The finalists for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize were just announced this week. The prize itself, established in 2006, claims to award the best full-length Canadian album of the year "based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label." Past winners have been artists who were slightly under the mainstream radar and not only crafted fantastic albums, are slightly alternative in nature (though not to the extent to be inaccessible to mainstream audiences), but could actually use the $20 000 in prize money.
The shortlist for this year's prize:
Elliot Brood, Mountain Meadows
Fucked Up, The Chemistry of Common Life
Great Lake Swimmers, Lost Channels
Hey Rosetta!, Into Your Lungs
K'Naan, Troubadour
Malajube, Labyrinthes
Metric, Fantasies
Joel Plaskett, Three
Chad VanGaalen, Soft Airplane
Patrick Watson, Wooden Arms
Ultimately I find this list to be commendable, if not slightly pretentious. However, there are two specific albums that stand out to me. The first is Metric's Fantasies, which as I have previously mentioned, is not so much an artistic endeavour as it is an album of heartless pop. Also, Metric is far too much of a household name at this point, they certainly do not need another $20 000. The second album is Fucked Up's The Chemistry of Common Life. I ultimately associate the Polaris shortlist with many of my U of T arts & science undergrads. Fucked Up is the only band on this list I could not see my thick-framed glasses-sporting cohorts being able to comprehend, despite the album's seal of approval from Pitchfork.
Montreal's Patrick Watson won the 2007 Polaris for his album Close to Paradise. Though I doubt the judges would allow a repeat winner of the prize, I would not contest another victory by Patrick Watson. Wooden Arms is another superbly crafted album of lush soundscapes, replete with dreamy vocals, subtle experimentation, and just the right amount of catchiness.
