Polarity

It's Midnight and the 175+ jurors for the Polaris Music Prize have just submitted their first ballot. The Polaris prize is Canada's version of the U.K.'s Mercury Prize; it's an award given to the Canadian artist that has released the best album of the year, regardless of silly criteria that govern other awards (like sales, genre, label etc.). Like the Mercury prize, the Polaris has been helpful in shining a spotlight on some of Canada's great but somewhat hidden talents, (though like it's U.K. cousin, it's also tended to focus primarily on indie rock, vaguely defined). Check the winners and nominees for 2006, 2007, and 2008 to see what I mean.

Thanks to my involvement with Midnight Poutine, I got to be part of this year's jury. It's been a great experience, musicologically and sociologically. Each panel member gets to pick their 5 top albums (anything released by a Canadian artist between June 1 2008, and May 31, 2009) and in the process they are exposed to 100+ jury-suggested albums (not to mention other albums they come across). Most of the music is instantly likable, some of it is completely forgettable.

Besides the musical benefits (I've personally found dozens of new bands that I'm now hooked on), being on the panel of pickers is also a wonderful little sociological experiment in taste (and therefore class) and list-ology. The science behind lists is always fuzzy. And it gets even more interesting when you throw the choice out to a group of journalists and bloggers whose job it is to write about their tastes on a regular basis. I felt a bit like a fish out of water, or rather, a fish in water that was a lot deeper than expected.

Ultimately it was a fun and difficult process. My top 4 picks were pretty easy; I'd fallen in love with these albums as soon as I laid my ears on them and they only got better with subsequent listens. But that #5 spot was really difficult to fill.

After everyone submits their ballots tonight, the good people at Polaris headquarters start compiling the votes. Next week they'll release a long list of 40 albums. On July 7th, the list gets culled down to a Top Ten (a.k.a the Polaris shortlist).

In the meantime, here's my top 5 ballot, and 8 more great albums that I wanted to include but couldn't. Enjoy them as much as I have.

1. Bruce Peninsula - A Mountain is a Mouth
Along with pick #2, this is one of the most unique sounding albums I've heard all year. I haven't gone to church in years, but I would reconsider if the services sounded like this. I don't want to call this gospel-folk, but it definitely takes its cues from choirs and hymns. Give it a chance: A Mountain is a Mouth will eat its way into your soul. Key Track - Shutters

2. Timber Timbre - Timber Timbre
I've read about 15 reviews of this album and I'm still not sure anyone has accurately captured what makes Timber Timbre's self-titled disc so unbearably listenable. Taylor Kirk gets described as minimalist, psychedelic, ghostly, bluesy, and folky and these are all true. But there's something special - I think it's in the tone of his voice - that has kept this album on constant repeat on my stereo. It's both soothing and gut-wrenching at the same time, if that's possible. Key Track - Until the Night is Over

3. Chad Van Gaalen - Soft Airplane
Readers of this blog (or friends who've been subjected to my mix cds) will hardly be surprised to see Chad Van Gaalen on this list. They might be surprised to see that the Calgary folkie/twisted songwriter only made it to number 3, but that's probably just because I'm less obsessed about his music now (on his 3rd album) than I was a few years ago. Still, this is Van Gaalen's most consistent and cohesive album to date. It's also probably his eeriest and most disturbing, which says a lot of you know his work. He's writing and singing about death, but that doesn't stop him from delivering catchy melodies and ear-pleasing harmonies (seriously, how does Willow Tree make me smile while singing about burning bodies?). He definitely deserves another shot at the prize (his last album almost won the Polaris in 2008). Key Track - City of Electric Light

4. Land of Talk - Some are Lakes
There was a slew of great Montreal acts to choose from this year but no CD saw more spins for me than Land of Talk. Lead singer Liz Powell's voice is heartbreaking. The crunchy guitar and bass riffs can be mean and edgy when needed (Corner Phone still scares me for the first 15 seconds), and they can slow it down to perfection (It's Okay plods along only to reveal one of the most well-written choruses I've heard in years). Key Track - Some Are Lakes

5. Years - Years
Three instrumental albums were vying for the fifth spot: Torngat's La Petite Nicole, Belle Orchestre's As Seen Through Windows, and Years. My darkhorse pick won't likely make it to the long list, and that's a shame. Years is Ohad Benchetrict's solo debut (he's also in Do Make Say Think and a contributor to Broken Social Scene and other A&C acts) and I'm hoping people will enjoy it more as they sit with it longer (it only came out a month ago). I described it on the polaris discussion board as a wonderful mess. It shifts styles/moods pretty frequently but it never veers too far from sounds that DMST or BSS explore. There's stripped down acoustic guitar loops and full on cinematic explosions. Either way, it's a pretty arresting piece of post rock. Key Track - Don't Let the Blind Go Deaf

Consolation Prizes
Clues - Clues
Montreal had an embarrassingly solid amount of discs in the selection pool this year. Clues, Parlovr, Belle Orchestre, Think About Life, Malajube, La Patere Rose and on and on. Pick one...they're all great.

Coeur de Pirate - Coeur de Pirate
I was looking for a francophone album as solid as Karkwa's or Bonjour Brumaire's releases last year and I couldn't find one. This album came close and it just missed my top 5. I have no doubt it will make it to the longlist.

Andrew Vincent - Rotten Pear
A songwriter's songwriter, Andrew Vincent is honest, witty, and touching on Rotten Pear.

Metric - Fantasies
This album reminds me of what I loved about Metric's breakthrough Old World Underground. It's straight up infectious rock.

Hey Rosetta - Into Your Lungs (and in through your heart and into your blood)
There was something too overly dramatic about this disc to get it a spot in my top 5, but I keep catching myself humming the melodies.

D-Sisive - Let the Children Die
I was looking for a hip hop album as good as Shad's Old Prince. D-Sisive's menacing hip hop came close.

Rae Spoon - Superior You Are Inferior
I can't say enough good things about this album. Rae Spoon's an amazing writer and has an ear for melody.

Rock Plaza Central - ...at the Moment of our Most Needing or If Only They Could Turn Around, They Would Know They Weren't Alone
Pretentious album title aside, these guys make wonderfully eclectic folk tunes. This album doesn't have the novelty of Are We Not Horses, but it's got some deeper musical moments on it.