Best of: Top 30 of 2016: My favourite albums of 2016

Here are my 30 favourite albums of 2016. And, yeah, they're kind of in order this year. Best at the top!

The Zolas Swooner

July Talk Touch

Yuck Stranger Things

Wintersleep The Great Detachment

Sate RedBlack&Blue

Warpaint Heads Up

Bob Mould Patch The Sky

The Kills Ash And Ice

Public Animal Palace Arms

Dinosaur Jr. Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not

The Temperance Movement White Bear

Sunflower Bean Human Ceremony

White Lung Paradise

White Denim Stiff

Weaves Weaves

Split Single Metal Frames

Ron Hawkins Spit Sputter and Sparkle

Pup The Dream Is Over

Catfish & The Bottlemen The Ride

Sleigh Bells Jessica Rabbit

Frightened Rabbit Painting of a Panic Attack

The Balconies Rhonda

Marlon Chaplin Wanderer By Trade

Eagulls Ullages

TacocaT Lost Time

John Moreland In The Throes

The Joy Formidable Hitch

The Strumbellas Hope

Drowners On Desire

Viola Beach Viola Beach

Best of: Top 50 of 2016: My favourite songs of 2016

I loved 2016.

Lots of other people didn't. And that's okay. There was lots to get down about. Lots of aging (and not so aging) rockers that dove into the inevitability and lots of pretty shitty human behaviour, just to name a couple of things.

But there was lots to be very, very happy about. Life was pretty damn good to me, personally. I spent much of the year bathed in art. Lots of real "me time". I attended more shows and saw more bands in 2016 than I have in any other year. I spent a lot of time with a lot of very cool people. It's a concert-going record I don't think I'm going to break any time soon. Or any time at all.

And there was great music. So much great music. This year, I probably listened to less recorded music than I have in many, many years, but I made up for it with live shows. This is reflected in the fact that my favourite songs of the year came mostly from acts I saw live. Many of them I saw multiple times, giving their tunes more time to wedge themselves into my consciousness.

The bonus that comes with this post is that you're also getting a preview of my favourite albums list if you notice the number of repeat songs by certain artists that appear amongst my favourites. It'll be coming soon. And so will a post of my favourite concert photos of 2016. Which comes with a special announcement.

And so, here they are, at long last, my latest ever best of list, except for the ones for my favourite albums and favourite concert photos, which are still in progress... These are my favourite fifty tunes of 2016:

50. "Break My Heart Sweetly" John Moreland

49. "In Stars" Marlon Chaplin

48. "Radio of Lips" The Joy Formidable

47. "Blank Ribbons" Split Single

46. "We Had Everything" Broods

45. "Personal Weekend" Partner

44. "City Club" The Growlers

43. "Molotov Girls" The Zolas

42. "Voices In My Head" Bob Mould

41. "Kiss Me When I Bleed" White Lung

40. "Coo Coo" Weaves

39. "Cannonball" Yuck

38. "Fossils" Marlon Chaplin

37. "Money Money" The Balconies

36. "Easier Said" Sunflower Bean

35. "Swooner" The Zolas

34. "Beautiful Girl" Ron Hawkins

33. "Santa Fe" Wintersleep

32. "Goin' Down" Dinosaur Jr.

31. "Doing It To Death" The Kills

30. "Lemontrees" Eagulls

29. "White Bear" The Temperance Movement

28. "Miracle" The Darcys

27. "Silence" Sate

26. "Beck + Call" July Talk

25. "Swings and Waterslides" Viola Beach

24. "CV Dazzle" The Zolas

23. "Cruel Ways" Drowners

22. "DVP" Pup

21. "Pen to Paper" Modern Space

20. "Wall Watcher" Sunflower Bean

19. "Soundcheck" Catfish and The Bottlemen

18. "Ha Ha Ha Ha (Yeah)" White Denim

17. "Human" Weaves

16. "Blood In The Cut" K.Flay

15. "Give It Up" The Beaches

14. "Get Out" Frightened Rabbit

13. "It Don't Seem Right" Public Animal

12. "It's Just Us Now" Sleigh Bells

11. "Hold Me Closer" Yuck

10. "Tiny" Dinosaur Jr.

9. "The End of Things" Bob Mould

8. "Heart of a Dog" The Kills

7. "Warrior" Sate

6. "Amerika" Wintersleep

5. "Invisible" The Zolas

4. "Hearts In Motion" Yuck

3. "New Song" Warpaint

2. "Spirits" The Strumbellas

1. "Push + Pull" July Talk

Cover Me Impressed Set 1: Sam Cash and the Romantic Dogs, Autumn Stones, Union Duke, Fast Romantics, Ian Blurton - Concert Pictures

Collective Concerts and Indie 88 presented the second annual Cover Me Impressed show at Lee's Palace on Boxing Day. It's a charity show for SKETCH Working Arts and the Daily Bread Food Bank. I'm writing a post for each of the two sets performed that night. The first set featured the host band Sam Cash and The Romantic Dogs, members of The Autumn Stones, members of Union Duke, Matt Angus of Fast Romantics and Ian Blurton of Public Animal, C'mon and Change of Heart,

Sam Cash and The Romantic Dogs took to the stage to start things off with one of my favourite tunes of all time, Nick Lowe's "Cruel to be Kind", followed by Graham Parson's "Local Girls" and Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic". Great start to what would turn out to be a fantastic night of music.

Members of The Autumn Stones were up next with "Babies" by Pulp, "The Cutter" by Echo and the Bunnymen and "She Bangs the Drums" by The Stone Roses. Their covers featured some great sax; a different one for each tune.

Members of Union Duke jokingly tried their best to pass off their cover songs as their own, but no one was having it. They performed Bruce Springsteen's "The River" followed by Bahamas' "Little Record Girl" and closed with The Wallflowers' "One Headlight". They were truly in the Christmas spirit with some great Christmas sweaters.

Matt Angus of Fast Romantics joined Sam Cash and The Romantic Dogs next for their rendition of the Sam Cooke classic "Bring it on Home", Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" (another all-time favourite of mine) and Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City". All great renditions of classic tunes.

Local alternative rock / guitar god Ian Blurton closed out the main set with a killer duo of tunes. He handed a cowbell to an audience member for the MORE COWBELL tune of Blue Öyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper", another of my all-time favourites, followed by Thin Lizzy's "Rosalie". I love listening to Ian Blurton perform in any of his projects - Change of Heart, C'mon and Public Animal - and this was no different. Very rockin' versions of some awesome tunes with most excellent guitar playing.

And with that, Set 1 came to a close. So far so good. A tight, well organized set of great covers by a wide range of artists. This was going to be a great night.

New video from Public Animal for Careful

Public Animal are an incredibly tight and powerful Toronto band fronted by the twin vocal and guitar/keys assault of Ian Blurton and Caitlin Dacey with the pounding, guttural rhythm section of Eric Larock and Ryan Gassi.

They've just released a new video from their 2014 release Habitat Animal, which was my third favourite album of 2014. It's for the amazing tune "Careful", which was my second favourite tune of 2014. Check it out below.

You can catch the band live at the Mod Club on April 24 opening for Skull Fist.

Public Animal at The Garrison

Public Animal became my new favourite band when I saw them open for Supersuckers at The Horseshoe. Habitat Animal was already in my collection and the songs quickly became some of my favourites, but seeing the band live cemented everything. They shined. They rocked. They sounded fantastic.

The songs made a strong impression featuring highly on my Favourite Albums and Favourite Songs lists for 2014 and they hold the top spot in my Favourite Canadian Bands of the year. Pretty high praise, even if it is only from me. I was excited to see the band again, this time headlining at The Garrison on December 12. I even brought a few friends along to experience the band, one of whom had discovered them recently, too, and was equally impressed.

This particular show was a volume assault that tested the capacity of he sound system. Hard rock music like the music created by Public Animal relies on volume. Lots of volume. And I like it. But there's a point when there might be too much volume. Or I might, as the saying goes, be too old. I think Public Animal tested those volume limits. It was still a fantastic show by one of the best bands playing these days but the volume took some of the quality out of the music. I still wholeheartedly recommend the band and will be out to see them again but next time I'll hope for a little tiny bit of restraint with the stage volume and at the soundboard. Or stronger earplugs.

If you haven't heard it, I recommend hitting play and soaking up all of Habitat Animal and new single "Stolen Eyes".