Polaris Music Prize

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Better Know a Jury Member #19: Donald Teplyske August 25 2009

Donald Teplyske (Red Deer)
Freelance Journalist
Jury Member Since: 2007

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

Rae Spoon superioryouareinferior
Great Lake Swimmers Lost Channels
One Hundred Dollars Forest of Tears
Woodpigeon Treasury Library Canada Houndstooth Europa
Bruce Peninsula A Mountain is a Mouth

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

I hadn’t included the Rae Spoon album in my initial ballot because I was confident it would get through to the Long List, and there were other albums and artists on whose behalf I wanted to advocate. Between the ballots, I listened to superioryouareinferior afresh, and couldn’t get over what I heard. It is such a fully realized project. Rare is the album that continues to reveal secrets months after release, but that is the experience I am having with it.

I think Laurie Matheson deserves much praise for his work on the disc. Each song is beautifully executed, and the production team of Matheson and Spoon didn’t attempt to fill songs with every instrument they had available. As a result, the songs gently lap at the edge of the listener’s consciousness.

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

The composition of the short list didn’t surprise me; I think it was predictable based on the various on-line discussions and reactions witnessed, and there are several impressive and even important recordings included. I had only one album from my first ballot make it, so I guess my surprise would be that my opinion- about Lost Channels- was shared with a substantial percentage of the jury.

Shocked by any omissions?

I was unpleasantly shocked that superioryouareinferior didn’t make the Short List. I can’t accept that more people didn’t perceive the same majesty regarding this disc; I thought it was a shoe-in. Not that I believe active geo-politics plays a role, but I was disappointed that the list was so Eastern-centric (for Albertans, anything past Manitoba is Eastern). I think Western artists, especially those within the roots world, still have heavy lifting to do getting their music into the right heads; the quality is there - Deep Dark Woods, The Swiftys, Maria Dunn, near everything on the Black Hen label - but I’m not sure enough members of the Polaris jury are able (willing?) to hear it. It is hard to get attention for what is considered by many to be fringe music

Describe the state of Canadian music in five words:

1979- Hooks; 2009- Looks

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

If I was an artist, I’d plough the money back into myself to ensure sustainability for another year- pay back the parents or other debtors, put some shine on the next project, maybe hire a quality producer for fresh ears. If it is just me getting the award, I’d use it as seed money to establish a local showcase for roots acts traveling through Central Alberta. There are so many acts that should be heard, but there are precious few places for them to be hosted.

Related Link: Fervorcoulee.wordpress.com

RT @teganandsara: Home Recordings the bonus album from our vinyl box set is streaming at http://bit.ly/9mrMUN.
Jul 30 2010, 4:26pm from TweetDeck

@nicooooole in @torontoist on @TheSadies awesome summer .
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Cool. RT @CiTRradio: CRTC policy decision gives Community Radio Fund of Canada $775,000 in funding to support community and campus stations.
Jul 30 2010, 4:01pm from TweetDeck