Hey everyone, hope all of your Christmas preparations are coming along!
The Arcade Fire recently released a video for their song Sprawl II and they also made an interactive video for it. You can check out the interactive video at http://www.sprawl2.com/ and the regular video below.
So, who is Polaris? And what is the arguably, most celebrated Canadian music award all about?
For starters, here is their mission statement:
A not-for-profit organization that honours, celebrates and rewards creativity and diversity in Canadian recorded music. Polaris recognizes and markets albums of the highest artistic integrity, without regard to musical genre, professional affiliation, or sales history. it is is adjudicated by selected music journalists, broadcasters and bloggers.
Every year polaris will choose a 40-title long list and later, a 10-title short list. The judges choose their favorite album based upon 'their own tastes and determinations."
Here are some past artists who have won the Polaris Music Prize:
Final Fantasy - 2006
Patrick Watson - 2007
Caribou - 2008
Fucked Up - 2009
Karkwa - 2010
TBA - 2011
Now that you have some background. Here is this year's short list in no specific order (which was announced back on July 6th) and a select track from each album! The Gala and selection will happen the evening of September 19th.
Want more? Head to their CBC Radio 3. music page to stream some great tracks and check out their upcoming shows.
-----
So, what do you do if you want to check out the Gala?
It will be webcasted live on the Much Website at 8pm ET on September 19th.
You can listen to it live on Sirius XM & CBC at 8pm ET on September 19th.
Lastly, it will be broadcasted live on Much, September 24th at 1pm and Midnight ET.
Well that's the short-list for this year and it is packed with some great bands and great music. Canadian musician's sure are putting out some amazing records and songs. If you like any thing you hear, head to the Polaris Webpage where you can buy any of the records listed above (I believe they throw in some perks too).
Sufjan Steven's seems to love the holidays, he has released Christmas albums in the past and this year with help from Dessner's brothers from The National and Richard Reed Perry from The Arcade Fire he has released another Christmas EP. Sufjan does an Christmas EP for his friends each year, so it is yet to be seen if this will see a full release on either iTunes or vinyl. Nonetheless, you can listen the EP via Consequence of Sound HERE.
