The short list for this years Polaris Music Prize was released today. The Polaris prize is a $20,000 award given annually to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label.

The award was established in 2006, and previous winners include Final Fantasy’s He Poos Clouds, Patrick Watson’s Close to Paradise, and Caribou’s Andorra. Every year dozens of artists are nominated, which eventually is shaved down to a smaller short list. Previous nominees include The Arcade Fire, Feist, Shad, Stars, The Junior Boys, and Broken Social Scene.

I usually play close attention to the nominations for this prize. The jury that votes for the prize collectively have pretty good tastes in music, and I typically find one or two bands that I start to listen to.

Click to see this years nominees