This is the last one of a series. Here are the others: one two (two b) three

I’ve listened to my Polaris Music Prize shortlist a bunch and I’m ready to declare a winner. The real winner will be announced tonight at the Gala.

Quick recap: there are five records that are on my shortlist that are also on the Polaris Prize’s shortlist. They are:

• BAMBII – INFINITY CLUB
• TOBi – PANIC
• Cindy Lee – Diamond Jubilee
• Jeremy Dutcher – Motewolonuwok
• Charlotte Cardin – 99 Nights

No bad choices there, and they’re all different enough that I’m sure you’d find something you like in that list. I’m shocked at how much I like that Charlotte Cardin record.

BUT FIRST better writing and some drama, in the form of blog fave Michael Barclay. He’s written two posts about the shortlist, and they’re better than whatever I could come up with.

The first one is here, the second is here. His tastes run a lot more mainstream than mine, but he gives a lot of context and thought to his writing and it’s absolutely worth reading. He also names some records that didn’t make the shortlist but should have, which is as good a list as those that did. You should check out Allie X, Big Brave, Lightning Dust, Terra Lightfoot, Midswim and La Securité.

The big juicy thing is buried in his post about why he loves The Beaches. Scroll waaaay down to where he’s writing about Cindy Lee and you get this:

When the shortlist was revealed one album at a time, one juror wrote this underneath the Cindy Lee announcement on Instagram:

[Cindy Lee’s is] literally the only album that deserves to be on the @polarismusicprize short list. Polaris should really consider who they have made up their jury pool with if albums like the Beaches’ are getting short listed. Polaris is not cool anymore, they are just the kid sibling to the Junos. So embarrassed to be a member of the jury.

The juror who wrote that is no longer listed on the Polaris jury page. I guess the Beaches broke him. Such power they wield!

It’s not hard to sherlock that one, but I’ve got two quick thoughts about it:

1. That kind of snobbery is so cringe. It’s not 1998 anymore. People like things and that’s ok.
2. If you represent a Canadian music media outlet, it may not the best strategy, and
3. Several artists on the shortlist are just as ‘indie’ as Cindy Lee and as broadly acclaimed.

Anyway. I’m not a fan of The Beaches, but it’s not like the Polaris Music Prize was ever ‘cool’. Finding 40 (or 10) great Canadian records in any given year is tough!

As Barclay writes:

Polaris picks are always polarized. That’s certainly true every time the jury picks a winner that’s way off the mainstream radar – which is most years. It’s also true every time a commercially successful superstar lands on a shortlist. That was true when Drake was shortlisted three times or when Arcade Fire won, or when Justin Bieber longlisted. 

Here: BAMBII should win. I play that record all the time.

EDIT: Per Exclaim, the real winner is Jeremy Dutcher for Motewolonuwok. It’s a great record, you should give it a listen.

Maybe I’ll apply to be on the jury next year! I hear there’s an empty seat.

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