Sunday, July 15, 2007

My first show back after spending the better part of a month in Edinburgh, Scotland visiting some old friends. This week marks the start of the new and longer summer edition of Carload of Whatever, now airing Sunday afternoons from 3:30 to 5 PST. This gives me an extra half hour to play some stuff I usually don't have the time for, and to play some longer tracks that you wouldn't normally hear on the radio. For those looking for the sweet summer sounds of Gumdrops and Lollipops you'll have to wait until Tuesday nights from 10:30 to Midnight where Andrea now resides for the summer months.

This week on the show I just caught up a bit with all the new releases I missed while I was overseas. I did quite an extensive section profiling the Polaris Music Prize, now into its second year of existence. For those unfamiliar it is a $20,000 cash prize for a full-length Canadian record, judged solely on artistic merit, without regard to genre or record sales. I'm not sure exactly how one decides which Canadian record has the most artistic merit, but none-the-less it is an interesting award and one worth talking about. Just announced, the 2007 shortlist nominees are:

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse
The Dears - Gang of Losers
Julie Doiron - Woke Myself Up
Feist - The Reminder
Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye
Miracle Fortress - Five Roses
Joel Plaskett Emergency - Ashtray Rock
Chad Vangaalen - Skelliconnection
Patrick Watson - Close to Paradise

As I said on the show the short list this year is a little less eclectic than 2006 and even kind of boring. This opinion seems to be the general consensus of the Canadian music scene, but working with what is here, I would predict that the Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye is going to win the 2007 Polaris Music Prize. I'm not even the biggest fan of the record and it is by far not my favorite of the past year, but given this list and the criteria of the prize, I think that the Junior Boys will take it. That being said, I really hope Miracle Fortress - Five Roses wins. It was quite a surprise to me when I saw it on the short list and I think it is wholly deserving of the prize. We'll just have to wait until September 24 when the winner is announced. I would be interested to hear what others think about the prize in general and this year's shortlist.

Here is the playlist from this week:

Artist - Album - Song
1. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? - Pick Up Sticks - One Last Final Push
2. Handsome Furs - Plague Park - What We Had
3. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
4. Raising The Fawn - Sleight of Hand - River of Gold
5. The Cinematic Orchestra - Ma Fleur - Ma Fleur
6. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (Deluxe) - Silver Rocket (Live!!!)
7. SomeYoungPedro - S/T - Steve Jones
8. Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings - Trippy Green Skull
9. Fridge - The Sun - Clocks
10. Caribou - Melody Day (Single) - Melody Day
11. Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye - In The Morning
12. Yesterday's New Quintet - Yesterday's Universe - Bitches Brew
13. Koushik - Now-Again Re: Sounds Vol 1 - Cold Beats (featuring Percee P)