Polaris 2015 Shortlist

New Pornographers and Caribou are good albums, "Marry Me Archie" is a great single.

Pink City is essential,

Caribou's to lose, I'd guess? Alvvays is the one I listened to the most but it's great to see Jennifer Castle in there.

Hosted by Fred Penner.

drake

this looks like one of the worst shortlists of recent years, will have to hear the jennifer castle though

New Pornographers record is real good

I like Sour Soul a lot. Caribou album is fine but I only really need "Silver".

I dig that VIet Cong record. Drake would be my second, then Caribou and New Pornos and ALVVAYS rounding out the top 5

I find Tobias Jesso horrifying. The worst. Caribou and NPs are just kinda always there, aren't they? Another record that is the same as the last one. Lovely people. Who cares. Alvvays I have some time for but they are not the best Cdn combo who do this kind of thing imho. Braids...I don't know what to say about this kind of music except that it feels generic and ubiquitous (but what do I know?) Viet Cong: already got tons of records that I never play anymore by the likes of the Shrubs, the Janitors, Rote Kapelle etc and don't need any more of it. Don't know about Drake or Jennifer Castly.

Alvvays for me. Or Badbadnotgood, although it is CBC-bait but not in the worst way. I'd enjoy seeing them in concert I think.

As the legacy act, Buffy strikes me as the only one to rise above this unfashionable and/or unoriginal quagmire. Album was well-received and she's a national treasure so she'll win.

I always thought of Caribou as one of those artists where every album of his is very distinct from the previous one.

Sure, but the entire oeuvre still exists within a tight frame.

New Pornos, though I am impressed by the Buffy nom.

I got two horses in this race (Caribou, J Castle). Caribou's record is his weakest, which is to say it's fine and good but goes to show what an amazing run he's had

Jennifer is enormously undersold in Canada and yet tremendously and rightfully acclaimed, her songs are like Neko Case's in that they feel like incomplete half-told stories rather than bulletproof songs. I don't think she'll win but I hope she does.

I pick Drake to win every year because his albums are always the best by a mile but he never wins and I'm pretty sure Canadians are at worst racist idiots, or at best resentful of all success stories, but I'll pick him again, that record is amazing

Had to be dragged kicking and screaming to listen to Alvvays but that record is amazing and would be my second pick.

Viet Cong are my favourite kind of music, which is to say they sound exactly like This Heat

I have never listened to Tobias Jesso Jr., is he good? I don't like his photos

Buffy's "Running For The Drum" should've been nominated, that record is amazing, "Power In The Blood" is not as amazing and I don't think it will win. It is interesting just how drum production choices can completely change and shift what a record is, that record is mixed with 90s drum sounds and that makes Buffy sound older than any changes in her voice. Still, super great and Buffy is the best human on the planet

I don't understand the appeal of New Pornos and never will but that's OK, it's like Zombies without Colin's softness, R.E.M. without Michael's obtuseness; they sound as much like a car commercial to me as a ukulele cover of "Lady In Red", but I will never resent straight people for their simple pleasures

Braids are great, that record is great; BadBadNotGood are bad, haven't listened to that record

Even without listening to the record, I wanted Braids to win, because I love the kind of music that they've made in the past. Listened to the record, it's great. So go Braids!

big ticks for braids & brill bruisers

Yah I love Braids

I have never listened to Tobias Jesso Jr., is he good? I don't like his photos

Are you at all familiar with any of the throwaway b-sides Paul McCartney used to record in the early 80s? It's exactly like a collection of those, except worse.

My horrified reaction to it is because he obviously thinks/hopes that it's somehow classically timeless as Nilsson Sings Newman - a record I am very familiar with and similarly revere. But doesn't recognise a single thing about why that record is good.

Alvvays was my favorite record last year and remains as such, endless fun with this record.

I guess I can see what some like about the Alvvays record but it just kind of falls in to the category of vaguely retro/twee-ish indie pop that I stopped listening to a long time ago. The main thing working against it for me, though, is how much the singer's voice reminds me of Zooey Deschanel's (though still not quite as horribly flat).

Don't agree that it's "vaguely retro/twee-ish indie pop". It's explicitly retro/twee-ish indie pop!

First off, Polaris should either split the prize between French & English or do away with French altogether because the implicit statement that no French music deserved shortlisting is embarrassing. Sad that English cultural superiority is such a "given" that the chattering classes haven't even jumped on the moral indignation train (and from personal experience of writing this paragraph trust me it's a riot).

Carlu's one of my favourite rooms in the city; jealous of attendees on this board. I think Drake will win because he's the most boring. Anyhow,

the good

1 castle - Severely backloaded album. Feels MOR at first, really gets going with Down River. If you don't hate me yet you will now because I'm comparing a white Canadian female folk singer to Joni Mitchell -- vocal stylings really are uncanny at times though, I doubt she'd deny it. Her lyrical presentation is similar as well, hitting you from the side, not head on. Precious but in a Toronto winter sense. Lit on her seems to list "enigma" "contradictory" etc, didnt really get it with this album. Stumbles through songs in an Olde English bard style more than rock-folk structural. i like it. Wish she'd upload lyrics.

2 braids - Not a genre i really follow, usually just hear it in passing in new music playlists. This album really stands out tho... constant contrast between soaring vocals leading musical elements vs a percussion that follows a shift from positively dnb to more mellow throughout. i kept focusing on the grounded piano with the drums on one side and her voice on the other. This album is as beautiful as fka twigs without being fucking tedious.

the middling

3 viet cong - listened to it at home at release and didn't care for it, heard it at a bar and my ears perked up. Upon relisten i see what my problem was -- it's good postpunk buried within animal collective preciousdelia sonics. I think in 20 years people will consider a lot of albums nowadays "ruined" by this sound the same as 80s freeze dried... gotta listen to each decade on its own terms tho and despite the grime this still grabs my ears many times throughout the album... but seriously how often do you say, "Hm I really crave some Dragnet!" No you'll go for Hex, because it doesn't sound like shit. No comment on the bandname, in Thailand Hitler is kitsch, that's just the way cool people are apparently we can't change it

4 badbadnotgood - Listening more to the band this time through since it's the Canadian half... I prefer this over iii, and love the concept, but to rate higher they need to introduce more ideas in their work. An album where the rapper and band were playing off each other would be awesome, esp. rhythmically. "Nuggets of Wisdom" featured this... if whole album followed it'd be a classic. They lay down some nice grooves, but not album-of-the-year grooves. Ghostface kicks as always, he's one of my faves.

5 buffy - I'm completely out of touch with post-early-career Buffy... Universal Soldier is one the rare truly "good fucking point" folk revival anthems. ideas here at times pretty banal and pandering, tho, nothing new over the thousands of folk festies out there, but the sounds are often fresh if cornball and she's such a great emoter. Not the Loving Kind (apparently re-recorded?) kicks. Extremely uneven -- the lows here were the lowest on this list, the highs were really up there -- but one of the more interesting albums. Overall 90s vibe but i liked the FN Tribe Called Red new wave (though that genre has yet to reach anywhere near its potential). Her FN activist songs have a good message but STOP TRYING TO RHYME EVERY LINE (my Micmac ancestors are rolling in their graves so next album...)

6 alvvays - I love Allo Darlin so this should be up my alley ("a" after all), but for this midtempo jangly musical wallpaper to work on me you either need cutting songwriting to occasionally make a grab through the clouds, or occasional soundscapes catching me offguard in a groove. didn't happen once throughout, ie no "this is the shit" moments (though the general sound and tunes are more than pleasant; an enjoyable record. her voice is fun to focus on, but never is she carrying the lyrics across personally to me).

7 new porn - the most MOR album belongs in the MOpack. Odd thing about this band is that it's not that every album balances out to be "average"... it's every SONG on every album. never pulled me in, ever, never offended me. i know i shouldn't use middlebrow so i'll just avoid that word. Most Canadian band of the century? Problem seems to be that whenever it feels like they're on the verge of a great chord change they move to the second best choice. Not the "release" one, not a "scuzzy" one, just the "alright let's not rock too hard here" one.

the truly bad

8 drake - Not much to say other than he's my least favourite mainstream rapper. I don't care for mopecore be it post grunge or post 808s.

9 caribou - Used to listen to manitoba so was looking forward to this. Never goes off the edge. Don't trust those who consider reclining in public glamorous. Most used sound effect is a repeated short whimper... prob relates to something but it's over my head. Even the polyrhythms seem forced... see: snare in "Mars". I guess its about the helicopter-in-your-face dynamics but never approaches dream/nightmare-like-state. Occasional good idea like strings in Your Love but doesn't give precedence to good ideas over bad, too democratic. Desperately needs a coproducer to tell him what works and what doesn't (and me, an editor).

10 tobias - "80s McCartney B-side" is an overcompliment. Starting a song with "So long my only friend" immediately exposes you as a hack. I'm used to listening to Randy Newman in the background and occasionally tuning in at odd turns of phrase and thinking "oh THAT's what he's actually getting at"... this guy, I'm sorry folks I just don't think he's as bright as Randy Newman. At times he seems to try to cover his terribleness with ironically bad musicianship, but I'm on to him. Adele's fondness actually makes me question her songwriting ability. Looks like he's here to stay tho... We'll be seeing a 33 1/3 book by Carl Wilson Jr in 20 years.

I enjoyed reading all that. Partly because it confirms that absolutely none of this is worth listening to.

I've only heard Alvvays but it's a fabulous album. As a singer Molly Rankin reminds me more of Carol van Dijk from Bettie Serveert, very unguarded and very emotional. Not a melody here that doesn't put my chest in a vise. "This is the shit" moments: first chorus of "The Agency Group," stormy instrumental sequence of "Party Police," the way "Next of Kin" alternates between grieving and apparent police statement with its pronoun shifts. Lots of anxiety and addiction in the lyrics, giving the music's sweetness a softly turbulent feeling.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

this thread will age well

<3 Alvvays, it would be a nice "legacy" Polaris win given Molly Rankin's lineage and Chad VanGaalen's (very fine) production

http://canadalandshow.com/article/i-was-polaris-juror-and-it-sucked

Grant Lawrence is a knob - this I knew. Grant Lawrence thinks he a writer - that's news!

No, that "writer" is the knob. Poor little boy couldn't take it, so he manufactured his own little clickbait "exposé".

"Couldn't take it"? Couldn't take what? The heat? You don't think issues like diversity can be discussed without having to "take" something back?

I'm no expert but isn't that how privilege works?

Don't agree about sharing emails (rude) but massively overdefensive reaction from Canadian music journos suggestsh Regalado hit a nerve.

Also, boy are some of those emails (the emails that shouldn't have been shared) dickish.

So, Buffy won?