The Polaris Music Prize has announced its annual shortlist of ten albums up for Canada's biggest music prize, and this year's gathering includes new icons Drake, old favorites the New Pornographers and, uh, Ghostface Killah? More on that later. Come with Music Times as we rank each of the albums from "worst" (relative) to first in terms of how much each deserves the vaunted trophy.
10) If You're Reading This It's Too Late by Drake
If you came to read this list just to see where your idol Drake sits among this list, we're sorry to disappoint. It's not that If You're Reading This is at all bad, but the hype it generated via its surprise release (and the resulting sales numbers, no. 2 only to Taylor Swift during 2015) led many to forget just how great Nothing Was The Same was in comparison to his newest work. It's Too Late can't hold a candle to the Kanye-esque ambition featured on Nothing Was The Same. Drake has the potential to win the Polaris, but this ain't it.
09) Viet Cong by Viet Cong
Once again, the relatively low placement on this list doesn't reflect a lack of quality on behalf of the Calgary band. The self-titled debut dabbles heavily in post-punk, and less heavily in noise and more straightforward indie rock (the latter subject, along with the tone of vocalist Matt Flegel, led to many an Interpol comparison). All of those elements could be organized a tad more cleanly however. There's plenty of potential behind Viet Cong, and we fully expect the group to realize it in the years and albums to come.
08) Pink City by Jennifer Castle
Owen Pallett has made a name for himself, both touring and creating string arrangements for a number of his Canadian brethren (including Arcade Fire), and for winning the first Polaris Prize ever, during 2006. He picked a winner once again with Jennifer Castle, arranging and playing strings for her 2014 album Pink City. That's the most gripping portion of her new album, but once again we're using her past against her: Lyrically (the starting point for folk), we greatly preferred 2012's Castlemusic.
07) Goon by Tobias Jesso Jr.
Tobias Jesso Jr. seems to have an affinity for drummers, grabbing Danielle Haim for a guest spot on Goon as well as booking Patrick Carney of the Black Keys for some production work. Somewhat ironic then that all of the attention is focused partially on Jesso's piano and even more so on his heartbreaking lyrics during tracks such as "Without You" and "How Could You Babe." Our first thought was that Jesso could be a Paul McCartney-figure in songwriting. That doesn't guarantee a great album, but keeps our hopes high for future releases.
06) Brill Bruisers by The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers fill an interesting role, at least to this correspondent, in terms of its role within the music world. Absolutely none of the band's first five albums were disappointing or distasteful, yet the band had yet to register as an "end-of-year" contender. There's something to be admired in consistency, and even more to be admired when a band's sixth album is its best to date. Brill Bruisers is far from the band's heaviest-hitting material, and maybe that's the point. There's something strangely pop-friendly, even uplifting about this record. And not just because of the vibrant album cover.
05) Alvvays by Alvvays
Three bands were nominated for the Polaris Prize as a result of their respective debut albums, and all deserved the accolade. Alvvays can take special pride in knowing that your correspondent found them to be the Canadian "rookie of the year," and not just because of its clever title. Many an indie act is diving into the alt-scene by messing around with "dream pop" and retro influences, dating back to Brill Building pop. Alvvays is one of the few acts that manages to set itself apart from the pack while doing so. Keep it up.
04) Sour Soul by BadBadNotGood and Ghostface Killah
In case you were wondering how an emcee from Staten Island could win the biggest Canadian music prize, the answer is by teaming up with Toronto production team BadBadNotGood for a collaboration album. Indeed, if we're to consider Sour Soul a hip-hop album, we'd have to call it the best Canadian hip-hop album of the past year, trumping even Drake. Just as he's done with RZA for years, Ghostface proves that he can jive with an innovative producer, rather than trying to trump them or being swept away by their beats.
03) Power In The Blood by Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy St. Marie has been around the Canadian music scene for nearly 50 years. You might not be able to tell by listening to Power In The Blood, however. While many a folk icon is happy to remain a folk icon and keep on plucking that trusty acoustic guitar, Sainte-Marie has adapted willingly with the times. Her newest album throws centuries of influence into the mix, everything from the traditional Cree chants of her lineage to samples and programmed beats. Rust never sleeps (to quote another Canadian legend) but neither does she.
02) Deep In The Iris by Braids
Braids and Deep In The Iris has already generated praise at this publication, where it was recently named our no. 7 album of 2015 (thus far). Staffer Jon Niles took the lead on this one, comparing the band to a more experimental Dirty Projectors. Unlike that comparative band however, Braids only requires one vocalist to hold down the fort, as Raphaelle Standell-Preston's voice both haunts and hypnotizes. The track "Miniskirt" also made it to our midyear lists, coming in at no. 9.
01) Our Love by Caribou
We're sure that Caribou isn't looking to Music Times to gauge what the likelihood of a Polaris Prize win would be, but we'll break it down for you: slim. The chances are slim. And we say that only because the electronic/multi-instrumentalist (nee Dan Snaith) already won for his 2008 album Andorra, and we've never seen anyone win twice. Yet. That said, there's no doubt to this correspondent that Our Love has done what continues to seem more and more unlikely for Snaith...one-upping his last record. Swim did so during 2010, and now Our Love has set the bar even higher.
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