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The Polaris Prize 2010 Shortlist is Part Déjà Vu, Part Déjà Huh?
Fucked Up’s Damian Abraham helps CBC Radio 3’s Grant Lawrence announce the Polaris shortlist. Photo by David Topping/Torontoist.
From the sweltering Drake Hotel Sky Yard, amidst a sea of awkward music types in very necessary shorts, the bravest man in all of Canada, CBC Radio 3’s Grant Lawrence (he wore a full suit!), announced the shortlist nominees for the fifth annual Polaris Music Prize earlier this afternoon. Accompanied by Damian Abraham (who, of course, is the now-ubiquitous frontman for last year’s winners, Fucked Up) on artwork flashcard duty, the alphabetical list of ten genre- and geography-spanning artists was unveiled in a matter of seconds.
The no-duhs? Despite not having an overwhelming amount of buzz, Broken Social Scene—still being the faces of Canadian indie rock—claimed a spot with Forgiveness Rock Record, and Shad’s hotly tipped T.S.O.L. made it as well. A bit more surprising were the two Francophone inclusions—both Radio Radio (the self-proclaimed “rap regal gypsy disco pow-wow band” from the obscure, french-speaking Maritimes regions of Grosse Coque, NS; Pointe-à-l’église, NS; and the less-obscure Moncton, NB) and Karkwa (the indie rockers from Montreal, QC) clearly made a big impression on jurors, despite not having yet built the same English-Canadian fan base that last year’s French-singing shortlisters Malajube had.
And there were some returning names, too; the aforementioned Shad and BSS, as well as the Besnard Lakes, have all been nominated in the past, and inaugural Polaris winner Owen Pallett, plus 2008’s winner Caribou both had their new albums nominated as well.
Shortly after the shortlist was announced, local independent music retailer Criminal Records posed, via Twitter, a question that a lot of people might also have: should previous winners be ineligible? While doing so might make for a bit more variety, it’d also unfairly eliminate potentially great work. This year’s shortlist may be as polarizing as ever, but the eventual outcome will be an augmented, ongoing, critical, and thoughtful look at our country’s musical output. Hopefully.
Polaris’ site has the full shortlist. The winner will be announced on September 20.