If you’re new: part 1 part 2 part 2b

I’ve nailed my top 10 albums from the Polaris Music Prize shortlist. This was not easy. Only a few of these were in from the first listen – most of them were on the shortlist, then taken off in favour of something else, then added back on. I’m going to list them in alphabetical order by the last letter of the album name, that seems suitably arbitrary.

As late as Tuesday night, there was still 13 albums on this list. I actually went back to hear a couple that I’d eliminated, and considered adding them back to the list. There’s one that didn’t make the first cut from the longlist that’s now back on the shortlist.

The wildest thing is how hard this is. I’m such a music snob that I was sure this’d be an easy exercise – there would be two or three records I love, the rest would be outside my pleasure beam, flip a coin and you’re good. What actually happened is that I was forced by the process to give an honest listen to stuff I’d otherwise write off, and when I did that I found out I loved a lot of it.

I’m humbled.

I tried gimmicks. I tried making criteria. I tried reading reviews. In the end, what it came down to was simply gut feelings, and listening to the records in different contexts — not just sitting in front of my computer, but in the car, or while out for a walk. I really tried to judged each as a single piece of music, outside the context of the artist’s career arc or backstory. I guess the questions I tried to consider as I did it were these, in some way:

Is this record good, end-to-end? Does it have something to say? Does it make me feel something? Do I feel the need to tell someone about this? Can I imagine myself putting this on a year, or five, or ten, down the road?

Here are the records that were most emphatically yeses to those questions (for me, at the moment I hit publish here).

My Polaris Shortlist in Alphabetical Order by the Last Letter in the Album Title (perfect)

• BAMBII – INFINITY CLUB
• TOBi – PANIC
• Cindy Lee – Diamond Jubilee
• NYSSA – Shake Me Where I’m Foolish
• Jeremy Dutcher – Motewolonuwok
• Dominique Fils-Aime – Our Roots Run Deep
• Charlotte Cardin – 99 Nights
• Super Duty Tough Work – Paradigm Shift
• Jon McKiel – Hex
• myst milano. – Beyond the Uncanny Valley

The real shortlist comes out tomorrow (EDIT: here’s the shortlist. I’ve bolded my picks that are on their list). The winner is announced in September. I’ll announce my winner sooner than that. I’m gonna miss using that photo.

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