I was delayed in writing about the Polaris Shortlist announcement, primarily because of its unsurprising nature. Except of course for the snubbing of Women and the inclusion of Elliot Brood. Heresy. I remember being hella undawhelmed by Elliot Brood when they opened for Wilco in Edmonton. Someone said "yeah, but who else in Canada would be better at it?" Good point I guess, if you've never heard Blue Rodeo, Sarah Harmer, Great Lake Swimmers, Joel Plaskett, the Acorn, Luke Doucet, the Deep Dark Woods, Two Hours Traffic, Kathleen Edwards, the Weakerthans, Patrick Watson, Andy Shauf, Hey Rosetta, the Besnard Lakes, Julie Doiron, Sloan, Cuff the Duke, Sam Roberts, Arkells, the Tragically Hip, Wintersleep, Hayden, Jason Collett, the Meligrove Band, Ohbijou, Attack In Black, Corb Lund, the Stills, Paper Moon, Malajube, Stars.....sigh....and so on.
Metric did step up on Fantasies, but by no means deserves this. Their victory would be anti climatic to say the least. Hey Rosetta are growing on me like fungus, but are a little green to take it just yet. Realistically its down to Chad Vangaalen and Joel Plaskett. Soft Airplane is a brilliant record, but if you scroll down even at all you'll see which way I lean.
Also Patrick Watson totally deserves it again. Wooden Arms is incredible. But I don't want to live in a country where he wins two in three years (one of which edged out Neon fuggin' Bible), whilst Plaskett, arguably the country's best songwriter, misses out again. Anything else, despite its quality, would be a pretty big upset.
It doesn't seem to take a lot to become a Canadian indie buzz band. If you make a beautiful, unassuming retro pop record and hang out with Chad VanGaalen. Referred to as "sunny Beach Boys pop dragged into a dark alley and gleefully mutilated", as well as "the hardest band to Google", Women cap off a great year by quietly thrashing their way onto the Polaris longlist. A likely shortlister, and possible dark horse winner, but probably not.
A bottomless pool of prolific East coast folk-rock alt-country talent. Able to win over 40 awards this decade, sell out clubs around the country, and still remain under the greater public radar. His new three disc record (!) "Three" is cohesive and ambitious and effortless. One of indie rock's best lyricists. A definite Polaris shortlister, and possible winner.
Catchy two piece garage rock from Vancouver. Their debut LP just got picked up by Polyvinyl, but at 8 tracks, is really more like their 3rd EP. Short and sweet. Summer fun. Bloc Party - thick accent + Canadiana - two members. Possible shortlisters, but impossible winners. Fabulous album title.
"Pundits Pick a Pack of Polaris Prize People Pleasers" @ 3:46 AM
With exactly a week to go until the Polaris Prize shortlist is announced, we thought we'd take a little look at the 40 longlisters and make our call on who should and shouldn't make the cut. Join us this week as we separate the wheat from the chaff. Hopefully that's literal.
* Arkells, Jackson Square * Jill Barber, Chances * Beast, Beast * Bell Orchestre, As Seen Through Windows * Bison B.C., Quiet Earth * Bruce Peninsula, A Mountain Is a Mouth * Coeur de pirate, Coeur de pirate * Leonard Cohen, Live in London * D-Sisive, Let the Children Die * Elephant Stone, The Seven Seas * Elliott Brood, Mountain Meadows * Fucked Up, The Chemistry of Common Life * Great Lake Swimmers, Lost Channels * Handsome Furs, Face Control * Tim Hecker, An Imaginary Country * Hey Rosetta!, Into Your Lungs * Japandroids, Post-Nothing * Junior Boys, Begone Dull Care * K'naan, Troubadour * k-os, Yes! * La patère rose, La patère rose * Land of Talk, Some Are Lakes * Lhasa, Lhasa * Malajube, Labyrinthes * Metric, Fantasies * $100, Forest of Tears * Pink Mountaintops, Outside Love * Joel Plaskett, Three * Snailhouse, Lies on the Prize * Charles Spearin, The Happiness Project * Rae Spoon, superioryouareinferior * The Stills, Oceans Will Rise * Think About Life, Family * Timber Timbre, Timber Timbre * Chad VanGaalen, Soft Airplane * Martha Wainwright, I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too * Patrick Watson, Wooden Arms * Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer * Women, Women * Woodpigeon, Treasury Library Canada
Srsly, if Beast wins I'll gouge my eyes out with a wooden spoon. My butt could make a better record than that with a butt tied behind its butt. Cheers to Women though. The band and the gender.
