But I suppose it's true that every grey cloud does have a silver lining. I'm trying this new thing, it's called 'being optimistic.' So far it's shit, but I'm working on it. So this new optimistic me needs to find the silver lining in 2016. There are a few. I forged some great new friendships, I discarded some dead weight that was dragging me down, I started writing again. I also went on a journey of musical discovery - the likes of which I have not done since I first started Punks in Parkas 11 odd years ago. I decided early into the year to dig deep into my own collection and expand my horizons beyond what one would expect to be blasting through my earbuds during the day. I dig deep, in various different ways and discovered something interesting about myself and my tastes in music. I've discovered that I have an appreciation of all music, as long as it's well crafted and not mass produced like a commodity.
This time of year, most people are doing lists of their favorite releases of 2016. Instead, I'm going to do a list of my favorite albums I discovered/rediscovered in 2016. Some are new releases, some are old, but all have added to my personal soundtrack of 2016.
So long 2016 - don't let 2017 kick you in the ass on the way out.
1. Yer Favorites by The Tragically Hip (2005) - It's easy to call Summer 2016 the Summer of the Tragically Hip in Canada. In May lead singer and songwriter Gord Downie revealed that he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. It shocked the whole nation, and rightly so. The Tragically Hip are as Canadian as Maple Syrup, as Hockey and Tim Horton's. The band announced they would go on one last tour, with the last show on August 20th in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario televised for all to see on the CBC . It is reported that 11.7 MILLION Canadians tuned into that last concert - a testament to just how many people this Canadian rock back have touched. I was on a road trip with my son to Regina and sat with him in the car, listening to Gord scream 'COURAGE' to the crowd. Both my parents and my sister, whose favorite artist is, believe it or not, Bon Jovi, also tuned into the concert. It was such a national event that my Co-Host Warren Peace even sent me a text that evening to ask 'Penny, what's going on in Canada tonight?' My answer as simple; a whole country stopped what it was doing - stopped watching the Olympics on TV, stopped playing on the phones, just stopped and watched The Hip lay their hearts on that stage. It's rare we get to say goodbye to our idols. 2016 showed us this in spades as celebrity after celebrity passed this year. But Gord and The Hip gave us a chance to say thank you. The Hip was the soundtrack of my first awkward crushes, of those late nights drinking beers by the river with friends. They told tales of my life; of driving down corduroy roads, of living in the north, of hockey and small towns. They made it cool to be Canadian. Yer Favorites it a best of album, but with a twist. The band asked it's fans to vote on their favorite Tragically Hip songs, and those were then taken and put on this double CD. It's a great introduction to this iconic Canadian for those who have never heard The Hip before and it's also a collection of iconic Canadian tracks for those of us who grew up with The Hip. This album quickly became a staple during summer and fall car trips this year for me, with tracks like Bobcaygeon, 'It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken,' Boots and Hearts and Long Time Running finding spots this year deep in my heart. Thank you Gord Downie, Rob Backer, Gord Sinclair, Paul Langlois and Johnny Fay....
2. Phrenology by The Roots (2002) - When I started Punks in Parkas on UMFM in 2005, my then music director (now our Station Manager) Jared McKetiak told me that in a few years I would be listening to and enjoying rap and hip-hop. I laughed at him. 'Mark my words Penny Lane, it will happen, you wait and see.' Well, it took longer than a few years, but damn him, he was right. 2016 was a year of discovery for me and I do have to give a lot of credit to the great Netflix series The Get Down for pushing me forward into somewhat uncharted musical territory. The Netflix series is a fictional account of the start of the Hip-Hop/DJ and MC scene in New York, something that has always fascinated me anyway. I discovered this album all because of the track The Seed (2.0). That song hooked me hard and I spent a good chunk of the start of 2016 listening to The Roots over and over again.
3. Choose Your Weapon by Hiatus Kaiyote (2015) - I think Spotify has been a blessing for me this year. Since embracing the streaming music service, I have not only learned to loving having all that music at my fingertips, but have also learned to get a tad frustrated with it as well. What happens when you give someone seemingly endless possibilities? They tend to stick to what they know and get stuck in a loop of listening to the same things day after day. It was that frustration in the Fall of 2016 that lead me to ask my Facebook followers for musical suggestions. As expected, I received the usual droll suggestions of The Jam, The Small Faces and The Who. But also tucked in there was this little gem by Hiatus Kaiyote. Based on cover art alone, I would have never given this record the time of day, but as it was the only different suggestion in a sea of familiarity, I went for it and found myself so drawn into the album, listening to it on repeat that entire day. It's a mix of so many amazing things that reminded me of the fantastic Janelle Monae mixed with cleaver beats and interesting musical arrangements and risky sound choices that really paid off.
4. True Blue by Tina Brooks (1960) - This year was spent digging deeper into Jazz, exploring different artist, titles and albums. This classic by Tina Brooks (featuring Freddie Hubbard, Duke Jordan, Same Jones and Art Taylor) quickly found a spot in regular rotation at my house. After a rocky summer, a time when I was finding peace with myself and with the way the year was unfolding before me, this record took me into the fall season. I spent many evenings writing in my journal, with this record playing me into longer and colder days. It reeks of early 1960s - of smokey underground clubs, of Italian suits cleanly tailored, of happy hour drinks in Manhattan and coffee at Bar Italia in Soho. It's a classic that I wish I had discovered sooner.
5. New Occupation by Duotang (2016) - Many people who stumble across Punks in Parkas find it hard to believe that in the frozen wasteland of Winnipeg, Canada that there could be a Mod scene. Truth be told, Winnipeg always seemed to have had a handful of Mods about - from the early 1960's to now, and with Winnipeg being the musical mecca of the northern prairies, this city has also produced its fair share of great bands, including a few of the Mod persuasion. Enter Duotang - a group made up of Sean Allum on drums and Rod Slaughter on bass who found themselves playing to Mods on this and the other side of the pond in the late 1990's. I had missed Duotangs rise to Mod fame before they split in early 2000s. All I had to go by was their handful of releases on the great Mint label. Over the years, I was lucky enough to develop friendships with both Sean and Rod based on our mutual love of music and mod culture. About 10 years back, the boys got together for a one-off Christmas reunion show and blew the roof of the place. That lead to a gig here, another show there, a few more reunion shows and then, before any of us knew what had happened, there was talk of a tour and a new album. The release, New Occupation has that same old Duotang sound that fans know and love, but also show a maturity and growth in their song writing and craft in general. It's Canadian Mod power pop at it's finest.
6. Kind of Blue by Miles Davis (1959) - It seems in difficult times, there are two albums I turn to, Abbey Road by the Beatles and Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. With the rocky start I had to 2016, it's no surprise that much of the early months of the year were spent with Kind of Blue. There's something about this album that is a tad uplifting, a bit sarcastic, a bit tongue-in-cheek. It never fails to put a slight smile on my face with the first few moments of So What. I'm not sure exactly what it is about this album that just does it for me, it's not something I can easily pin down but every time I feel alone or like the shit hand I've been delt is never going to get better, Kind of Blue comes in and takes me away for a moment to a place where I can sit back and smile, laugh at the way things have unfolded and forget about everything negative as the album takes over.
7. Morning Phase by Beck (2014) - Remember in 2015 when Beck won the Grammy for Album of the Year for Morning Phase and everyone's favorite shit disturber Kanye West went on about how the Grammy's need to respect 'real artists' and that "Beck needs to respect artist and he should've given his aard to Beyonce." Remember that? Man, it made me laugh pretty hard. When I first started listening to Beck back in the 1990's, I was even then able to recognize artistry in what he did. Odelay was a fantastic album and one that to this day, I still go back too. Maybe Mr. West just has no respect for artistry apart from that which is created in his own 'clique' or maybe he didn't give Morning Phase a listen at all. I believe if he had, he would have seen it for what it is - a well crafted, beautiful album that deserved the honor of being called Album of the Year. It's soo good that I'm almost willing to forget the whole Scientology thing...
8. Heavy Soul! by Billy Hawks (1968) - There is no better bliss for me, nothing better for my soul sometimes than to dig through records. It's such a personal thing that I sometimes have trouble taking people when me with I decided to go record shopping. I think it's because it's a raw version of me, and I'm afraid most people won't understand it or have the patience for it. To be honest, I could spend a long, long time pouring over records. I suppose it would take another music nerd like me to really understand it. Sure, I'll take friends and people who are interested in getting some vinyl to record stores and sales with me, but the moments I cherist the most are the ones I spend alone in a record store, breaking my nails as I flip slowly through the albums, sneezing from the dust and loving that musty smell. I found a reissue of this album by Billy Hawks at local record store Into The Music for $5, brand new. I wasn't familiar with it and wasn't sure if it was something I would love. Because, and let's be honest here, that cover artwork is kind of shit. My eight year old son Hunter could do a better job. But for $5, I was willing to take the risk. What I got was an album that is a perfect combination of Soul, Blues and Jazz and it instantly became a personal favorite.
9. Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley by Nancy Wilson and the Cannonball Adderley Quintet with Miles Davis (1962) - Whenever I travel, I try to make a point to check out a few record stores wherever I end up. This summer, I took my then seven year old son Hunter on an eight hour road trip to Regina, Saskatchewan. Being his first road trip and first stay in a real hotel, he was beyond excited. I was excited to see if there was any record stores worth my time there. A few people directed me to a place called Vintage Vinyl and Hemp Emporium. This place, which was half a head shop and half a record store, smelled 'funny' according to my son, but had a rather decent selection of records. I picked up a handful, including this great release by Nancy Wilson and the amazing Cannonball Adderley. Nancy's voice is sweet and beautiful and is a perfect match to Cannonball's saxaphone. It wasn't until recently that I discovered that my favorite Miles Davis is also present on this great record.
10. One and Two by Mal Waldron (1976) - I won't give the nitty-gritty details of how this record came into my collection. Part of me almost wants to because the story behind it is almost as good as the album itself and Warren Peace is always telling me that the personal stories I share on Maximum Rhythm and Booze are really the best.. Alright then, here it goes... After breaking up with my boyfriend before Christmas in 2015, I spent the first half of 2016 by myself. I needed some time to come to terms with the shit show that was the end of last year and work on loving myself a bit more before I even considered getting involved in any sort of way. By the summer, I was feeling more myself and at the encouraging of a friend, created an OKCupid profile. I didn't take it too seriously, so when I received a message from a Jazz loving, poetry obsessed English professor in Fargo, North Dakota... well, I didn't think too much of it. After exchanging a few lengthy emails, I learned that he was only in Fargo for a limited amount of time to do research for a book he was working on about a local poet. It seemed spontaneous and almost crazy, but we both felt that we should take advantage of this situation and meet for a drink, for dinner, for whatever before he headed back home to LA. So plans were made. He was heading to Minneapolis for a few days and on his way back to Fargo, we would meet for dinner at a local pub. I worked, and then straight from my office, hopped in my car and drove three hours to Fargo. This poetry loving, Jazz obsessed professor and I met first for a drink where he instantly handed me a brown paper bag. I opened it to find this record inside. He told me that he was out digging at some of his favorite record stores in Minneapolis just yesterday and saw this record and thought I would enjoy it greatly if I didn't have it already. We spent hours laughing over dinner and drinks, finding we had way more in common that originally thought. We talked for hours about music, about life, about art. The next morning when I drove home, I did so wondering what was to come of this, if anything? We are worlds apart, separated by space and very busy lives. We shared a few more emails but as the school year started up again in the Fall, contact became less and less. But every so often I like to put on this record and I smile, knowing that I still have the ability to be spontaneous and surprise myself. It may not have the most happiest of endings, but I did get a pretty sweet record out of the whole thing, so I guess I can't complain, can I?
So there it is, a collection of some of my favorite albums of 2016!
Much love,
Penny xx
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