BADBADNOTGOOD - "I Don't Know (ft. Samuel T. Herring)"

Following on the heels of one of my favourite records of 2016 - and favourite organ lines of all time - Toronto's BADBADNOTGOOD and Future Islands' Samuel T Herring just dropped this triumphant torch song via Innovative Leisure.

The protagonist of the song might not know, but I sure do. This is a a stunner.

My Polaris Prize Ballot - 2017 Round Two

So if you missed the post about my first round ballot for the 2017 Polaris Music Prize, just a refresher that I voted for the following 5:

01 A Tribe Called Red - We Are The Halluci Nation [Radicalized Records]
02 BADBADNOTGOOD - IV [Arts & Crafts]
03 Klo Pelgag - L'Etoile Thoracique [Coyote Records]
04 BEYRIES - Landing [Bonsound]
05 Alejandra Ribera - This Island [Pheromone]

My #4 and 5 sadly did not make the cut of the longlist, meaning I had to look at my own personal longlist to fill those spots on the second ballot.

All told, of 25 albums I had under consideration, 9 from my list made the actual Longlist so I had to pick two from the six albums that weren't in my initial ballot.

This is the final ballot I submitted:

 01 A Tribe Called Red - We Are The Halluci Nation [Radicalized Records]
02 BADBADNOTGOOD - IV [Arts & Crafts]
03 Klo Pelgag - L'Etoile Thoracique [Coyote Records]
04 Louise Burns - Young Mopes [Light Organ Records]
05 Figure Walking - The Big Other [Disintegration Records]

We'll see how I fared tomorrow morning as the Shortlist will be announced at 11am ET / 8am PT on the CBC Music Facebook page. (just click the hyper-link)

My Polaris Prize Ballot - 2017 Round One

It's that time of the year again. The first ballot for the Polaris Prize is due tomorrow and from the initial 5 selections submitted by each juror, we'll get the 40 entry Longlist (which will be announced June 13th in Ottawa).

From hundreds of possibilities that were released during the eligibility period (including stuff that crossed my plate at UMFM, as well as all the suggestions made by my fellow jurors), I whittled things down to a personal longlist of 25 entries.

They are (alphabetically):

 A Tribe Called Red - We Are The Halluci Nation [Radicalized Records]
 Austra - Future Politics [Domino]
 BADBADNOTGOOD - IV [Arts & Crafts]
 BEYRIES - Landing [Bonsound]
 Black Atlass - Haunted Paradise [Fool's Gold]
 Louise Burns - Young Mopes [Light Organ Records]
 Castle If - Plant Material [Independent]
 Chocolat - Recontrer Looloo [Dare To Care Records]
 The Cosmic Range - New Latitudes [Idee Fixe]
 The Courtneys - II [Flying Nun]
 Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog [Captured Tracks/Royal Mountain Records]
 DJ Shub - Pow Wow Step [Independent]
 Duotang - New Occupation [Stomp]
 Figure Walking - The Big Other [Disintegration Records]
 Fleece - Voyager [Independent]
 Homeshake - Fresh Air [Royal Mountain Records]
 Japandroids - Near To The Wild Heart Of Life [Arts & Crafts]
 Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion: Side B [Interscope]
 Aleem Khan - Urbana Champagne [Independent]
 Klo Pelgag - L'Etoile Thoracique [Coyote Records]
 Northern Cree - It's A Cree Thing [Canyon Records]
 Lou Phelps - 001: Experiments [Independent]
 Alejandra Ribera - This Island [Pheromone]
 The Shiverettes - Dead Men Can't Cat Call [Transistor 66]
 Tasha The Amazon - Die Every Day [The Truth Music Group]

One thing I strive for in coming up with my Polaris ballot is consistency with my Year-End lists so it shouldn't be surprising to reveal that not only was We Are The Halluci Nation my #1 album of 2016, it's also the top spot on my Polaris 2017 ballot.

Here's my 5 in order:
01 A Tribe Called Red - We Are The Halluci Nation [Radicalized Records]
02 BADBADNOTGOOD - IV [Arts & Crafts]
03 Klo Pelgag - L'Etoile Thoracique [Coyote Records]
04 BEYRIES - Landing [Bonsound]
05 Alejandra Ribera - This Island [Pheromone]

P.S. I want to give a special shout out to some albums I quite enjoyed that the jury brought to my attention:
Alain Lefevre - Sas Agapo
Booji Boys - Booji Boys
Le Couleur - P.O.P.
Leanne Simpson - f(l)ight
Hooded Fang - Dynasty House
Sarah Davach- All My Circles Run

and finally, the self-titled record from She-Devils that came my way mid-May and I really didn't get enough time with to make the cut.

2016 - Top 20 Albums

So, after a healthy batch of great records profiled in seven longlist posts, it's time for the fantastic stuff. My Top 20 was revealed on the 12th annual countdown show on UMFM, but if you didn't catch that on NYE, here's the skinny.

20 Tiff The Gift - It Gets Greater Later [Don't Sleep Records]



19 Library Tapes - Escapism [Independent]



18 Wadada Leo Smith - America's National Parks [Cuneiform]



17 Dori Freeman - Dori Freeman [Free Dirt Records]



16 Bill Laurance - Aftersun [GroundUP]



15 Jamila Woods - HEAVN [Closed Sessions]



14 Klô Pelgag - l'Etoile thoracique [Independent]



13 Kadhja Bonet - The Visitor [Fat Possum]



12 Black Mountain - IV [Dine Alone/Jagjaguwar]



11 Shabaka and the Ancestors - Wisdom of the Elders [Brownswood Recordings]



10 Josef Leimberg - Astral Progressions [World Galaxy/Alpha Pup]



09 BADBADNOTGOOD - IV [Innovative Leisure]



08 Anderson. Paak - Malibu [Steel Wool]



07 HINDS - Leave Me Alone [Mom + Pop]



06 Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book [Independent]



05 Kaytranada - 99.9% [XL Recordings]



04 Margaret Glaspy - Emotions and Math [ATO Records]



03 Aidan Knight - Each Other [Fulltime Habit]



02 David Bowie - Blackstar [RCA]



01 A Tribe Called Red - We Are The Halluci Nation [Radicalized Records]