There hasn’t been much mention of the 2008 Polaris Prize on WHK as of yet. In fact, I think I’ve only touched on it during a review of the latest Plants & Animals release, Parc Avenue. I’ve been planning on posting my picks for this year’s award, but given that the long list of nominees has just been announced, my energy might be better spent writing about albums I thought deserved to be there that were overlooked.

Let’s face it, if you ask me there’s a lot of filler on the list of nominated albums. Sure, there are 40, which means you’re likely to hit some less than perfect releases to make up that number, but—of the releases with which I’m familiar enough to judge—there are only about 3 or 4 present that I really consider to be top-notch (Wintersleep, Plants & Animals and Sandro Perri spring to mind immediately).

Here are a few albums that would have been on my list, as I enjoy them from start to finish:

Culture Reject - Culture Reject
(previously featured here)

Lush, layered and hypnotizing, this self-titled debut from Toronto’s Culture Reject had me thinking big things from the very first time I pressed play. Think Plants & Animals meets Apostle of Hustle, but without having to try so hard.

Culture Reject - Fireflies Are Fading

Entire Cities - Deep River
(previously featured here and here)

I’ve been wagging my tongue about Entire Cities‘ debut full-length quite a bit lately and with good reason, as Deep River is the epitome of energy and rootsy charm. I can play this album ad nauseum without a single complaint.

Entire Cities - Dancing With My Brother

Olivier Jarda - Diagrams
(previously featured here and reviewed here)

He may currently reside in Oxford, England, but Olivier Jarda hails from New Brunswick and is a world class songwriter. If you ask me, his debut solo album, Diagrams, was probably the best album to seemingly come from absolutely nowhere last year.

Olivier Jarda - Victorian Faces

Nifty - A Sparrow! A Sparrow!
(previously featured here)

It’s not often that I’d be so gung-ho over an album as strange as Nifty’s A Sparrow! A Sparrow!, but that’s just a testament to how intriguing it is from start to finish. Innovative and never tiresome, you’re not going to hear much else like it.

Nifty - Tune Into You

There you have it. These albums might not have made the mighty Polaris long list, but they made my short one, so that’s got to count for something (at least to me…).