Polaris Prize short list announced

Previouswinner Patrick Watson and previous nominee K'naan are among the 10 acts that will vie for this year's Polaris Music Prize.

On Tuesday, organizers unveiled a short list for the $20,000 prize for the best popular full-length Canadian album.

The prize, now in its fourth year, is judged solely on artistic merit and without regard to genre or record sales.

Patrick Watson, a band that won in 2007 with Close to Paradise, is nominated a second time for Wooden Arms.

Other past nominees on the list include Malajube, Metric, Joel Plaskett and Chad VanGaalen.

This year's full short list:

• Windsor, Ont.'s Elliott Brood, Mountain Meadows
• Toronto's F---ed Up, The Chemistry Of Common Life
• Toronto's Great Lake Swimmers, Lost Channels
• St. John's, N.L.'s Hey Rosetta!, Into Your Lungs
• Toronto's K'naan, Troubadour
• Montreal's Malajube, Labyrinthes
• Toronto's Metric, Fantasies
• Halifax's Joel Plaskett, Three
• Calgary's Chad VanGaalen, Soft Airplane
• Montreal's Patrick Watson, Wooden Arms

A cross-country jury of 181 music journalists, broadcasters and bloggers determines the short list.

A smaller panel will then choose the winner at the fourth annual Polaris Music Prize gala, slated for Sept. 21.