game time

The World Cup is over and the NHL's regular season doesn't get underway until the end of September. For those of us starved of competition and (mostly) apathetic about sports, pop-culture lists and rankings are soothing supplement for the ego. Most of the time these lists don't amount to much; there are no medals or ribbons or bouquets the getting top spot; but every so often, a list emerges where there's actually something at stake. Yes, I'm talking about the Polaris Prize (winner announced September 20) and the Mercury Prize (winner announced September 7) short lists.

It's time, I think, for some speculation.

The Polaris Prize shortlist:
The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night
Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
Caribou - Swim
Karkwa - Les Chemins de Verre
Dan Mangan - Nice, Nice, Very Nice
Owen Pallett - Heartland
Radio Radio - Belmundo Regal
The Sadies - Darker Circles
Shad - TSOL
Tegan and Sara - Sainthood

Who am I rooting for here? Well, the only albums I've really concentrated on here are Owen Pallet's Heartland, Caribou's Swim, and a bit of Broken Social Scene's Forgiveness Rock Record. I've liked what I've heard from Karkwa and was moderately pleased with The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night (it's not quite up their with ...Are The Dark Horse). Both Pallet and Caribou's Snaith have already picked up this award, so I'd have to go with Karkwa, or Dan Mangan because of all the Kurt Vonnegut quotes in his liner notes. But I expect this to go to Broken Social Scene and I sort of hope it doesn't.


The Mercury Prize shortlist:
The xx - xx
Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
Foals - Total Life Forever
Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can
Corinne Bailey Rae - The Sea
I Am Kloot - Sky At Night
Paul Weller - Wake Up The Nation
Dizzee Rascal - Tongue N' Cheek
Kit Downes Trio - Golden
Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions
Villagers - Becoming A Jackal

Obviously, I'm rooting for Wild Beasts. Two Dancers was my favourite album of 2009 and I think they're the most interesting act on this list. However, it'll be a shocker if The xx fail to take it. I enjoyed their debut as well, but thought it a bit overhyped. I've recently become a fan of the artist least likely to win (Villagers) and had an opportunity to review Becoming a Jackal for Stylus. It's been getting mixed reviews but I think it deserves it's place on the list. I'll be posting my review here in the near future.
I'm sure there'll be more speculation to come. I love sports.


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Finally, to all who've been intrigued by my excessive posting about Menomena's new album, Mines, but for some reason or another have not been able to hear it, you have a limited opportunity to stream the album in its entirity from NPR. No piracy-related guilt - just pure awesome.

For some odd reason I've joined a curling team. Our first practice is tonight. Only one of my teammates has curled before. But I do have a pretty wicked collection of sweaters that I'll be showing off every game. I've never really understood why some people have such a deep love for curling, but I've been told that our rink has a very affordable bar. You can drink beer while you huck rocks down the ice at other rocks. I also recently discovered that you can drink beer while you play golf. It was a revelation. What most of us consider boring, lazy sports (usually involving middle-aged white men) often involve alcohol consumption (not simply after the game, but during!). This is slowly starting to make sense.

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Lately, I've started reading the theologian Paul J. Griffiths' blog, which is updated with suprising regularity. His reflections may be brief but they're never short on insight. Griffiths is the Warren Chair of Catholic Theology at Duke. I became aware of him when he gave the 2005 J.J. Theissen lectures at CMU. Later published by CMU Press, The Vice of Curiosity: An Essay on Intellectual Appetite remains the best lecture series I've attended, not to mention the strongest book of theology CMU Press has published. A staunch Augustinian, Griffiths, in a recent post, approaches the current debate in American politics over universal access to healthcare in this way:

Faced, then, with a proposal to reform healthcare in the USA, you will advocate what you advocate and oppose what you oppose not because of calculations about outcome, but because of beauty. On this ground, everything is clear: access to healthcare is a right, a condition for human flourishing; a system that makes access contingent upon features extraneous to being human — such as having paid work — is ugly. Attempts to redress the ugliness by insurance compound it: insurance is part of the ugliness, not part of the beauty. The proper solution, the one to advocate with passion, is universal free access. That is the starting point.

Well put. I'd like to see Obama try using this argument.

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So Chad VanGaalen didn't win the Polaris Prize. Well, it's likely he'll be nominated again for his next album so I'm not too torn up about it. Instead Fucked Up, a harcore-punk band from Toronto walked away with $20000. They've said they'll be donating the money to a charity that spreads awareness about missing aboriginal women. Read more.

the modern prometheus

The Immanent Frame has just posted an interview with Terry Eagleton.

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Music critic Carl Wilson weighs in on the Polaris Prize and the Canadian music scene more generally.

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Everybody seems to be going ape-shit over Wednesday's announcement of a Pavement reunion, but I almost feel a bit disappointed. They're probably my favourite band, but I'm just so sick of reunion tours that its been difficult to celebrate. I've always thought Malkmus wouldn't fall into that trap, but the band's status (much like the Pixies, who reunited back in 2004 and, in contrast, toured through cities as neglected as Winnipeg) has ballooned since indie culture carved out a mainstream niche. The Pixies milked their recent surge in popularity, so why not Pavement?

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I'm currently reading Mary Shelly's Frankenstein for an honours course in Victorian literature and trying to decide whether to focus on Renaissance or Victorian literature as I prepare to apply for graduate studies in English. Decisions, decisions.

go chad go!

More incredible goodies from the man who doesn't quit:

• interview excerpt in which we discuss the Polaris Prize
• free downloadable EP of b-sides from 2008's Soft Airplane (!)
• new music video for "Metal Spiderwebs" from his newly released instrumental side project, Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz, from his electronic alter-ego, Black Mold

Black Mold: Metal Spiderwebs from Flemish Eye on Vimeo.

why Chad VanGaalen should win the Polaris Prize

Today I got to talk to one of my favourite musicians. The interview is scheduled to appear in the next issue of Stylus, which should be out in the coming month. Here's the intro/teaser:

Chad VanGaalen may be many things to many people, but one thing is certain: he embodies the do-it-yourself aesthetic at nearly every level. From self-production and designing his album artwork to building instruments and animating his own music videos, it’s difficult to think of something that VanGaalen isn’t good at. Now after three diverse albums of homespun folk rock, the Polaris Prize nominated Albertan has released his electronic side project, Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz, under the moniker Black Mold (on the Calgary-based label Flemish Eye). Stylus caught up with Chad VanGaalen to discuss his musical alter-ego, his artwork, and why it's unlikely that he'll be invited back to perform at the Winnipeg Folk Festival any time soon.

Intrigued? Of course you are. Who get's banned from Folk Fest? Well, you'll have to wait and see. All I'm going to say for now is that it has something to do with "corpse porn."

We also spent five or so minutes discussing the Polaris Prize, for which Chad's third album, 2008's Soft Airplane, is nominated. Now, I realize pretty biased, but I do not see how any of the other nominees (save Fucked Up's The Chemistry of Common Life) should even stand a chance against such a strong, engrossing album from an artist who is (arguably) Canada's best and most original young songwriter. Chad was also nominated for 2006's Skelliconnection, which should have won instead of Patrick Watson's crappy Close To Paradise. Besides, Mr. VanGaalen has also produced one of last year's best records (Women's self-titled debut) and is at work recording their follow up.

Best of all, I recently discovered that Chad VanGaalen was once a guest on David Letterman, but not as a musician. His performance here fits into a segment called "Stupid Human Tricks." Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until 2:34 in the clip until he appears, but, trust me, it's worth it.

The Polaris Prize long-list has just been posted. Could this be Chad VanGaalen's year?