The Polaris Music Prize is setting up shop at the Winnipeg Free Press News Café for two special events on February 15.

The popular Polaris Record Salon makes its way from Toronto to Winnipeg for a “Half Year In Review” at 8pm on February 15. A regular feature at The Drake Hotel in Toronto, this will be the first Salon held in the Prairies. Like a book club, but for records, each event features members of the Polaris jury presenting a record they are considering voting for the prize.

The panel discussion, moderated by Polaris founder Steve Jordan and presented by ClarityOne Earbuds, features a lineup of Winnipeg-based Polaris jurors who will each showcase an album released the first half of the year that will likely make their ballot - with musical samples to help make the point. The panel includes Uptown editor John Kendle, Jill Wilson of the Winnipeg Free Press, CKUW 95.9 FM’s Jenny Henkelman, Uptown music writer Jared Story, and Painting Over Silence music blogger Mykael Sopher.

Polaris is also teaming up with Manitoba Music for a special debate at 6pm preceeding the Salon, Albums vs. Singles: A Music Marketing Debate. Steve Jordan will be joined by reporter and radio host Sabrina Carnevale of FAB 94.3 and 99.9 BOB FM to turn up the volume on this perennial issue and debate the value propositions of "singles vs. albums" in our ever changing music environment.

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Reaction to the release of the Polaris Prize short list is slowly appearing on music blogs and news sites. So far, the list doesn't seem to be polarizing opinion, although there are some consistent laments for artists who didn't make the cut.

The list was released yesterday morning. Winnipeg's The Weakerthans (Reunion Tour) join other indie rockers Plants and Animals (Parc Avenue) and Stars (In Our Bedroom After the War), Vancouver’s Black Mountain (In the Future) and Charlottetown’s Two Hours Traffic (Little Jabs).

Contributing the diversity of sounds on the list are the somewhat more experimental Holy F*ck (LP), and Caribou (Andorra), hip-hop artist Shad (The Old Prince), and singer-songwriters Kathleen Edwards (Asking for Flowers) and Basia Bulat (Oh, My Darling) round it out.

Bumpershine released their own anticipatory short list last week that was 50% accurate but also included a couple of records that I've spent a lot of time listening to: The Acorn (Glory Hope Mountain) and The New Pornographers (Challengers). Also oft-missed are Sunset Rubdown (Random Spirit Lover), Wintersleep (Welcome to the Night Sky) and The Constantines (Shine A Light).

And of course,...

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