Polaris Music Prize Announces 2010 Short List for Best Canadian Album

For Immediate Release

Toronto, ON (July 6, 2010) - The Short List of 10 Canadian albums selected as nominees for the fifth annual Polaris Music Prize was announced today. The 10 records will vie for the annual $20,000 award, presented by Sirius Satellite Radio.

 In alphabetical order, they are:

The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night
(Montréal, QC)

Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
(Toronto, ON)

Caribou – Swim
(Dundas, ON)

Karkwa - Les Chemins De Verre
(Montréal, QC)

Dan Mangan – Nice, Nice, Very Nice
(Vancouver, BC)

Owen Pallett – Heartland
(Toronto, ON)

Radio Radio – Belmundo Regal
(Grosse Coque, NS, Moncton, NB, Pointe-à-l'église, NS)

The Sadies – Darker Circles
(Toronto, ON)

Shad – TSOL
(London, ON)

Tegan And Sara – Sainthood
(Vancouver, BC & Montréal, QC)

“Once again our jury has selected a magnificently and satisfyingly diverse Short List.  They’ve managed to reward continued artistic achievement from previous winners and nominees while making room for both newcomers like Radio Radio, Karkwa, and Dan Mangan and veterans like Tegan And Sara and The Sadies.  Our Grand Jury will have their work cut out for them selecting a winner,” said Steve Jordan, Founder And Executive Director of The Polaris Music Prize.

Some Short List facts:

Two artists have won Polaris previously:

Owen Pallet (as Final Fantasy) with He Poos Clouds in 2006 and Caribou for Andorra in 2008.

Five artists have previously made the Short List. They are:

The Besnard Lakes (2007)
Broken Social Scene (2006)
Caribou (2008)
Owen Pallett (2006)
Shad (2008)

Five have not. They are:

Karkwa
Dan Mangan
Radio Radio
The Sadies
Tegan And Sara

Two artists, Karkwa and Radio Radio, sing or rap in French.

One, Radio Radio, is Acadian.

A jury of 198 music journalists, broadcasters and bloggers from across Canada submitted their top five picks for best Canadian album released between June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010.

These picks were narrowed down to a Long List of 40 which was made public June 17, 2010. A Grand Jury of 11 members will be specially selected to convene and determine this year’s winner on location at the Polaris gala.

The gala is Monday, September 20th. It will be exclusively broadcast live to North America on SIRIUS Satellite Radio 86 and to the world on CBC Radio 3. The event will be at CTV’s Concert Hall studios at Toronto’s Masonic Temple and will feature live performances by this year’s Short List nominees. It will be webcast live on MuchMusic.com and broadcast on MuchMusic, Saturday, Sept. 25th at 9 p.m. and midnight ET.

Previous Polaris winners also include Montréal’s Patrick Watson with Close To Paradise in 2007 and Fucked Up’s The Chemistry Of Common Life last year.

About the Polaris Music Prize

The Polaris Music Prize is a not-for-profit organization that annually honours, celebrates and rewards creativity and diversity in Canadian recorded music by recognizing and marketing the albums of the highest artistic integrity, without regard to musical genre, professional affiliation, or sales history, as judged by a panel of selected music critics. For further information, including rules, jury and sponsors, please visit www.polarismusicprize.ca.

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For media inquiries, please contact:

Joanne Setterington
Indoor Recess
joanne@indoorrecess.com
416.703.5217

Élise Casavant (Quebec
Beatmarket
elise@beatmarket.ca
514 915-4615