Tanya Tagaq, BADBADNOTGOOD, and Feist are among the artists shortlisted for this year's prestigious Polaris Music Prize, which seeks to find the best Canadian album of the year.
The 40-strong longlist has been trimmed to just 10 records, and some heavyweights have fallen in the latest round of cuts, with the likes of Drake, Mac DeMarco, Carly Rae Jepsen, The Tragically Hip, The New Pornographers, and The Weeknd all missing out on a spot on the shortlist.
Kaytranada won the 2016 Polaris Music Prize.
The 2017 Polaris Music Prize Shortlist:
- A Tribe Called Red – We Are The Halluci Nation
- BADBADNOTGOOD – IV
- Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker
- Gord Downie – Secret Path
- Feist – Pleasure
- Lisa LeBlanc – Why You Wanna Leave, Runaway Queen?
- Lido Pimienta – La Papessa
- Tanya Tagaq – Retribution
- Leif Vollebekk – Twin Solitude
- Weaves – Weaves
A 201-member jury ("of music journalists, broadcasters and music bloggers from across Canada") has whittled the list down from an initial 188 titles. One final winner is awarded the Polaris Music Prize on 18 September at The Carlu in Toronto.
The eventual winner gets $50,000 and the coveted Canadian Album Of The Year award. The remaning nine members of the shortlist receive $3,000 courtesy of Slaight Music.
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