The 2011 Polaris Music Prize – Long List

Regular readers may remember last week I made my “faux” nominations for the Polaris Music Prize, an award given out annually to the “best” album produced by a Canadian artist within the June-May timeframe.

Today marks the announcement of the “long list” for the Polaris Music Prize, which was just released moments ago. This list is next pared to ten in less than a month (that announcement is on July 6) through another round of voting from official Polaris music writers, from which a grand jury decides the eventual winner. The winner of the prize is announced September 19, and receieves a $30,000CAD prize for their efforts. In alphabetical order, here’s the list.

1. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (one of my “faux” nominees)
2. Austra – Feel  It Break (reviewed her album here)
3. Braids – Native Speaker (another of my “faux” nominees)
4. Black Mountain – Wilderness Heart
5. Buck 65 – 20 Odd Years
6. Louise Burns – Mellow Drama (another well-deserved mention, I saw her just a couple of weeks ago open up for Jenny & Johnny in Vancouver).
7. D-Sisive – Jonestown 2: Jimmy Go Bye Bye
8. Dears – Degeneration Street
9. Destroyer – Kaputt
10. Diamond Rings – Special Affections
11. Dirty Beaches – Badlands
12. Doucet, Luke and the White Falcon – Steel City Trawler
13. Eternia & MoSS – At last
14. Galaxie – Tigre et Diesel
15. Grant, Jenn – Honeymoon Punch
16. Hecker, Tim – Ravedeath, 1972
17. Hey Rosetta! – Seeds
18. Hooded Fang – Album
19. Imaginary Cities – Temporary Resident (another band I saw recently and raved about, as they opened up for the Pixies).
20. Land of Talk – Cloak and Cipher (another excellent album from 2010, saw them live with two of my “faux” nominees, Suuns and Rah Rah).
21. Little Scream – The Golden Record
22. Luyas – Too Beautiful To Work
23. Malajube – La Caverne (another extraordinary effort, they just got a US record deal yesterday)
24. Miracle Fortress – Was I The Wave?
25. One Hundred Dollars – Songs of Man
26. Paisley, Doug – Constant Companion
27. PS I Love You – Meet Me At the Muster Station (saw him at SXSW).
28. Romano, Daniel – Sleep Beneath The Willow
29. Rural Alberta Advantage – Departing (the third of my “faux” nominations to make the long list)
30. Sexsmith, Ron – Long Player Late Bloomer
31. Shotgun Jimmie – Transistor Sister
32. Sloan – The Double Cross
33. Squire, Frederick – March 12
34. Stars – The Five Ghosts
35. Stetson, Colin – New History Warfare Vol 2: Judges
36. Timber Timbre – Creep On Creepin’ On (I reviewed this album for my good friends over at Gig City)
37. Weeknd – House of Balloons
38. Women – Public Strain
39. Young, Neil – Le Noise
40. Young Galaxy – Shapeshifting

All in all, three of my nominees made the long list; two (Rah Rah and Suuns) did not. Which is a little ironic, since the other band I saw at that show did (Land of Talk, see above). C’est la vie. An extraordinary list of extraordinary talent.

Tagged as: Jury, Polaris