A Look at the Polaris Long List: 8. Blackie and the Rodeo Kings – Kings and Queens

This roots/country ‘super-group’ project features guest appearances by Emmylou Harris, Roseanne Cash, Lucinda Williams, Mary Margaret O’Hara and more (?) perplexing Exene Cervenka (of legendary LA punk band, X), Patty Scialfa (aka Bruce Springsteen‘s fellow band-mate and wife) and jazz singers, Cassandra Wilson and Holly Cole.

Every time I hear a ‘critically-acclaimed’ country album, I hope it will be one referencing the more vintage/traditional country sound in the same way Amy Winehouse and Sharon Jones reference vintage soul music sounds in their music, but (a few songs near the end excepted), this sounded like slightly better-than-average contemporary, mainstream, country radio fare to my ears, which leaves me cold for the most part. Kind of a let-down considering the pedigree and wattage of the star power involved in this project. Disappointing….

A Look at the Polaris Long List: 1. A Tribe Called Red – A Tribe Called Red

Once again it’s that time of the year. The Polaris Music Prize Long list was just announced last week and I did pretty well: 3 of my 5 picks made the cut which ain’t bad although I still feel like the Saukrates album, which didn’t make it, has been getting short shrift from his fans and the public at large.

As a member of the Polaris Music Prize jury who wants to do the right thing, now that these 40 artists have been deemed worthy by a panel of over 200 music writers and critics, I am going to listen to every album on the list at least once and will attempt to chronicle that journey here on the blog just like I did last year. Don’t expect full reviews though, work and life issues won’t allow it so unless an album really, really moves me positively (or negatively), a brief summation of what it sounds like and if I am f-cking with it or not is about all you’re gonna get. Also don’t necessarily expect me to go in alphabetical order either, I may skip around depending on where my whims carry me although I will start with first album on the list just to kick off in a somewhat orderly fashion.

Wanna hear me expound more at length on the long list though? Come check me sitting on the panel of this month’s edition of the Polaris Music Prize salon at The Drake tasked with discussing the 2012 long list picks. Should be lively!

As for A Tribe Called Red‘s self-titled album, when I first heard their mix of Native American beats and hipster EDM club-style beats, my first thought was that well known Dj and world music connoisseur (some have less kindly described his world musical passions as ‘culture vulturism’), Diplo would probably love this. My insticts were correct. Truthfully though, I love this album more as a concept than I do as an actual listening experience. It’s probably something that is either best heard in smaller 12″ inch or EP-sized doses or heard live in a club environment than as a full length album because after a few tracks it started to sound a bit samey to my ears or I started to get a little fatigued.

That being said, I can’t deny that, compared to the reams of indie roots rock and singer songwriter fare that tends to light up the Polaris jury panel’s hearts, the A Tribe Called Red album is something relatively fresh and unheard and there are a lot of folk in the Polaris ranks who really dig it so I wouldn’t be surprised to see it make the short list in a couple weeks. Also, the other day I was posting this shocking story of police brutality on my tumblr and the track “Woodcarver” (above) came on. The parallels in the stories are quite shocking making the timing obviously very apropos. Definitely a powerfully, affecting track either way though.

The A Tribe Called Red album is FREE for download via the widget above and worth surrendering your email to Topspin though to investigate further. If you do, drop a note below and let me know what you think!

My 2012 Polaris Music Prize Ballot

#1 = The Slakadeliqs – The Other Side of Tomorrow
#2 = Saukrates – Season One
#3 = Azari & III – Azari & III
#4 = Cold Specks – I Predict A Graceful Expulsion
#5 = Melanie Fiona – The MF Life

I’m predicting, at best, that only two of my picks (Cold Specks and maybe Azari & III) will make the long list. I was conflicted like a muh’ about whether to vote for Drake‘s Take Care album. I’d be gutted if he didn’t make the long list because it would just look bad for the Polaris IMHO but truthfully, there were just other albums (see above) that I happened to love more and felt could benefit from the shine more. If Drake loses, I doubt he’ll even notice over the drone of his private G4 at 32,000 feet!

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Next Tuesday (Mar. 6) in Toronto: Polaris Prize Record Salon for The Slakadeliqs – The Other Side of Tomorrow

I’ve said it before, The Other Side of Tomorrow is one of my favorite albums so far this year and will definitely be on my year-end best albums list and should be a strong contender for the Polaris Prize this year if the jury could take off their indie rock/singer-songwriter blinkers for five seconds. Hopefully this Record Salon next Tuesday can help with that process:

ClarityOne Earbuds presents a Record Salon for The Slakadeliq‘s “The Other Side of Tomorrow” featuring a live interview and album listening session hosted by David Dacks (Exclaim) w/ Slakah the Beatchild & Mike Olsen from the band. This is a FREE EVENT!

CLICK HERE for more details….

I think Slakah The Beatchild is kind of a genius and a little bit under-appreciated here in his hometown of Toronto. This Record Salon is hopefully the beginning of the end of that. The Other Side of Tomorrow, as I’ve said before, is a fantastic piece of work. If you haven’t heard it yet, I’m posting it again because it deserves it. Play on and let me know what you think:

This Wednesday in Toronto: Polaris Music Prize Record Salon #12 – the Hip-Hop Panel

At The Drake Hotel in Toronto:

Polaris jurors who love and cover hip-hop will gather for Polaris Record Salon #12, December 14 in Toronto. Your panelists are Ty Harper (City on My Back), Anupa Mistry (freelance journalist), Dave Morris (freelance journalist) and Thomas Quinlan (Urbnet), moderated by Spinner Canada’s Josh Ostroff. They will present their fave hip-hop recordings released so far this year eligible for 2012’s Polaris Prize. We’ll play some tracks plus discuss the state of the genre in Canada. Do they think Drake is a shoo-in or a shut-out? Come find out! As always, cool prizes from our sponsor ClairityOne Earbuds. And did we mention it’s free?!

Wednesday, December 14

Polaris Music Prize Record Salon #12: Hip-Hop Panel
Drake Underground
1150 Queen Street West,
Toronto, ON M6J1J3

FREE EVENT!!!

Doors at 7:30 (runs ’til 10:30pm)

If you claim to love Canadian hip-hop, want to help this country’s hip hop industry infrastructure grow and live in the GTA, you need to be at this!!!!

CLICK HERE for more details via the Facebook event page.

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