Let’s talk about music.
Rather, let’s talk about music awards and competitions. Music should never be competitive in my opinion, if you’re in this business solely to win a Grammy or (God forbid) an MTV or Muchmusic video award, then you are a shallow, soulless being. But it is fine to get into the music business to sell records and make money at shows, anyone that tells you they are simply in it for the art is a liar. Unless these people are charging zero dollars for shows and records, they are filthy liars. But sometimes awards go to decent hard working folk. Sometimes they get that recognition that they need. In Canada, our equivalent to the Grammy Awards is the Juno Awards. Held every April, we base our nominations on album sales and charts, not on artistic merit. This is why Nelly Furtado walked away with a veritable bounty of statues this spring (as well as annoying the piss out of us by hosting the show). But it wasn’t so bad when Buck 65 hosted a year prior (actually, Pam Anderson hosted but Halifax’s Tom Waits did most of the talking and all of the DJing).
All this aside, the announcements were made recently for the second annual Polaris Music Prize. The inaugural award went to the record He Poos Clouds by Final Fantasy (aka 28 year old Owen Pallett) and was well deserved, in my opinion. This year we have ten new nominees, some commercial successes and some more underground (yet all are great examples of real Canadian music that isn’t produced by a flavour-of-the-week who used to have a sidekick named Magoo).
And the nominees are…
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
The Besnard Lakes – Are the Dark Horse
The Dears – Gang of Losers
Julie Doiron – Woke Myself Up
Feist – The Reminder
Junior Boys – So This Is Goodbye
Miracle Fortress – Five Roses
Joel Plaskett Emergency – Ashtray Rock
Chad Vangaalen – Skelliconnection
Patrick Watson – Close to Paradise
There is some diversity in these nominations this is a shining example of the high quality tunes we have coming out of Canada, from artists new and old. Julie Doiron’s new disc is stellar and a worthy nominee, as she has been around for years and deserves some recognition. Chad Vangaalen is relatively new to the scene, but is signed to SubPop. The Arcade Fire and Leslie Feist also have a lot of success in the States, and the Dears have European fans. Joel Plaskett has made his finest album to date, and being a fan I wouldn’t mind if he took home the prize. The Besnard Lakes record is very much in the vein of bands like My Morning Jacket and Band of Horses, and I worry about a record that isn’t as timeless taking home this prize. The thing about the Final Fantasy record that everyone really dug last year was how fucking different it was. It was violin and keys. No one else is doing violin and keys. Lyrically, I found it unsettling and creepy as hell (but maybe that’s just me. Don’t get me wrong, I dug it). The Dears are really great and different, as are the Junior Boys. What the winner should be is someone who exemplifies what it is to be unique, yet is also a representation of Canadian music at this moment. But in my opinion, Feist’s new record isn’t as good as the last. It sounds like someone who knew her second album would be huge and didn’t care enough to try anything new.
But my opinion doesn’t matter in this contest, it’s the opinions of the 170 national music writers that aren’t me, and were picked by Polaris (almost seemingly at random). Metal fanatic Jared Story from Uptown was picked, and I can guarantee you that he will vote for Priestess (even though they aren’t nominated). My real dig at this competition is that it seems unfair to award a band that doesn’t need your help. The real prize is the $20,000 you get to take home at the end of it all. I don’t really think the Arcade Fire need the help, as they sell out every show they play within minutes and their record debuted at the top of the charts. It’s kind of like when a “Best New Artist” award goes to a band that has been plugging away for a decade. So let’s hope that the capable voting hands of Matt Wells, Chris Nelson and Aaron Brophy do so accordingly.
What this all comes down to though is that we are finally having an award that ignores album sales and (hopefully) popular opinion. It is wonderful to see an award that won’t be handed out by a teen television star whose father was a Country music star and thusly, becomes a recording artist. It is nice that people will be voting for something other than who will be the next fabricated pop singer. But kids and kiddos, it’s really nice to see that Canada has something better to offer than Good Cop, Bon Cop.
See you in the next reel...
Nick Friesen is the proud owner of a Sebadoh European 45 (a pretty neat find!)
