Best Canadian Music Writing 2023

Images: Jully Black performs O Canada at the NBA All-Star game in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Feb. 19. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

This list is compiled by Del Cowie, Invisible’s intrepid Bibliophonic editor.

For the sixth year, I’ve compiled some of my favourite music writing from writers around the country in 2023 and am shamelessly presenting it under the clickbait headline of Best Canadian Music Writing. And in a year where it became harder to instantly share articles via social media (for reasons I won’t get into here), I’ve become comfortable with the clickbait-y title if it will help to bring more attention to the fine music writing on this list.

Additionally, the importance of digital, as well as print, archives has been become increasingly heightened, especially as spaces for music writing, let alone for general writing and journalism, are decreasing at a troubling rate.

Whatever the theme or perspective on the creative process of making and performing of music described below, there is a constant reminder of its power and its connection to our daily lives. One need only look at the national debate that one word sung by Jully Black sparked earlier this year.

As always, the list is personal and therefore entirely subjective, but I do believe it’s a decent snapshot of some of the things going on musically in the country. Whether the piece is part of an album promo run, a listicle, or a long feature on an emerging musical trend, I’m hopeful that there’s something on this list of fifty articles that piques your interest.

And if there’s something I’ve missed, please feel free to share it to add to the dialogue.

• Meet Kuruza, the DJ collective uniting the African diaspora through music by Kelsey Adams (CBC Music)
• Jully Black on reinventing herself by Sadaf Ahsan (Globe & Mail)
• On her debut EP, Bambii brilliantly bridges the gap between Caribbean and electronic music by Richie Assaly (Toronto Star)
• Remembering Jayson Hoover, a Vancouver soul singer who shared the stage with Led Zeppelin by Jon Azpiri (CBC News)
• 33 Songs From Here by Michael Barclay (West End Phoenix)
• Kayo rides a wave  by Martin Bauman (The Coast)
• Austra Finds Her “Dream Project” in Rewriting Tchaikovsky by Tom Beedham (Exclaim!)
• Zoon: Bekka Ma’iingan by Stuart Berman (Pitchfork)
• Skinny Puppy’s farewell to Vancouver was a dystopian fever dream by Dean Broughton (The Straight)
• The Rise and Fall of MuchMusic by Sara Black McCulloch (The Walrus)
• Jayda G Tackles “Intense” Moments of Family History: by Chris Bryson (Exclaim!)
• Black music in Canada exists, thrives and survives — but it’s not because of the mainstream music industry by Mark V. Campbell (CBC)
• Kevin Drew Isn’t Chasing His Life Away by Leslie Ken Chu (Northern Transmissions)
• SlowPitchSound and the Universe Between the Grooves by Sara Constant (Musicworks)
• After allegations against Win Butler, an existential crisis lingers for Montréal by Yara El-Soueidi  (NPR)
• Rewind: The Hidden Cameras The Smell of Our Own  by Jim Di Gioia (Dominionated)
• How translating classic hits into Inuktitut became a healing process for Elisapie by Holly Gordon (CBC Music)
• Pantayo Explore the Limitless Possibilities of Kulintang Music: “There Is Space for People Like Us” by Ian Gormely (Exclaim!)
• How Black and Indigenous communities have connected through rap by Natalie Harmsen (CBC Music)
• Death, Taxes, and U.S. GIRLS by Gaby Harrie (Range)
• Gordon Lightfoot, the Canadian bard, wrote the tune for a nation’s identity by Nicholas Jennings (Globe & Mail)
• Dears frontman Murray Lightburn’s new album is a eulogy for his dad by Brendan Kelly (Montreal Gazette)
• ‘He was our national treasure’ — reflections on the legacy of Robbie Robertson By Nick Krewen (Toronto Star)
• ‘You can try to fight it or adapt’: How Canadian musicians are responding to AI’s rapid advancements by Melody Lau (CBC Music)
• Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s Anthems of Radical Hope by Madeline Lines (Range)
• We spoke with Gayance about her long-awaited debut album, Mascarade by Dave MacIntyre (CultMTL)
• The Dawn of Debby Friday by Daniel McIntosh (Range)
• Terra Lightfoot’s Unique Path by David McPherson (Words & Music)
• The Best Songs of 2023 by Sean Michaels (Said the Gramophone)
• TOBi finds strength in vulnerability By Kyle Mullin (Exclaim!)
• The Dewey Decibel System by J.R. McConvey (West End Phoenix)
• Disco’s Revenge by Rollie Pemberton (Hazlitt)
• Andy Shauf planned to make a ‘normal’ record. That’s not what happened by Ben Rayner (Toronto Star)
• Ian Kamau’s philosophy by Matthew Rolfe (Foyer)
• The Beaches Will Get You Through Your Breakup by Emily Rosati (Beatroute)
• Punjabi Wave: How Diasporic Canadian Artists Are Redefining Global Music by Jeevan Sangha & Richard Trapunski (Billboard Canada)
• On Gateway Experience, Witch Prophet transcends time and space by Yasmine Shemesh (The Straight)
• Ariel Engle is a musician’s musician. (Just ask Feist.) by Tabassum Siddiqui (Toronto Star)
• Allison Russell Celebrates Her “Fierce, Hard-Won Joy” by Laura Stanley (Exclaim!)
• Queer Club Culture’s Blueprint: An Interview with DJ Blackcat by Aurora Sol (New Feeling)
• Nelly Furtado Is Rejoining the Party by Cyrena Touros (Elle Canada)
• Why Sunrise Records Is Still Spinning by Richard Trapunski (The Walrus)
• Making it in Seoul: how some Canadians are moving to South Korea to become K-pop stars by Nadia Trudel (CBC Music)
• Why rez radio matters by Andrea Warner (CBC Music)
• Feist’s intimate new album Multitudes contains her by Brad Wheeler (Globe & Mail)
• Pop culture keeps letting women down. How are we going to live through this? By Lisa Whittington-Hill (Toronto Star)
• Shania Twain Is Returning to the Music World She Helped Make. Is She Still the One? by Carl Wilson (Slate)
• Deep Digs: BLAXÄM – Kiss My Afro (1998) by Daniel G. Wilson (New Feeling)
• The colour of pop by Sumiko Wilson (Elle Canada)
• Jeremy Dutcher: The Two-Spirit artist singing to a generation of ‘rainbow children’ by Riley Yesno (Xtra!)

P.S. In case you were wondering (you weren’t) my favourite album of the year was Ready When You Are by Montreal’s Planet Giza.  As a bonus link you can read about that album here.