It seems like 2016 was the year Canadian indie music threw a little bit of everything our way. Kaytranada came out of nowhere to win the Polaris Music Prize as a first-time nominee, and did it with a debut album to boot. Veterans like John K. Samson, Hidden Cameras and Austra all put out new albums. Brand new artists like Supermoon, L Con, KROY and River Tiber burst onto the scene. Even beloved Winnipeg band Duotang decided to surprise everyone and made a come back after a 12-year hiatus.

It was a great year for music, and, as always, our music programmers faced the difficult task of sorting through and ranking the dazzling array of songs that come across our desks. Without further ado, here are the 103 best Canadian indie songs of 2016:

103. Os Tropies, "Vir Me Amar" from The Soil

102. Your Boy Tony Braxton, "Fall (Girl)" from Adult Contempt

101. Devours, "Jazz By Thor" from Late Bloomer

100. The Cosmic Range, "Love II" from New Latitudes

99. Navet Confit, "Ton Voyage" from EP 7

98. Duotang, "Karma Needs To Come Around" from New Occupation

97. Martha Wainwright, "So Down" from Goodnight City

96. Imaginary Cities. "Set My Heart On Fire" from Leftovers EP

95. Bronswick, "Comme La Mer" from Chasses-Croises EP

94. Twin River, "Antony" from Passing Shade

93. Minotaurs, "Weird Waves" from Weird Waves

92. Slow Down Molasses, "Flowers" from 100% Sunshine

91. Adrian Glynn, "Jumping The Gun" from Morelightthannolight

90. Pet Sun, "Web Of Man" from Pet Sun

89. Tiga, "Planet E" from No Fantasy Required



88. Lanikai, "Motor Inn" from Lanikai

87. Sean Nicholas Savage, "Blow Me Away" from Magnificent Fist

86. Laura Sauvage, "Rubberskin" from Extraordinormal

85. Weird Lines, "Fade In My Heart" from Weird Lines

84. Supermoon, "Witching Hour" from Playland

83. Shotgun Jimmie, "Join The Band" from Field Of Trampolines

82. Escondido, "Heart Is Black" from Walking With A Stranger

81. Ludo Pin, "Les Moyens Du Bord" from Les Moyens Du Bord

80. Elephant Stone, "Manipulator" from Ship Of Fools

79. Jane's Party, "Coming On Strong" from Tunnel Vision

78. Peter Peter, "Bien Reel" from Noir Eden

77. Bankruptcy, "Besmirch My Name" from For The Future

76. MSTRKRFT, "Priceless" from Operator

75. Vallens, "Devour" from Consent

74. Groenland, "Healing Suns" from A Wider Space

73. Marie Davidson, "Naive To The Bone" from Adieux Au Dancefloor

72. The Courtneys, "Silver Velvet" from The Courtneys II

71. Diamond Mind, "Horseless Coach" from Heavy Metal Sunshine

70. The Zolas, "Swooner" from Swooner

69. Casey Mecija, "Gonna Gun" from Psychic Materials

68. Tokyo Police Club, "Not My Girl" from Melon Collie and the Infinite Radness (Part 1)

67. L Con, "Form Of Space" from Moon Milk

66. Mordicus, "Grandville" from Edgar Allan Pop

65. Junior Boys, "Kiss Me All Night" from Kiss Me All Night EP

64. Odonis Odonis, "Game" from Post Plague

63. Repartee, "Dukes" from All Lit Up

62. Mother Mother, "The Drugs" from digital single

61. Paupiere, "Cinq Heures" from Jeunes Instants

60. Skratch Bastid, "Limoncello" (feat. Shad) from digital single

59. Besnard Lakes, "Towers Sent Her To Sheets Of Sound" from A Coliseum Complex Museum

58. Twist, "Soaked" from Spectral

57. Yes We Mystic, "Undertow" from Forgiver

56. Rae Spoon, "Written Across The Sky" from Armour

55. Wintersleep, "Santa Fe" from The Great Detachment

54. Programm, "Jukai" from A Torrid Marriage of Emotion And Logic

53. Hidden Cameras, "The Great Reward" from Home On Native Land

52. Suuns, "Un-No" from Hold/Still

51. Young Rival, "Let Me Go On" from Strange Lights

50. We Are Wolves. "I Don’t Mind" from Wrong

49. The Matinee, "Dancing On Your Grave" from Dancing On Your Grave

48. Tuns, "Mind Over Matter" from Tuns

TUNS || "Mind Over Matter" (Official Music Video) from Max Parr on Vimeo.

47. Monomyth, "Puppet Creek" from Happy Pop Family

46. Wake Island, "Never Entirely There" from Out

45. Swamp Thing, "Wild Things" from Pray To Science

44. Essaie Pas, "Retox" from Demain est une autre nuit

43. Teen Daze, "Cycle" from Themes For Dying Earth

42. River Tiber, "Acid Test" from Indigo

41. AA Wallace, "Shake It Out" from In Alpha Zones

40. The Pack A.D., "So What" from Positive Thinking

39. Louise Burns, "Storms" from Young Mopes

38. Brasstronaut, "Raveshadow" from Brasstronaut

37. July Talk, "Picturing Love" from Touch

36. KROY, "River" from Scavenger

35. Plants And Animals, "No Worries Gonna Find Us" from Waltzed In From The Rumbling

34. Fresh Snow, "Mass Graves/Dance Caves" from One

33. Hannah Georgas, "Evelyn" from For Evelyn

32. Wolf Parade, "Automatic" from EP 4

31. More Or Les, "Cuppa" from Blow The F*ck Up But Stay Humble

30. Marie-Eve Roy, "Golden Bay" from Bleu Nelson

29. Diana, "Confession" from Familiar Touch

28. Dan Mangan, "Race To The Bottom" from Unmake

27. Little Scream, "Love As A Weapon" from Cult Following

26. Preoccupations, "Degraded" from Preoccupations

25. Crystal Castles, "Char" from Amnesty

24. Tasseomancy, "Do Easy" from Do Easy

23. Moonface and Siinai, "Risto’s Riff" from My Best Human Face

22. Islands, "No Milk, No Sugar" from Taste

21. John K Samson, "Postdoc Blues" from Winter Wheat

20. The Luyas, "Says You" from Says You EP

19. Doomsquad, "Pyramids On Mars" from Total Time

18. Snowblink, "How Now" from Returning Current

17. Brendan Canning, "Book It To Fresno" from Home Wrecking Years

16. Tasha The Amazon, "Picasso Leaning" from Die Every Day EP



15. Sam Roberts Band, "If You Want It" from Terraform

14. Destroyer, "My Mystery" from 12” single

13. Basia Bulat, "La La Lie" from Good Advice

12. Weaves, "Birds & Bees" from Weaves

11. Japandroids, "Near to the Wild Heart of Life" from Near to the Wild Heart of Life

10. Tanya Tagaq, "Centre" (feat. Shad) from Retribution

9. Duchess Says, "I Repeat Myself" from Sciences Nouvelles

8. Holy Fuck, "Tom Tom" from Congrats

7. White Lung, "Below" from Paradise

6. Operators, "Cold Light" from Blue Wave

5. Andy Shauf. "Quite Like You" from The Party

4. Austra, "Utopia" from Future Politics



3. Kaytranada, "Weight Off" from 99.9%

2. Black Mountain, "Florian Saucer Attack" from IV

1. A Tribe Called Red, "R.E.D." from We Are The Halluci Nation