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Better Know a Jury Member #24: Carl Wilson September 15 2009
Carl Wilson (Toronto)
Writer/Editor Globe & Mail
Jury Member Since: 2006

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

Fucked Up The Chemistry of Common Life
Martha Wainwright I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too
Tim Hecker An Imaginary Country
Land of Talk Some Are Lakes
Charles Spearin The Happiness Project

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

Fucked Up's record wasn't necessarily my absolute personal favourite of
the five but it was the one I most wanted to see on the Short List: First
of all, hardcore punk is a genre that doesn't get much mainstream
respect, but it's one of the most long-lasting, vibrant subcultures,
nearly as global as hip-hop and metal - and Fucked Up are leaders in
that world, not just the best Canadian take on hardcore, but one of the
best anywhere.

Also, in contrast to everyone else on that list except K'NAAN, Fucked Up
makes music I would call public - they sing about the state of society
rather than just intimate themes of love and imagination, although they
sing about those subjects too. And in 2009, with so many people so
vulnerable and besieged, it's particularly valuable to have music that
stirs up thoughts and feelings about, as Marvin put it, what's going on.
Too much "indie" music has become private and interior. Polaris
recognition for Fucked Up helps restore that balance.

Besides, the album totally rocks. It almost makes me want to repeal my
"no flutes in rock bands" rule, also known as the Aqualung Act.

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

No shocks either way - given the way voting works it's irrational to
have expectations. I was surprised at the number of repeat nominees. I'm
happy for the Elliott Brood guys, because I remember first seeing them
on a Toronto rooftop hitting tin cans for percussion at a little art
party. I deplore the fact that once again the brilliance of British
Columbia's Carey Mercer (of Frog Eyes, Blackout Beach and Swan Lake) has
been overlooked. Most of all it's upsetting how much the list is
dominated by white men, but that's a symptom of bigger messes than the
Polaris jury can clean up. (Look at the glass house that is my own
list.)

Describe the state of Canadian music in five words:

In a lull between supernovas.

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

Am I supposed to be imagining myself as a musician or is this the
special music-writers' prize I'm sure you're initiating next year? It's
a funny amount of money - I guess you either avoid splurging and use it
as seed money for your projects (whether it's that next album/tour or
that next book) or you combine it with other people's money to do
something big.

I've long had conversations with folks from Wavelength and the Music
Gallery in Toronto about starting a space that would be the equivalent
of the Sala Rossa/Casa del Popolo in Montreal, an artist-run venue, so
maybe we'd revisit that. (First step: research vacation touring Europe's
artists' centres - whoops, there goes $10K.)

Or maybe I'd give some of it to The Luyas from Montreal so they could
finish their record and win next year's Polaris

Related Link: Zoilus

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