Patrick watson at the polaris music prize gala 2007 by dustin rabin

Chad vangaalen at the polaris music prize gala 2007 by dustin rabin

The 2007 edition of the Canadian

Polaris Music Prize The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize; the prize was incr ...

was presented on September 24, 2007 at the

Phoenix Concert Theatre The Phoenix Concert Theatre is a nightclub and concert venue located at 410 Sherbourne Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is large and encompasses three distinct environments. The "Main Room" features one of the city's largest dance floors ...

in Toronto. The winning album was Patrick Watson's ''

Close to Paradise ''Close to Paradise'' is the second studio album by Patrick Watson, released on September 26, 2006. On September 24, 2007, the album won the Polaris Music Prize, after reaching the finals alongside such other albums as ''Neon Bible'' (Arcade Fire ...

''. According to

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

, "finalists were drawn from submissions by more than 170 music journalists, reviewers and broadcasters across Canada."

Nominees

The prize's 10-album shortlist was announced on July 10. * Patrick Watson, ''

'' *

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member S ...

, ''

Neon Bible ''Neon Bible'' is the second studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. It was first released on March 5, 2007, in Europe and a day later in North America by Merge Records. Originally announced on December 16, 2006, through the band's ...

'' *

The Besnard Lakes The Besnard Lakes ( ) are a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Formed in 2003 by the husband and wife team of Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas, the band also includes Kevin Laing (drums), Richard White (guitar), Sheenah Ko (keyboa ...

, ''

The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse ''The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse'' (sometimes referred to as ''...Are the Dark Horse'') is the second studio album by the Canadian rock band The Besnard Lakes, released in 2007 (see 2007 in music). The album was The Besnard Lakes' first rel ...

'' *

The Dears The Dears are a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec. The band is led by the husband-and-wife duo of singer-guitarist Murray Lightburn and keyboardist Natalia Yanchak. History The band formed in 1995 and released their first album, ...

, ''

Gang of Losers ''Gang of Losers'' is the third full-length album from Montreal band The Dears. It was released on August 29, 2006 in Canada under the Maple Music Recordings label and on October 3, 2006 in the USA under the Arts & Crafts label. On July 10, 2 ...

'' *

Julie Doiron Julie Doiron (born June 28, 1972) is a Canadian singer-songwriter of Acadian heritage. She has been the bass guitarist and co-vocalist for the Canadian indie rock band Eric's Trip since its formation in 1990. She has released ten solo albums, beg ...

, ''

Woke Myself Up ''Woke Myself Up'' is an album by Julie Doiron, released in 2007. Doiron's former Eric's Trip bandmate Rick White produced and played on the album. Three songs on the album — "I Woke Myself Up", "No More" and "The Wrong Guy" — also include ...

'' * Feist, ''

The Reminder ''The Reminder'' is the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Feist. It was released on April 23, 2007 in countries outside of North America, and May 1, 2007 in the United States and Canada. Following its release, it debuted on the ...

'' *

Junior Boys Junior Boys are a Canadian electronic pop group, founded in 1999 in Hamilton, Ontario by Jeremy Greenspan and Johnny Dark. Dark left the project shortly after, and was replaced by engineer Matt Didemus. The duo initially gained critical praise ...

, ''

So This Is Goodbye ''So This is Goodbye'' is the second studio album by Canadian electronic music group Junior Boys. It was first released by Domino Recording Company on August 22, 2006 in Canada, and on September 11, 2006 in other territories. Junior Boys, now sol ...

'' *

Miracle Fortress Miracle Fortress is a Canadian indie rock band based in Montreal, Quebec. The band's studio work is primarily a solo, project of songwriter Graham Van Pelt, who is accompanied by the rest of the band during live shows. Band history Van Pelt, a m ...

, '' Five Roses'' *

Joel Plaskett Emergency William Joel MacDonald Plaskett (born April 18, 1975) is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was a member of Halifax alternative rock band Thrush Hermit in the 1990s. Plaskett performs in a number of genres ...

, ''

Ashtray Rock ''Ashtray Rock'' is an album by Canadian indie rock band Joel Plaskett Emergency, released on April 17, 2007. In interviews, band frontman Joel Plaskett has noted that Ashtray Rock is not a genre of music, but an actual location—in the forest ...

'' *

Chad VanGaalen Chad VanGaalen (born 1977) is a Canadian musician and artist from Calgary, Alberta. Career ''Infiniheart'' Following a few scattered independent releases, done mostly on homemade CDs with hand-drawn art, VanGaalen released ''Infiniheart'' (2004 ...

, ''

Skelliconnection ''Skelliconnection'' is the second album by Canadian musician Chad VanGaalen. It was released on August 22, 2006 on Flemish Eye (Canadian distribution) and Sub Pop (U.S. distribution). In addition to writing and recording the album, VanGaalen ...

Album

As in 2006, a compilation album was released to promote the nominees. The album did not, however, include a track by Arcade Fire—although media initially reported that the Polaris committee had snubbed the band by excluding them, the committee and the band issued a joint press release confirming that the band chose not to have a track included on the album as they prefer not to participate in compilation albums.

Track listing

# "Devastation" (

) # "Hate Then Love" (

) # "No More" (

) # "Sealion" ( Feist) # "In the Morning" (

) # "Have You Seen in Your Dreams" (

) # "Fashionable People" (

) # "Sing Me 2 Sleep" (

) # "Drifters" ( Patrick Watson)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polaris Music Prize 2007 in Canadian music 2007 music awards

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...