Edmonton’s Mac DeMarco up for Polaris prize
Edmonton native Mac DeMarco joins Drake, Arcade Fire, among nominees
Past winners Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett have been named to the long list for this year’s Polaris Music Prize.
The 40 contenders for the annual $30,000 award were announced Thursday at Calgary’s National Music Centre.
Many other previous Polaris contenders made the cut, including Calgary singer-songwriter Chad VanGaalen, Toronto hip-hop artist Drake, Vancouver-based rapper Shad and Toronto multi-instrumentalist Basia Bulat.
Edmonton native Mac DeMarco was nominated for his album Salad Days, his second for Captured Tracks, an indie label based in Brooklyn, N.Y., where DeMarco now lives. He returns to Edmonton with a performance June 27 at The Starlite Room.
First-timers vying for the Polaris include Hamilton singer-producer Jessy Lanza, Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq and Halifax rock duo Cousins.
The annual prize is awarded to the best Canadian album of the prior year as selected by a broad swath of journalists, bloggers and broadcasters, without regard for genre or sales. Last year’s prize was claimed by experimental Montreal collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor, while other winners have included Feist, Caribou and Patrick Watson.
The short list of 10 contenders will be announced July 15 in Toronto, while a winner will be crowned Sept. 22 during a gala at the Carlu in downtown Toronto. Here is the long list: Arcade Fire — Reflektor Aroar A — In The Pines Austra — Olympia Philippe B — Ornithologie, la nuit Badbadnotgood — III Basia Bulat — Tall Tall Shadow Chromeo — White Women Cousi ns — T he Ha l ls of Wickwire Cowboy Junkies / Various Artists — The Kennedy Suite The Darcys — Warring Dead Obies — Montréal $ud Mac DeMarco — Salad Days Diana — Perpetual Surrender Drake — Nothing Was the Same Freedom Writers — NOW Fresh Snow — I Frog Eyes — Carey’s Cold Spring Gorguts — Colored Sands Tim Hecker — Virgins Ji m my Hu nt — Ma lad ie d’amour Jessy Lanza — Pull My Hair Back Kalle Mattson — Someday, the Moon Will Be Gold Moonface — Julia With Blue Jeans On Mounties — Thrash Rock Legacy Odonis Odonis — Hard Boiled Soft Boiled Owen Pallett — In Conflict Pink Mountaintops — Get Back Pup — Pup The Sadies — Internal Sounds Shad — Flying Colours Shooting Guns — Brotherhood of the Ram Solids — Blame Confusion Rae Spoon — My Prairie Home The Strumbellas — We Still Move on Dance Floors Tanya Tagaq — Animism Thus Owls — Turning Rocks Timber Timbre — Hot Dreams Chad VanGaalen — Shrink Dust Bry Webb — Free Will Yamantaka // Sonic Titan — Uzu
Local Awards
Musicians from the780/587 might not be well represented on this year’s long list, but they still have a shot at the Edmonton Music Prize.
The $8,000 award, now in its second year, just announced its deadline for entries — Sept. 29.
The prize, sponsored by the City of Edmonton through the Edmonton Arts Council, is “awarded in recognition of superior work and achievement in the realm of recorded music,” according to a news release. To submit nominations, visit albertamusic.org.
Soul-popsong stress Nuela Charles won the inaugural prize for her album, Aware.