As the music industry continues to come out from their ad hoc basement recording studios and zoom writing sessions, walking the tightrope that is live touring, it is at least a breath of fresh air to see artists rewarded for their hard work.
This year at Killbeat Music, we’ve seen artists make their debut, strike it out solo, or take home the top prize in the country. The Polaris Music Prize named Pierre Kwenders and his LP José Louis And The Paradox of Love the winner of the 2022 award and nominated Charlotte Day Wilson’s Alpha, Ombiigizi’s Sewn Back Together, and Ouri’s Frame Of A Fauna to the Short List.
The Long List also included nominations for PUP’s latest release, THE UNRAVELLING OF PUPTHEBAND, Ada Lea’s one hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden, and Jean-Michel Blais’ aubades.
At the JUNO Awards, Charlotte Day Wilson was nominated for three awards, Songwriter, Producer, and R&B/Soul Record of the year. Allison Russell followed with two of her own for Songwriter and Contemporary Roots album (which she won), while Donovan Woods, Andy Shauf, and The Weather Station all received nods of their own.
Next year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards we will find out if Ken Yates’ Cerulean will win Contemporary Album Of The Year and if Abigail Lapell’s Stolen Time will take home the English Songwriter Prize.
If you turned on a radio in 2022 you might have heard tracks from Katie Tupper’s Towards The End, Georgia Harmer’s Stay In Touch, and Lydia Persaud’s Moody31 making their way up the CBC Music Top 20. The chart also saw entries from Busty and the Bass, Lowell, Charlie Houston, Allison Russell, Julia Jacklin, LOONY, and currently has songs from 2023 albums by Gabrielle Shonk, Gord Downie & Bob Rock and Begonia.
CBC’s q with Tom Power also had an depth interview with Dan Mangan about new LP Being Somewhere as well as chatting with Tami Neilson about her new LP Kingmaker, The Trade-Offs about their new LP let go, give in, fall down and spun tracks from Field Guide’s self-titled LP, Jesse Northey’s Onion Knight, Niall Mutter’s Pass Me By, Mike Edel’s Casseroles & Flowers and more.
LISTEN TO KILLBEAT SINGLES 2022 SPOTIFY PLAYLIST HERE
Tuning in to SiriusXM this year, you probably heard the likes of Broken Social Scene, Marcus Paquin featured on The Verge, while North Americana added songs from Jason Collett, Jordan Klassen, Sam Weber, Geoffroy, and more.
If you headed left of the dial, Yves Jarvis’ The Zug and Cola’s Deep In View would have taken you right to the Number One spot on the !earshot Top 50 and Julia Jacklin’s Pre Pleasure would have done the same over on the NACC Top 200. It’s the same spot you would have heard Status / Non-Status, Ghost Woman, Sunglaciers, Broken Social Scene, and Ghostkeeper, who all released albums this year that made it into the Top 10 on earshot.
The Folk / Roots charts on the college and community waves were commandeered by Mariel Buckley’s Everywhere I Used To Be, which has currently held the #1 spot for a few weeks now. Abigail Lapell and Pharis & Jason Romero’s Tell ‘Em You Were Gold also took top spot on the chart this year with albums from Ariel Posen, The Secret Beach, and Bells Larsen, also making appearances.
On the International Charts, be on the lookout for Ruby Singh’s new release with The Future Ancestors - his album Vox.Infold from earlier this year spent a few weeks in the Top 10.
And if you follow the bass over to the Hip Hop Chart, you’d see long time Peanuts & Corn recording artist Pip Skid taking over the top spot with his LP, A Really Nice Day. Odario Williams also spun tracks from another P&C release on CBC’s Afterdark, Noodles, the experimental collaboration between bigmcenroe and Alvaro Rojas. The late night radio show also saw spins from Colyn Cameron, Tamino, Kyla Charter, and Absolutely Free.
While we’re tuned into the CBC, the Radio 3 Top 10 saw songs from new albums by, Living Hour, and Reuben and the Dark rise to Number 1 alongside charting songs from the likes of Sam Jr., Scott Hardware and more while CBC Radio 1’s regional shows spun songs from Ellen Froese, Evan Redsky, Jenny Berkel, Emma Worley and more that were heard all across Canada.
Here’s to 2023. Keep your stick on the ice!