy" with gleeful abandon, and with some keyboard parts that inveterate party-starter Andrew WK would be proud of. Sticking with the theme of gleeful abandon, Guelph’s Gregory Pepper and His Problems careen through "I’m Bill Murray" in just over one and a half minutes full of '80s movie references, power chords, gang vocals and hand claps. You might need to take a minute to breathe afterwards.

We take things down a little with Digits, who return with second album Get Through, reworking and reimagining some earlier recordings into mature, sophisticated synth-pop. Originally hailing from Sherbrooke, QC, Organ Mood fuse brooding electronic ambience with sweet melodies and psychedelic images to create an immersive, uplifting and inclusive experience, often inviting audience members on stage to manipulate their home made instruments. Finding warmth in electronics is something the band share with Find The Others. "We Stared At The World" builds slowly around frontman Andy Sheppard’s whispered, intimate vocal and strings before ramping up into a soaring crescendo only to collapse into electronic burbles once again.

Although we know her as an award-winning singer-songwriter, Nova Scotia’s Jenn Grant has often flirted with a more electronic sound in her collaborations with Buck 65 and Rich Aucoin. Aqua Alta is a new project for which Grant has joined forces with Charles Austin (The Superfriendz) and producer Graham Campbell (Buck 65). Austin claims that their mission was to “make country music for aliens”. The skittering beats and twinkling guitar provide a perfect foil for Grant’s distinctive, blissed-out vocal delivery.

The compilation comes to a close with Tim The Mute, quickly becoming a legend in the Vancouver scene for his work with the fantastic Kingfisher Bluez label, a place where he claims his “money goes to die”. As an artist in his own right he has a double B-side single collaboration with Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu, a straight-edge vegan Christmas song, an ode to Doctor Who cosplay, and a track detailing his love of mushy peas. The label has also been home to the likes of Xiu Xiu, Merzbow (as Merzxiu), Apollo Ghosts, Laura Viers and Dirty Beaches amongst others. This track finds him exploring the logic, or lack thereof, behind face tattoos.

Download Oh! Canada 26 or listen online above.

Thanks to all artists for being part of Oh! Canada. Please show your support by clicking the artist name and following the links to their artist pages. There are plenty of great records out there to be had, often on PWYC deals, so happy exploring! A big thanks also to Kirk Ramsay of Giant Hand for this month's cover image.