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Man, it was hot. When I pulled into the parking lot across from where they were announcing the Short List for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize, my car told me it was 36.5 degrees—and that was before factoring in the brutal humidity. I knew that the patio of the Drake Hotel was only going to be hotter. Ugh.
To recap: Since sometime in October, I and the other 200-ish members of the Polaris Music Prize Committee have been debating and fighting about which album deserves to be named the best thing produced in Canada over the last year. Out of the dozens and dozens of albums that were eligible, here, for the record, were my picks:
1. Alexisonfire - Old Crows Young Cardinals
2. Gord Downie – The Grand Bounce
3. Postdata – Postdata
4. Zeus – Say Us
5. Hawksley Workman – Meat
Two of them—Zeus and Hawksley Workman—survived to make The Long List cull in June (My thoughts on The Long List can be found here).
A few weeks ago, a second vote was taken in order to condense things down to the ten finalists of The Short List. Here’s how I voted:
1. Zeus – Say Us
2. Hawksley Workman – Meat
3. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles (II)
4. Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
5. Plants and Animals – La La Land
My batting average for the Short List was a whopping .200. Here’s the full list along with some comments. After spending the night thinking about things a little more, I’ve added a few extra thoughts
The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night
A nice record, but a candidate as the best Canadian album of the last year? Better than Zeus? Or Alexisonfire? Really?
Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
Predictable, given the hype (mostly justified) surrounding this record. Could be a frontrunner—but then again, anything can happen when it goes to the final jury. Still, I can’t find any fault in having this record on the Short List.
Caribou – Swim
A previous winner in 2008. Not that this should disqualify Dan Snaith, but some jurors (including me) have kevetched that it doesn’t look good to have acts who have already won be nominated again. I’ve since changed my mind. Polaris should be about celebrating excellence, period. If an artist continues to release awesome material, then they should be celebrated for that fact. More than one juror has pointed out that this isn’t an award for the unsigned, the indie, the underdog or the underappreciated; this award needs to go to the best Canadian album of the year regardless of who made it.
Now that I (and several others) have thought about it, why wasn’t Michael Buble nominated for Crazy Love? His style may not conform to certain “indier-than-thou” tastes (a great description from the jurors’ forum), but it’s a helluva album.
Karkwa – Les Chemins De Verre
Um, who? Quick! Someone give me a remedial lesson on the French-speaking Quebec scene!
Dan Mangan – Nice, Nice, Very Nice
Dull, dull, very dull. But apparently I’m in the minority. As much as I wanted this record to move me, it never did.
Owen Pallett – Heartland
Really? Seriously? My reaction to this record when I first heard it was “mindless self-indulgent twaddle.” And let’s not forget that Pallett won the inaugural Polaris in 2006 under the name Final Fantasy. I didn’t care much for He Poos Clouds (yes, that was the title), either. As for another past winner being nominated again, see my comments for Caribou above.
Radio Radio – Belmundo Regal
A bilingual Franco-Canadian hip-hop act in the final ten? I barely gave this record the time of day when I got it. Time to reassess, obviously. What did I miss?
The Sadies – Darker Circles
Seven albums in and they finally get a Polaris nod. Some jurors are grumbling openly (with some justification) that this may be the most poorly-produced record on the Short List. It’s sounds rather muddy to my ears—but that doesn’t take away from the musicianship or the songwriting.
Shad – TSOL
Good for Shad. I think I’ll be pulling for either him or the Sadies.
Tegan and Sara – Sainthood
Pretty much the same feelings as I have for the Broken Social Scene nomination. They probably deserve to be here, although I can’t say that this album ever did anything for me.
Based on my tastes, preferences and judgement, I’m disappointed by this list. But again, the Short List is merely an aggregation of the 198 people who get to vote. Weird things can happen, especially when the Silent Majority—i.e. those who don’t post comments to the jurors’ forum and merely read and digest—finally cast their votes.
So let the debating and fighting begin in earnest. We’ll have our winner of the $20,000 prize on September 20.
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13 Comments
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Agree with your Dan Mangan and Owen Pallett assessments. The Zeus album as a whole is better than Besnard Lakes. And I feel like the French acts were included because some French acts HAD to be included. The Sadies album “poorly produce”? I disagree. Its not nearly as glossy or as slick as some of the other nominees, but the production is by no means poor. The production is very much in line with the Sadies’s style.
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Shad is brilliant I loved his first record “The Old Prince” and though I have not had a chance to listen to “TSOL” I have heard the singles “Rose Garden” and “Yaa I Get it” and I still love it just as much as his first album so in short I am also rooting for Shad K.
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First, BSS new record is pretty over-hyped and to me, does not live up. They’re not the sprawling, spontaneous collective they once were and that’s OK. They just don’t do straight up rock records as good.
Shad is the safest choice on here. It gives us the excuse to say “no no no, there was rap on there!”. He’s a great talent, but not in the best album class.
Owen Pallett and Caribou show that journalists, bloggers and critics are mostly lazy and read way too far into hype. Caribou is pretty good and Owen is terrible. But seriously…these albums are not as good as their last efforts. They get the “You won last time so the new stuff must be good!” award.
I personally am shocked to see the Sadies on the list. This is definitely the best album on the list. Front to back it’s unreal. They play the best, put on the best shows and now have an album to match. I also disagree…it’s for me, the best produced album. Give me a real sounding record over a glossy, edited, bombasting, compressed record any day of the week. The Sadies deserve this award. By far.
I am also shocked that Zeus didn’t make the list. That is a highlight of 2010 for sure. Also, Collett should have made it over Mangan big time. He is a staple of Canadian music and just put out his finest album.
Of course…I could be wrong.
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Given the number of genres (and other kinds of categories) that seem to be unofficially ineligible, we shouldn’t be surprised about a certain familiarity of the nominees.
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The Grand Bounce by Gord Downie is a great record – easily the best of his three solo releases, and perhaps better than any Hip album of the past decade. But according to the Polaris Prize rules, it’s not eligible to win. It was released Tuesday, June 8, and the 2010 prize considers albums released on May 31 and earlier.
I agree with your comments on all the short-listers, for the most part. But for my money, The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night was the best of this bunch.
Of course, the best Canadian album of the past year – Let’s Just Stay Here by Carolyn Mark and NQ Arbuckle – didn’t even make the long list, which is a real shame.
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It’s *He* Poos Clouds. And I happen to like Owen Pallet. How can E Is For Estranged not move you?
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Alan,
I thought that last year any if the ten were legitimate contenders. This year, not so much. I guess
I pick BSS, but I like the new Tokyo police
club alot!
Was it even eligible, though? It was a later release. -
Alan,
I thought that last year any if the ten were legitimate contenders. This year, not so much. I guess
I pick BSS, but I like the new Tokyo police
club alot!
Was it even eligible, though? It was a later release. -
Disappointed that Frog Eyes didn’t make it onto the long list; Even moreso that Sunset Rubdown’s “Dragonslayer” is absent from the running, entirely.
This is the sad part where I have to disagree with you; I thought Old Crows/Young Cardinals was by far Alexisonfire’s weakest record to date (to me it felt like they were coasting instead of pushing themselves, and it showed). Also, on your call on Owen Pallett, though I do agree that repeats are less interesting, but give the man credit where credit is due: he can write for a full orchestra, arrange songs for the Arcade Fire, or pair it all down for solo performance, and do it with aplomb. In fact, I don’t think it would be much of a stretch to call him one of the most talented people in Canadian music (and boy do we have a lot of them).
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“I didn’t care much for He Poos Clouds (yes, that was the title), either.”
And no one had a problem with last years fiasco of a winner F***ed Up? Or was the name just too cool to pass up giving money to.You are right on the Michael Buble comment though, as much as I hate his music it would be a shame for him not to be considered just because he is successful.Does that mean Metric will be left off next time? And when are we going to give up on the Broken Social love in?
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In my humble opinion Owen Pallett’s Heartland is by far the best album to come out of Canada this year….and it should win the Polaris Prize. E is for Estranged is my favorite song in quite some time.
Though I won’t lose any sleep if the prize goes to BSS, Besnard Lakes or Caribou
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@JohnM – Is it really so difficult to believe that some people might have different tastes than you and actually enjoy Caribou or Owen Pallett? Not everyone that likes a band you don’t is “blinded by hype”. >.> Sheesh. I don’t particularly enjoy The Sadies, but I wouldn’t go out and call them “terrible” just because their music isn’t my style. *shrugs*
On that note, add Japandroids to the list of releases it would’ve been nice to see on the long list, at least.
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