By Mariposa Bressey

It is not the end of the year, nor is this a best of list, just some thoughts on woman who have been releasing some wonderful music in 2016. I realized last week that for what ever reason I have not been listening to our creative Canadian ladies much this year. Has there been a lack of releases from them? As it turns out, I have simply been remiss.

We are going to make our way through some gals with guitars and some that are “the girl behind a piano” despite themselves and as a side bar to their other band. Some of these ladies are more lyrical and one other who prefers to growl, not the technical term for throat singing but, you know, this is for fun and not a serious write up.

Both Amy Millan and Emily Haines have albums that are celebrating their ten year anniversaries in 2016. Exclaim! has an interview from Emily’s release a decade ago if you care for a stroll down memory lane with someone who is not shy about daily orgasms and spending money on wine and hotels. I took a stroll down memory lane and it landed me at The Be Good Tanya’s and the realization that they too have a decade release to celebrate this year.

There are some other female artists that have been in the biz for a long time on this playlist but this year they put out a stellar collaboration. The Case/Lang/Veirs project has had a lot written about it so I will just say what a thrill it has been for me to listen to a project where each song is so individual and at the same time the album is mesmerizingly cohesive. A tribute to these powerful ladies talent and ability to collaborate. Someone newer to our ears is Lauren Mann and on this playlist she intrigues us with two very different songs from her surprise album drop, without her Fairly Odd Folks.

Veda Hille has a new album out, but Spotify has failed me here so I have put in a song of hers from 20 years ago. You can also peek here for a 2016 song. There are some families out there making music for us too, so I made sure to incorporate them into this playlist. Two families came to mind; a collaboration from the Barbers, and the now fully popified pair of Tegan and Sara. I have to say that I miss their sound from a decade or so ago that I heard at The Culch where I also saw Veda Hille, yes, 20 years ago!

Here are some ways to get to know two of the artists on this playlist that were completely new to me. Here is Julie Doiron, and Vancouver gal Skye Wallace has two vid’s that need to be watched back to back.

I recently saw Basia Bulat, and she did not disappoint! She even sang to me in Spanish! A sweet and memorable experience. Her openers Oh Pep were great. They made use of many strings including a slide mandolin. They gave a huge shout out the The CBC (not R3) but I figured that gets them an honourable mention even if they are Aussies.

I hope you find some new-to-you music on this playlist; I certainly have through the process of creating it. One thing is for sure, I am glad I spent some more time with these talents hailing from Canada.