A Look at the Polaris Long List: 11. Cannon Bros – Firecracker​/​Cloudglow

This album was, to my ears, a blend of the folk-y indie sound that, as a genre, seems to dominate the Polaris list year after year but mixed with power pop (by way of oddly, New Order maybe??) which, by Polaris standards, actually rates as making this progressive, relatively speaking. As you can probably guess if you’ve been reading my reviews, just by dint of being a decent but not exceptional execution of that sound, this didn’t rate high in contention for me when I was figuring out my short list ballot picks although some tracks did appeal (like “Plan Rock”, “Glow” and “Just Anybody” to name just some).

A Look at the Polaris Long List: 2. Marie-Pierre Arthur – Aux alentours

Another Francophone album. Competently executed but exciting only in parts. I’d say check out the album and decide for yourself but homegirl (or her label) decided to only post two tracks from the album on her music store page (powered by bandcamp which absolutely allows you to stream an entire album). Who the f-ck does that in 2012??!

Of course, she has like ten gazillion options on how to buy the album there but if you actually like want to check out what you’re buying beforehand, heaven forbid and the standout tracks to me (like “All Right”, “Encore là”, “Chanson Pour Dan” and “Pour Une Fois”) are not either of those two tracks! Bone-headed decisions like that actually turn me off artists who I might actually like. Social music marketing #FAIL! Get your promo game up, girl!

A Look at the Polaris Long List: 32. PS I Love You – Death Dreams

This isn’t my usual bag and acts that are usually media buzz darlings like Kingston, ON duo, PS I Love you (they were simultaneous cover stars for NOW and Exclaim! magazines a couple months back) generally don’t score high with me, but you know what? Death Dreams was f-cking fantastic. Love singer/guitarist, Paul Saulnier‘s off-kilter vocal style and anyone who has a track called “Toronto” and can brazenly rip off the drum track from the Rolling Stones‘ iconic track, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and actually do something that sounds fresh and new with it (on “Don’t Go”, also above) deserves maximum props in my book. Salute! Hit the jump to hear the entire excellent Death Dreams album via the group’s bandcamp page.

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A Look at the Polaris Long List: 34. Shooting Guns – Born To Deal In Magic: 1952-1976

I was actually really digging the dirty instrumental rock sound of Shooting Guns‘ Born To Deal In Magic: 1952-1976 album a lot. My (semi-)contemporary rock references might not always be on point but my best guess is, if you dig Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Jesus and Mary Chain, or Spiritualized, you might could wanna check this out. I didn’t vote for this on my short list but I wouldn’t be mad if it made the cut. Solid!

A Look at the Polaris Long List: 31. Joel Plaskett Emergency – Scrappy Happiness

I have it on good advice that Joel Plaskett Emergency is a staple of Canadian sub-genre of rock known as dock rock (is having a song titled “Harbour Boys” an acknowledgement of this fact, I wonder??). At various points Scrappy Happiness reminded me of J. Geils Band, Tom Petty, a mellow version of Everclear and (I’m being extremely charitable here) Nick Lowe. It had it’s moments and was well-produced but overall, this wasn’t really my bag. Stream every track from the album on Joel’s site here or make it easy for yourself and subscribe to RDIO and check it out in one easy-to-use player below: