polaris prize ‘08
For those unfamiliar, the Polaris is Canada’s answer to shortlist, homegrown-album-of-the-year awards like UK’s Mercury Prize. It’s always an interesting list and (in the award’s admittedly short history) the judges haven’t been afraid to pick an underdog — last year, Patrick Watson’s Close to Paradise beat out indie-NPR frontrunners like Feist and Arcade Fire.
This year’s nominees after the jump.
* Basia Bulat, Oh, My Darling
* Black Mountain, In the Future
* Caribou, Andorra
* Holy Fuck, LP
* Kathleen Edwards, Asking for Flowers
* Plants and Animals, Parc Avenue
* Shad, The Old Prince
* Stars, In Our Bedroom After the War
* Two Hours Traffic, Little Jabs
* The Weakerthans, Reunion Tour
Personally, I’m takin’ Andorra, but I probably also should listen to that Stars record more. Here’s a hub with the albums eMusic carries with reviews. Anybody got a favorite?
eMusic has Basia Bulat also, and it is probably my top.
http://www.emusic.com/album/Oh-My-Darling-Oh-My-Darling-MP3-Download/11142395.html
Stars album is great but its definitely not as good as their last one.
Ahhh yes, good call Brad – I have Canada on the mind (Oh My Darling is US-only).
have to go with Plants and Animals, which is #1 on my list this year. agree Stars album falls a little short of previous records and both it and the Caribou disc feel more 2007 than 2008, though i understand that they fall within the date parameters of the polaris contest.
“Canada’s answer to shortlist, homegrown-album-of-the-year awards like UK’s Mercury Prize”
I’d never paid any attention to the Mercury Prize, but apparently Burial unmasked himself in anticipation of this year’s award show (the winner has to perform live, I take it), so it must be a big deal.
I gotta go with Black Mountain, but if you look at the trend of past winners, it will most likely be the Basia Bulat album.
If you haven’t checked it out the record from Miracle Fortress who were nominated last year, do yourself a favour and check it.
http://www.emusic.com/album/Miracle-Fortress-Five-Roses-MP3-Download/11038651.html
@ Daniel Esq. – Bruial did unmask himself citing the hype surrounding his anonymity was getting in the way of the music and that was the reason he hid away in the first place.
Yeah, but it was right up against the Mercury Prize award show. And if he wins, he’s got to perform, I think. So the “I’m tired of the burdens and hype of anonymity” explanation sounds a bit too convenient.
hahaha… such a cynic
There are of course many ways to masked yourself when you perform live – look at acts like T.I.S.M., Kiss, Slipnot or he could have gone the route of Amy Whinehouse and done a video link up, playing in the shadows like some interviewee on the 10 o’clock news.
and I gotta go with Black Mountain also. Was very disappointed with the Holy Fuck and Caribou albums.
Here are the five nominees I own, in my order of preference (which, obviously, has nothing to do with how the judges think):
* Plants and Animals (really, just an awesome album — destined to make my Top 5 overall for 2008)
* Caribou (I love love love Dan Snaith, and was thrilled to see him live at Pitchfork for the first time, but as much as I like this particular record — “Melody Day,” in particular — I don’t think it’s as good as his previous work)
* Black Mountain (the debut blew me away right away, but this one’s been a slow burner and may wind up in my Top 15 or so of 2008)
* Holy Fuck (I prefer its predecessor, which seems tighter and more immediate than this one)
* Stars (see Caribou & Black Mountain — while it’s by no means a bad CD, it’s just not as immediately pleasurable as Set Yourself On Fire)
I’ll also say this: of all the candidates for last year’s Polaris that I was familiar with (6 or 7 of them, as I recall), Patrick Watson’s was IMO the least impressive. I’d've gone with Miracle Fortress, myself.
I’d give him a bit more credit Daniel (although I can totally see what you’re saying.) Our biggest tabloid newspaper The Sun went on this whole ‘WE WILL UNMASK THE MYSTERIOUS BURIAL’ trip when he got nominated and, from what I hear, he didn’t really want his identity to be that big a deal and decided to beat them to it.
Polaris-wise I’m with Caribou or Basia.
That makes sense, Anna. I didn’t realize The Sun was so intently focused on unmasking him. Burial is an under-the-radar act in the US, I think (i.e., not a Top 40 artist). Is he a big mainstream hit in the UK? (the “unmask Burial” story leads me to believe that he is).
will second urbanwhitetrash’s suggestion on miracle fortress, one of the best of 2007, imo. i need to check out basia and black mountain, apparently.
i’ll second or third the black mountain record – also the best live sound (bar the MBV reunions) i’ve heard this year.
I have to go with Holy Fuck. An exciting and innovative record. It would also stick it to our Conservative government who used them as an excuse to cut a major arts funding program. I think Dan Snaith deserved a Polaris prize when he released Up In Flames as Manitoba.
plants and animals = best by a wide margin. holy fuck = okay. caribou, stars = boring. haven’t heard the rest. all in all an underwhelming list.
I only have Black Mountain, which is solid but nothing award-worthy to me, but it’s a nice short list of stuff to at least skim over, so I’m happy for that.
Though I have yet to hear a couple of the albums (I’ve heard all the ones available on emusic) my nod has to go to Plants and Animals, I just keep coming back to it.
No, not mainstream Daniel – he was reasonably underground, although most people with just more than a passing interest in music would know him. Then the Mercury noms came out and all of a sudden he was news.