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We have ALL waited a long while for this to come out- 365 days to be exact! It has finally arrived: the Polaris Music Prize short list announcement! It seems that the jurors have followed the lead from last year and provided us with a healthy list that covers all genres and styles of music. We covered this last year and found that everyone was shocked by Fucked Up! taking home the cash prize. While we don’t know who will take home the grand prize of $20,000 this year, we do know that there is some amazing talent to choose from.

Without fruther ado, iheartthemusic brings to you the 2010 Polaris Music 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

What are your thoughts on this year’s list?

Canadians are talented people. Yes, I may be somewhat bias saying this, however having travelled quite extensively in my lifetime I can assure you that we aren’t the only people that think this. Ask anyone in the world and they will tell you that we excel in many areas (citing hockey legend Wayne Gretzky as a notable figure). One area that I believe we are particularly adept to “excelling” in is in the music department. Oftentimes it is the heavy hitters such as Celine Dion that have music fans from around the world stirring, however there is another group that appear to be creating quite a buzz south of the boarder recently. Great Lake Swimmers are not a new band, but it is their fourth album, Lost Channels, that have garnered them the most attention on the international circuit. Having recently returned from a plethora of tour dates around the world, the boys are finally coming home to bring the tunes back to (eager) Canadian ears! In anticipation of their sold out show this Saturday at Trinity St.Paul’s Church, iheartthemusic caught up with Tony Dekker and Erik Arnesen of Great Lake Swimmers where they shared with us just a little bit of the inspiration behind their Polaris Music Prize nominated album Lost Channels.

iheartthemusic: You guys recorded this album in a rather unique setting. Can you explain what that was like?

Tony: We recorded on location, most of it in the Thousand Islands where we were able to really get into some unique spaces. There was a castle just over the border on the American side called “Singer Castle” which sits on Dark Island; which is the kind of thing that sounds like it could be fiction but its not, it is real. There was a number of other locations too like a church and a place in Brockville, Ontario called The Brockville Arts Centre which is a theatre that has been maintained by the community for over a hundred years and been beautifully restored.

iheartthemusic: That’s amazing! How did you hear about this place?

Tony: The offer came in from a friend of ours who is sort of a story collector and a photographer in the region. He was the one that invited us to come and check it out. When it came time to record the album, I brainstormed to try and find different locations that would be suitable for us to record and that place just seemed perfect. It [location] has become a really big part of the creative process for us I think. I mean, to be in these places that are charged with the kind of energy that draws your best possible performance, it is really important for us. This one [Thousand Islands] in particular was special because to be in that area and be really inspired meant digging deep-creatively.

Erik: Part of the adventure is getting there too, and figuring out how to work in the space.

iheartthemusic: Were there any sounds that were incorporated into the album that came from your surroundings?

Tony: No, we don’t have any bizarre noises on the album. We are pretty straight up.

Erik: We recorded the bells in the castle.

Tony: That’s true.

Erik: That was kind of just a happy accident. Those bells almost interrupted our recording process and then we decided on our last day to document them and then use it in the record.

If you weren’t lucky enough to get your tickets to this one, don’t worry the boys will be back and hopefully with a new album in hand!

photography provided by Sara Collaton

When you think of Newfoundland, specific things come to mind: fishing, the sea, fish, water…you get the idea. What normally doesn’t come to mind is music (sorry Great Big Sea lovers). This is all changing however, as there appears to be such an influx of amazing acts coming out of the east coast these days, that that stigma is rapidly evolving. This is where Hey Rosetta! step in. Hey Rosetta! are a six-piece hailing from St. John’s, Newfoundland who have been able to break out of their small hometown and make it big time all over Canada. With the release of their 2007 EP Plan Your Escape, these friends were followed with eager ears as they toured and tried to make a name for themselves in the “big city”. Well they certainly made an impact during that time and have since released their full length album Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your ) which saw them grab three East Coast Music Awards, album of the year at The Verge Music Awards and most recently a Polaris Music Prize nomination (for the second time). It appears as though there is no stopping this group and we got the chance to speak with lead vocalist Tim Baker to hear how they handle this new found fame.

iheartthemusic: You guys have had a tremendous year so far, including being nominated again for the Polaris Prize. What was your reaction to hearing you had been recognized?

Tim: I was certainly expecting not to win it given the competition. I mean I didn’t think we really deserved to win. I don’t know much about the Fucked Up record so I can’t really comment on that, but I wasn’t really particularly surprised hearing what I’ve heard about the record and how forward thinking and new and groundbreaking it is. Polaris seems to be in the business of awarding that, which I think is great.

iheartthemusic: How did it feel to win Album of the Year last year at The Verge Awards and what has that money done for you as a band?

Tim: It was great and very surprising. A pleasant shock and it has done a lot. The money itself took us to Australia on tour and we got a trailer that we can stash our gear in. It certainly didn’t take long to spend all that money but it was extremely helpful. The publicity of it has just given the record sort of a second life, which I think is extremely helpful. This is what these awards are about really. Also, just being rewarded for work was excellent.

iheartthemusic: What I found interesting to hear is that you don’t actually listen to music yourself. Can you give us the lowdown on that statement?

Tim: It is a bit of an overstatement. I mean I listen to music, but I’ve never really been an avid music listener and I never really went to shows. I saw maybe three or four bands play in my life before I started this [Hey Rosetta!]. I grew up in St.John’s and I didn’t hang out with people who were into music. I was the only musician in our group of friends. It was just something I did because I liked it and was also skilled as a piano player. I don’t know how to play anyone else’s songs, I mean the simple ones I could learn but I enjoy making stuff up.

iheartthemusic: This album was the first time that you didn’t take recording to the bedroom- literally! How was that?

Tim: This album was recorded in The Sonic Temple; a really nice recording studio in Halifax. It was a great experience. A little rushed though as it took only two weeks. There are a lot of tracks on thealbum so it was kind of stressful, but we tried to keep calm and confident.

iheartthemusic: Well clearly it payed off!

Tim: Apparently two weeks was enough time then! [laughs]

Hey Rosetta! play two sold out shows at the Horseshoe this weekend; Friday, December 4th and 5th w/ Julie Fader and La Strada

photography provided by Sara Collaton

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