Canada's Polaris Prize Gets Shortlist

Canada's version of the Mercury Music Prize has been whittled down to a shortlist of just ten albums today.

The Polaris Prize which was established in 2006 - awarding Final Fantasy the inaugural award for his LP, He Poos Clouds.

This year the following ten acts will compete for the prestigious award and $20,000 CAN hard cash:

Elliot Brood – Mountain Meadows

Fucked Up – The Chemistry Of Common Life

Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels

Hey Rosetta! – Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood)

K’NAAN – Troubadour

Malajube – Labyrinthes

Metric – Fantasies

Joel Plaskett – Three

Chad VanGaalen – Soft Airplane

Patrick Watson – Wooden Arms

Personally, we cant believe they left Charles Spearin off, but for those of you lamenting the lack of a Wintersleep album on this shortlist, this is due to the fact that it was released in early 2008 in Canada, but even so was promptly cut at this stage last year too.

Steve Jordan, Founder and Executive Director of the Polaris Music Prize noted that this is the first time in its short history that there are repeat nominees on the shortlist.

He explained: “If there’s a common thread to these records, it’s that each artist built on previous successes by pushing themselves into even riskier artistic dimensions. Listeners will find the jury picked quite an ambitious crop this year. This is exactly the kind of artistry that Polaris aims to support.”

The winner will be announced at the Concert Hall at the legendary Masonic Temple in Toronto on September 21, 2009.

Let us know who you think should win this year's prize, or who should never have been left off the shortlist, by leaving us a comment below.