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