I (Heart) Music's Hottest Bands in Canada (2009 Edition)

Over at I (Heart) Music Matthew has a list of the 'Hottest' bands in Canada as voted by the people Matthew asked. It's a good list of folks. I wonder though if I perhaps didn't understand how to rate hotness - it appears that at least some people simply chose the bands they liked the most at the moment - which is cool. I struggled with how to even define hotness. Some of the bands who scored well are indeed very good bands but if how widely known the bands are enters into it (it did with me) I have to wonder at some of the choices. I can't, for example, consider Fucked Up hot. Polaris win or not hardcore appeals primarily to a subset of the the people who are into punk. I don't think the audience for hard core will ever be big enough for a hard core band to be 'one of the hottest in the country'. Rural Alberta Advantage is certainly a great band but I don't think that a ton of people know that yet. The RAA is really just getting going.

The full list that I submitted (Matthew asked for 10 - I sent him 100) is below.

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This has been a painful process for me. These things always are. There are 500+ Canadian bands that I like on some level and new ones are being added to the list constantly so being asked to Choose between them, or rate them is always difficult. If that wasn't challenging enough I was asked for the '10 Hottest Bands in Canada' based on whatever criteria I decided to use. How do you define hot? Critical acclaim x commercial success / je ne sais qua + stage presence?

Ultimately I decided a couple of things that would help get me started. First that there are some bands that I simply cannot think of in terms of Hot and Cold. Broken Social Scene, Stars, the Arcade Fire, the Hidden Cameras, Feist, the Weakerthans, Sarah Harmer, Ron Sexsmith, Kathleen Edwards, Patrick Watson, Tegan and Sara, and the Dears have graduated from hot and cold (in my mind anyway), they have enough of a following to sell albums and fill venues for many years to come - even if they didn't do anything spectacular in the future. Also, if people didn't graduate this list would be largely the same every year.

The second thing I decided was top 10 was just too small. So, I'll provide Matthew his top 10. But I'll also include an 11-25 (without notes) and three more lists who I won't rate. Since I haven't been asked for a 'top 10' there is no point in pitting them against one another:

Not Quite Yet but Could Have a Breakout in 2010

: This is pretty self explanatory. These are bands that are doing really, really well but aren't quite hottest in Canada yet. They are bands on the cusp.

Red Hot But Not Enough People Have Heard About Them Yet

- Amazing bands, generating good buzz and reviews but the word isn't out enough yet, once enough people find out about these folks watch out.

Hot But in a Less Visible Way

- Two roads diverged in a wood... These are great people, great musicians, but they don't seem particularly interested in being 'buzz bands' they do things their own way - touring, playing on other people's albums and growing their audience a little bit at a time. People who know Canadian music will know them and respect them but the chances of them being showcased on MTV are slim.

I don't know if Matthew will publish all of it, but if he doesn't I'll post it on NxEW.ca.

So, without any further ado...

Hottest Bands

1) Joel Plaskett - Joel surely belongs on the "graduated" list above and I seriously contemplated putting him there but 2009 has been, I think, the biggest year of his career to date. He has taken it to a whole other level. He has been nominated for the Polaris Music Prize (again), as well as just about every award for which he qualifies. He also played nearly every festival, large and small, anywhere in Canada oh ... and there was the triple album. It would be silly to do this list and not include him because he was very well known before.

2) Metric - It's possible that some of the haters bumped them up some on my list. Fantasies isn't my favorite Metric album (I'm more partial to Old World Underground ... but that takes nothing away from them. People have short memories and narrow world views. If you are really into Canadian Indie Music you knew who metric was a year ago - but that doesn't necessarily equal financial success. Metric worked hard for 10+ years and with (self-released) Fantasies they have broken out in a way that goes beyond the Canadian indie audience. They have had huge tours of Canada (and many other parts of the world) and I have nothing but respect for them for it. If I'm asked to make another one of these lists next year they'll be in the graduated category - and they've earned it.

3) Dan Mangan it's hard to believe that "Nice, Nice, Very Nice" just came out in August and that it's only Mangan's second full length. His first "Postcards and Daydreaming" was a full four years ago (it was re-released in 2007). Already Dan has taken the XM Verge Artist of the Year and has had a hugely successful tour (minus a few days on his back with the flu.) But those of us who heard things like this on Postcards and Daydreaming knew that Dan was pure talent and that he was destined for great things.

4) Chad Van Gaalen - How it is possible for someone to be that prolific and consistently produce quality I have no idea. In 2008 there was Soft Airplane, then the Soft Airplane EP, then an electronic album under the moniker Black Mold then the (free) Soft Airplane B-Sides - brining the total to 5 full length albums and 3 EPs since 2004 and he's reportedly hard at work on the follow up to Soft Airplane. And we haven't even touched on his visual art or video work.

5) Elliott Brood are frequently nominated for things but rarely seem to win. That said, nearly everyone agrees that their album is brilliant and if I were booking a venue - an Elliott Brood show would be like Christmas. First of all you get the country, alt. country, roots and indie rock audiences all at once for a show that everyone agrees is amazing and that encourages drinking, dancing and banging on kitchen utensils that have outlived their usefulness in the kitchen and are enjoying a second life as percussion instruments. The Brood has arrived and will be with us for a long, long time.

6) Julie Doiron and isn't it about time. When NxEW.ca ran our Shadow Polaris this year and asked people what should win (in a free vote open to everyone) - Julie took it home for "I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day" an album that didn't even make the Polaris Long List. Julie has been quietly building her reputation among critics and fans for almost two decades now and just seems to get better with age. I also can't think of another artist who generates more praise from other artists.

7) Hey Rosetta! - Gets love from all over. At the Polaris Music Prize gala Emily Haines felt compelled to interrupt an interview between Radio 3 and Hey Rosetta just to express her newfound love for the band. Everyone would have already heard alot more about Hey Rosetta! if they had been from Toronto or Montreal, but the band is good enough to overcome even that. In 2007 they were were taking MusicNL and East Coast Music Awards, and a Galaxie Rising Star award, In 2008 they took the XM Verge Album of the Year and in 2009 were shortlisted for Polaris. Just wait until 2010 and 11!

8) Great Lake Swimmers are another band that has done the slow climb rather than the big splash. Now with a Polaris Short List nod under their belt the national media is paying a bit more attention to Tony Dekker's band which is good for the media. Your grandchildren will be listening to people play Great Lake Swimmers covers in bars many years from now.

9) Justin Rutledge - CBC Radio's Amanda Putz has referred to Justin as our new Leonard Cohen, in the City Sonic video about Justin and the Cameron House, Blue Rodeo bassist Bazil Donavan refers to him as the new Ron Sexsmith. I personally just think of him as the current Justin Rutledge and again (as I said when discussing Elliott Brood) if I was booking a venue - he is rapidly gaining popularity amoung both country and 'indie' audiences and at 31 there is alot more to come.

10) Timber Timbre - he's hot enough that Arts & Crafts made a distribution deal with Out of This Spark to add him to the A & C roster. I also heard more complaints about the Timber Timbre not being on the Polaris list than any other artist. He may not be a household name yet but the whispering campaign is pretty deafening at this point.

11-25 in no particular order because rating one artist against another is painful for me: the Arkells, Two Hours Traffic, Holy Fuck, the Constantines, Gentleman Reg, Said the Whale, Amy Millan, the Most Serene Republic, Handsome Furs, Jill Barber, Cour de Pirate, Hannah Georgas, Ohbijou, Matthew Barber, Jenn Grant.

Not quite there but could have a breakout in 2010 These are people who could easily make this list next year. There are immensely talented people who are becoming more and more well known who are on the verge of national success - again I won't rate them, but will include a few notes:

Bruce Peninsula - Another band that generated alot of grumbling when they were omitted from the Polaris Short List. Everyone who sees them live is converted.

Forest City Lovers - Now that Out of This Spark is working with Arts & Crafts this band will get bigger fast. They have a new album coming in 2010 and are so talented it's stupid. If you like Ohbijou you'll like Forest City Lovers.

Will Currie and the Country French - I've been following this band for a few years now on the strength of a handful of songs. If they're full length debut shows even a fraction of the talent they have they'll get huge, fast.

Grand Analog - I'm hardly an expert on hip hop but of what I've heard I love Grant Analog the most, the blend of hip hop, funk, soul, jazz and ska has got to get some serious attention sooner or later.

Hot Panda Full disclosure, I do Hot Panda's web site so I may be biased but their debut full length 'Volcano, Bloody Volcano' and their live shows got extremely positive reviews and if their follow up is as good as I'm hearing it will be they may finally get the attention they deserve. This is another band I think you would have heard more about already if they were from Toronto, Montreal or even Vancouver rather than Edmonton.

Hooded Fang might be the best unsigned band in Toronto. It's dancey pop but with complex interesting lyrics and horns and who can forget their tribute to Stephen Harper's Arts Cuts? The full length is coming!

Kate Maki - The Sudbury school teacher has already been tapped to tour with John Doe and the Great Lake Swimmers. She has a 4th full length on the way and I think that she'll be in Sarah Harmer/Kathleen Edwards territory sooner rather than later.

Library Voices - How Library Voices aren't bigger than they are already I have no idea. They get nothing but good reviews for what they've recorded, for their live performances and as people - saying something negative about their hair styles would lose you friends (at least among the people I talk to.) There is a new album that should be done any minute now - maybe this will be the one to put them over the top.

Evening Hymns - A I've really heard are the songs on his Myspace but those are amazing. Evening Hymns first full length is coming out on Out of This Spark shortly and it's safe to say that he'll be the Timber Timbre of 2010, there is a kids on Christmas morning level of excitement about this one from some very musically knowledgeable people.

the Beauties - Built up a loyal following as the Sunday Night house band at the Dakota Tavern before signing to ("life is too short to listen to shitty music") Six Shooter - The live show is pretty amazing. I think this bunch is going to rise very quickly.

Also:
Bahamas, Volcanoless in Canada, Green Go, Great Bloomers, Bell Orchestre, Basia Bulat (sophomore album is coming, 'nuff said), Rural Alberta Advantage, Wintersleep, Schomberg Fair, Rah Rah, the Wooden Sky, Bend Sinister, One Hundred Dollars, Zeus, Woodpigeon.

Hot But In a Less Visible Way - Conventional wisdom says that if you're going to be successful in music now you have to think long term, diversify your income sources and build your fan base one person at a time. This list is for the people who do that and do it well, some of them have been doing it since before there was a Myspace, some of them since before Napster. They may not get magazine covers, top bills at festivals etc., but they are true artists (the kind of folks I originally thought Polaris was for) They are also (or are on the path to being) professional, career musicians. Again - no ranking, but a few comments.

Final Fantasy (a.k.a. Owen Pallett) - I should start with the exception to the rule. FF does occasionally grab magazine covers, headline festivals and took the first Polaris Music Prize (which helped cause my initial confusion). I still think of his fan base as a cult following though and Owen definitely does his own thing in his own way. This year his stock went up pretty sharply when he refused to leave a stage at Hillside during an electrical storm - I almost put Final Fantasy in the "top 10 hottest" list but decided he fit better over here even if the cult is becoming a religion.

Danny Michel - I know that Danny is tired of being "Canada's best kept secret" and "the most underrated musician in Canada." He's been both for a long time and put out one brilliant album after another but he's still going and still brilliant and that's what counts - the number of people who don't know is shrinking by the day.

Bob Wiseman - Ex-Blue Rodeo, Ex-Hidden Camera, First recipient of CBC Radio 3's Lifetime Achievement Award (then called 'Old But Awesome'), Bob also has the distinction of having his first (big label) solo album destroyed for political reasons. Bob currently makes video/multimedia presentations to go with his songs, plays on other people's albums, does music for theatre, spends as much time with comedians as musicians, tried to adopt the name Prince when Prince became the artist formerly known as... and generally serves as the poster boy for marching to the beat of your own drummer.

Jim Bryson When Kathleen Edwards, the Weakerthans or the Tragically Hip tour they call on Jim Bryson. His solo work is equally impressive (that's what gets him the gigs with the others).

Do Make Say Think - should be bigger than they are. I guess gorgeous, orchestral ten minute instrumentals aren't for everyone but the audience grows every year. Aficionados of prog rock and indie rock agree a Do Make Say Think show is pretty hard to beat.

Laura Barrett - If I could have given this year's Polaris Award to anyone it would have gone to Laura for Victory Garden. She also playes with the Hidden Cameras, Henri Faberge and the Adorable and does frequent guest spots on other albums. Rebekah Higgs said of Laura that she'd never met anyone who was so "completely herself all the time" - That's laura, and why she is in this category - Oh..she was also voted Canada's Sexiest Musician at last year's CBC R3 Bucky Award!

Rock Plaza Central - Write complex music with intense, thoughtful lyrics (front man Chris Eaton also writes books). It seems to take years for each new album to be fully appreciated but they are always, eventually, determined to be masterpieces and even added to school curriculums. Genius isn't always rewarded immediately.

Henry Svec doesn't just make albums, he invents personas, back-stories and concepts and bundles it all into a project. Whether it's Peter Mansbridge and the CBCs, the Boy from ET, the CFL Sessions or whatever he's up to next. I don't know if changing personalities and band names annually is a good route to long term success but it will be fun to watch and see.

the Pack A.D. - They have been compared to the White Stripes but I don't see it really. They are an old school blues band and being old school they tour all the time. I haven't counted but I'm guessing they played 150 + shows in 2009 (maybe 200). If you play in front of people just about every day you'll find enough of a fan base to keep you in business.

the Acorn - If it weren't for Danny Michel the Acorn would probably be the most underrated musician in Canada (although he's starting to get some attention in the UK and if he keeps touring with Ohbijou people are bound to notice how amazing the music is sooner or later, right?


Also: Andy Swan, Ruth Minnikin and Her Bandwagon, Kyrie Kristmanson, Shotgun Jimmie, Kids on TV, Peter Elkas, Charles Spearin, Great Aunt Ida, Andre Ethier, BA Johnston, the Hylozoists, Hank Pine and Lily Fawn, Jenny Omnichord, Nathan Lawr, Carolyn Mark.


Red Hot But People Haven't Heard Enough About Them

the Burning Hell - might be Canada's best live band. Go see them, seriously! Sadly the effect of a Burning Hell live show has yet to be captured in a recorded medium. The Burning Hell will be big, but not until enough people have seen the live show.

Sunparlour Players - like the Burning Hell, Sunparlour Players have to be seen live to be fully appreciated. Only after that can you get the full effect of the albums. Amazing amounts of talent but the full measure of their success will take some time.

Olenka and the Autumn Lovers - It's only a matter of time. They've been peppered with good reviews, they've had tours, made friends and have made strong showings at North by North East, Pop Montreal and the Halifax Pop Explosion. It's only a matter of time.

Pick A Piper seems to be everyone's new favorite band this year. The buzz about them after the Pitter Patter festival was deafening and they won more people over at North by North East. Think of them as a more acoustic and more percussive version of Holy Fuck and/or a really tight drum circle that eveolved into a band.

Rebekah Higgs / Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees - Her solo work is haunting and angelic, her dance band oozes energy and, if she was serious when she was doing her Sobama Radio Show she's working on other bands with different sounds. She is definitely going down the path of diversity. Is it possible to be successful with multiple projects? Of course it is, ask Brian Borcherdt - but it may take a little longer.

Julie Fader is amazing, she is pure talent. Her audience isn't huge yet but it's a good and influential audience and includes people like Sarah Harmer, Ron Sexsmith, Chad VanGaalen, Holy Fuck, the Great Lake Swimmers, Matthew and Jill Barber, Justin Rutledge, and others. Julie is going to do very well, but her album came out in late summer (after most of the big summer fests were over) and she hasn't gotten the attention she deserves (yet).

Kara Keith - People who like Metric should love Kara Keith. She is an amazing performer, with smart lyrics, danceable music and a sense of drama to her music that makes you think at times that she's plucked the songs from a musical. The move from Calgary to Montreal should help but, last I heard, she's still unsigned, has no distribution and her latest album is available on digital only.

the Magic - a whole lot of people fell in love with the Magic this year on the strength of an EP and a handful of dates. If they are serious, if the Magic is going to be an ongoing thing they're off to a blazing start. If it's a one off, side project, just for fun thing - then it's nearly over. Wait and see I guess.

Laura Smith - Laura used to be the keyboard player for Said the Whale, she's now the touring keyboard player for Dan Mangan - she has an impressive solo repertoire given all of her talent and the talent of the people she surrounds herself with it seems impossible that Laura isn't going places, it just takes time.

Wilderness of Manitoba - are amazing. At this point not alot of people have noticed the amazingness but the people who have (that I've talked to) are people who have great taste and they are getting good press from places like BlogTO, the Line of Best Fit, Now and Herohill. This is a band you are going to hear alot more about, starting very soon.

Also: Cam Malcolm, Black Hat Brigade, Construction & Destruction, Jason Bajada, Whale Tooth, the Olympic Symphonium, Dog is Blue, the Mountains & the Trees, Mark Berube, Share, Christa Couture, Slow Down, Molasses, the Gertrudes, Acres and Acres, the Racoon Wedding.

I would once again like to point out that this was very difficult for me. I could easily have gone on to 200, 300, 400 artists but I've already streched 10 into 100 - we'll see if I get away with that.

Canadian Album Hall of Fame Progress Report

When I set up these polls I hide the results, not really to keep you in the dark but because I don't want to reveal how well or poorly anything is doing. It sort of goes along with NxEW's philosophy of trying to stay positive and tell you about things we like rather than things we don't. In other words: It's not that I don't want people who are doing well to see how well they are doing - it's more that I don't want people who are doing poorly to see how poorly they may be doing.

Still, I try to drop hints once in awhile. I also think that the current poll results are interesting as they say something about the ages of NxEW.ca's audience. The oldest album currently in the Top 10 is the Barenaked Ladies Gordon from 1992. Now I'll be the first to say that Canada is undergoing a musical renaissance - that we have more musical talent at the moment than any country in the world (regardless of size or populuation) but are all of the best Canadian albums really from the last 17 years? The top 10 at the moment are:

Weakerthans - Left & Leaving
Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Feist - Let it Die
Metric - Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?
Joel Plaskett - Truthfully, Truthfully
Joel Plaskett - Down at the Khyber
Barenaked Ladies - Gordon
Stars - Set Yourself on Fire
Sam Roberts - We Were Born in a Flame

It's not over yet though by a long shot. Voting in this round is still open until Nov. 7 - after that the Top 50 (not 10) will be moved into a new poll for a new round of voting. The top 5 albums in that poll will be the inaugural class in NxEW's Canadian Album Hall of Fame and the other 45 will automatically be included in next years poll (which will also include the albums of 2005). Keep voting, it's not done yet.

Voting is Now Open: Canadian Album Hall of Fame

You nominated your favorites - alot of them - so many that I had to create two separate polls to house them all. What we have already is a nice history lesson in Canadian music but we're moving on from there. The voting is now open. Voting in this round will be open until Saturday, November 7 - after which we will go down to a top 50 and another round of voting. Of that top 50 45 will be automatically included in next years vote and 5 will be our inaugural class in NxEW's Canadian Album Hall of Fame.

Nominate Your Favorite Canadian Places in CBC Radio 2's Songquest

CBC Radio 2 has a new contest that asks which Canadian places need a song and the nominations are open as of today. The winning places will each have a song written for them by one of "Canada's finest musical icons and emerging stars."

Canadians can visit http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/songquest/ to nominate their favorite songless places.

Voting for places and artists will run from Oct. 12 - 23 and the winners will be announced on Oct 26.

Julie Doiron wins NxEW's Shadow Polaris Poll

Julie Doiron has long been admired by Canadian music fans and musicians alike but has never sought rock-star status. She seems perfectly happy to be a successful touring musician with a loyal and always growing fan base but not particularly interested in limos and four star hotels. So it seems fitting that she has had a huge year in a very quiet way. It may not have come from music critics, or the 'music industry' but ordinary fans, the people she's always seemed most interested in have been heaping the love on her. First it was Julie Doiron Day in Bruno Saskatchewan, then her band Eric's Trip was, along with the Rheostatics, inducted in the first year of Zunior's Independent Music Hall of Fame and now, without even being long listed for the real Polaris Prize, he album I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day has won NxEW's Shadow Polaris Prize.

To recap one more time, back in May we asked readers of (and writers for) NxEW to nominate their favorite album of the year, based on artistic merit alone (not popularity). We started with a list of almost 100 albums and then, via open vote, narrowed it and narrowed it until we got down to a top 10 which included Julie Doiron - I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day, Timber Timbre - self titled, Jill Barber - Chances, Chad Van Gaalen - Soft Airplane, Elliott Brood - Mountain Meadows, Joel Plaskett - Three, Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs, Laura Barrett -Victory Garden, Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels, and Jenn Grant - Echoes. After another vote, open to everyone which lasted more than a month, Julie Doiron has emerged as your choice in our Shadow Polaris Poll.

Again, sadly, we don't have twenty thousand dollars to give our, or the money to fly everyone in for a star studded gala - all we have is our love and admiration for an amazing artist who keeps getting better.

If you are unfamiliar you can find more about Julie at JulieDoiron.com, myspace.com/juliedoiron, radio3.cbc.ca/bands/Julie-Doiron, on Facebook, Twitter or Wikipedia.

You can also, if you don't already have it, download the single Consolation Prize here.

Consolation Prize by Julie Doiron



Julie Doiron Day in Bruno, SK

Vote in our Shadow Polaris Poll: The Top 20

I am very happy with and proud of our top 20, these are all great albums. With that said the lack of hip hop and the lack of Francophone music is not lost on me. What it says is that we need more people who can write with passion and authority on these topics (I cannot). Unfortunately I have no direct control there - this is a volunteer run site and if people don't volunteer the music they love doesn't get covered. Enough of that for now though:

We will now begin the process, with your help, of narrowing 20 great albums down to 10 great albums. Voting will remain open from now until midnight on August 15 when this list will be trimmed to our Shadow Polaris Short List and then the final round of voting will begin.

You can vote as often as you like for as many albums as you like:

The NxEW "Long List" - (Our Top 40 - if we'd done that)

I said earlier that our answers to the best album(s) question would be much different than the Polaris Jury's. "The "Long" list - our long list was way longer than this, but if we had narrowed it down to a Top 40 - a Polaris Style "Long List" this is what ours would have looked like. Tomorrow morning I'll publish the top 20 and voting in the next round (to take us to a Top 10) will start.

AC Newman - Get Guilty
Andrew Vincent - Rotten Pear
the Arkells - Jackson Square
Bend Sinister - Stories of Brothers - Tales of Lovers
Black Hat Brigade - Fathers
Bruce Peninsula - AMIAM
the Burning Hell - Baby
the CFL Sessions
Chad Van Gaalen - Soft Airplane
Cour de Pirate - Self Titled
The Dears - Missiles
Deep Dark Woods - Winter Hours
Dog is Blue - Makes Ghost Noises
Elliot Brood - Mountain Meadows
Gentleman Reg - Jet Black
Great Bloomers - Speak of Trouble
Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
Handsome Furs - Face Control
Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs
Hot Panda - Volcano Bloody Volcano
Jenn Grant - Echoes
Jill Barber - Chances
Joel Plaskett - Three
Jon-Rae Fletcher - Oh Maria
Julie Doiron - I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day
Kyrie Kristmanson
Laura Barrett -Victory Garden
Land Of Talk - Some Are Lakes
Mark Berube - What the Boat Gave the River
Metric - Fantasies
Mother Mother - O My
Olenka and the Autumn Lovers - self titled
Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
Rah Rah - Going Steady
Rock Plaza Central - At The Moment Of Our Most Needing ...
Said The Whale - Howe Sounds/Taking Abalonia
Sunparlour Players - Wave North
Timbre Timbre - self titled
Women - Self Titled
Woodpigeon - Treasury Library Canada

Vote Now: XM Verge Music Awards

With a list of artists and albums much, much too long to even get started on the XM Verge Music Awards for Artist and Album of the Year are now open for voting. You can cast your ballot at http://www.thevergeonline.com/vma/voting.php#

The Polaris Poll So Far: Expanding the Discussion

I want to point out, right at the start that the goal of this is not to disparage the Polaris Prize - their jurors are smart people, and they do an amazing job of narrowing hundreds of albums down to 40, then 10 and then 1. (Wait until the shadow Juno awards - that's when we'll be disparaging). However, if the purpose of the Polaris Music Prize is, as they say, to stimulate conversation about great Canadian albums from the past year then this is a worthwhile exercise both as part of that conversation and to expand that conversation to some albums that were not selected by the Polaris Jury.

Voting in our Shadow Polaris poll has only been open for two days and there are almost 20 days left for people to vote in round one. At this point in the process 10-20 votes for an artist could dramatically shift their fortunes but looking at the list this morning I couldn't help but be very, very proud of NxEW's readers for their exceptional taste. This is just a snapshot of the voting - things are changing by the hour, but the list below contains what would be the top 40 if the voting were to close right now and 27 of the 40 are albums that did not make the Polaris Long List and so the conversation is expanded.

Again, when Polaris releases their short list we'll start a second round of voting with just the Top 20 from our poll. The second round will narrow it down to 10 and the third round to 1 and we'll announce our winner on the same day that Polaris announces theirs. Our winner won't get 20 thousand dollars but they'll at least get some love.

Keep Voting


The Top 40 Right Now
(alphabetical order - an artists place on this list has nothing to do with their actual place in the poll. Names in bold indicate that the artist is also on the Polaris Long List.)

AC Newman - Get Guilty
Andrew Vincent - Rotten Pear
the Arkells - Jackson Square
Attack in Black - Years (By One Thousand Fingertips)
Bend Sinister - Stories of Brothers - Tales of Lovers
Black Hat Brigade - Fathers
Brian Borcherdt - Coyotes
Bruce Peninsula - AMIAM
the Burning Hell - Baby
the CFL Sessions
Chad Van Gaalen - Soft Airplane
Charles Spearin - the Happiness Project
Cour de Pirate - Self Titled
The Dears - Missiles
Deep Dark Woods - Winter Hours
Elliot Brood - Mountain Meadows
Gentleman Reg - Jet Black
the Grass Mountain Hobos - Self Titled
Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
Handsome Furs - Face Control
Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs
Hot Panda - Volcano Bloody Volcano
Jenn Grant - Echoes
Jill Barber - Chances
Joel Plaskett - Three
Jon-Rae Fletcher - Oh Maria
Julie Doiron - I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day
Kyrie Kristmanson - Pagan Love
Laura Barrett -Victory Garden
Land Of Talk - Some Are Lakes
Metric - Fantasies
Mother Mother - O My
Olenka and the Autumn Lovers - self titled
One Hundred Dollars - Forest of Tears
Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
Rock Plaza Central - At The Moment Of Our Most Needing ...
Said The Whale - Howe Sounds/Taking Abalonia
Sunparlour Players - Wave North
Timbre Timbre - self titled
Woodpigeon - Treasury Library Canada

Polaris Long List - the Real One:

Via CBC Radio 3 the Polaris Music Prize people have released their long list and it looks like this:

Arkells - Jackson Square
Jill Barber - Chances
Beast - Beast
Bell Orchestre - As Seen Through Windows
Bison B.C. - Quiet Earth
Bruce Peninsula - A Mountain Is A Mouth
Coeur De Pirate - Coeur De Pirate
Leonard Cohen - Live In London
D-Sisive - Let The Children Die
Elephant Stone - The Seven Seas
Elliott Brood - Mountain Meadows
Fucked Up - The Chemistry Of Common Life
Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
Handsome Furs - Face Control
Tim Hecker - An Imaginary Country
Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs
Japandroids - Post-Nothing
Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care
K'NAAN - Troubadour
K-OS - YES!
La patère rose - La patère rose
Land Of Talk - Some Are Lakes
Lhasa - Lhasa
Malajube - Labyrinthes
Metric - Fantasies
One Hundred Dollars - Forest Of Tears
Pink Mountaintops - Outside Love
Joel Plaskett - Three
Snailhouse - Lies On The Prize
Charles Spearin - The Happiness Project
Rae Spoon - superioryouareinferior
The Stills - Oceans Will Rise
Think About Life - Family
Timber Timbre - Timber Timbre
Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane
Martha Wainwright - I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too
Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
Women - Women
Woodpigeon - Treasury Library Canada C/W Houndstooth Europa

Lots of interesting inclusions and omissions. It does go to show though that who is on the jury has a profound effect on who makes the list. There were a few here that didn't make the NxEW list. Land of Talk and Jill Barber especially got a "Doh!" from me - as things that should have been on our list but weren't. But there were also alot of things on our list that should have been on theirs (IMO). So, the differences are:

Polaris Nominees Overlooked by NxEW:
Jill Barber - Chances
Beast - Beast
Leonard Cohen - Live In London
D-Sisive - Let The Children Die
Elephant Stone - The Seven Seas
Fucked Up - The Chemistry Of Common Life
Tim Hecker - An Imaginary Country
Japandroids - Post-Nothing
K-OS - YES!
La patère rose - La patère rose
Land Of Talk - Some Are Lakes
Lhasa - Lhasa
Malajube - Labyrinthes
Rae Spoon - superioryouareinferior
The Stills - Oceans Will Rise
Think About Life - Family
Martha Wainwright - I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too
Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
Women - Women

NxEW Nominees Overlooked By Polaris (Bearing in mind that our list is much longer and we allowed EP's to stand - because it's not the real thing so why not?)

AC Newman - Get Guilty
Adam & the Amethysts - Amethyst Amulet
Aidan Baker and Tim Hecker - Fantasma Parastasie
Andre Ethier - Born of Blue Fog
Andrew Vincent - Rotten Pear
Attack in Black - Years (By One Thousand Fingertips)
Azeda Booth - In Flesh Tones
Black Hat Brigade - Fathers
Blackout Beach - Skin of Evil
Brian Borcherdt - Coyotes
the Burning Hell - Baby
the CFL Sessions
Dance Yourself to Death - Ready for Love
Deep Dark Woods - Winter Hours
Dog Day - Concentration
Dog is Blue - Makes Ghost Noises
Doug Paisley - Self Titled
Final Fantasy - Spectrum, 14th Century
the Grass Mountain Hobos - Self Titled
the Great Bloomers - Speak of Trouble
Human Highway - Moody Motorcycle
Gentleman Reg - Jet Black
Jason Bajada - Loveshit
Jenn Grant - Echoes
Jon-Rae Fletcher - Oh Maria
Julie Doiron - I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day
Ken Workman & the Union - self titled
Kyrie Kristmanson - Pagan Love
Laura Barrett -Victory Garden
Lovely Feathers - Fantasy of the Lot
Mark Berube - What the Boat Gave the River
Mantrakid - Palmflowerblack
Mother Mother - O My
NQ Arbuckle - XOK
Olenka and the Autumn Lovers - self titled
Pale Air Singers - self titled
Rah Rah - Going Steady
Rock Plaza Central - At The Moment Of Our Most Needing, Or If Only They Could Turn Around, They Would Know They Weren’t Alone
Said The Whale - Howe Sounds/Taking Abalonia
Sebastien Grainger and the Mountains - self titled
Shotgun Jimmie - Still Jimmie
Smothered in Hugs - the Healing Power of Injury
Sunparlour Players - Wave North
Swan Lake - Enemy Mine
Torngat - La Petite Nicole
Weather Station - the Line
Years - self titled

So, already doing a "Shadow Polaris" process has proven worthwhile. There were at least (in my view) 10 glaring omissions by the Polaris jury, and some inclusions that leave me scratching my head. At the very least if our whole ongoing polling project makes a few more people aware of a few more great albums that came out last year it will have been a worthwhile exercise so, vote early and often!

Who Should Win the 2009 Polaris Music Prize, Round II

Since May 25 we've been asking 'Who Should Win the 2009 Polaris Music Prize'. The list that people came up with is below. Now we're going to start making the list shorter. We're not going to do it the same way that Polaris does though. Between now (June 15) and July 7 people can vote in the survey below. - You can vote once per day and vote for as many albums as you like. The poll below will close on July 7 and we'll publish a new poll with the top 20. That will start a second round of voting and between July and August we'll reduce it to a top 10. Then the third round of voting will go until September 21 (the date of the Polaris Gala) when we'll announce NxEW readers #1 pick on the same day. Happy voting!

(On Edit: I've now included the albums listed by Polaris but not originally by us. Many of them, based on previous conversations - I don't expect to make it to the next round, but at least now I think we have a really good list of last years best stuff.)

Again you can vote for as many as you like, and vote every day!

Remember - you're voting (at the moment) for the top 20.