Abstract Index Playlist - July 1/10

Yesterday the Polaris Prize Short List was announced. I've got to admit I felt a little detached from the goings on - maybe it was the heat. I'm most active in the jury discussions leading up to the Long List, which displays a greater range of the records the jurors were mulling over. By the time it gets reduced to ten, meh on most counts - I've only played two of these artists on the Abstract Index or Funky Fridays.

I hope Shad wins. It's an easy record to like - lots of hooks, personality, and positive yet introspective (Thanks Del Cowie for that observation) insight which resonates with a lot of Canadians. It's a disc that will convert non-hip hop fans, but also impress diehards with its inarguable skill, originality and production. And you know what? Hip hop is more popular than indie rock and it would be nice if Polaris were to recognize one of the outstanding records of the genre as a standard-bearer for Canadian music, especially in this era of Drake-mania.

That said, I would like to distinguish between Polaris' mission to find the best album in Canada from the Abstract Index approach to Canadian content, and how the two relate. I have to consider both albums and individual tracks, old stuff and new, local and national, and of course music which suits the groove-oriented nature of this show as opposed to the hegemonic view of Canadian music being primarily about indie rock.

(To those who profess that 'indie rock' is a meaningless term, I refer you to 'world music' - a term that makes no sense to those involved in it, but is used to signify "the other" by critics because of its cultural i.e. not from here connotations. Indie rock is an impenetrable "other" for those musical forms that will never benefit from its network)

Increasingly, this kind of music is not being represented on album, it's coming out as EPs or single tracks. As has often been the case in dance music, album statements tend not to be the best way to experience the vitality of the music.

The music that achieves Polaris notoriety is that which focuses on the album as the overwhelmingly complete expression of an artist. Their careers progress from album to album, with money invested accordingly in tour support, videos etc.

A record that I championed this year, South Rakkas Crew's 'The Stimulus Package' was a notable exception. It was the first Listed disc to include multiple versions of riddims, to say nothing of the Caribbean cultural spirit infused in the whole Package. It was a party-starting, satisfying full length release that was not intended to be an image-defining, capital 'A' artistic statement the way most rock albums are. SRK have continued to do remixes and new tracks, some of which are for sale, some of which are free; The Stimulus Package was just a link in the chain. They're coming up on a cross-Canada tour, some 7 months after the 'release' of the album, which brings them to a more relevant Caribana-timed jam in Toronto on July 31 which is probably as important a stretch in the calendar as their long-ago full length release.

As if to prove it was an unlikely selection for the Long List, it's probably the only record to receive the Polaris hat-tip that doesn't have a publicist shopping it around.

It's the kind of record and musical aesthetic that year after year, Toronto's campus community radio stations keep promoting because mainstream media by and large ignores the massive popularity of Caribbean rhythms. That's what I've grown up with, that's what I'm attuned to. That's my city's music, and I'd like to believe, is becoming a significant part of the music of other cities in Canada. But it's not reflected in the country's music infrastructure. I fear that with the disintegration of the primacy of the LP format, musics that aren't already successful in conventionally Canadian terms (Soundscan sales, official downloads, CBC Radio 3 blessing, established management) will simply give up in trying to appeal to a national audience and never create a ripple in Polaris, focusing instead on local viability and international possibilities.

Part of the reason I stay with Exclaim is the chance to influence the national dialogue of what "popular" or "major" Canadian artists are - for instance Alpha Yaya Diallo in the latest issue. Even then, there usually has to be a full length release to hang a pitch on. It's a similar situation with Polaris; there is too much music happening at a community level for it to be summarily ignored at a national one. I want to start and participate in new conversations about popular Canadian culture. Or at least argue against the same old ones.

What's the upshot of all this? If you are making beat-oriented music and releasing a full length album, do what you have to do to find your fanbase, but it's still worth it to think nationally. Research the Polaris jury and do some selective social networking. There are quite a few of us who appreciate Canadian music that confounds the traditional tropes of Canadiana; maybe enough to tip the scales to a Short List nomination at some point...

And then there's a whole other debate about jazz and experimental music...

Podcast

All Canadian Grade AA or above this week.

hook and sling - frank motley & the motley crew (jazzman)
last bongo in belgium - incredible bongo band (mr. bongo)
burn - willie williams (heartbeat)
lostentation dub - mossman (dispensation)
sick im kid - dub trio (roir)
strugglin - ljx (no label)
money worries - the maytones & i roy (heartbeat)
deep structure - deadbeat (wagon repair)
once and again - eddie c (pawn shop)
congo nuevo - rise ashen & blissom (balanced)
perdon pantone - pan/tone (cereal killers)
coco drunk - poirier rmx by douster (ninja tune)
on the insufficiency of words - elizabeth shepherd (do right)
summer sounds - maylee todd (do right)
mental fitness - erik hove (effendi)
our man in cleveland - arkana music (no label)
nearness/distance - feuermusik (standard form)
sonsonneh - kocassale dioubate (no label)
auto rickshaw - alex cattaneo/ganesh anandan (no label)
latcho boogie - lubo alexandrov (no label)
belly off - peter pozorek (no label)
gladstoned - huelepega sound system (no label)

Tribute To Lhasa

Today in Eye Weekly I've written an appreciation of the singular talent that was Lhasa de Sela. She died far too young from breast cancer this past Friday.

I didn't play her music all that much on the Abstract Index, but I respected and admired the work she did. Judging from the interviews I did for the article, she never failed to leave a strong, positive impression on those she touched with her music or in her personal life.

You can read the article here.

North Stars

So I was a Polaris Prize juror this year. I didn't know what to expect from the experience, except to make my voice heard. Knowing full well that maybe one of my top five had a chance at inclusion on the short list, I can't say that I'm indignant about the relatively homogenous results. Besides, I own only one of these ten records (Miracle Fortress, which I would like a lot more if I didn't hate the fucking Beach Boys) so I shouldn't really comment on the quality.

There was a message board so that all 170+ jurors could talk amongst themselves. I was an active participant, but was part of a minority of jurors who were so inclined. Nevertheless, I pitched my faves along with one or two lines of support, and engaged others on their selections. I think that this aspect of the deliberations has the greatest potential for future years - but only if the conversations are louder, longer and include a greater proportion of the jurors. Maybe it should be mandatory for all jurors to contribute to the discussion boards, regardless of the logistics of keeping up with the sheer amount of conversation. The ideal result would be that strictly local or niche-type albums might generate buzz in media far beyond their initial impact. These discs might not make the short list, but hopefully national awareness would be heightened, which never hurts if you're a band trying to tour this big-assed country on the usual budget.

After reflecting for two days about what to say, if anything, about the short list, I started thinking about the unpublished long list. This contained some 200+ plus records compiled from every single ballot. Steve Jordan, the executive director of the prize, said something like 'it contained every record released in Canada last year'. That doesn't do the quality of the list justice. It contains a few unfathomably bad discs, but the vast majority is composed of all the specialty content that didn't make the short list: outstanding classical, jazz, hip hop, electronics, folk, world, metal and punk from the four corners of Canada. I would love to see the long list published.

Zoilus has a conversation going on about Polaris and I agree with Liisa Ladouceur comments that the jury should not be reduced - perhaps the Polaris deliverables can be expanded? Maybe the next 50 beyond the top 10 deserve "Polaris Citations" so that artists can put another blurb in their bios? Boy, what a minority-rights Canadian suggestion that is.... everyone gets a brown ribbon that says "Participant". Maybe jurors should submit 25 word blurbs with their picks, to be considered for publication with the long list? The potential of this kind of association of music media is great; why not serve up several sides of kimchi with the main course?

For the record, here are the picks I submitted to the long list. Not too many surprises for the Abstract Index massive:

Feuermusik - Goodbye Lucille

I played the s*** out of this disc. I thought it had a shot.

Twilight Circus Presents Rasta International

As I said at the time - and this has been echoed in the discussions among jurors - when someone releases music in a fashion which deviates from the album a year approach, it's difficult to compare their work with others. Most jurors were referring to increasing importance of single tracks and DJ mixes, but in this case, Ryan Twilight released 3 albums at the same time last year, each of which contained rhythms found on the others. This one though was a career benchmark in my opinion and one of the best roots albums from last year. I interviewed him a couple of days ago and was pleased to find out that he considered it a high water mark too.

Les Amis Au Pakistan - Espace Libidinale

Here's my 'mark of excellence' review from the latest Exclaim. Some of the craziest pop I've heard in a long while. It snuck on to my list at the very end.

Kobo Town - Independence

Great lyrics and rhythms done in a totally unique way; merging the Canadian singer-songwriter tradition with old time calypsonian wordplay. I don't think this record could have been made anywhere other than Canada. If the national music media had really learned the lessons of Jamaica To Toronto (i.e. don't sleep on the huge Caribbean cultural presence in Canada!) they'd have been all over this.

Ziya Tabassian - Tombak

A cultural and artistic milestone in the Ambiences Magnetiques catalog. First and foremost, it's a hell of an improv record; one of the very few I can think of using a solo hand drum. It's also an interesting record to be coming out of new New France by an artist who is neither Anglais nor Francais.

Many honourable mentions include Jesse Zubot - Dementia, Fond of Tigers, ZMF Trio - Circling The Path (if only I could have combined these three into some kind of MegaZubot pitch...), Lina Allemano - Pinkeye, Drumheller - Wives, Naw - City Saturate, Scotty Hard's Radical Reconstruction Surgery, Lori Freedman - 3, Andy Haas - Humanitarian War, Tim Hecker - Harmony In Ultraviolet, Afrodizz - Frootz, Neon Tetra - Home.