Polaris Long List Announcement

I can’t believe it’s that time of year again. It seems like just yesterday that we were all losing our heads over the fact that Fucked Up had won the coveted Polaris Prize.

Well, I had the opportunity to swing by the Drake Hotel yesterday for the long-list announcement festivities.

In its 5th year, Polaris has grown into a force to be reckoned with: but I must say, this year I’m a little underwhelmed by the albums who made the long list.

Every year it’s the same formula: a bunch of albums don’t make the list, a bunch do that don’t really “need” the prize, and there’s generally a lot of bickering in the Canadian music scene until September, after which everyone forgets and just celebrates at the after party.

Former Shortlisters Elliott Brood

The Polaris Prize is designed to assist emerging Canadian talent through the provision of a $20,000 prize to help the artist. This can be in any number of forms: Patrick Watson used it on his van that was stolen, Caribou produced a new record, and Fucked Up recorded a charity single to support murdered & missing Aboriginal women’s charities.

Last year's Polaris Winner Pink Eyes from Fucked Up

This year, Polaris decided to bring back a few of their previous nominees to make the announcements, including Jill Barber, Elliott BROOD, D-Sisive and Fucked Up–some of the notable nominations include: Basia Bulat’s Heart of My Own, Frog Eyes’ Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph, Shad’s TSOL, and The Wooden Sky’s If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Known I’m Gone.

D-Sisive Helps Present the List

You can check out the long-list here. The short list of ten finalists will be announced July 6th, so stay tuned.