I'm a fan of the Polaris Music Prize. It's Canadian, it rewards musicians for artistic merit regardless of sales numbers, and it draws attention to music that isn't usually regarded as commercial. In addition to the $20,000 prize, nominated bands benefit from the exposure this national contest garners. Tuesday morning, the jury selected long-list of 40 albums will be cut to 10 albums vying for the prize.
Tune in to CBC Radio 3 online or on Sirius 86, as host Grant Lawrence broadcasts Tuesday morning from 7:00am - 9:00am PST/ 10:00am - 12:00pm EST with the shortlist announcement live from the Drake Hotel in Toronto.
This is only the 4th year, but we already have a number of artists who've been nominated previously, like Junior Boys and Metric. And anybody has a shot at this, regardless of genre. Past winners like Final Fantasy and Caribou defy any one classification as it is.
I can only base my picks on what I've heard this year, so just because it's not one of my picks doesn't mean it isn't an amazing artists you should check out. I'm annoyed I haven't gotten to check out the albums from $100 or Hey Rosetta's yet. Here's mybest guess picks , based on merit and the impression these artists have made live and on record:
This year my money's on K'Naan to win it. His new album is drumming up lots of well-deserved praise, with a stirring performance at NPR's Showcase at the SXSW festival. Feels like it's his year to be critic's choice. My own pick would be Joel Plaskett. Putting out 3 albums worth of music in one shot is an impressive feat, but putting out 3 albums worth of well written songs music is award worthy.
Updated: The list is out
The 2009 Polaris Music Prize Short List.:
Elliott BROOD - Mountain Meadows (Toronto, ON)
Fucked Up - The Chemistry Of Common Life (Toronto, ON)
Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels (Toronto, ON)
Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood) (St. John's, NF)
K'NAAN – Troubadour (Toronto, ON)
Malajube – Labyrinthes (Montréal, QC)
Metric – Fantasies (Toronto, ON)
Joel Plaskett – Three (Halifax, NS)
Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane (Calgary, AB)
Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms (Montréal, QC)
I managed to get 6 out of 10, plus my honourary mention in there. Congratulations to all the competitors. More later.
The winner will be voted on by the jury and announced at the Polaris Prize gala on September 21st.
Past winners:
2008 Caribou for "Andorra"
2006 Final Fantasy for "Poos Clouds"
Tune in to CBC Radio 3 online or on Sirius 86, as host Grant Lawrence broadcasts Tuesday morning from 7:00am - 9:00am PST/ 10:00am - 12:00pm EST with the shortlist announcement live from the Drake Hotel in Toronto.
This is only the 4th year, but we already have a number of artists who've been nominated previously, like Junior Boys and Metric. And anybody has a shot at this, regardless of genre. Past winners like Final Fantasy and Caribou defy any one classification as it is.
I can only base my picks on what I've heard this year, so just because it's not one of my picks doesn't mean it isn't an amazing artists you should check out. I'm annoyed I haven't gotten to check out the albums from $100 or Hey Rosetta's yet. Here's my
- Coeur De Pirate - Coeur De Pirate (Website MySpace)
- Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels (Website MySpace)
- Handsome Furs - Face Control (Website MySpace)
- K'NAAN - Troubadour (Website MySpace)
- Metric - Fantasies (Website MySpace)
- Joel Plaskett - Three (Website MySpace)
- Charles Spearin - The Happiness Project (Website MySpace)
- Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane (Website MySpace)
- Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms (Website)
- Woodpigeon - Treasury Library Canada C/W Houndstooth Europa (Website MySpace)
This year my money's on K'Naan to win it. His new album is drumming up lots of well-deserved praise, with a stirring performance at NPR's Showcase at the SXSW festival. Feels like it's his year to be critic's choice. My own pick would be Joel Plaskett. Putting out 3 albums worth of music in one shot is an impressive feat, but putting out 3 albums worth of well written songs music is award worthy.
Updated: The list is out
The 2009 Polaris Music Prize Short List.:
Elliott BROOD - Mountain Meadows (Toronto, ON)
Fucked Up - The Chemistry Of Common Life (Toronto, ON)
Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels (Toronto, ON)
Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood) (St. John's, NF)
K'NAAN – Troubadour (Toronto, ON)
Malajube – Labyrinthes (Montréal, QC)
Metric – Fantasies (Toronto, ON)
Joel Plaskett – Three (Halifax, NS)
Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane (Calgary, AB)
Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms (Montréal, QC)
I managed to get 6 out of 10, plus my honourary mention in there. Congratulations to all the competitors. More later.
The winner will be voted on by the jury and announced at the Polaris Prize gala on September 21st.
Past winners:
2008 Caribou for "Andorra"
2006 Final Fantasy for "Poos Clouds"
Links: MySpace
Posts
4 comments:
Did you notice anyone cut from the long list that you thought was a travesty?
I'll have some comments/post after the shortlist is out, but as for the long list, I was a little surprised to see Leonard Cohen's live album since it's not like it's new material. Land of Talk was a good album, but I would have preferred to see Jenn Grant "Echoes" or Laura Barrett "Victory Garden" on the list based on artistic merit.
Grant Lawrence usually highlights some omissions on his podcast for Polaris, and I'm sure Lana Gay will do the same on her show this afternoon.
I'd have to check the rules about when an album had to be released to qualify, but I thought Rock Plaza Central would have popped up. I fully expect to see Ohbijou up there next year.
And no, Neko Case isn't on there as she is only honourary Canadian.
The shortlist is out:
http://tinyurl.com/nehuev
It was a travesty to leave Timber Timbre off the short list. I've caught him live twice opening for GLS and he has amazed me!
As stunned as I was last year when The Acorn didn't make the short list.
Post a Comment