A Look at the Polaris Long List: 28. Lindi Ortega – Little Red Boots

This is more purely ‘alt. country’ (whatever that amorphous term actually really means) than that Rose Cousins album I posted last night. I’m not really much of a country music fan but Lindi has a helluva voice. From my point of view Polaris jurors tend to get it confused and think a deserving Polaris Music Prize album winner has to be ‘progressive’ sounding or boundary breaking. I take the prize organizers at their word and think an album just has to sound insanely great. By that measure, while Little Red Boots might sound like a niche or genre record, I’d say it more than qualifies for serious consideration. Does that mean it will be a contender though? I’d say it’s tough to call. Ya dig that sampler above though? Then hit the jump for the full album via RDIO (snippets only for non-RDIO subscribers).

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A Look at the Polaris Long List: 23. Handsome Furs – Sound Kapital [possibly NSFW image?]

Got to give credit to the Handsome Furs for creating an album in Sound Kapital that is obviously in debt to the synth pop, new wave and alternative pop sounds of the mid-80s but that still manages to sound fresh and contemporary at the same time. Not sure I’d vote for it on my short list ballot but I was kind of digging this. Unfortunately, this husband and wife duo apparently just split up after six years just as their album was being awarded this accolade. Talk about poor timing!

Dig what you heard with those two tracks? Then hit the jump for an embed of the entire album for streaming via RDIO (preview snippets only for non-RDIO subscribers). And oh, I tagged this NSFW based on the album cover art above. Apparently, it riled someone down South of the border (my guess: the chief music buyer at Walmart) because the art on the RDIO embed has completely different art.

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A Look at the Polaris Long List: 24. Japandroids – Celebration Rock

Turn of the century MTV-friendly alternative rock as re-imagined by underground, garage rockers or something. True to the title, this sounded like feel-good, stadium-friendly anthem rock for the hipster, new indie rock set. Not my thing but I can’t argue that it’s not pretty well done. Extra points for keeping it short and sweet with just eight tracks. #lifestooshort

[streaming player via Exclaim!]

A Look at the Polaris Long List: 15. Rose Cousins – We Have Made A Spark

I’m not gonna claim country-tinged singer-songwriter music is my usual bag or area of expertise but I recognize good music when I hear it. Ground-breaking? Not really. Well done though? Absolutely. One thing I like about being on the Polaris jury is that it does force me to listen to music that I otherwise would not likely be exposed to. This was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. [note: the player above is a sampler featuring selections from Rose Cousins‘ We Have Made A Spark]

A Look at the Polaris Long List: 17. Drake – Take Care

I was still living in NY when Drake first began to break. In fact it was a former co-worker (shout to Nickel D.!) who first put me up on the music which I promptly posted on the earlier incarnation of this blog (no bandwagon jumping here, son!).

That being said, as he’s evolved into a legit global hip hop superstar, I have to concede I don’t actually love his music that much personally in full length-sized bites. I acknowledge that he’s extremely thoughtful about how he puts his projects together, they’re not just a couple radio singles packaged up with some filler tacks to make an album, but I’ve found all his albums tough to get through in a single sitting. The beats lack real hip-hop ‘knock’ and feel like aural wallpaper and not in a good way either. Drake has some clever lyrics (still think “the square root of 69 is ate-something…” from “What’s My Name” with Rihanna is actually f-cking genius!) and some interesting song ideas, but his flow gets monotonous and his singing is… passable at best to put it politely. I also don’t get the argument people often make that he changed the game or moved the needle as far as hip-hop music when I find his sound to be warmed over 808s and Heartbreak. I’m happy that Drake has become a hip-hop A-lister who still reps for Canada at all times without shame but on purely musical merits, I find myself deeply, deeply conflicted about Drake still.

I don’t think anyone who reads this site needs a stream of this album ‘cos they haven’t heard it yet (do they??) but here goes anyway: