The Polaris Music Prize Short List will be revealed on Wednesday, July 15. The playlist today has a couple tracks each for 10 albums that I am hoping will be on that list. I was 3/5 on my ballot for the Long List this year. I am disappointed that Lightning Dust’s Spectre and Mappe Of’s Isle Of Ailynn didn’t make it on the Long List but there are other albums for me to champion for.

I had a lot of listening to do and it was very difficult to narrow the 40 on the Long List down to my 10 for the Short List. There was only a few albums that I was sure I was voting for but there were at least 15 more that I was considering.

Andy Shauf’s The Neon Skyline was an album I feel strongly should be on the short list. It’s an album that is musically smart and lyrically brilliant. Badge Époque Ensemble’s Self Titled album is the another album I was certain about. NOW Magazine’s Canadian Music Week recap was: “The jazzy, progressive instrumental sextet are experts in groove, building each one as a vessel for adventurous melodies that snake from restless funk to wild explosions of dramatic psych.” The 3rd album I was sure about was nêhiyawak’s nipiy. It has swelling sonic melodies and meaningful lyrics.

The rest I was not so certain on. There are a lot of great albums, I just wasn’t sure which great albums I was going to vote for. Maybe Whoop-Szo’s Warrior Down or Pantayo’s Self-titled album. Ice Cream’s FED UP and U.S. Girls’ Heavy Light are both very strong favourites of mine. Corridor’s Junior is a favourite new discovery of mine. Then there is Caribou’s Suddenly, which is another marvelous album from Dan Snaith. Or Flore Laurentienne’s Volume 1 which is an album that wowed me.

There were many more albums I considered. Owen Pallet, Begonia, Sarah Harmer, Leif Vollebekk and so many others have great albums that I love but just didn’t make it to my short list.

Here is my Short List playlist. Who is on your short list?

Here is the Long List playlist, in case you missed it.