Did the Polaris Music Jury Blunder With the Vote?
Excuse the language but just how fucked up is it having The Chemistry Of Common Life by Fucked Up named best Canadian album of the past year? I’ve listened to this indie band online and on stage and I’ll admit they offer an intriguing mix of sounds, but the best of the best in the past year?
The Polaris oversight committee needs to look long and hard at the track record of past winners, and review the voting process. If it is about helping an act gain traction and popularity, the winners’ circle so far has had questionable success. Picking an act that is guaranteed no mainstream media acceptance is sheer lunacy. Heck, even Fucked Up was completely fucking surprised when it’s name was called out at the Concert Hall on Monday night.
I would argue that the jury system as it stands is completely out of sync with the mainstream norm, not that the mainstream is what the Polaris Music Prize is all about – but in choosing Fucked Up begs the question, just how fucked up is the Polaris Music Prize?
After the hubbub of award show headlines it is almost certain that another Polaris winner will drift off into the nebula, caught between cult worship and obscurity. This is a high-priced event with a low-budget prize and questionable marketing firepower. In short, no one cares in the larger scheme of things. It’s just another award show, and one without the clout that the Junos have or the unbridled fan enthusiasm that the U-Knows once enjoyed. This is an award show that is all about the vertical, all about the niche, all about itself.
I can honestly say I loath Nickelback, but the evidence of the band’s success is clear and unequivocal and so when the band gets to go up on stage and accept a Juno Award, I can at least understand why the band is a winner. Fucked Up’s success, hard-earned and commendable as it is, is limited…and will forever remain so. The name handcuffs them to a marketing plan that is all snickers and snores.
At the very least, the jury that handed The Chemistry Of Common Life the best Canadian album of the year award needs to explain itself. The Junos and the Grammys may be predictable but at least one can’t fault the system. One understands how the acts get to be in the winners’ circle. One has no clue how or why the Polaris jury voted The Chemistry Of Common Life in as the best of the best. I’m sure many of us would like to know.
On the upside, hat’s off to the band with the unprintable name in using the night’s haul ($20,000) to fund a benefit album to raise awareness about the plight of hundreds of missing aboriginal women in Canada.
That’s just my view, take it or tell me to…well, you catch my drift.
David Farrell
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Upon first read of your question, “Did the Jury Blunder with the Vote?, I thought perhaps they had. Being a person who enjoys all genres of music not based on name, appearance, behaviour, but solely on creativity, this nagged me all day. So I took the time to read the “Mission Statement” of the Polaris Music Prize (which can be found at http://www.polarismusicprize). Yes, it clearly states “marketing” of the albums of the highest integrity. This band definitely has integrity and creativity–they believe in themselves/their music. The music will market itself. There’s a whole generation out there who eats up this kind of sound. Their performance on Monday night proves that…it invoked a food fight, the excitement of it, which is what Punk music is about.
Their name may hinder a little, but look at other bands whose names are questionable, “Holy Fuck”, an extremely talented group, “The BareNaked Ladies”, whose name got them taken off the bill for the 1991 New Year’s Eve concert outside Toronto City Hall.
This band isn’t ‘mainstream’ and that is what the Polaris Music Prize is all about, right? Just my opinion.