Best of: Top 50 of 2018: My favourite songs of 2018

I had a great time in 2018, in spite of the negativity that was flowing so heavily from so many sources. The music and the bands and the friends that surround them were my salvation. The positive energy and empowering messages coming from stage and speakers did a lot to help me from spiralling into the despair that politics, and the ugliness it emboldened, encouraged.

Please check out my other "best of" posts. My 20 Favourite Albums of 2018 list is here and I'll link my Favourite Concert Photos of 2018 when I have that finalized.

The hyperlinks in the song titles will take you to the tune itself if you want to check it out, the hyperlinks below each song link to my coverage of the artists, including my photos from those particular performances.

As always, thanks so much to the promoters, publicists, bands, management, festivals and venues that allow me to do this thing that I love to do. 

All the best as we sail into 2019, whatever it happens to hold for us. Let's be positive, encouraging, empowering and above all, kind and understanding. It will go a long way to making the world a better place.

50. Calpurnia "City Boy"

The Phoenix Concert Theatre

Royal Mountain Records Festival

49. The Beaches "T-Shirt"

Riverfest Elora

The Phoenix Concert Theatre

The Ex

Field Trip

The Bovine Sex Club

Harbourfront Centre

Riot Fest

48. King Tuff "Psycho Star"

47. Ash "Annabel"

The Opera House

46. Hatchie "Sure"

45. Inheaven "Sweet Dreams Baby"

Velvet Underground

44. Casper Skulls "O My Enemy"

The Baby G

The Horseshoe Tavern

The Rec Room

Lee's Palace

Lee's Palace

The Garrison

43. The Joy Formidable "The Wrong Side"

The Horseshoe Tavern

The Danforth Music Hall

The Opera House

42. Soccer Mommy "Your Dog"

Longboat Hall

41. Meg Myers "Numb"

40. Blood Red Shoes "God Complex"

The Danforth Music Hall

The Garrison

39. Middle Kids "Mistake"

Field Trip

38. Snail Mail "Pristine"

Lee's Palace

37. Hop Along "How Simple"

TURF

36. Art d'Ecco "Never Tell"

35. Cloud Nothings "Another Way Of Life"

The Opera House

Field Trip

34. The Dirty Nil "Bathed In Light"

The Phoenix Concert Theatre

Riverfest Elora

33. Young Fathers "Toy"

32. Restorations "The Red Door"

The Horseshoe Tavern

TURF

31. Fatherson "Charm School"

30. The Interrupters "She's Kerosene"

29. Ellevator "Voices"

The Danforth Music Hall

Riverfest Elora

Field Trip

Riverfest Elora

28. Dinosaur Jr. "Hold Unknown"

The Opera House

27. The Zolas "Bombs Away"

The Danforth Music Hall

The Ex
The Opera House
Riverfest Elora

The Portlands

Lee's Palace

26. Dream Wife "Fire"

The Horseshoe Tavern

25. Ought "Disgraced in America"

Royal Mountain Records Festival

The Horseshoe Tavern

Lee's Palace

Hillside Festival

24. Johnny Marr "Hi Hello"

The Phoenix Concert Theatre

Velvet Underground

23. Frank Turner "Be More Kind"

The Phoenix Concert Theatre

Massey Hall

The Danforth Music Hall

TURF

22. Marlon Chaplin "Elevation"

The Piston

Cherry Cola's

Cherry Cola's

Lee's Palace

21. Yuno "No Going Back"

20. Weakened Friends "Blue Again"

The Horseshoe Tavern

19. The Wombats "Turn"

The Danforth Music Hall

Bestival

18. Screaming Females "Step Outside"

Hard Luck

The Garrison

The Silver Dollar Room
The Garrison

17. Tancred "Queen of New York"

The Horseshoe Tavern

16. Yungblud "I Love You, Will You Marry Me"

The Rivoli

Yonge-Dundas Square

15. Culture Abuse "Bee Kind To The Bugs"

14. Little Junior "Denial"

The Phoenix Concert Theatre

Royal Mountain Records Festival

Hillside Festival

Lee's Palace

13. Chvrches "Get Out"

Yonge-Dundas Square

The Danforth Music Hall
Wayhome Festival

The Danforth Music Hall

12. Bob Mould "Sunshine Rock"

The Horseshoe Tavern
Riot Fest
The Horseshoe Tavern
The Mod Club

11. An Horse "Get Out Somehow"

Hard Luck

10. Charly Bliss "Heaven"

The Horseshoe Tavern

The Rec Room

9. King Princess "1950"

8. The Dirty Nil "That's What Heaven Feels Like"

The Phoenix Concert Theatre

Riverfest Elora

7. The Twilight Sad "I/m Not Here [missing face]"

Bestival

6. Sunflower Bean "Crisis Fest"

Rebel

The Horseshoe Tavern

5. Dream Wife "Let's Make Out"

The Horseshoe Tavern

4. Ellevator "St. Cecilia"

The Danforth Music Hall

Riverfest Elora

Field Trip

Riverfest Elora

3. Screaming Females "I'll Make You Sorry"

Hard Luck

The Garrison

The Silver Dollar Room
The Garrison

2. Pale Waves "Heavenly"

The Opera House

Velvet Underground

The Baby G

1. Dizzy "In Time"

Royal Mountain Records Festival

Album Release Party at Ildsjel Collective

Field Trip

Hillside Festival

Charly Bliss at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern - Concert Photos

Grolsch Spaces presented a free show by Brooklyn NY power pop band Charly Bliss along with amazing opening acts Pony and The Effens at The Horseshoe Tavern. Click through to my pics of the two openers.

Charly Bliss spent a long time on the “bands I want to see” list before they became a band I’d seen. I loved their show at The RecRoom and was excited for this Horseshoe Tavern show.

In short, we got a fantastic Charly Bliss show. Highlights of the high-energy set were a cover of Cindy Lauper's "All Through the Night", a bunch of very cool sounding new songs and so many great tunes from the rest of the band's catalog, focused on their most recent full-length, Guppy.

You could feel the energy bouncing back and forth between the crowd down front and the band on stage; getting higher and higher and higher as the set went on. Sadly, it couldn't go on forever, although somehow I think we missed out on an encore tune.

I know I'm not alone when I say that I can't wait for the band to record and release new music, and for them to swing back through Toronto on tour.

Here's a bunch of tunes from the band's setlist:

"Heaven"

"Percolator"

"DQ"

"Black Hole"

"Glitter"

"Love Me"

Best of: Top 20 of 2017: My favourite albums of 2017

I just have to have music in my life, especially live music. It makes my heart right and gives me balance, and helps me feel like a complete being.

Here are the albums that meant the most to me in a year when I have been sadly more absent from the care and feeding of this web site, and from music appreciation, than I’ve been in years.

There’s a melody that reaches into your soul, a voice that speaks to your values and your very humanity, a beat that makes you smile uncontrollably, and a hook that brings a tear to your eye; a joy that makes you feel whole. It’s love that comes through your ears from the unstoppable passion of another, through their music.

I can’t listen to everything; especially not in a crazy busy year like 2017. A year when work left me mentally exhausted most days meant I couldn’t get all the concert-going and photo-editing in that I wanted and much of my commute-listening was while otherwise mentally occupied with little things like driving. But undaunted I go into the yearly tradition of listing out the albums that made the biggest impression on me in 2017, in order, my absolute favourites at the top.

Take a look at my other Best of 2017 lists: My 25 Favourite Concert Photos of 2017 and My 50 Favourite Songs of 2017.

Wolf Alice Visions of a Life

Waxahatchee Out in the Storm

The National Sleep Well Beast

Bully Losing

Japandroids Near To The Wild Heart Of Life

K.Flay Every Where Is Some Where

St. Vincent MASSEDUCTION

The Districts Popular Manipulations

Kasabian For Crying Out Loud

Royal Blood How Did We Get So Dark?

The War on Drugs A Deeper Understanding

Charly Bliss Guppy

Diet Cig Swear I'm Good At This

Kendrick Lamar DAMN

Partner In Search of Lost Time


The xx I See You

Casper Skulls Mercy Works

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds Who Built The Moon?

Sumo Cyco Opus Mar

Weaves Wide Open

And if you want to check out my 2017 concert photos of the bands from by best of list, please click the following links:

Wolf Alice

Waxahatchee

Bully

Japandroids

K.Flay

Kasabian

Charly Bliss

Partner

Casper Skulls

Sumo Cyco

And older shots of these awesome bands:

Wolf Alice at The Phoenix, Adelaide Hall and Drake Underground

The National at Field Trip and at Riot Fest
Bully at Field Trip

The Districts at Lee's Palace, The Horseshoe and again at The Horseshoe

Kasabian at Sound Academy

Royal Blood at Lee's Palace
Diet Cig at The Drake Underground

Partner at The Silver Dollar Room and The Garrison

Casper Skulls at Lee's Palace, again at Lee's Palace and The Garrison

Sumo Cyco at Cherry Cola's

Weaves at Lee's Palace

Charly Bliss at The Rec Room - Concert Pictures

Buzz Records and Indie 88 presented A Very Special Krampus Party at entertainment complex and new music venue The Rec Room on December 9. It featured headliners Charly Bliss along with the incredible Casper Skulls, Twist and Lonely Parade.

I've been hearing big buzz about Brooklyn, New York power pop band Charly Bliss for a while and they've been on my "bands to see" list for a long time. I finally got the chance to catch their live show on this, the night of their last show of the year.

Lots of bands do their best to give it all when they appear on stage. Many bands succeed and go all-out for their fans. Charly Bliss overachieve in delivering a super-high energy performance that rivals very few of the hundreds of live bands I've experienced.

Singer/guitarist Eva Hendricks and the rest of the band hit the stage at full speed and never took the gas pedal off the floor. Their songs fly from the instruments and amps as Charly Bliss try to make sure you never forget this night. Their propulsive, impassioned and hook-filled tunes ignite your soul and get you moving. They did a great job entertaining us and really got the crowd up front going.

Listen to a bunch of great tunes from their action-packed setlist. I'd see this band again in a heartbeat and suggest you do the same.

"Percolator"

"Westermarck"

"Ruby"

"Urge to Purge"

"Scare U"

"Black Hole"

"DQ"

"Glitter"