Arcade Fire, Neil Young and Austra Make 2011 Polaris Music Prize 'Long List'

Neil Young and Arcade Fire alongside newer buzz acts such as Austra, the Weeknd and Hooded Fang have made Canada's 2011 Polaris Music Prize Long List, now in its sixth year.

In an announcement this afternoon at the Drake Hotel in Toronto, 40 Canadian albums were selected to vie for the award and $30,000 grand prize. The long list was culled from 227 music critics, journalists and bloggers across the country selecting their Top 5 full-length albums released from June 1, 2010 to May 31 of this year.

"An unprecedented number of jury members agonized over paring their ballots down to five choices," Prize Founder and Executive Director Steve Jordan said.

The list features no previous winners but has a wide array of artists from the iconic Young for 'Le Noise' to hip-hop artist D-Sisive for his 'Jonestown 2: Jimmy Go Bye Bye.' More established acts such as Arcade Fire, Stars, Ron Sexsmith, the Dears and Sloan are nominated alongside dance-friendly Diamond Rings and rock outfit the Rural Alberta Advantage.

"I think it suggests that people are excited and debating about the merits of Canadian music," AUX TV personality and Spinner contributor Sam Sutherland told CBC Radio 3. "I think that's great. If you watch Twitter when the Long List is announced, [when] the Short List is announced and especially during the actual balloting itself, it's really active. It stimulates a lot of positive discussions about Canadian music."

Upon hearing the news some artists took to their Twitter accounts to acknowledge the nomination and -- in the case of the Rural Alberta Advantage and Hooded Fang -- congratulate each other.

"Bittersweet morning -- waking up to post idiot parade to find out I've been Polaris Long listed!," Louise Burns said via Twitter from Vancouver following the unfortunate rioting in the city Wednesday evening (a topic that Long List presenter Grant Lawrence used for comic relief during the press conference in Toronto).

"Celebrating by eating GF bread and butter right out of the oven," Jenn Grant said via Twitter. "Mmm...polaris butter..."

Perhaps one of the bigger names not found on the list is rapper Drake for 'Thank Me Later,' an album which debuted on top of Billboard's Top 200 Chart and reached platinum status in Canada and the U.S. Also not nominated was Chad VanGaalen who's made the Short List twice in previous years.

Regionally, Montreal has 11 artists representing while Toronto has an even dozen. A 10-nominee Short List culled from the Long List will be unveiled on July 6 with the Polaris Music Prize gala set for Sept. 19 at Toronto's Masonic Temple. All nominees this year are guaranteed $2,000 in prize money for making the Short List.

Last year's Polaris Music Prize winner was Montreal rock group Karkwa for 'Les Chemins de Verre.'

Arcade Fire - 'The Suburbs' (Montreal)
Austra - 'Feel It Break' (Toronto)
Black Mountain - 'Wilderness Heart' (Vancouver)
Braids - 'Native Speaker' (Calgary)
Buck 65 - '20 Odd Years' (Toronto)
Louise Burns - 'Mellow Drama' (Vancouver)
D-Sisive - 'Jonestown 2: Jimmy Go Bye Bye' (Toronto)
The Dears - 'Degeneration Street' (Montreal)
Destroyer - 'Kaputt' (Vancouver)
Diamond Rings - 'Special Affections' (Toronto)
Dirty Beaches - 'Badlands' (Vancouver)
Luke Doucet and the White Falcon - 'Street City Trawler' (Toronto)
Eternia & MoSS - 'At Last' (Ottawa)
Galaxie - 'Tigre Et Diesel' (Montreal)
Jenn Grant - 'Honeymoon Punch' (Halifax)
Tim Hecker - 'Ravedeath, 1972' (Montreal)
Hey Rosetta! - 'Seeds' (St. John's)
Hooded Fang - 'Album' (Toronto)
Imaginary Cities - 'Temporary Resident' (Winnipeg)
Land of Talk - 'Cloak and Cipher' (Montreal)
Little Scream - 'The Golden Record' (Montreal)
The Luyas - 'Too Beautiful to Work' (Montreal)
Malajube - La Caverne (Montreal)
Miracle Fortress - 'Was I the Wave?' (Montreal)
One Hundred Dollars - 'Songs of Man' (Toronto)
Doug Paisley - 'Constant Companion' (Toronto)
PS I Love You - 'Meet Me At the Muster Station' (Kingston)
Daniel Romano - 'Sleep Beneath the Willow' (Welland)
The Rural Alberta Advantage - 'Departing' (Toronto)
Ron Sexsmith - 'Long Player Late Bloomer' (Toronto)
Shotgun Jimmie - 'Transistor Sister' (Halifax)
Sloan - 'The Double Cross' (Toronto)
Frederick Squire - 'March 12' (Sackville)
Stars - 'The Five Ghosts' (Toronto)
Colin Stetson - 'New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges' (Montreal)
Timber Timbre - Creep On Creepin' On (Toronto)
The Weeknd - 'House of Balloons' (Toronto)
Women - 'Public Strain' (Calgary)
Neil Young - 'Le Noise' (Marin)
Young Galaxy - 'Shapeshifting' (Montreal)

Watch Arcade Fire's Video for 'Ready to Start'
Follow @Spinner on Twitter | Like Spinner on Facebook