2016 was an interesting year. There were a lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of great music, some awesome movies and some amazing live shows as well.

We’ve asked all the Rock 95 announcers to pick their favourites from the year, including favourite songs, albums, movies and live shows.

Take a read below!

Craig

Song

If I listened to it in 2016, I probably turn the volume down a little by now. But not with Monster Truck – Don’t Tell Me How To Live. I drown the family out of the car with this.

Movie

Any movie I went to see in 2016 was a cartoon, but out of those I watched at home, 10 Cloverfield Lane did it for me. You forget how absorbing an actor John Goodman can be.

Live Show

Desert Trip. The Stones, The Who, McCartney, Neil Young….Awesome…..that’s what I’d say if I went, but I didn’t.

Ozz

Song

Hot Air Balloon by Atwell

Album

Gord Downie – Secret Path

Movie

Finding Dory (Disney Pixar)

Live Show

Big Sugar and Tom Cochrane at the Birthday Bash

Cat

Song

My favourite song of 2016 is The Pretty Reckless’ Heaven Knows. I love Taylor Momsen’s voice, and it’s really nice to see a strong female led band making amazing rock music.

Album

Arkells Morning Report. I LOVE that so many amazing Canadian Bands are making it big internationally. Their music only seems to get better with every album they make.

Movie

Deadpool. Ryan Reynolds was born to play this character. It’s hilarious, full of action and curse words…plus I still secretly really like superhero movies.

Live Show

Blink 182…not the same without Tom Delonge…but still amazing and totally took me back to the good old days of playing Enema of the State on repeat in my disc man.

Randy Richards

Song

Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats – SOB – just because

Album

Three Days Grace – Human – the question was…How would Brad Walst do as the band’s new front man?  Well, quite well as it turned out.  The band’s first two singles topped the charts

Movie

Star Wars – The Force Awakens.  I love the Millenium Falcon!

Live Show

Way Home Music and Arts Festival – if you like music, you can’t go wrong with Way Home…most fun outdoor festival of the year…

New Rock Noah

Song

Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam – A 1000 Times. This song came out of nowhere for me. I was doing my usual research for an episode of The New Rock Hour, when I stumbled onto this gem. I like the old school, sing-song, nursery rhyme melody and the way the singer seems to sing right on the edge of his breaking point.

Album

PUP – The Dream Is Over. PUP saw world-wide success, including multiple world tours, after the release of their first album ‘PUP’. With such overwhelming success from a first album, there is always a lot of pressure for a band when creating the sophomore album. This pressure often leads to a disappointing 2^nd effort. Such is not the case for PUP. On this record they dug deeper, came together as a cohesive team, and melted faces. If you need further proof, listen to the first 2 tracks, “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will” and “DVP”.

Movie

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. Some people I’ve spoken with about this movie found it a bit too crude. I, however, found it HYSTERICAL.

Live Show

Conor Oberst at Massey Hall. Conor Oberst just happens to be my favourite songwriter of all time. He’s been in a bazillion bands (Bright Eyes, Monsters of Folk, Desaparacidos, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and so on) , and had an extensive solo career. This show was very intimate, just Conor and a friend backing him up. He played his entire new album and then returned after a break to play some old favourites including a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Passing Through” that had the entire audience singing and clapping and celebrating and mourning all at the same time. The entire evening was a surreal experience to which I had AMAZING seats.