2009 Polaris Prize Nominees

The 2009 Polaris Music Prize finalists include some outstanding new talent.

This year’s Short List nominees are:

• Elliott Brood – Mountain Meadows (Toronto, ON)
• Fucked Up – The Chemistry Of Common Life (Toronto, ON)
• Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels (Toronto, ON)
• Hey Rosetta! – Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood) (St. John’s, NF)
• K’naan – Troubadour (Toronto, ON)
• Malajube – Labyrinthes (Montréal, QC)
• Metric – Fantasies (Toronto, ON)
• Joel Plaskett – Three (Halifax, NS)
• Chad VanGaalen – Soft Airplane (Calgary, AB)
• Patrick Watson – Wooden Arms (Montréal, QC)

I’m proud to be a Grand Jury member this year, along with these colleagues:

• Bryan Acker (Herohill)
• Stuart Derdeyn (The Province)
• Mary Dickie (ELLE)
• Brad Frenette (National Post)
• Robert Mersereau (CBC TV)
• Brendan Murphy (Hour)
• Mia Parang (MusiquePlus)
• Ben Rayner (The Toronto Star)
• Brad Wheeler (The Globe and Mail)
• Lisa Wilton (Calgary Sun)

The Grand Jury convenes in Toronto at the Polaris Gala on September 20th to debate, discuss and ultimately vote on which Short List album most deserves the $20,000 prize.

Listen to the nominees the Polaris Player here and decide for yourself. Then support new Canadian music by purchasing your favorites on iTunes or your neighborhood CD store.