Canada is more than just Monopoly money and road ragers that are surprisingly respectful toward law enforcement. Turns out they have music up there, too!
Every year, the Polaris Music Prize celebrates the best albums by Canadian musicians and rewards the artists behind the winner with $50,000. The prize just released their shortlist of contenders, and this year’s competition is unusually fierce. Check it out below:
Alvvays – Alvvays
BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah – Sour Soul
Braids – Deep In The Iris
Caribou – Our Love
Jennifer Castle – Pink City
Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
Tobias Jesso, Jr. – Goon
The New Pornographers – Brill Bruisers
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Power In The Blood
Viet Cong – Viet Cong
The prize has been on a weird streak for the last few years, awarding the prize to an Inuit throat singer and post-rockers Godspeed You! Black Emperor (who rejected the prize). We’ll see if that will hold up with critically and commercially popular acts like Drake and Alvvays on the list.
The winner will be announced Sept. 21.
(Via Stereogum)
