Polaris Music Prize

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Better Know a Jury Member #25: Frank Yang September 18 2009

Frank Yang (Toronto)
Publisher/Editor/Writer/Gopher, Chromewaves
Jury Member Since: 2007

Please share the Top 5 Canadian records you put on your final ballot.

Woodpigeon Treasury Library Canada/
Land Of Talk Some Are Lakes
Rae Spoon Superioryouareinferior
Coeur de Pirate Coeur de Pirate
Bruce Peninsula A Mountain Is A Mouth

Tell us about your top ranked choice. Why #1?

My #1 shortlist album was Woodpigeon's Treasury Library Canada, for reasons I can't fully articulate. It's such a cozy, intimate record but also so expansive-sounding, like a world in a snow globe. I don't know if I'd have been able to defend/persuade others on it in a grand jury setting - my affection for it feels very personal and I was even pleasantly surprised it made the long list - but I don't have to justify it or explain it. Except now, I guess.

Reaction to the Short List: Your most pleasant surprise? Shocked by any omissions?

I don't know if there were any pleasant surprises or shocking omissions. Not really meaning that in a critical way, but the only surprise to me was that there weren't any surprises. The list felt very much like a consensus of a lot of music critics, which it was, and the lower-key things which might not have had the profile as others but which I felt were artistically superior didn't have the exposure to get a shake. And I don't say that just because none of my ballot made the cut. If you were to ask me before who I realistically thought would make the short list, all personal optimisim and bias aside, it probably would have looked a lot like the actual short list. But of everything, I really thought Coeur de Pirate would have a good shot.

Describe the state of Canadian music in five words:

Long may you run.

Imagine the tables are turned and you are the nominee: What would you do with the $20,000 prize money?

I would quit my job and embark on a lavish trip around the world, only to discover that $20,000 really doesn't get you that far and having to hitchhike back home from Swift Current.

Related Link: chromewaves