The Polaris Music Prize is back for its sixth instalment, and the stakes are higher than ever. The award, which hands out a cash prize to the Canadian album of the year, recently announced that this year's winner would receive a whopping $30,000 -- that's $10,000 more than in past years. This means that anticipation is higher than ever to see which albums will be nominated for the prestigious award.
As in past years, the nominees are chosen by a jury of journalists, broadcasters and bloggers from across the country. They have been voting on their favourite albums from the past 12 months, and today (June 16), their picks were narrowed down to a long list of the top 40. The albums nominated for this year's Polaris Music Prize are, in alphabetical order:
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Austra - Feel It Break
Braids - Native Speaker
Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart
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 - Seeds
Hooded Fang - 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
Doug 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 Late Bloomer
Shotgun Jimmie - Transistor Sister
Sloan - The Double Cross
Frederick Squire - March 12
Stars - The Five Ghosts
Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
Timber Timbre - Creep On Creepin' On
The Weeknd - House of Balloons
Women - Public Strain
Neil Young - Le Noise
Young Galaxy - Shapeshifting
The jury now will cast their votes on these 40 albums, and narrow the list down to a top ten, which will be announced on July 6. This year, any artist that makes this short list will get a $2,000 prize.
The winner will then be decalred during a live broadcast on September 19. The gala will take place at CTV's Concert Hall studios at Toronto's Masonic Temple, and typically involves live performances from the shortlist nominees.
Past Polaris winners are: Final Fantasy for He Poos Clouds (2006), Patrick Watson for Close to Paradise (2007) Caribou for Andorra (2008), Fucked Up for The Chemistry of Common Life (2009) and Karkwa for Les Chemins De Verre (2010).
As in past years, the nominees are chosen by a jury of journalists, broadcasters and bloggers from across the country. They have been voting on their favourite albums from the past 12 months, and today (June 16), their picks were narrowed down to a long list of the top 40. The albums nominated for this year's Polaris Music Prize are, in alphabetical order:
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Austra - Feel It Break
Braids - Native Speaker
Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart
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 - Seeds
Hooded Fang - 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
Doug 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 Late Bloomer
Shotgun Jimmie - Transistor Sister
Sloan - The Double Cross
Frederick Squire - March 12
Stars - The Five Ghosts
Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
Timber Timbre - Creep On Creepin' On
The Weeknd - House of Balloons
Women - Public Strain
Neil Young - Le Noise
Young Galaxy - Shapeshifting
The jury now will cast their votes on these 40 albums, and narrow the list down to a top ten, which will be announced on July 6. This year, any artist that makes this short list will get a $2,000 prize.
The winner will then be decalred during a live broadcast on September 19. The gala will take place at CTV's Concert Hall studios at Toronto's Masonic Temple, and typically involves live performances from the shortlist nominees.
Past Polaris winners are: Final Fantasy for He Poos Clouds (2006), Patrick Watson for Close to Paradise (2007) Caribou for Andorra (2008), Fucked Up for The Chemistry of Common Life (2009) and Karkwa for Les Chemins De Verre (2010).
