The 2014 Polaris Prize Long List Has Been Revealed

The Long List for this year’s Polaris Prize has been unveiled, with a mix of chart-toppers, critical darlings and underrepresented musical sensations making up the ranks.

The 40 album deep nomination slate includes offerings such as Drake’s Nothing Was The Same, Arcade Fire’s Reflektor and Chromeo’s White Women. The reveal was made during Calgary’s Sled Island Festival.

“The city has been so welcoming and after what happened last year we felt it was important to reveal this year’s list in one of the most musical places in Canada,”; said Polaris Founder and Executive Director Steve Jordan. “We’d like to congratulate all of the inspiring artists who made the list and the people with the easiest/toughest job in the world of narrowing that 189 worthy records to just 40 – our jury,”

The nominee roster will be officially trimmed down on July 15 when the Short List is revealed. The Polaris Prize itself (which honours artistic achievement in Canadian music) will be handed out on September 22 with the winner receiving $30,000.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor won last year’s Polaris Prize on the strength of their album “Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!.

We have the Polaris Prize Long List in full below. We encourage you to share your predictions (and betting odds) in the comments.

2014 Polaris Music Prize Long List:

Arcade Fire – Reflektor

AroarA – In The Pines

Austra – Olympia

Philippe B – Ornithologie, la nuit

BADBADNOTGOOD – III

Basia Bulat – Tall Tall Shadow

Chromeo – White Women

Cousins – The Halls Of Wickwire

Cowboy Junkies  / Various Artists – The Kennedy Suite

The Darcys – Warring

Dead Obies – Montréal $ud

Mac DeMarco – Salad Days

DIANA – Perpetual Surrender

Drake – Nothing Was The Same

Freedom Writers – NOW

Fresh Snow – I

Frog Eyes – Carey’s Cold Spring

Gorguts – Colored Sands

Tim Hecker – Virgins

Jimmy Hunt – Maladie d’amour

Jessy Lanza – Pull My Hair Back

Kalle Mattson – Someday, The Moon Will Be Gold

Moonface – Julia With Blue Jeans On

Mounties – Thrash Rock Legacy

Odonis Odonis – Hard Boiled Soft Boiled

Owen Pallett – In Conflict

Pink Mountaintops – Get Back

PUP – PUP

The Sadies – Internal Sounds

Shad – Flying Colours

Shooting Guns – Brotherhood Of The Ram

Solids – Blame Confusion

Rae Spoon – My Prairie Home

The Strumbellas – We Still Move On Dance Floors

Tanya Tagaq – Animism

Thus Owls – Turning Rocks

Timber Timbre – Hot Dreams

Chad VanGaalen – Shrink Dust

Bry Webb – Free Will

YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN – UZU