Polaris Music Prize Short List Announcement

Today is the day we find out which of the forty longlisted albums will make up the final ten to go forward to the prize gala on September 17th, where the winner of the $50,000 should be announced with the other 9 receiving $3,000 each.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqs0x7nKhW8

Are you happy with the list? Who should/shouldn’t be there? Let us know in the comments below

Here is the 2018 Short List
Alvvays – Antisocialites
Daniel Caesar – Freudian
Hubert Lenoir – Darlène
Jean-Michel Blais – Dans ma main
Jeremy Dutcher – Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa
Partner – In Search Of Lost Time
Pierre Kwenders – MAKANDA at the End of Space, the Beginning of Time
Snotty Nose Rez Kids – The Average Savage
U.S. Girls – In A Poem Unlimited
Weaves – Wide Open

32 Comments

Benoît Côté July 17, 2018 at 06:01

Hi!
Benoît Côté July 17, 2018 at 06:04

Must be out. Back some time after ten (Polaris Time).
darbarspecial July 17, 2018 at 07:44

Hello hello. I am excited!!
GarfieldUK July 17, 2018 at 07:50

erm, what happened to the youtube stream? did I miss it?
darbarspecial July 17, 2018 at 07:53

It went so fast!!
darbarspecial July 17, 2018 at 07:56

Alvvays
Jean-Michel Blais
Daniel Caesar
Jeremy Dutcher
Pierre Kwenders
Hubert Lenoir
Partner
Snotty Nose Rez Kids
U.S. Girls
Weaves

I am sad The Barr Brothers didn’t make it to the short list. 3 out of 5 of my votes made it and most of these were on my maybe list.
GarfieldUK July 17, 2018 at 07:59

the stream never appeared on youtube (at least not on the PS4 I was trying to watch it on) and I am having to catch up via facebook.
darbarspecial July 17, 2018 at 08:01

I just watched it on FB.
GarfieldUK July 17, 2018 at 08:04

even the video on their own site isn’t working.
I think someone forgot to start the stream or assumed it would start automagically
darbarspecial July 17, 2018 at 08:07

Too bad 🙁
darbarspecial July 17, 2018 at 08:12

I have to take off eh. Later gators!
GarfieldUK July 17, 2018 at 08:15

while dial
Russ Gordon (@CDNz1) July 17, 2018 at 09:02

Good afternoon!
Benoît Côté July 17, 2018 at 09:05

Hi Russ!
GarfieldUK July 17, 2018 at 09:16

is he?
GarfieldUK July 17, 2018 at 09:39

ssssshhhhh, I’m napping
anon July 17, 2018 at 09:58

the short list is a tad lame, me thinks
it seems like the prize’s current mantra is to acknowledge minorities and women in music. it seems to be more about the optics of diversity than music.
morgana July 17, 2018 at 10:02

ACK!! No Barr Brothers:(
morgana July 17, 2018 at 10:04

@anon I have pondered how much weight the politics/optics plays on the Polaris as well.
anon July 17, 2018 at 10:11

@morgana – hard to say for sure because I’m not privy to the inner workings of the board of directors but from the outside, it appears to have fully been trending in that direction the last few years and with this years short list, it just seems obvious that it’s more about diversity and socio-political agenda’s than music.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing to acknowledge minorities and women in music but is that what this prize is supposed to be about?
morgana July 17, 2018 at 10:28

@anon agreed, it is not a bad thing to acknowledge but it should not seem biased towards. Having said that, the musicians that have won over the last five years have all been great … well actually I don’t like Kaytranada. Who was your pick from the long list? And now?
anon July 17, 2018 at 10:57

@morgana – There were a few bands on the long list that I listen to but I didn’t really expect any of them to win. One that I thought might have a chance to make the short list because of their Liberal/Left leaning politics was Propaghandi.

The last 4 winners really seem to really be representative of The Left’s social agenda. I’m not against recognition of these people nor am I anti-immigration or anything like that. I have just found that the secret agenda of the Polaris Prize isn’t so secret and kind of flies in the face of the Prize’s mission statement.
Last 4 Winners:
2017: Lido Pimienta – La Papessa (minority, immigrant, woman)
2016: Kaytranada – 99.9% (minority, immigrant)
2015: Buffy Sainte-Marie – Power in the Blood (aboriginal, woman)
2014: Tanya Tagaq – Animism (aboriginal, woman)
anon July 17, 2018 at 11:07

* The prizes mission statement which is “given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label.”

I am not sure that their definition of artistic merit is separate from their socio-political (not so) secret agenda.

I’ll use the recent Montreal Jazz fest production of Slav as an example. Because the general (online) public’s opinion of that show didn’t align with the Caucasian Left’s view of what reconciliation and cultural appropriation is, it got shut down. It was censored essentially, because the artistic merit of the show didn’t align with the prevailing social justice climate.
morgana July 17, 2018 at 11:21

Oh boy, categories!

This is where my thought process takes me;
are we talking about white guilt and a splash of political correctness slash current trend has put these artists in the winners circle or are we leaning towards overdue recognition being given … not forgetting the huge amount of musical talent represented in the Polaris lists.

I use the British we as both a not to Canada’s colonization as well as to open the conversation and not point fingers.
morgana July 17, 2018 at 11:47

missed my edit window

“nod” not “not”
anon July 17, 2018 at 11:50

@morgana – I tend to think it’s the former not the latter but these things aren’t provable and if one goes on about it too much, one starts to sound like a Fox News anchor!
I am more interested in the sociological aspect and the sort of “numbers” behind the trends and what it all means. I doubt there is anyway of really knowing, other than a leaked document from the board of director’s.
mmorgana July 17, 2018 at 12:08

I am going to spend more time with each of the short listed albums for music’s sake. Leaving the politics of dancing and just listening. Art and music are always intertwined but I’m going to give it a try.

Looking forward to our basement virtual get together in September while we stream the main event. I hope you will join us @anon.
Benoît Côté July 17, 2018 at 12:22

Hi. I tend to agree with anon, above, in all the posts. It’s a little bit the same thing throughout the CBC (audio and tv) and in at least the leadership of the Federal Liberals.
darbarspecial July 17, 2018 at 13:16

I can tell you there is no secret agenda. There are just over 200 jurors all with their own agendas.Artistic merit is much debated and means different things to different people. For me it is music that is a bit different, pushes boundries a bit or it could just hit me on an emotional level. Some of the more socio-political albums hit those marks for me. Yes, in these times, minorities and gender are factors in people’s decisions I am sure. It is not some conspiracy or anything though.
darbarspecial July 17, 2018 at 14:04

Also, lyrics are definitely a part of the artistic merit of an album.
morgana July 17, 2018 at 14:43

@darbar I was hoping you would be able to pop in and add your first hand information to the conversation.
darbarspecial July 17, 2018 at 15:02

There are a lot of jurors from Toronto and there are more English than French. There are a lot of music journalist who like words. I would like more instrumental represented. I haven’t counted the male/female ratio but I should do that. People’s personal preferences come into play as well. So many factors come into it. Overall I think it is a pretty great list.

Comments are closed.