This year in Victoria, fall was shaping up to be a weird one. See, there was this big festival – that we're not gonna name here – that used to take place every September and now that festival is gone. How were all the music homies going to reconnect after the summer? What is this new world where we don't come together to celebrate the end of summer, the start of fall and share in our love of music? Luckily for the denizens of the west coast music community, BreakOut West decided to take over Victoria for the first weekend of October and give us that proper communion space. When people are gathering to celebrate music, you know your Trash Gentlemen have got to be there. And be there we did. Not only did we get to connect with some incredible folks doing Big Things in the music scene (One of us more than the other, to be sure) but we got to take in an incredibly array of homegrown and international music spanning a dizzying array of genres and vibes. This instalment of The List celebrates the diverse musical community BreakOut West brought together. All the sounds here are different – country, metal, experimental jazz, rap, soul – but they're all connected by capital-Q Quality. Tap in and find something new for your ears.

Winner of the inaugural Meridian Prize, Jairus Sharif. Photo by the boss, Kelli RP.

Mawu – Jairus Sharif

A new addition to BreakOut West and the Western Canadian Music Awards was The Meridian Prize. If you are aware of the Polaris Music Prize, then it’s similar in way that it celebrates the accomplishment of an album. The difference between the two prizes is that the Meridian Prize focuses on Western Canada, compared to the Polaris Prize that covers the whole country. It’s a fantastic addition as Western Canada has been the birthplace of so many incredible albums. The inaugural winner of the 2026 Meridian Prize was Calgary’s Jairus Sharif. His award-winning album, Basis of Unity, blends avant-garde jazz with ambient tones. For his performance, he played an improvised version of the album, which gave tastes of all the tracks. The whole performance moved me, but Mawu caught my attention. From the growing synth to moments of different sounds, whether they be drums, bells, or saxophone segments. I got the feeling of “Hope” when listening to this song and found myself tearing up to the project. That right there is what makes an award-winning album; an album that can make you feel things you didn’t know was possible.

Traxx&Locs – Mace The Great

Hailing from Wales, Mace The Great is the next Grime artist to keep on your radar. During BreakOut West, not only did I see him perform once, but twice! He was the only artist I considered seeing twice because it’s not common for us to get an act from across the pond. During his first set at Encore, he played Traxx&Locs, a track from his 2025 album, Show Stoppaz. Clocking in at just past a minute and a half, the production provides a smooth RnB back track, only to be met with powerful 808 drums. Mace’s flow kicks the song into another gear as his bars dance in and around the beat. During his live performance of this song, he sat in a chair that he found on stage, and for such a laidback song, it felt just right. For being one of his more relaxed songs, his performance of it and overall flow made it an easy pick for the list. That said, you want to dive into the rest of his discography because it isn’t long until he makes it bigger markets.

Can You Feel It - Fiyin Obayan

Born in Nigeria, with roots running through Australia and England, and planted in Saskatchewan, Fiyin Obayan is a true sonic globetrotter, pulling influences from the many places she's called home and whipping them together in a potent blend of sounds. I caught her upstairs at the Coda during BreakOut West and hers was a set of sonic delights. For the length of her set, I closed my eyes, moved my body and let Obayan and her incredibly tight band take me on a goddamn musical journey. “Can You Feel It” is a masterful blend of styles, injected with the earthy soul of Obayan's powerful voice, that takes me right back to the aural pleasure of her BreakOut West set. With a handful of singles in the world. my eyes and ears are primed, ready and watching for a full-length Obayan album hopefully sometime soon.

Edwin Raphael doing his ethereal pop music thing. Photo by the boss, Kelli RP.

First Time on Earth – Edwin Raphael

M for Montreal was hosting a reception at Lucky Bar during BreakOut West, where two artists playing the Montreal festival were set to play for the packed hallway. One of these artists was Edwin Raphael. An indie-folk artist based out of Montreal, Raphael released his latest album “I Know A Garden” earlier this year in March. The album holds a lot of beautiful moments but the opening track, “First Time on Earth” was hands down the best opening track I’ve heard in awhile and ultimately was a great introduction to Raphael’s sound. The song opens with what appeared to be a harmonium with effects layered over it. From there, the guitar and drums build up the pace only for Raphael’s soft and soothing voice to come in. I was also a very big fan of the chorus parts of this song; it had a dreamlike repetition that made song feel whole. There are some lovely sounds on the east side of this nation and one name that I’m happy to carry along in my playlists now is Edwin Raphael.

Black Circles (feat. Black Hull & John from Dawson) – FRANKLIN

Having just visited Whitehorse for the first time this past August, I wanted to make sure I caught some music from some Yukon-based artists. Cue FRANKLIN, a sludge metal outfit who left me in awe during their Thursday performance at Studio 919. There were heavy bass tones, haunting vocals, and powerful drums; overall a headbangers dream come true. That said, nothing would prepare me for the special guest they were about to bring on stage. Near the end of their set, they were joined by rapper, John from Dawson, where they performed a remixed version of Black Circles. All the sudden, this heavy throwdown turned into this backing track to some of the craziest heat I’ve heard spat this year. The energy from John alone got me on my feet. At the time of this performance, the song wasn’t released yet but now it is and it features some guitar parts from Black Hull. The song brings back memories from what was only three weeks ago, but holy, does it rip.

Blind light of a superstar, ZADA. Photo by the boss, Kelli RP.

Heart of a Lion (feat. King Cruff) - ZADA

There was not a single performer that gave me anything close to the overwhelming feeling of “That's a fucking star!” from the moment they took a BreakOut West stage the same way that ZADA did. Her unique blend of R&B, soul, disco and afro-beat kept me moving and enraptured for the entire time she prowled the stage. Her voice has a depth and weight that keeps her ethereal pop sensibilities grounded here on Earth. It's usually pretty hard for me to pick a favourite song from a short set from a new artist after the show, but this one was a no-brainer. The beat on “Heart of a Lion” absolutely thumps. It's the kind of single that I can have on a loop for indeterminate lengths of time, to put me in a trance-like state when I'm doing something that requires focus. (I have done this multiple times since BreakOut West ended.) ZADA's whole Heart of a Lion EP is an absolute winner, but there's no doubt that this title track is the one deep in my heart before the others.

Stay Calm - The Lytics

Okay, this is absolutely cheating on my part. The Lytics did not play at BreakOut West. But producer/vocalist Alex Sannie was present, hosting a fascinating hip-hop panel. And while he wasn't laying down beats or anything, his presence did give me a chance to revisit They Told Me. I need to jump on any chance to talk about an album that I consider to be one of 10 best Canadian hip-hop albums of all time. Seriously, fight me. And further to this exclamation of greatness, I maintain the run of “Stay Calm” > “Charles Bronson” > “Drown Me Out” is one of my favourite three-song runs in all of hip-hop. Any one of these songs would be perfect on this list (or any other list) but “Stay Calm” splits the difference between the high-energy of “Charles Bronson” and the contemplative, softer raps of “Drown Me Out.” Pounding drums, a big catchy hook and everyone holding the mic in top form keeps “Stay Calm” in my regular rotation and I'm grateful I stumbled into that hip-hop panel at BreakOut West so I could have an excuse to give it more love here.

Lost My Mind – Tomi Lumiere

When I was planning on who to see at BreakOut West this year, Tomi Lumiere’s name caught my eye. Based out of Edmonton, Lumiere is bringing a sound to hip-hop that I’m excited about. At first, I thought his performance was going to feature a couple CDJs and the extent of his performance would just be him rapping. If this was the case, there would be nothing wrong with that, except that I’ve seen it time and time again. This was in fact not what Lumiere brought to his performance. Full band with back-up singers, different instrumentation including an alto saxophone, and his sound? Mixes of rap and rock that felt so strong. The song, Lost My Mind, from Lumiere’s Lumière album is a perfect example of this, especially during the choruses. The recording is a banger, but in a live setting, I was floored. Lumiere brought a vibe to The Coda’s main stage that I’m not sure we’ll get again this year. As the saying goes; you just had to be there.

Chickens in the Trailer Park – Jaiden Riley

In the many, many times I looked at the schedule of listed performers at BreakOut West, at no point did Jaiden Riley fall onto my list. Thankfully, I stumbled across one of Riley's sets by accident, rectifying that crucial misjudgement and finding one of my favourite new acts in Canadian music. I can't imagine anyone in the Coda that night that witnessed Riley and her band laying down her radiant brand of down-home rootsy country music, didn't have their hearts filled up and fall at least a little bit in love. Riley is a fantastic songwriter and radiating stage presence. When I sat down to pick my songs for the list, I had Riley as my first overall pick, for sure. Luckily, for the purposes of this list, at the time of writing there is only the one song for me to choose from, freeing me from the crushing burden of picking from the songs I heard that night. “Chickens in the Trailer Park” is so much fun and it's got the YODELLING! THE YODELLING! Goodness gracious, the yodelling. Jaiden Riley should be a country music star and if the state of modern country is indication, she shouldn't have a hard time finding an audience as she goes forward.

FJØRT - hertz

No act at this years BreakOut West blew my face up like FJØRT. Their set kicked a hole in my temple and then poured a dumptruck full of feelings into the gaping wound. Playing songs from their, quite frankly, fantastic album belle époque, the German power trio left a deep mark on a number of people who saw their sets over the weekend. Numerous people told me FJØRT was their top set and it's really hard to argue. Anyone who has really talked music with me knows I don't get too deep on genres – I prefer broad umbrellas and big tents – so I don't really know where to put this. Post-hardcore? Hardcore? Metal? Let's go with metal. There was lots of beautiful singing, violent screaming, guitars that moved between soaringly angelic and crushingly demonic sounds, and maybe most potent of all, the rhythm section was beyond thunderous. Their drummer also looks like the good brother Luke Gallows, so if you're a wrestling fan like me, that might be a cool thing for you. Gotta be honest, I picked “hertz” for this list because it was the one song I remember them announcing the name of before playing. I've given belle époque a few listens now and I'd be happy with any of the tracks making it to this list. They all rock. FJØRT fucking rocks.

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