2012 in Canadian music

This is a summary of the year 2012 in the Canadian music industry.

Events

• February 13 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation launches CBC Music, a digital music service which offers streaming audio broadcasts of 40 different music genre channels, in addition to the existing CBC Radio 2 and CBC Radio 3 services, on both the Internet and iOS devices.
• April 1 – Juno Awards of 2012
• June 14 – Prelimimary longlist for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize is announced.
• July 17 – Shortlist for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize is announced.
• September 24 – Feist's album Metals is announced as the winner of the Polaris Music Prize.

Bands on hiatus

• Karkwa

Albums released

A

• Amos the Transparent, Goodnight My Dear, I'm Falling Apart (February 14)
• Amylie, Le Royaume
• Androgynous Mind, Nightstalker
• Apollo Ghosts, Landmark
• Marie-Pierre Arthur, Aux alentours
• Azari & III, Azari & III

B

• Baby Eagle and the Proud Mothers, Bone Soldier (March 6)
• Bahamas, Barchords (February 7)
• Del Barber, Headwaters
• Bidiniband, In the Rock Hall (January 24)
• Justin Bieber, Believe
• Big Brave, An Understanding Between People
• Billy Talent, Dead Silence, September 9, 2012
• The Birthday Massacre, Hide and Seek (October 9)
• Blue Moon Marquee, Stainless Steel Heart
• Boxer the Horse, French Residency
• Brasstronaut, Mean Sun (May 15)

C

• Cadence Weapon, Hope in Dirt City (May 29)
• Cancer Bats, Dead Set on Living
• Caracol, Shiver
• Paul Cargnello, Papa Paul
• Change of Heart, There You Go '82 – '97 (September 18, 2012)
• Tim Chaisson, The Other Side (September 25)
• The City Streets, White Lightning (spring)
• The City Streets, Sawdust & Rum (spring)
• Leonard Cohen, Old Ideas (January 31)
• Cold Specks, I Predict a Graceful Expulsion (May 21)
• Cookie Duster, When Flying Was Easy (June)
• Ève Cournoyer, Le labeur d'une fleur
• Rose Cousins, We Have Made a Spark
• Cuff the Duke, In Our Time (April 12)
• Cuff the Duke, Union (October 2)
• Amelia Curran, Spectators (October 2)

D

• The Damn Truth, Dear in the Headlights
• Daphni, Jiaolong
• Diamond Rings, Free Dimensional
• Digawolf, Naka De
• Céline Dion, Sans attendre
• Julie Doiron, So Many Days (October 23)
• Dumas, L'Heure et l'endroit
• Durham County Poets, Where the River Flows
• Dusted, Dusted

E

• Kathleen Edwards, Voyageur (January 17)
• Coral Egan, The Year He Drove Me Crazy
• The Elwins, And I Thank You (February 21)
• Quique Escamilla, Quique Escamilla
• Esthero, Everything Is Expensive (October 30)
• Evening Hymns, Spectral Dusk

F

• Jeremy Fisher, Mint Juleps
• Front Line Assembly, AirMech (November 13)
• Nelly Furtado, The Spirit Indestructible (September 18)

G

• Gentleman Reg, Leisure Life
• Hannah Georgas, Hannah Georgas
• Ghostkeeper, Horse Chief! War Thief!
• Jenn Grant, The Beautiful Wild (September 25)
• Great Bloomers, Distant Fires
• Great Lake Swimmers, New Wild Everywhere (April 3)
• Grey Kingdom, The Weeping Suns; Light, I'll Call Your Name Out "Darkness"
• Grimes, Visions (February 21)
• Godspeed You! Black Emperor, 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! (October 1)

H

• Hot Panda, Go Outside
• Joshua Hyslop, Where the Mountain Meets the Valley

I

• Islands, A Sleep & a Forgetting (February 14)

J

• JBM, Stray Ashes
• Japandroids, Celebration Rock
• Carly Rae Jepsen, Curiosity
• Carly Rae Jepsen, Kiss
• July Talk, July Talk

K

• Kalle Mattson, Lives in Between
• Karkwa, Karkwa Live
• Peter Katz, Still Mind Still
• Mo Kenney, Mo Kenney
• Kid Koala, 12 Bit Blues, (September 18)
• Keith Kouna, Du plaisir et des bombes
• K'naan, Country, God or the Girl, (October 16)
• K'naan, More Beautiful Than Silence (January 31)
• Kristina Maria, Tell the World

L

• Zachary Lucky, Saskatchewan

M

• Madison Violet, The Good in Goodbye
• Maestro Fresh Wes, Black Tuxedo EP (September 18)
• Maïa, Héritage
• Mares of Thrace, The Pilgrimage
• Carolyn Mark, The Queen of Vancouver Island
• Masia One, Bootleg Culture (June 19)
• Matt Mays, Coyote
• Eamon McGrath, Young Canadians
• Loreena McKennitt, Troubadours on the Rhine
• Holly McNarland, Run Body Run
• Memoryhouse, The Slideshow Effect (February 28)
• Metric, Synthetica (June 12)
• METZ, METZ
• Millimetrik, Read Between the Rhymes
• Ariane Moffatt, MA
• Mother Mother, The Sticks

N

• Northern Haze, Sinaaktuq

O

• Mike O'Neill, Wild Lines
• Octoberman, Waiting in the Well
• Ohbijou, Metal Meets
• Karim Ouellet, Fox
• Our Lady Peace, Curve (April 3)

P

• Dorothea Paas, Same Sun
• Doug Paisley, Golden Embers
• Parlovr, Kook Soul
• Pascale Picard Band, Trauma: Chansons de la série télé Saison 3
• Dany Placard, Démon vert
• Plants and Animals, The End of That (February 28)
• Joel Plaskett, Scrappy Happiness (March 27)
• Chad Price, In This Dream
• PS I Love You, Death Dreams
• Purity Ring, Shrines

R

• Radio Radio, Havre de Grace (April 17)
• Rah Rah, The Poet's Dead
• Johnny Reid, Fire It Up
• Rush, Clockwork Angels

S

• Julien Sagot, Piano mal
• Said the Whale, Little Mountain (March 6)
• John K. Samson, Provincial (January 24)
• Saukrates, Season One (April 24)
• Crystal Shawanda, Just Like You
• Shout Out Out Out Out, Spanish Moss and Total Loss (June 19)
• Zal Sissokho, Le Partage
• Skydiggers, Northern Shore (April 17)
• The Slakadeliqs, The Other Side of Tomorrow
• Smash Brovas, Think It's a Game?
• Dallas Smith, Jumped Right In - May 22
• John Southworth, Failed Jingles for Bank of America and Other Corporations
• Rae Spoon, I Can't Keep All of Our Secrets (January 10)
• Stars, The North
• Jeffery Straker, Vagabond – October 2
• Serena Ryder, Harmony

T

• The Tragically Hip, Now for Plan A
• A Tribe Called Red, A Tribe Called Red

V

• Chad VanGaalen, The Green Corridor
• Various Artists, ' – November 13

W

• Martha Wainwright, Come Home to Mama
• Rufus Wainwright, Out of the Game
• Patrick Watson, Adventures in Your Own Backyard (April 17)
• Wax Mannequin, No Safe Home
• Whitehorse, The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss
• Wintersleep, Hello Hum
• Royal Wood, We Were Born to Glory
• The Wooden Sky, Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun (February 28)
• Woodpigeon, For Paolo
• Wool on Wolves, Measures of Progress

Y

• Neil Young, Americana
• Yukon Blonde, Tiger Talk – March 20

Z

• Zeus, Busting Visions

Top hits on record

The lists are updated weekly through Jam! and Nielsen Soundscan.

Top 10 Canadian albums

Top 10 American albums

Top 10 British albums

Top 10 International albums

Top 10 Singles

Canadian Hot 100 Year-End List

Deaths

• January 2 – Ian Bargh, jazz pianist
• January 25 – Andrew MacNaughtan, photographer and music video director
• February 21 – Christopher Reimer, rock guitarist (Women)
• April 23 – Billy Bryans, percussionist and record producer (Parachute Club)
• September 23 – Sam Sniderman, founder of the Sam the Record Man chain

References