1. Polaris Countdown!

    Monday, July 11, 2011




    In joint celebration of a good friend's 'Canadian Music Month', and the recently announced Polaris Prize Shortlist, I'm going to be counting-down each of the ten albums over the coming week-or-two.

    For each release, I'm going to be listening or re-listening to the album in its entirety. I will give my thoughts on the music, and also assign ratings for both how much I liked it, and how likely I think it is to win the 2011 Polaris. My Review score will go: 1 = disliked 2 = indifferent 3 = liked 4 = loved; my Likelihood score will be: 1 = very unlikely 2 = long shot 3 = likely 4 = front-runner.

    I'm starting with Arcade Fire, and will be working my way down the list in the order of the website (alphabetical). To kick things off, here's a couple random thoughts about the prize in general:

    1) Previous winners (Patrick Watson, Owen Pallett, Fucked-Up, Caribou, Karkwa) tend not to be unknowns, but definitely underdogs or under-the-radars. This however can change following a win (although not necessarily because of it. I think TV and The Cinematic Orchestra did much more for Patrick Watson than the Polaris)

    2) Indie rock is thus-far favoured (both in nominees and winners), but there is good variety in the selection, and this year is no exception.

    3) This year is the first time a non-physical release (The Weeknd) has made the shortlist

    4) Albums I'm most bummed did NOT make the short list are: The Luyas, Miracle Fortress, Daniel Romano, Shotgun Jimmie, and Sloan.

    Watch for the first post real soon.

  2. 1 comments:

    1. Steve Wirzba said...

      4 Point scale?! You need a 100 point scale, brotha!

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