The Polaris Prize board released the shortlist for the 2011 nominees a few days ago. Cutting the long list down, there are now only ten artists up for the prize. These ten artists (and albums they are nominated for) are:
The Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Austra – Feel it Break
Braids – Native Speaker
Timber Timbre – Creep on Creepin' on
Destroyer – Kaputt
Galaxie – Tigre et Diesel
Hey Rosetta! – Seeds
Ron Sexsmith – Long Player Late Bloomer
The Weeknd – House of Balloons
Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
Each of the nominees above will be awarded $2,000 for making the short list, and are still in the running for the $30,000 grand prize. I'm sad to see that Tim Hecker didn't make the short list but there are definitely some high quality acts still remaining. I will keep you posted once the winner is announced!
I leave you with a Braids video for their track "Plath Heart" from Native Speaker. Not sure if it's a fan video or an official video, but it is a cool one nonetheless.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RnfroBOgO0&feature=related[/youtube]
