Polaris Blog (407)

Polaris People July 20: Fucked Up

You've all heard about the <a href = 'http://polarismusicprize.ca/article/435/the-2012-polaris-music-prize-short-list-is-here/'>recently announced</a> 2012 Short List right? OK, good.

This sexy new Short List has made for mighty busy times here in Polaris People Land. So busy, in fact, that we don't even have the time or space to tell you cool stuff like the fact that<strong> Arcade Fire</strong> have a<a href = 'http://www.nme.com/news/arcade-fire/64914'> new album</a> coming, <strong>Dan Mangan</strong> just <a href = 'http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/07/18/dan-mangan-announces-north-american-tour-vancouver-concert-in-november/'>announced</a> a new tour, <strong>Brendan Canning</strong> is <a href = 'http://exclaim.ca/News/broken_social_scenes_brendan_canning_scores_lindsay_lohan_film'>scoring </a>a Lindsay Lohan film, or <strong>Shad</strong> just put out a <a href = 'http://www.aux.tv/2012/07/shad-samples-milli-vanilli-the-breeders-pm-dawn-and-more-on-new-free-ep/'>kickin'</a> retro mixtape.

I seriously wish we could let you know about stuff like that. But no, right now we need to concentrate on 2012 Short List aftermath.

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2012 Short List Fast Facts

Much in the same way that we had a bit of fun hunting down some 2012 Polaris Music Prize Long List <a href = 'http://polarismusicprize.ca/article/418/2012-polaris-long-list-fast-facts/'>fast facts</a>, we also decided to do a bit of nerding out about the <a href = 'http://polarismusicprize.ca/article/435/the-2012-polaris-music-prize-short-list-is-here/'>recently-announced</a> Short List.

So we've compiled some fast facts about the Polaris Music Prize 2012 Short List:

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The 2012 Short List Is Here

The 2012 Polaris Short List was announced today (July 17) at The Drake Hotel in Toronto, ON.

Polaris Founder and Executive Director Steve Jordan was pretty excited about the List.

"Our jury is showing an ever growing passion and dedication to reviewing, discussing and advocating their selections. This has resulted in a Short List of records that are musically focused, intense and in some cases highly personal. The process of selecting a winner should prove to be an invigorating challenge for our Grand Jury."

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A Polaris Music Prize Oral History By AUX TV

The folks at <a href = 'http://www.aux.tv/'>AUX </a>rounded up former Polaris Music Prize champions, jurors, hosts, directors and folks we'll just call "miscellaneous" and asked them to talk about their Polaris experiences.

As it turns out, there've been some strange adventures along the way.

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Polaris People For The Week Of July 13 ““ One Quick Last Look At The 2012 Long List

When we <a href = 'http://polarismusicprize.ca/article/416/the-2012-polaris-music-prize-long-list-is-here/'>announced</a> the 40 albums that made the 2012 Polaris Music Prize Long List back on June 14 we had no idea of the deep emotional attachment we’d develop for them.

It actually hurts us in our hearts a little bit to know that in four days time on July 17 the 2012 Short List will be announced in Toronto and 30 of these records will never be talked about or loved by anyone else ever again. Ever.

OK, maybe not ever. In fact, we suspect a lot of people will still love them.

Just not as much as the 10 records that make the Short List.

So let’s all take a deep breath and fixate on some small something-or-other that made each of these albums special:

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Introducing… Polaris Profiles, Featuring Kathryn Calder On July 16, 2012 in Vancouver

The Polaris universe is experiencing a slight rebranding in part because of our affection for alliteration.

Kicking off officially on July 16 in Vancouver, we're proud to announce the introduction of <strong>Polaris Profiles</strong>. Think of them as Polaris Salons minus much of the “salon†part and a bit more music from a specific artist.

Presented by RDIO, the first of these Polaris Profiles will feature 2012 Polaris Music Prize Long Listed artist <strong>Kathryn Calder</strong> performing songs from her nominated album “Bright And Vivid†and discussing the album's chances of winning the ‘12 Prize with this evening's host, Mike Devlin of the <a href = 'http://www.timescolonist.com/index.html'>Victoria Times Colonist</a>.

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Polaris People For The Week Of July 6 ““ Shooting Guns vs. Leonard Cohen, Mark Davis Gardens, Slakadeliqs Enjoy Air Conditioning

We've added a new thing to the Polaris Universe called “Polaris Profiles.â€

Basically, Polaris Profiles are like Polaris Salons all hopped up on Mountain Dew. They're going to specifically apply to events we host that will feature an artist performance component on top of a Salon-like interview with a Polaris juror.

The first one we're doing is <a href = 'http://polarismusicprize.ca/article/430/introducing-polaris-profiles-featuring-kathryn-calder-on-july-16-2012-in-vancouver/'>happening</a> July 16 in Vancouver with <strong>Kathryn Calder</strong>. Which also happens to be one day before the big Polaris Music Prize Short List announcement in Toronto.

We have absolutely know idea who amongst this year's 40 <a href = ' http://polarismusicprize.ca/article/416/the-2012-polaris-music-prize-long-list-is-here/'>Long List</a> artists will move on, but in the same way a mom's supposed to love all her children equally, we'll be sad for those who don't move on.

Meanwhile, our favourite people, the Polaris People, continued to do interesting things this week. Here's what some of them were up to:

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Polaris People For The Week Of June 29 ““ Lindi Ortega Likes Bourbon, Rich Aucoin Debates Money, CBC Endorse Gambling

We’re now only two weeks away from the unveiling of the 2012 Polaris Music Prize Short List.

That means all our<a href = 'http://polarismusicprize.ca/jury/'> jurors</a> are deep in the middle of actually listening to all the albums they were supposed to have already listened to after the first round of voting.

We’re not sweating them, though. Their efforts are yielding some bonus results in the form of intense analysis like that found <a href = 'http://different-kitchen.com/ '>here</a> and <a href = 'http://www.torontostandard.com/culture/postcards-from-the-polaris-prize-part-two'>here</a>.

While all that’s going on our favourite people, the Polaris People, continued to do interesting things this week. Click through to find out what that was.

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Polaris People For The Week Of June 22 ““ Feist Goes To Calgary, Austra Tattle On Grimes And More

Let the debating begin.

There was already a good row the night the 2012 Polaris Prize Long List was <a href = 'http://polarismusicprize.ca/article/416/the-2012-polaris-music-prize-long-list-is-here/'>announced</a> when the Waldorf Hotel hosted a special Vancouver Polaris Salon.

Now the arguing hits the east side.

On Tuesday, June 26 an panel of Polaris jurors will <a href = 'http://polarismusicprize.ca/article/422/toronto-long-list-review-happening-june-26-2012/'>convene</a> at the Drake Hotel to talk Long List at a Polaris Salon. Then, the next night, we do the same thing all over again <a href = 'http://polarismusicprize.ca/article/423/montreal-long-list-review-happening-june-27-2012/'>in Montreal</a> at Divan Orange with another group of jurors.

Meanwhile, some of our jurors are getting down to the serious business of <a href = 'http://www.torontostandard.com/culture/postcards-from-the-polaris-prize'>assessing </a>the Long List in anticipation of submitted their Short List ballot.

Throughout, as always, there remains the Polaris People. Click through to find out what they were up to this week:

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Polaris People For The Week Of June 15 ““ Japandroids In-Depth, Long List Headlines, Broken Socionics Scene

My goodness. The 2012 Polaris Long List is finally <a href = 'http://polarismusicprize.ca/article/416/the-2012-polaris-music-prize-long-list-is-here/'>here</a>. It’s so good it’s giving us the vapors. But what do you think? Don’t be shy telling us how you really feel. Everyone else is.

In the meantime, though, feel free to check out our recently assembled 2012 Long List <a href = 'http://polarismusicprize.ca/article/418/2012-polaris-long-list-fast-facts/'>fast facts</a> for a quick history primer.

It’s a particularly exciting time in Polaris People tabulation land because we have 40 new records (and people) to talk about. So let’s get started shall we?

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