Photo: Tanya Tagaq makes prestigious Polaris prize short list

Tanya Tagaq, seen here performing a live soundtrack to the classic Nanook of the North film in Toronto June 10, has now been shortlisted for Canada’s prestigious, and lucrative, Polaris Prize. “The front-runners (based purely on scuttlebutt and educated conjecture), would seem to be Animism, an arresting art-rock effort from the Nunavut throat-singer Tanya Tagaq,” said today’s Globe and Mail newspaper. The Polaris is run by a not-for-profit organization and annually honours and rewards “creativity and diversity in Canadian recorded music,” as judged by a panel of music critics, regardless of musical genre, professional affiliation or sales history. Past winners include Arcade Fire, Feist and Caribou. This year, Tagaq is up against nine nominees including Shad, Drake, Arcade Fire and Timber Timbre. The winner, to be announced Sept. 22, wins $30,000. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)