Polaris Music Prize

The Profane And The Gentle
September 25 2009, The Globe And Mail
Don't hate them because they're Fucked Up. The 2009 Polaris Music Prize for best Canadian album went to a Toronto band whose name and loud punk sound are unprintable and unbearable to many. But Fucked Up's victory should be celebrated. It is a brave tribute to their artistic invention and to a Canadian approach to performance that mixes the profane and the gentle. Read More

Fucked Up Win the Polaris Music Prize
September 23 2009, Pitchfork
Every year, a mob of Canadian music-biz folks (full disclosure: including Pitchfork contributor Stuart Berman) get together to pick the Canadian album with the highest artistic merit, awarding it the Polaris Music Prize. Read More

Polaris Prize – Concert Hall – September 21st, 2009
September 23 2009, A Thousand Points Of Light
A change in venue; a change in result? Reasons remains untold as to why The 2009 Polaris Prize gala switched from The Phoenix Concert Theatre — where it has called home since its inception in 2006 — to The Concert Hall (”the MTV building”). What was obvious, however, was the impressive lineup of performances and nominees that would surely present all in attendance with a fantastic night of music. Read More

The Sound Of One Man Eating His Hat
September 23 2009, Quick Before It Melts
It’s all over but the crying, now (tears of joy, for sure). Polaris 2009 is one for the history books now, and it surely will go down in the annals of Canadian music as a definitive celebration of the diversity and breadth of talent the Great White North has to offer. They may make mountains out of molehills about awarding $20,000 to a band with an expletive-laced name, but in the end, it really didn’t matter which album walked away with the prize on Monday night; the real winners are/were the Canadian record-buying public. Read More

Post-Polaris hangover, 2009 Edition
September 23 2009, Radio Free Canuckistan
Continuing our interrupted not-very-traditional annual post-Polaris kvetching, I turn this post over to the lovely lady Helen Spitzer as we discuss the gala of the night before, which brought many of Canada's finest musicians and professional music fans together. Read More

Post-Polaris sober second thought
September 23 2009, Radio Free Canuckistan
Two days after the Polaris gala, Helen Spitzer and I are sober, well-slept and somewhat more coherent than yesterday. Today, we get down to weightier issues than just our musical crushes. Read More

Eye On The Prize
September 23 2009, Eye Weekly
This week, less than 24 hours apart, three Canadian bands received major monetary infusions amidst a whole bunch of fanfare. The amounts of their cash prizes were somewhat similar — one cheque was written for $20K, the other two for a cool 25 grand apiece — but the conditions under which the awards were doled out felt strikingly different. Read More

The Prize That Dare Not Speak Its Name
September 23 2009, The New Yorker - Sasha Frere-Jones
There are two great things about Fucked Up winning the Polaris Prize for their album, “The Chemistry of Common Life.” One is that more people will become aware of an arts prize based on merit, rather than on the economic relationship between the involved parties (if the prize is for things you watch or hear) or on the social relationships between the involved parties (if the prize is for something you read). Here are just two bits of the Polaris philosophy that jump out:

There is no submission process. That means every artist has an equal opportunity regardless of their marketing savvy or budgets.

and

The Polaris jury is comprised of journalists, broadcasters, bloggers, programmers and other experts in the field of devouring and deciphering new Canadian music. Jury members are selected each year by The Polaris Executive Director and Polaris Board of Directors. No one with a direct financial relationship to the music or its creators is allowed on the jury. Read More

Congratulations To Fucked Up, Who Won "Best Canadian Album Of The Year," Beating Out, Oh, We Assume, Like, Barenaked Ladies Or Something
September 23 2009, The Village Voice
No seriously, they won the Polaris Music Prize for Canadian Album of the Year. Eat it, K'naan. And celebrate when FU play the whole record, in order, with the Vivian Girls cameos and everything, November 5th at Brooklyn Masonic Temple. Very excited to see how the Times handles this news. Read More

Canada Gets Fucked Up
September 23 2009, New York Press
Every year the Polaris Prize is awarded to the creators of Canada’s best album of the year. This year the prestige, and the $20,000 cash prize, went to hardcore band Fucked Up for the album The Chemistry of Common Life. This is the sort of amazing and well deserved thing that makes us happy to be alive. Read More

The winner is Fucked Up ... But actually
September 23 2009, Torontoist
"Did they say Joel Plaskett?" Fucked Up frontman Damian Abraham giggled, half-delirious with genuine shock and excitement minutes after he and the rest of the band (drummer Jonah Falco, guitarist Mike Haliechuk, bassist Sandy Miranda, guitarist Josh Zucker, and guitarist Ben Cook) accepted the 2009 Polaris Music Prize for their acclaimed, soaring hardcore epic, The Chemistry of Common Life. The press conference immediately following last night's performance gala and award presentation was full of journalists, but it was oddly silent, maybe because, for the infinite snide opining on the awards' predictability and who really deserved it, no one actually thought Fucked Up would win. Maybe we truly were, as Abraham mocked, all still in shock. Read More

Post Polaris Chatter
September 23 2009, Eye Weekly
Thanks to a Twitter post as seemingly incendiary as the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the indie community (i.e. Stillepost) is abuzz with Metric hatred. Read More

The 2009 Polaris Prize Goes To.....FUCK!
September 23 2009, Mog
That is correct. As was said today on Quick Before It Melts, I can't wait to see the various ways the media tries to convey this message with out saying or writing the word, FUCKED. Read More

Polaris gets Fucked Up
September 23 2009, Eye Weekly
In an event some music critics are calling “Nerd Christmas,” Fucked Up took home the $20,000 Polaris Music Prize for their album The Chemistry Of Common Life, while sets from Metric, Patrick Watson and a cookie sheet-banging Elliott Brood made everyone question the identity of Canadian music. Read More

Polaris Prize gets Fucked Up
September 23 2009, BlogTO
Fucked Up surprised everyone by winning the 2009 Polaris Music Prize last night for The Chemistry Of Common Life album.

Emerging from perhaps the most talented collection of 10 short-list nominees yet, the hardcore band becomes the second group from the Toronto area to win the Polaris Prize, following in the footsteps of inaugural victor Final Fantasy, who just so happened to join the band on stage in the night's most memorable performance. Read More

A Fucked Up Polaris
September 23 2009, Now Magazine
There was an undeniable sense of relief in music snob circles when it was announced last night that Toronto hardcore heroes Fucked Up had won the $20 000 2009 Polaris Music Prize for their album The Chemistry of Common Life. Read More

A popcore winner? Tahe that, Bland Junos.
September 23 2009, The Globe And Mail
Are you the fire or just another flame? That question, from the MySpace page of the Toronto band Fucked Up, pretty much defined the task of the Polaris Music Prize jury as they perused the list of 10 finalists for this year's $20,000 award for the best Canadian album of the year. Read More

Fucked Up wins 2009 Polaris Music Prize
September 23 2009, Exclaim!
Fucked Up have been awarded the 2009 Polaris Music Prize for their album The Chemistry of Common Life at a gala event held at Toronto’s Masonic Temple Monday (September 21) night. Following in the footsteps of Final Fantasy, Patrick Watson and Caribou, the Torontonian hardcore heroes will receive the coveted award, along with $20,000 and, of course, some serious bragging rights. Read More

Awful Thing People Said About Polaris Short-Listed Albums
September 23 2009, Chartattack
The 10 albums on this year's Polaris Music Prize short list may have been lauded by music critics, but there was always at least one person full of bile who wanted to crap all over the positive reviews. Read More

Toronto hardcore band wins annual $20,000 Polaris Music Prize
September 23 2009, Canadian Press
This year's Polaris Music Prize winners boast an unprintable name and a 300-pound frontman nicknamed "Pink Eyes," who closed Monday's gala by stripping down to his underwear and tying a belt tightly around his bald head. Read More

Toronto hardcore band wins annual $20,000 Polaris Music Prize
September 23 2009, Canadian Press
This year's Polaris Music Prize winners boast an unprintable name and a 300-pound frontman nicknamed "Pink Eyes," who closed Monday's gala by stripping down to his underwear and tying a belt tightly around his bald head. Read More

The Polaris Awards: From the dressing rooms to the bar
September 23 2009, National Post
The biggest star in Canadian music is Damian Abraham, singer of F----d Up, and the winner of last night's Polaris award. Sober since he was 16 years old, the 30-year-old hardcore punk rocker and sometime Fox commentator showed up at the award's ceremony last night in Toronto with his wife and four-month-old son. Read More

F---ed Up's album The Chemistry of Common Life continues award's reputation for unpredictability
September 23 2009, Toronto Star
According to the Polaris Prize grand jury, the best album of the last year was The Chemistry of Common Life by Toronto's F---ed Up. Considered a hardcore masterpiece, the album which has met mostly rave reviews, continued the award's reputation for unpredictability, and also cemented the band's status among the local music community. Read More

Hardcore band nabs music prize
September 23 2009, Winnipeg Sun
In the span of about 20 minutes, Toronto hardcore band F----- Up’s lead singer Damian Abraham (aka Pink Eyes) went from crushing a beer can into his forehand to becoming the gay equivalent of actor Adrien Brody. Read More

F----d Up wins Polaris Prize
September 23 2009, Canada.com
F---ed Up won the fourth annual Polaris Music Prize as announced in Toronto Monday night. The Toronto harcore band's current album, The Chemistry of Common Life, was honoured as the best Canadian album of the year and awarded a $20,000 prize. Read More

Punk rock sextet wins Canada's Polaris Prize
September 23 2009, Reuters
A punk-rock band with an unprintable name and a 300-pound frontman who's known to strip down to his underwear during performances has won the C$20,000 ($19,000) Polaris Music Prize for the best Canadian album. Read More

Toronto's F--ked Up nabs $20K Polaris Music Prize
September 23 2009, CBC.ca
Critically acclaimed hardcore punk band F--ked Up has taken the fourth annual Polaris Music Prize, the honour given to the best Canadian album of the past year. Read More

E-Today Writer Helps choose Polaris prize winner
September 23 2009, Vancouver Province
And the winner of this year's $20,000 Polaris Music Prize is a Toronto hardcore band whose name can't be printed in this, or almost any other, newspaper. Read More

Polaris Judged: Opinions & Temptation
September 19 2009, East Coast Overture
In 1993, Moncton grunge-indie rock outfit Eric's Trip released Love Tara, their first full-length album. Using a "lo-fi", DIY approach, the former bedroom of guitarist and singer Rick White became a makeshift recording studio. Read More

Exclaim! Puts the Polaris Music Prize Jury Under the Microscope
September 17 2009, Exclaim!
By this point, most Canadian music lovers know the Polaris Music Prize. It's the $20,000 award given out each year to a full-length Canadian album, based solely on artistic merit and regardless of other factors. The prize is now in its fourth year and has previously been won by Final Fantasy, Patrick Watson and Caribou. Read More

10 acts vying for Polaris Music Prize this year with no clear favourite
September 17 2009, Winnipeg Free Press
It's common for artists to be gracious when it comes to accepting award nominations, but when Hey Rosetta was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize this year, they took their humility a step further. Read More

Chad VanGaalen talks Polaris
September 15 2009, Stylus
The days are counting down until the fourth Polaris Music Prize is awarded. The big gala is September 21, and whether the last four years have made you excited about the $20,000 prize for best Canadian album or made you cynical about its success in rewarding true excellence and innovation, there’s probably at least one act on the nominees list that you respect. Read More

Help, I'm Alive My Heart Keeps Beatings Like A Hammer
September 03 2009, Prince George Citizen
The citizen weighs in on the Short List. Read More

The reasons that he loves this town
August 17 2009, National Post
It's been a busy summer for Joel Plaskett, the reigning East Coast Music Awards entertainer of the year. He is currently on a cross-country tour to promote Three, which is garnering high praise. Paul McCartney hand-picked him as his opener for his Halifax show in July. And he recently found out that Three is up for the $20,000 Polaris Music Prize, to be announced in September. Read More

Rocking The Rock
August 17 2009, The Globe And Mail
When the Polaris Prize shortlist was announced, some critics bemoaned its lack of geographic diversity. In the running for the award, which celebrates the best in largely independent Canadian indie music, were acts such as Elliott Brood, Great Lake Swimmers and K'Naan – all talented artists, but all residing within a stone's throw of the CN Tower. Where was the heavy metal from Vancouver or the freak folk from Winnipeg?

At least St. John's orchestral indie rock made the cut. With Hey Rosetta! nominated for the national award, St. John's may be on its way to becoming Canada's next indie rock capital. Read More

Patrick Watson makes Paste Magazine's "Best Of What's Next" list
August 17 2009, Paste Magazine
Ethereal, creepy, gorgeous, revolutionary—Patrick Watson’ music is all of these things, often simultaneously. The Canadian artist grew up singing in church choirs in Montreal, and studied classical and jazz piano performance, arrangement and composition before he and his band released their 2003 debut. Read More

K'NAAN talks hip-hop and Polaris
August 13 2009, Toronto Sun (via Canadian Press)
Among the 40 albums that have been shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize since it was created in 2006, only four could be categorized as hip hop.

K’naan, who can claim two of those nominations, says it’s the hip-hop community’s responsibility to change that. Read More

Polaris Prize Founder Defends Nominees
July 20 2009, Billboard.biz
Steve Jordan, co-founder of the Polaris Music Prize, has defended this year's shortlist for the Canadian album honor.

Six of the 10 nominees were previously-nominated acts. But Jordan says any criticism stems from a misunderstanding of what the prize actually represents - recognition for the best Canadian album of the year. Read More

Aux.tv covers the Announcement
July 10 2009, Aux.tv
Here's some coverage of the actual unveiling of the list. There are interviews with Metric, Great Lake Swimmers, Patrick Watson and Elliot BROOD. Read More

Polaris 09 Short List
July 09 2009, ffwd
OK so for predictions I went 5/10 and for my actual ballot I went 2/5. Not bad, but not great. I'm really disappointed that Rae Spoon didn't make the cut. Sooo... Analysis. Read More

Exclaim!’s Polaris Contest Reveals Readers’ Short List Predictions; Joel Plaskett, Metric and Leonard Cohen Lead the Top Guesses
July 09 2009, Exclaim!
The mind of the music critic is a cluttered place, full of obscure facts, half-hearted to-do lists and the lyrics to horrible pop songs of yore. But brave Exclaim! readers ventured into those very minds to try and predict what the outcome of this week’s Polaris Music Prize short list would be, based on the 40 albums on the announced long list. (See the real short list here.) Read More

Polaris shortlist includes repeat nominees
July 08 2009, Toronto Star
Call it a Polaris playback: Of the 10 artists on this year's short list for the annual $20,000 Polaris Music Prize, six are repeat nominees, including previous winners Patrick Watson. Read More

Recent Chart interviews with some of the nominees
July 08 2009, Chartattack
Chartattack has interviews with a number of nominees, including Fucked Up's Pink Eyes from Croatia! Peep it along with other Chart coverage, here: Read More

Polaris Panel: Analyzing the Polaris shortlist
July 08 2009, National Post
The Ampersand's Brad Frenette, Ben Kaplan and Mark Medley each were members on the voting committee for the Polaris Music Prize, which announced its shortlist yesterday. Read More

Polaris Excludes B.C. Artists
July 08 2009, Vancouver Sun
The voting and message-board ranting of Canadian music journalists, broadcasters and sundry stripes of professional music nerds came to a head Tuesday morning in Toronto, as The Polaris Prize Short List was announced. No B.C. artists made the cut. Read More

Polaris Short List
July 08 2009, Now Magazine
Long before the Polaris Prize Short List was announced it was easy to predict what the response would be from music critics and message board snobs. Read More

No Epiphany
July 08 2009, Chromewaves
So yesterday was P-Day – the announcement of the short list for the fourth annual Polaris Music Prize – and perhaps the biggest surprise with the results was the fact that there weren’t any surprises. Read More

Contenders For Polaris A Diverse Group
July 08 2009, Metro
The race to crown the best Canadian album of 2008-09 has really begun, with the announcement of the Polaris Music Prize short list yesterday. Read More

Polaris Prize confirms nominees
July 08 2009, Clash
The Polaris Prize - Canada's equivalent of the Mercury music prize - has unveiled a glittering array of nominees.

What the hell has happened to Canada? Long reviled for its music scene the northern state has somehow transformed itself into the coolest place on the planet. More liberal the the United States, this carefree atmosphere has transferred itself onto some stunning releases. Read More

Metric and Patrick Watson nominated for Polaris music prize
July 08 2009, Guardian
Metric, Patrick Watson and the boldly named Fucked Up are among the nominees for the 2009 Polaris music prize. Now in its fourth year, the Polaris honours the best Canadian album of the year and is modelled on Britain's Mercury music prize. Previous winners are Final Fantasy, Caribou and – coincidence! – Patrick Watson. Read More

Flipping Channels
July 07 2009, I (heart) music
Originally, I'd planned on posting my thoughts on this year's Polaris Prize Short List. I'm not sure exactly what I was going to say, but the basic gist of it was going to be that the Short List was about as awful as it possibly could have been, with its sole saving grace being that The Stills didn't make it. Read More

Polaris Prize Short List revealed...now what?
July 07 2009, Hour.ca
Okay, so, this morning, the Polaris Music Prize Short List was announced. Without further ado, the ten records made in Canada between June 1, 2008, and May 31, 2009, as hacked down from the Long List created by music journalists and bloggers and other people of import in this country's music scene, are: Read More

Metric, Great Lake Swimmers and K'naan Make Polaris Prize Short List
July 07 2009, Spinner.ca
The Polaris Music Prize, Canada's annual $20,000 award for best album, announced its top ten finalists on July 7, Read More

Predicting Polaris Prize Predictability
July 07 2009, EYEWEEKLY.com
In a Drake SkyYard clustered with representatives from pretty much all Canadian music media, journalists munched on clotted-cream croissants awaiting this morning's announcement of the Polaris Prize shortlist. Read More

Metric React to Short List Nomination as Exclaim! Goes Behind the Scenes of the Polaris Music Prize
July 07 2009, Exclaim!
As previously reported, today was the day the Polaris Music Prize short list was revealed. The list of the final ten nominees was announced over a press conference in Toronto, held at the Drake Hotel’s rooftop patio, and Exclaim! was there to see it all go down. Read More

Six repeat nominees on Polaris short list
July 07 2009, The Globe And Mail
A new tier system has formed within the Canadian music scene: those few bands making repeat appearances on the prestigious Polaris Music Prize short list and the slew of other groups that haven't. Read More

ExploreMusic Goes to Polaris Prize Nomination Ceremony
July 07 2009, Explore Music
Here's some audio interviews with some of the Short List Polaris artists in attendance at the SHort List unveiling. Read More

We wuz robbed!
July 07 2009, Vancouver Courier
The July 7 announcement of the shortlist of 10 finalists for the Polaris Music Prize ($20,000) for best Canadian album of the last year has prompted a number of naysayers to throw in their two cents—among them, us. What, no Vancouver bands? Where’s Vancougar? Where’re the Pink Mountaintops? Read More

Polaris, squared (and square-rooted)
July 07 2009, Zoilus
Beloved jury member Carl Wilson's in-depth analysis of this year's Short List. Read More

Polaris Music Prize Short List Unveiled
July 07 2009, National Post
The shortlist for the fourth annual Polaris Music Prize was revealed Tuesday morning and bore the names of six previous nominees, with no debut albums making the cut. Read More

Pulse Niagara guesses the Short List
July 02 2009, Pulse Niagara
Jordy Yack, a charter jury members, makes his case for who should be on the Short List. Read More

Patriots You'll Soon Love
June 24 2009, Canada.com
Some Canadian artists profiled, including some Polaris nominees. Read More

America needs a "Polaris Prize"
June 24 2009, Daily Kos
The Polaris prize long list was announced recently. The long list is 40, the short list to be announced in July is 7. Read More

Malajube Bridges Language Gaps With Music
June 22 2009, Times Colonist
Jury member Amanda Ash profiles Long Lister's Malajube. Read More

When navigating Canuck music, let Polaris be your guide
June 21 2009, Hour.ca
Okay, so we're posting a story on our website which is about our website by jurist Dave Jaffer. But if it gets you exploring the rest of the site then it's worth it. Read More

Why Your Album Didn't Make The Polaris Music Prize 2009 Long List
June 16 2009, Chartattack
Jury members Aaron Brophy humours us with why your record didn't make the Long List. Assuming that you have a record, of course. Read More