Thoughts on the 2009 Polaris Short List
Art is art, it is neither science nor is it sports. It is entirely subjective, it can't be quantified or measured. The Juno Awards generally measure by record sales, though that is a measure of money, not art. Think of it like a Rorschach test (the one with the ink blots.)
What something looks like to me and what it looks like to you may be entirely different but that doesn't make either of us wrong (though it does mean that you're crazy). The Polaris Jury is made up of 'music journalists' - people from the national press, bloggers, radio hosts and others. They each get five votes for the long list, and five votes for the short list and then it goes to a 'Grand Jury' who spill chicken entrails on the floor and look for an answer in them.
You and I may not be happy with some of the results. I talked to a few Jurors today who weren't happy with the results. But it's hard to say it isn't 'fair.' Finding a 'fair' way to do it is nearly impossible when the subject is subjective.
It is true though that if you ask different people you get different answers. If you and I lay in a field and try to figure out what clouds look like we'll have different answers. Tomorrow we'll trim the long long long list that NxEW readers created down to 20 (I'll publish the top 40 just for point of comparison) and some people won't be happy with it but the answer will be different than Polaris' answer.
I do not know who all voted, but I have some idea who NxEW's readers are. They are, in some cases, music journalists. They are, in some cases, music bloggers. They are, in some cases, radio hosts. They are even, in some cases, polaris jurors. However they are also musicians, and promoters, sound technicians, and uber music fans - the people who go to shows on a regular basis, the people who buy CDs and t-shirts by the truckload. They are, in short all people who really love Canadian music (including people who aren't Canadian). So the votes of these others will change the dynamic, change the perspective and change the answer to the question. Granted we're small. We don't have 20 thousand dollars to give out but we will still acknowledge some great Canadian albums including albums completely overlooked by Polaris (I can guarantee at this point that some of our top 20 are not even on the Polaris long list.)
This does not mean though that Polaris is wrong. I sincerely congratulate everyone who made the list. That I would not have voted for some of them does not, in the least, diminish their achievement. They have all, whether you are a fan or not, worked very hard for many, many years and have achieved great things. They should all revel in it and everyone should show some respect to them - even if they have favorites not on this particular list.
Elliott Brood - Mountain Meadows
Fucked Up - Chemistry of Common Life
Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs (and around your heart and on through your blood)
K'Naan - Troubadour
Malajube - Labyrinthes
Metric - Fantasies
Joel Plaskett - Three
Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane
Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
Labels: Awards, Chad VanGaalen, Elliott Brood, Fucked Up, Great Lake Swimmers, Hey Rosetta, Joel Plaskett, K'Naan, Malajube, Metric, Patrick Watson, Polaris Prize
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2 Comments:
I agree with you Justin, I am not envious of those who are one the Polaris jury who have to select five artists from a vast pool of amazing works.
Many will have complaints about the selections that were made and many will argue for those who were looked over. I believe this is part of why the Polaris prize was created. The fact that there is much heated debate over who should and should not be included on the longlist, short list or win the prize indicates that Canadian music and Canadian culture is alive and healthy.
I would be much more concerned if the selections and ommisions of Polaris selections did not incite discussion and debate. For that would indicate a lack of interest and apathy, no one wants to see that.
To put it in to perspective The Line Of Best Fit just got asked to give the BBC a shortlist of 15 albums by British artists that it thinks could be up for a Mercury music prize (the UK polaris equivalent). We struggled to get 5 or 6 albums by UK artists and we are one of the bigger blogging sites in the UK.
For the record, I like the Patrick Watson and Hey Rosetta records a lot.....but have this feeling that Joel P is going to win.
Still it would be nice to have the headline: Judges Fucked Up The Polaris Prize!
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