Drumroll please... after round two of voting, the Short List for the Polaris Music Prize has been revealed and the more things change, the more they stay the same. Sorry Mr. Stroumboulopoulos. Your top choice for album of the year? k-os's YES! didn't make the cut.
The Polaris Prize, first awarded in 2006 is a juried competition which strives to award a $20,000 prize for the top Canadian Album released over the past year based solely on artistic merit. Sales figures have no bearing on the selection. The jury - comprised of music journalists from across Canada are invited to submit their top 5 Albums of the year, the top 40 are selected, the jury votes again and... Ta Dah. The top 10 - the shortlist - are selected. The 'grand' jury will deliberate in person in September -- right at the Masonic Temple in Toronto, where the ultimate winner will be announced on September 21st.
Now... about my earlier reference - the more things change, the more they change the same? It's a bit surprising that though Polaris has only been in existence since 2006, of the 2009 top 10? 6 of the 10 artists have been nominated before... Montreal's Patrick Watson even won in 2007.
The Short List this year is comprised of:
Elliott Brood - Mountain Meadows
Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life
Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs (and around in your hearts and on through your blood)
K-NAAN - Troubadour
Malajube - Labyrinthes
Metric - Fantasies
Joel Plaskett - Three
Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane
Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
Previously nominated - and in the case of Patrick Watson - previous winners? 2006 - K'NAAN, Malajube and Metric. 2007 - Joel Plaskett, Chad VanGaalen and winner Patrick Watson. I wonder aloud whether the fact that there are repeats in the top 10 signals that many are ardently championing their favourites or the top 10 really ARE the best Canadian albums of the year?
If I were a betting person? I'd look for Hey Rosetta! , Metric or Joel Plaskett as the ultimate winner, though my personal fave in the list is Elliott Brood's Mountain Meadows.
Don't forget - it's festival season and many of these artists are on the move. Dawson City Music Festival, Calgary Folk, Winnipeg Folk.... you name it, they're around. Maybe coming to your town?
If you're lucky enough to be in driving distance of London ON -- why not shoot out to the Home County Folk Festival from July 17-19th? You can take in 2 of the top 10 artists (Joel Plaskett and Elliott Brood) as they perform live and in person in Victoria Park -- for the price of free! Prefer your music indoors? Fans can also elect to purchase tix to see Plaskett, Elliott Brood in the late night shows at Aeolian Hall. Shows are $15 each OR you can buy 3 for $30. Friday night with The Sadies and Matthew Barber are your bonus artists in that series!
So.... who would YOU vote for? Who got shut out of the long list that you would have placed in YOUR top 10? Do you feel there's something a bit suspect with the duplicate nominees?
We'll wait and see what September brings... 20 large to someone, but to ALL the finalists, hopefully some great free publicity and a larger and more devoted fan base. Long Live Canadian Music. Others celebrate it more than we Canadians do and that's a crying shame...
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