2015 Polaris Music Prize Long List

Polaris Music Prize recently released its Long List - a list of 40 albums contending for the title of best Canadian full-length album. The Long List is compiled by a panel of jurors, and after some promotion and further scrutinizing, is reduced to ten titles before the winner is announced.  

Not-for-profit Polaris Music Prize celebrates Canadian recorded music, and recognizes the creativity and diversity characteristic to Canadian music. Included titles in the list are determined with no regard to musical genre, and are chosen by a jury of selected music critics. 

Last year's winner was Inuk singer Tanya Tagaq for her album Animism. Previous winners also include Feist for Metals, and Patrick Watson for Close to Paradise. Stay tuned for when the 10 album Short List is announced on July 16 here in Toronto. 

Unfortunately, TPL hasn't yet acquired all of the Long List nominees. Below is the complete list with links to the albums in our collection. 

Absolutely Free – Absolutely Free
The Acorn – Vieux Loup
Lydia Ainsworth – Right from Real
Alvvays – Alvvays
Arkells – High Noon
Rich Aucoin – Ephemeral
BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah – Sour Soul
Bahamas – Bahamas Is Afie
The Barr Brothers – Sleeping Operator
Braids – Deep In The Iris
Steph Cameron – Sad-Eyed Lonesome Lady
Caribou – Our Love
Jazz Cartier – Marauding In Paradise
Jennifer Castle – Pink City
Cold Specks – Neuroplasticity
Louis-Jean Cormier – Les grandes artères
Death From Above 1979 – The Physical World
Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
Frazey Ford – Indian Ocean
Tobias Jesso Jr. – Goon
BA Johnston – Shit Sucks
Pierre Kwenders – Le dernier empereur Bantou
Lee Harvey Osmond – Beautiful Scars
Jean Leloup – À Paradis City
METZ – II
Milk & Bone – Little Mourning
Tre Mission – Stigmata
The New Pornographers – Brill Bruisers
Joel Plaskett – The Park Avenue Sobriety Test
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Power in The Blood
Elizabeth Shepherd – The Signal
Siskiyou – Nervous
Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld – Never were the way she was
Various Artists – Native North America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, And Country 1966–1985
Viet Cong – Viet Cong
Patrick Watson – Love Songs For Robots
The Weather Station – Loyalty
White Lung – Deep Fantasy
Whitehorse – Leave No Bridge Unburned
Young Guv – Ripe 4 Luv

TPL can be your one-stop destination for checking out and discovering new, great local artists! 

New Musical Additions at TPL

Toronto Public Library's music collection is always growing, including what you can find at a branch near you. Below are albums that were recently added to our collection by artists that are taking part in this summer's music festival circuit. By the time you read this our CD collection will already have grown; keep an eye out for New CDs on our website!

 

Full length electronic albums are few and far between, but not for U.K. dance duo Above & Beyond. We Are All We Need is their fourth studio album, and brings some pop-friendly trance to TPL. The tracks are ambient and layered, but still maintain that driving beat characteristic to trance music. Catch Above & Beyond this summer at Veld.  

 

 

Just Enough Hip to Be Woman is Oklahoma trio Broncho's sophomore release. Combining punk and garage rock, Broncho's second album brings lots of giddiness and punch. Check it out for fun anthems and introspective ballads. Broncho can be seen this summer at music and arts festival WayHome.

 

 

New Zealand sibling duo Broods bring some much needed synth-electropop to our catalogue! Their debut album Evergreen (following the release of their self-titled EP) is lush, dark, and dreamy. Even with sparse instrumentation, it still accomplishes depths and layers. Broods can be seen this summer at WayHome. 

 

 

New Eyes is the debut album from U.K. group Clean Bandit. The album marries classical, pop, and electronic in dreamy tracks with the right amount of push. This is best exemplified in "Mozart's House", a fun track with parts of Mozart's "String Quartet No. 21" soaring above an infectious beat, cleverly layered with rap from Love Ssega. Check out Clean Bandit on Toronto Island at Bestival! 

 

 

In Colour is Jamie xx's first full-length solo album. Incorporating genres from trip-hop to house, to dubstep, to R&B, it's a masterpiece not to be missed. Jamie xx (of The xx) brings us an anthemic and simultaneously intimate record. In Colour is an ode to the dance culture of decades past. The album wanders through hypnotic, spacey, and sometimes quiet tracks. Although seemingly low-key, In Colour is personal and engaging. Catch Jamie xx at Bestival. 

Stay tuned for more new additions to TPL! Did you know the Toronto Public Library can be your one-stop destination for discovering local artists? Check out TPL's Local Music Collection and keep an eye out for upcoming Make Some Noise events.