We can all stop wondering who will win this year’s Polaris Music Prize, awarded to the top Canadian album of the year. It has been announced today that Dundas, Ontario native, Dan Snaith, known to most as Caribou, has won the 2008 Polaris Music Prize, and the 20,000 big ones that go along with it. Readers of newspapers all over Canada will now know the name of Caribou, and hopefully most will go out and buy his excellent, now award-winning album, Andorra. I have been a fan of Caribou for awhile, falling firstly in love with his The Milk of Human Kindness album, and then falling in love with the rest of his music, including his work under his first moniker, Manitoba. I was lucky enough to see him in concert a few years back, opening for the Super Furry Animals in Montreal, and was blown away by his performance. It comes as a little bit of surprise to me that he won, not because his album isn’t great, but because of how many good artists he was up against. Personally, I thought the award would go to Plants & Animals, whose debut album, Parc Avenue, has been on repeat for me for some time now. Deep down I wanted the award to go to Oh, My Darling Basia Bulat, who I saw in concert last week in NYC, or Stars, who I also saw play in NYC last week. Both shows were amazing, and both of their albums were deserving of this Prize. But as we know, not everybody can win, and Andorra is a beautiful album, definately deserving of this prize. I hope this will bring Caribou all the fame he deserves. If you don’t already listen to Caribou, you should probably get on that.

Here’s what they’ve been saying:

Pitchfork

The Globe and Mail

The Montreal Gazette

Exclaim!

The Toronto Star

The National Post

The Guardian UK

And in case you don’t know…this is what Caribou sounds like:

“Melody Day” (from Andorra)

And here’s an oldie but a goodie:

Caribou - Yeti (from The Milk of Human Kindness)

Until next week…

-The Middle Distance Runner

Good Day Yellow Birds,

The Polaris Music Prize list of nominees has been rounded down to 10 finalists! I don’t know why I get so excited about this Prize but I really love it. I guess it’s like the Oscars, but for Canadian music. In case you didn’t know, the Polaris Music Prize is awarded annually to the best Canadian album, based purely on artistic merit, and not taking into account album sales or radio play. The winner is awarded 20,000 Canadian dollars. This is the third year of the award. The first one went to Final Fantasy’s He Poos Clouds and last year’s prize went to Patrick Watson’s (or as i call him, P-Wat) Close to Paradise. Two great albums if you ask me. This year, the long list, which contained the likes of Tegan & Sara, Born Ruffians, Islands, the New Pornographers, Hayden and the Acorn, has been rounded down to a list of just 10. There is now only one yellow bird artist remaining in the running!

The nominees for outstanding performance in the land of snow and ice are:

Black Mountain - In The Future (Vancouver, BC)
http://www.myspace.com/blackmountain

Basia Bulat - Oh, My Darling (London, ON)
http://www.myspace.com/basiamyspace

Caribou - Andorra (Dundas, ON)
http://www.myspace.com/cariboumanitoba

Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers (Ottawa, ON)
http://www.myspace.com/kathleenedwards

Holy Fuck - LP (Toronto, ON)
http://www.myspace.com/holyfuck

Plants and Animals - Parc Avenue (Montreal, QC)
http://www.myspace.com/plantsandanimals

Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War (Montreal, QC)
http://www.myspace.com/stars

Shad - The Old Prince (London, ON)
http://www.myspace.com/shad

Two Hours Traffic - Little Jabs (Charlottetown, PE)
http://www.myspace.com/twohourstraffic

The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour (Winnipeg, MB)
http://www.myspace.com/theweakerthans

I’m rooting for Basia, Plants & Animals, Caribou or Stars. Who do you think is gonna take it?

On a side note…

Have you seen what Devendra Banhart and Natalie Portman (or as I call them Natavendra) have been up to?

Wild!

Untill next week…

-The Middle Distance Runner

Who doesn’t love a soft female vocalist singing along with the sweet sounds of an acoustic guitar, piano, or in some cases, a harp. If you’re anything like me, there’s nothing sweeter than the sound of a talented female artist doing her thing. Artists that we know and love, like Joanna Newsom, My Brightest Diamond, Feist and Regina Spektor (to name a few) and artists that aren’t so well known like the one’s I’m about to name. This is a tribute to some up and coming female artists that I think we will be hearing a lot more from in the coming years.

Laura Marling

At the mere age of 18, Marling has created quite a stir not only in her Eversley, England hometown, but across the pond, here in North America. I was lucky enough to see her open for Adam Green last month in New York City, and even though many people didn’t know who she was, the performance was great, and I’m sure it got whoever was at the show talking about her. She has a whole bunch of shows coming up this summer, mostly in the UK with 2 more stops in New York City next week.

Check out all of her dates here.

And here is her video for the song “Ghosts” which is off of her debut album Alas I Cannot Swim:

Birdie Busch

This is a new discovery of mine, recommended to me by my friend Jeremy of good musical taste. There isn’t a lot about her out there on the internet (just yet) but I think she has a nice sound, and could be big one day. She has already released 2 full length albums, and I think she may have a third in the works.

Here is a sample track and the best quality video I could find for you, the song is called “Mystical” and the video is called “Go Go Gadget Heart”, both songs off of her latest release, Penny Arcade :

Birdie Busch - Mystical

Basia Bulat

The first I heard of Basia Bulat was at the inaugural Osheaga Festival in 2006 in Montreal. Unfortunately, I just stopped for a few minutes on my way to see Final Fantasy play so i didn’t really get to enjoy her set. If I knew that I would like her as much as I do today I would have definitely made a point of watching her entire set. Along with acoustic guitar Basia also plays the autoharp regularly at all of her shows. And best of all, she is Canadian!

This is a video of her performing “Snakes and Ladders” from her latest release Oh, My Darling, live in Brussels

Holly Throsby

My last up and coming solo female artist is the amazingly talented Holly Throsby, who has gained significant popularity in her hometown of Sydney, Australia and is continuing to gain popularity around the world. She has toured with the likes of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Joanna Newsom and YBP’s first official artist, Devendra Banhart. She has already given us two amazing albums and the third will hit shelves on July 12 entitled “A Loud Call”

Here is Holly performing the song “Spare-Ohs” along with violin/whistler extraordinaire Andrew Bird:

And finally, here is a little taste of Holly’s new album A Loud Call. The song is called “A Heart Divided”:

So, readers, you have some homework to do…check out these artists and then go to their shows!

Until next week…

-The Middle Distance Runner