News The Polaris Music Prize 2012: Five Nominees You Might Not Yet Know

Feist, The Weeknd, Japanadroids and Grimes are names that will be familiar to regular DIY readers. But there are other gems in the long list of nominees for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize to emerge from the ever-burgeoning Canadian scene. Wayne Flanagan pulls out five that you may not have heard yet, but ought to feast your ears on pronto.

1. Cadence Weapon - Hope In A Dirty City

The quick-witted rapper certainly has one buzz factor on his side, he is pals with the ubiquitous Grimes after all. He even sampled Ms Boucher’s ‘Eight’ (for which she also produced) on his impressive recent track ‘88’.

2. Sandro Perri - Impossible Spaces

The Toronto musician incorporates elements of folk and electronic into his experimental mix. He also plays yet more introspective subtleness under the Polmo Polpo moniker.

3. Yamantaka // Sonic Titan - YT//ST

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan describe themselves as a ‘pan cultural Asian collective’, and their debut LP ‘YT//ST’ is a sound they, again, describe as ‘Noh-wave’. Truth be told, they make a thunderous, progressive rock noise that is complemented by some J-pop style vocals.

YT//ST by YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN

4. Cannon Bros - Firecracker / Cloudglow

One of the lesser known acts on the list, Cannon Bros - like The White Stripes or Blood Red Shoes - are a boy / girl duo that consists of Cole Woods and Alannah Walker. They’re making catchy, straight up indie pop that pulls no punches. What you see is what you get, if you will.

5. Marie-Pierre Arthur - Aux alentours

The Quebec based former backing singer released her second album - ‘Aux alentours’ - this year, and with it landing a place of the Polaris list for the first time. Sang in French, her style is folk-pop one that is not too dissimilar to Feist herself.

Marie-Pierre Arthur: Si tu savais from Bonsound on Vimeo.

A short list of ten albums will be revealed in Toronto on 17th July, with the overall winner being announced on 24th September. For more information, visit polarismusicprize.ca.