Andrew's Polaris Impressions

The Polaris Prize!

A celebration of Canadian music, the best and brightest, without regard to sales! What a refreshing concept! I get very excited about the process when it comes about every September, and it always introduces me to some great new bands. When I was growing up, in terms of Canadian music, I only knew about the Barenaked Ladies, and Sloan. Obviously things have expanded exponentially since then, and the Polaris is a great opportunity to go even further. I've got a list on my iPod of Polaris winners, and I always enjoy a spin through there. Three albums so far!

1) He Poos Clouds - Final Fantasy
2) Close to Paradise - Patrick Watson
3) Andorra - Caribou

Which means that technically, He Poos Clouds is "better" than Broken Social Scene, Live it Out and Apologies to the Queen Mary.

Technically, Close to Paradise is "better" than Neon Bible, The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse, and The Reminder (which is kind of insane).

And technically Andorra is "better" than LP, Asking for Flowers, and Parc Avenue.

So you can see where there might be some issues. I do not envy the 2006 judges. Who wants to pick from that list? And in fact pretty much everyone will admit that they never saw Final Fantasy coming. In my personal opinion, Final Fantasy is the only winner thus far to have some real staying power. Has Patrick Watson done anything else to date? No offense to the guy, but I know nothing about him. And it's been over a year! Just checked out the ol' Wiki, and nope! No albums since Close to Paradise. I haven't really listened to Andorra enough to have it make a lasting impression, but I don't think it's too much to ask that the "Best Canadian album of the year" have something that grabs you (for an outstanding example, see "This Lamb Sells Condos" from He Poos Clouds).

And I will say this: I think it is a crying shame that Island's Arm's Way got shut out of the 2008 shortlist while Stars In Our Bedroom After the War made it. I have issues with Stars. I was so infatuated with them until I saw them live at Lollapalooza in 2006. Ever since then, I have barely given them a listen. I haven't listened to Set Yourself on Fire since February. They were so hammy. Torquil Campbell, I would be looking in your direction if your ridiculous stage presence didn't make me cringe. Makes me think that he's listed as a member of Broken Social Scene only because he showed up with Amy Milan one day and refused to leave. Bleah...

Moving swiftly on...

There is bound to be some contention in the ranks of music fans when these kinds of prizes are brought out (see Pitchfork Media's hilarious announcement of Patrick Watson's 2007 victory. "Guess Canadians like this guy?" heh heh heh), and I will jump on the bandwagon by saying that Feist not winning in 2007 is just about as mental as it gets. The Reminder is classic indie pop. It's one of those records that you get out and play for your kids. It's hard to believe it's just an album because it plays like a greatest hits compilation. I'm not saying Close to Paradise was "bad" or "worse," just that The Reminder is so inconceivably awesome that it's nothing less than shocking that it didn't win.

Anyway, I'm glad for this opportunity to expand my musical library. And it's kind of cool that whenever I mention a new cool band, I can throw in "They're Canadian."







p.s. You know what blows my mind? Owen Pallett arranged the strings for The Last Shadow Puppets The Age of the Understatement. Which means that the guy from Final Fantasy and the guy from Arctic Monkeys have worked together. Ka-pow.