Arkells, Fucked Up, Metric, Elliott Brood, Pink Mountaintops among Polaris Prize long list

Music journalists across Canada, including our own New Brunswick based Ben Conoley, have narrowed down the 40 act long list for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize. The list includes recent records from Arkells, Fucked Up, Metric, Joel Plaskett, Pink Mountaintops, Elliott Brood, Chad VanGaalen, Malajube, Bruce Peninsula, and Wolf Parade. Click below for the full list. To qualify for Polaris, the Canadian acts had to have released an album between June 1st, 2008 and May
31st, 2009.

The 190 member jury will now narrow this group down to a Short List, to be in Toronto on July 7th. The winning band will walk away with $20,000 at a ceremony in September.