Polaris Music Prize 2011 Nominees
Each year musicians wait anxiously to hear who has made the list of nominees for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize. Based on the Mercury Music Prize that is handed out in the United Kingdom, it is a prize that is awarded to the best Canadian music album released. To determine the winner, judges look at the artistic merit of the album and do not take the record label, sales figures of the album or genre into consideration. Over and above being awarded the honor of receiving the prize, there is a cash prize that accompanies it. The star studded awards ceremony is broadcast live, and recently the long list of forty nominees has been released.
The list of nominees, named in alphabetical order, is as follows: Arcade Fire (Suburbs), Austra (Feel It Break), Black Mountain (Wilderness Heart), Braids (Native Speaker), Buck 65 (20 Odd Years), Louise Burns (Mellow Drama), D-Sisive (Jonestown 2: Jimmy Go Bye Bye), The Dears (Degeneration Street), Destroyer (Kaputt), Diamond Rings (Special Affections), Dirty Beaches (Badlands), Luke Doucet and The White Falcon (Steel City Trawler), Eternia & MoSS (At Last), Galaxie (Tigre Et Diesel), Jenn Grant (Honeymoon Punch), Tim Hecker (Ravedeath 1972), Hey Rosetta! (Album), Imaginary Cities (Temporary Resident), Land Of Talk (Cloak and Cipher), Little Scream (The Golden Record), The Luyas (Too Beautiful to Work), Malajube (La Caverne), Miracle Fortress (Was I The Wave?), One Hundred Dollars (Songs Of Man), Dough Paisley (Constant Companion), PS I Love You (Meet Me At The Muster Station), Daniel Romano (Sleep Beneath the Willow), The Rural Alberta Advantage (Departing), Ron Sexsmith (Long Player Later Bloomer), Shotgun Jimmy (Transistor Sister), Sloan (The Double Cross), Frederick Squire (March 12), Stars (The Five Ghosts), Colin Stetson (New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges), Timbre Timbre (Creep On Creepin’ On), The Weekend (House Of Balloons), Women (Public Strain), Neil Young (Le Noise) and Young Galaxy (Shapeshifting).
The list is filled with wonderful albums that will be narrowed down to a short list, and the short list will be released on 6 July 2011. The winner, however, will only be announced on 19 September 2011. A most deserving group of artists find themselves on the preliminary list, such as Arcade Fire who won an Album of the Year award at the famous Grammy Awards, as well as the album released by Neil Young, which was produced by Daniel Lanois, that has been causing quite a stir in the music industry. Winning the Polaris Music Prize is a great achievement and music fans will have to wait patiently to find out if their favorite artist has won.
