The Best of 2024

As we look forward to 2025, Words & Music and Paroles & Musique also remember and celebrate 2024, with Top 10 Lists of SOCAN members’ songs from some of our regular contributors. Happy Holidays!

Howard Druckman
Howard Druckman is the Editor of SOCAN’s Words &  Music online magazine.

1. Donovan Woods – “Back for the Funeral”
2. Julian Taylor x Allison Russell – “Pathways”
3. DijahSB – “Uh Huh”
4. King Cruff – “Jack’s Hill Dreamers”
5. Mike Evin – “Dancing to Sir Duke”
6. NOBRO “Set That Pussy Free”
7. AHI – “My People”
8. Mustafa – “Old Life”
9. Snotty Nose Rez Kids – “Kaleidoscope” (featuring Travis Thompson)
10. Rose Cousins – “I Believe in Love (and it’s very hard)”

Eric Parazelli
Eric Parazelli is the Editor in Chief of SOCAN’s online magazine Paroles & Musique and Manager of Francophone Communications for SOCAN.

1. Lou-Adriane Cassidy – “Dis-moi dis-moi dis-moi”
2. Les Cowboys Fringants – “La fin du show”
3. P’tit Belliveau – “L’Église de St. Bernard”
4. Virginie B – “Madone”
5. Béli – “G4MEOVER”
6. Valence – “Depuis Marseille”
7. Souldia – “Ceci n’est pas une chanson triste”
8. Robert Robert – “Souffle sur moi”
9. We Are Wolves – “Super Normal”
10. Rymz – “Bang”

Chaka V. Grier
Words & Music regular contributor Chaka V. Grier is an interviewer and writer whose work has included bylines in National Public Radio (NPR) in the U.S., O Magazine, Flare, and Elle Canada.

1. Caribou – “Come Find Me”
2. Caribou – “Volume”
3. Loony – “Mama Don’t Be Sad”
4. TOBi – “Settling”
5. Ruby Waters – “Liquor Run”
6. Allie X – “Weird World”
7. Allison Russell – “Snakelife”
8. Shawn Mendes – “Who I Am”
9. Charlotte Day Wilson – “Last Call”
10. Nemahsis – “Dead Giveaway”

Olivier Boisvert-Magnen
Paroles & Musique contributor Olivier Boisvert-Magnen is a writer, journalist, columnist, researcher and producer for ICI Musique.

1. Sara-Danielle – “ReRUN”
2. LaF – “June”
3. Joe Rocca – “21 grammes”
4. Claudia Bouvette – “Call Me Back!”
5. 20some et Imposs – “Papercuts”
6. San James – “Fuir”
7. Malko – “Le plus beau des diamants”
8. Marie-Pierre Arthur avec Mantisse – “Miroir”
9. Mike Shabb – “Burn Baby Burn”
10. Lou-Adriane Cassidy – “Dis-moi dis-moi dis-moi”

Nick Krewen
Words & Music regular contributor Nick Krewen is the former rock critic for the Hamilton Spectator, and currently a frequent contributor to the Toronto Star, CARAS’s annual JUNO souvenir music program, and occasionally, the Globe and Mail.

1. Lori Yates – “Matador”
2. Talk – “A Little Bit Happy”
3. Goldie Boutilier – “Actress”
4. Allie X – “Off With Her Tits”
5. Jim Cuddy – “Torn”
6. Julian Taylor – “Sixth Line Road”
7. Lori Yates – “What A Life”
8. Mustafa – “Leaving Toronto”
9. Snotty Nose Rez Kids – “Welcome to My World”
10. Corb Lund – “The Cardplayers”

Philippe Renaud
Paroles & Musique collaborator Philippe Renaud has been a music journalist, columnist and critic for some twenty years, during which time he has been read, seen and heard at La Presse, Radio-Canada (ICI Première, ICI Télé), L’Actualité and Le Devoir.

1. Annie-Claude Deschênes – “Menace minimale”
2. Klô Pelgag – “Pythagore”
3. Myriam Gendron – “Long Way Home”
4. BIG BRAVE – “Not Speaking of the Ways”
5. Avec pas d’casque – “Quelque chose”
6. Shah Frank – “L’étage souteReine”
7. Priori feat. “Sabola – Learn to Fly”
8. Souldia – “Ceci n’est pas une chanson triste”
9. Hildegard – “Pour Your Heart Out”
10. Poirier feat. Ely Swares – “Mi So”

Mary Dickie
Words & Music regular contributor Mary Dickie has been writing about music for more than three decades, for publications including Graffiti, Music Express, Impact, Eye Weekly, The Toronto Sun, Elle Canada, and Musicworks.

(in random order)

• Ndidi O – “Light On”
• Colin Stetson – “The Augur”
• Nyssa – “Creature 2 Creature”
• Richard Laviolette – “Don’t Quit on Me”
• Nemahsis – “Coloured Concrete”
• Doug Paisley – “Take the Stars Out of the Sky”
• Kelly McMichael – “You Got It Wrong”
• Cindy Lee – “Flesh and Blood”
• Metz – “Wound Tight”
• Lori Yates – “Time After Time”

Élise Jetté
Paroles & Musique contributor Élise Jetté is a freelance journalist, researcher, columnist and host. She can be heard on CISM and ICI Première.

• Avec pas d’casque – “Le soleil se cherche du stationnement dans l’horizon”
• Leif Vollebekk – “Surfer’s Journal”
• Bon Enfant – “Bouquet”
• Ada Lea – “serait-il…?”
• Klô Pelgag – “Les puits de lumière”
• Myriam Gendron – “Look Down That Lonesome Road”
• Nicolet – “Les jours heureux”
• Audrey-Michèle et Gab Bouchard – “Le loup”
• Mon Doux Saigneur – “Marcher dans le noir”
• zouz – “J’y suis jamais”

Del F. Cowie
Words & Music regular contributor Del F. Cowie has worked as a writer, producer, and researcher for the Peabody and International Emmy Award-winning Netflix documentary series Hip Hop Evolution. He’s also worked as a producer for CBC Music and was hip-hop editor at Exclaim! magazine for more than a decade.

1. Planet Giza – “2wice Again”
2. Faiza – “Find My Way”
3. Dylan Sinclair –“”Lemon Trees”
4. Liza featuring Tobi – “Back for More”
5. Kalisway – “Superstar”
6. Shantel May – “Love It Here”
7. Clairmont the Second – “born2b”
8. Sadboi – “Slide”
9. Mustafa – “Leaving Toronto”
10. BadBadNotGood – “Audacia”

Claude Côté
Freelance journalist at La Presse, Paroles & Musique and SortiesJazznights, he has also contributed to the newspaper Voir, hosted at CIBL radio and was a music columnist at RDI for 22 years, as well as writing columns for ICI Première and I C I Musique.

1. Marie-Pierre Arthur – “Paradis”
2. Les Breastfeeders – “La vérité c’est que tu mens”
3. P’tit Belliveau – “L’Église de St. Bernard”
4. Diane Dufresne/Michel Cusson – “Monsieur Lamoureux”
5. Rau_Ze –“ Partie Déjà”
6. Paige Barlow – “Le sang me monte à la tête”
7. Bon Enfant – “Demande Spéciale”
8. Les Dévadés – “Panne d’horizon”
9. Émile Proulx-Cloutier – “Tout ce que t’es”
10. Alias – “Cocktails and Dreams”