By Darlene Barss
Today is the day we discover which artist will win the $50,000 Polaris Music Prize for 2017. I have enjoyed being a part of the Polaris Music Prize process as a juror this year and am excited to find out how it ends up!
My journey began after last years Polaris Music Prize. I have enjoyed following along and listening to the music that made the lists in previous years, then I saw a post from Polaris Music Prize that they were looking for more jurors. I filled out the application, using OurBasement contributor as my professional affiliation. I was thrilled when they accepted me in the beginning of February 2017. I began listening to new releases and recommendations from other jurors. I also made some recommendations of Royal Canoe’s Something Got Lost Between Here and the Orbit, The Cosmic Range’s New Latitudes and Avec le soleil sortant de sa bouche’s Pas pire pop, I Love You So Much to the group. If an album doesn’t get recommended by a juror, it can’t be on a ballot and they were all albums I was excited about and wanted to make sure they could be voted on. You can see all the albums that were recommended on The 2017 Longer List. There were 213 recommended for us to vote on.
Polaris Podcast Episode 9 talks about a few of the artists other jurors had recommended.
From that longer list, we each had a ballot of 5 votes which resulted in the Long List that came out June 13. After much thought and lots of listening, my 5 votes ended up being Royal Canoe – Something Got Lost Between Here and the Orbit, Leif Vollebekk – Twin Solitude, Weaves – Weaves, Do Make Say Think – Stubborn Persistent Illusions, and Saltland – A Common Truth. Sadly Royal Canoe, DMST and Saltland didn’t make it to the long list but the other two did. You can find the Long List here.
For the next month, I did a lot of listening to those 40 albums that made it to the Long List. Some of my favourite new discoveries were Lido Pimienta, Jesse Reyez and Antoine Corriveau. It was a really tough decision for me to narrow it down and I changed my mind often but my 5 votes ended up being Leif Vollebekk – Twin Solitude, Weaves – Weaves, A Tribe Called Red – We Are The Halluci Nation, BADBADNOTGOOD – IV, and Gord Downie – Secret Path. The Short List was released July 18 and you can find tracks from the albums in the playlist below.
I thought my duties were done for the year but then I was asked to do a write up for the Leif Vollebekk – Twin Solitude album for the Gala program. While I was nervous about it, I was also excited and honoured I was given the task. It took a lot of rewrites before I submitted those 150 words and I hope it does the album justice.
The 11 member Grand Jury will be deciding on the winner at the gala tonight. The Polaris Gala will be broadcast live via CBC Music starting at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Watch the whole event HERE. Or try the CBC Music’s Facebook Live Event
Will you be watching? Who do you hope wins?
Good morning!
Greetings and salutations!
Hello
Thanks for the step-by-step description of your *cheminement*. Means more or less your “pathway” (the paths you have taken). Most interesting.
And good morning!
Good Morning! I forgot to add the step about writing a blurb for the program. It should be added now.
That you remember it all is good enough by me!
Thanks Benoit. 🙂
One thing that I like is the way the final decision gets made: unanimity (or, let’s be realer: heavy consensus) in the final choice. What I dislike is that some people on the web — you’re not going to believe this I’m sure — who don’t read the rules or whatever, immediately get into theories about who influenced whom, ‘politics’, vote-rigging, and whatnot.
To get back to it, the ultimate method I do like. It’s (IMO) a way to achieve consensus, or an adding up of first choices and second choices (sometimes under duress I’m sure!). A peer-pressure cooker…
It would be hard to come up with the perfect system I would think. There does seem to be different strategies going into the first couple rounds of voting to try to get their favourites into the running. There were 213 albums that were recommended and more that were released in the eligible time period. I can see how albums could be missed now.
The Grand Jury is made up of at least one champion for each album. Five or six of them must come from outside Toronto. This year there are only 2 jurors that are west of Ontario, one from Edmonton and one from Whitehorse. Vish Khanna is one of them.
https://polarismusicprize.ca/blog/polaris-gala-performers-grand-jury-announced-tickets-on-sale/
Thanks for sharing the process, Darbar! I don’t love that only 2 grand jurors are from west of Ontario, that doesn’t seem like a great distribution.
I wasn’t thrilled about that either. I am sure it is difficult to cover all the bases and have a good representation for the albums. The majority of the jury pool is likely from Ontario and Quebec and that is likely one of the reasons I was accepted. Prairies represent!
New METZ on NPR!
http://www.npr.org/2017/09/14/550444874/first-listen-metz-strange-peace
holy crap, today is polaris day!? I really didn’t realize until I saw something on the cbc this morning. Also,,,, $50 grand! that’s a nice prize eh?
Lisa Leblanc is coming to town next week.. it would be awesome if she won. I like her a lot.
Have a good one folks!
@russ, it’s on the cbc music “first play”section too. I’m not really into Metz, maybe I’ll give it a play though and see if it’s any good. The first play they had for the new Julie Doiron + the Wrong Guys was really good though. I dug that. Good sounding band and Julie D is good as ever.
ps, darbar, congrats on being a juror and havinbg a voice in this! , is it smething you’d like to do again?
Hi Tom. I really like Lisa LeBlanc as well but I was surprised she made it to the Short List. The other 9 artists get $3,000 by the way. Thanks. I really enjoyed being a part of it and would definitely do it again. 🙂
I have liked what I have heard of the new tracks from Metz. I will check out the rest later! Julie & the Wrong Guys is awesome too. So much good music coming out this fall!
The recommendations for 2018 have already begun including mine for the Walrus album. 🙂
Will you have to apply to do it again? Or just say that you’re staying on as a juror?
I just stay on until they kick me out. You have to recommend an album or at least endorse someone else’s recommendation once during the year to be able to vote. Basically, they need you to be an active participant in the process.
I think the new David Myles album is pretty spot on too.
also, in terms of the canadian rock and the roll, I really like the Sam Coffey & The Iron Lungs album that came out this summer. It was possibly the feel good banger of the summer.
I enjoyed that Sam Coffey & The Iron Lungs album as well. I haven’t checked out David Myles album yet but it is on the list.
Hi All,
Hey it’s been awhile, sorry about that, very busy!!!
Artistic merit? Not really sure what that means still. And I think that’s the point of it. Polaris lead up is always fun, but the winner is always a let down. Having looked at the list, and without having listened to any of it, i’d say, Lido Pimienta is a shoe-in. I think I guessed Kaytranada last year based on the same thing.
I’ll probably watch most of it though… Anyone check out the new Bonjay?
-Wynnzie
Hi Wynnsie!
I have only heard the one Bonjay track so far and look forward to hearing more. Godspeed You Black Emperor is high on my listening wish list as well.
My favourite part of Polaris is still the introduction to new music I wasn’t aware of. Love it!
A Tribe Called Red have a really good chance of winning it.
I was speculating this morning that the announcement of the Leonard Cohen tribute concert on Polaris day had some kind of significance, but I have my doubts that they’re related.
I doubt they are related either. There is some differing opinion on whether he should win it or not.
As much as I enjoyed You Want it Darker, I can certainly understand why it wouldn’t win
That album gave me chills. I get why some think it should go to the living but we are supposed to be voting on the artistic merit of the album and that’s it. No other factor of who needs the money more or anything else.
There is some connection. Leonard Cohen’s “Leaving the Table” video will have its world premiere at the Gala.
Tom Power this morning corrected himself after saying that the Polaris would be streamed on Facebook. He proceeded to say no it would be on CBC Music dot ca. Seems to me that’s where R3 is now, and it has never wanted to stream for me (old OS I figure). Anyone know if it’s streaming anywhere else?
I was more thinking it wasn’t quite as strong as some of the other albums on the shortlist, not that the prize should go to someone living. That’s interesting.
tonight is the night and I will be at work!!!
How to watch.
http://www.cbcmusic.ca/posts/18979/everything-you-need-to-know-polaris-music-prize
did leonard cohen pass away!???!?
re: my question … yes, he did. November of last year. Huh.
Haha. Yes yes he did.
The Polaris Gala stream should be on CBC Music’s YouTube as well.
I won’t be watching the polaris gala tonight, I have to do some other shit. But I’ll check to see who wins! I have no horse in this race, I barely know any of the albums honestly. I have heard BBNG IV, and Lisa Leblanc. I think that’s it. Probably due to the social and political leanings of polaris people, ATCR or Tanya Tagaq wouldn’t be bad bets to win. Has there been a repeat winner yet? (Tagaq won last year correct?)
I’m supposed to spend tonight preparing for a big presentation on Wednesday, but in order to “calm the nerves” (read: procrastinate) I’ll probably watch the Polaris gala.
Tanya Tagaq won in 2014 and Feist in 2012. There have been repeat nominees but no repeat winners so far.
https://polarismusicprize.ca/nominees/
Thanks, dar. That streams well, I believe.
Hope it works for you Benoit!
Les chemins de verres
In keeping with Benoit’s comment way up there ^ and the Polaris theme 😛
How’s everyone doing? Being a juror sounds like a lot of work.
I’ve paid no attention to Polaris this year. Somehow, I seem to spend a lot of my time listening to guitar-based stuff lately, and that ain’t exactly up ol’ Polaris’ alley
I’m headed out for a bit! I’ll check back later to see if anyone is commenting during the Polaris gala.
oops. removes an s from verres…
doesn’t it need to agree in number with les chemins? what’s up with that?
I think that was the most fun year for Polaris, listening to Matty go on about how boring Karkwa was, but in a good way…
*sigh*
and remove an s from removes…
Hey krib. It certainly focused my listening. I didn’t want to waste time listening to something that wasn’t eligible at times. I really liked being a part of the process.
That was fun watching Matty’s face when Karkwa won! Ha!
I am hoping to be on the blog while Polaris is on Janet!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYOEUZdikBI
jeez Louise…that Dead South song In Hell I’ll be in Good Company has 25M views on the tube of you
Crazy huh?!
way more than your average Shakey Graves, but less than Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
Krib, re Les chemins de verre: no more plural than in The roads of glass (not glasses).
ah yes, of course. brain fart…
Slightly later than anticipated, but I am back, and full of Polaris anticipation
I am anxiously waiting for it to start!
2 min!!
I always worry right up until the audio kicks on that I’m going to be geoblocked, but thankfully I’m not
Yay!
Lisa is rocking it right now!
That was awesome! I’d like to see her live!
She is great live. I really like her music but I was surprised it made it to the short list. Out of those 213 albums I thought there were many others with more artistic merit.
Very glitchy stream, whether here or on Youtube. Sigh.
Damn Benoit. Sorry it is glitchy for you. It is working fine for me.
Sorry to hear that Benoit. The stream is working fine for me too.
I’ve got a glitch every 4-5 seconds. Tiny, but THERE.
Charlotte Day Wilson singing with BADBADNOTGOOD right now was on the long list herself.
Nice singer, Charlotte. Really.
Absolutely no glitch for me but I recently upgraded my internet and my laptop isn’t very old.
Oooh what will Tanya do this year?
It’s Canada, 2017: time people outside Québec learned that the “c” in “Leblanc” is absolutely, utterly, silent. “Leblan”
The retro performances are kind of fun to watch
Chicken Steak!
Apparently it was a bit glitchy for Frank to Benoit.
Yeah, dar, I actually went down to 720p, and it was just as glitchy. So: system, not my slow feed). Went back to 1080p.
I know this is petty, but I want Tanya Tagaq to win now, just because of the people being so awful about her in the YouTube chat
The Tanya Show is so full of paradoxes! Using modern tech (the background LEDs, for instance) to blame modern tech and existence.
I love it! It’s powerful stuff!
Wow!
That was all kinds of awesome! So powerful
Well said Talia!! Leif!!!
They’ve done a good job of bringing the nominated music to the gala, even for musicians that are there to perform. I feel like in years past they mostly talked about the music but didn’t play it.
The book that comes with the vinyl for Secret Path is done by that illustrator that did the video. It is a very moving experience reading the book and listening to the music.
The live performances was always what I remembered. They seem to be playing less than my memory. More videos of performers not there though.
And more looking back videos instead of interviews. I liked seeing a bit behind the scenes stuff.
Yeah, I miss the interviews too. It’s always nice when they can talk to the artists nominated.
I want more performances! They used to get more time I am sure.
This Metric performance seems really long to me
And perhaps ironically, the Lido Pimienta performance was too short.
Hehe. It was Emily Haines solo project and I am really tired of the rewind thing.
Lido was great! I am really looking forward to Weaves now!
I’m hoping I can stay up for Weaves!
If we ever finish rewinding, they are up next.
YAY! Weaves!
This should be cool!!
Yup, I’m hoping Weaves wins
Love them!!
I slept in 🙁
But you’re just in time to see the winner announced
Well then janet, there you are!
I’m off for real now, but I’ll talk to you all tomorrow (or later today, depending on location)
Quite the language at the end. My feed had pizza’d out, so I had to reboot it, but I heard the monitor fuckety-fuck part; what was Lida on about before that?
Night Janet!
Benoit, she was gracious and well spoken until the final rant. That was pretty shitty.
If all of her monitors were indeed off why didn’t she say something at the time or ask the sound tech what happened in person?
you should always praise in public and chastise in private
That was poor form indeed.
I wonder how many articles will mention it in the morning and of those who has it as the headline
Ugh…I am off. Bye Garf!