Monday 12 September 2011
Wicked games
And then there was one.
It’s hard to believe that it’s actually been 10 weeks since this Polaris Music Prize short list investigation started, but with one album to go, the book is about to be closed on this year’s case, but not before we do a little bit of digging into this year’s list biggest mystery: The Weeknd.
Admittedly, The Weeknd isn’t as much of a mystery as it was when House of Balloons first floated into our musical consciousness. We now know that Toronto-based Abel Tesfaye is is the man behind the name (properly pronounced as “The Weakend” if online sources are to be believed) and obscured promo photos. Coming at the end of the short list alphabetically, presenter Grant Lawrence apparently forgot that the album was on the list, but for months before-hand, The Weeknd had been the record front and center in Polaris discussions: would the jury award a nomination to a free mixtape? What kind of precedence would that set? Is it R&B, hip-hop, electronic, or a indie record? Is House of Balloons as good as its hype?
Again, some of the burning questions have already been answered: yes, we’d put a free record on the shortlist, and there would be no precedence set (with illegal downloading so prevalent, every record is essentially available “for free” if you know where to look). House of Balloons could be of any and all of the aforementioned genres all at the same time (maybe not hip-hop so much, but it was an independent release, full of sweet, soulful R&B vocals buoyed upon electro beats). And yes, House of Balloons is as good as its hype. This year’s short list if rife with album’s that crystallize thematically when taken in whole, and House of Balloons, like last week’s re-cap subject Timber Timbre, falls to the darker end of the Polaris spectrum. It is a sombre, sobering record that immerses itself into the depths of the disco, only to exit out the back door, disorientated and alone, standing in the dark without a ride home.
Criticism about the lyrics being strewn with cursing and expletives is ridiculous; its part ad parcel of the whole package (it’s as silly as saying that True Blood would be a great show if it wasn’t for all the vampires and blood). If swearing is that offensive to you, then focus less on what Tesfaye is saying and more on how he’s singing it. “The Party & the After Party” is the prefect showcase for his vintage Motown falsetto: slightly nasal but with total conviction. It’s the perfect accompaniment for the musical dark corners in this house. From the Beach House sample on “The Party & the After Party” to the Siouxsie and the Banshees sample on “House of Balloons – Glass Table Girls”, Tesfaye builds an musical atmosphere fueled by narcotics and illuminated by flashes of reality through the drug-induced haze. It’s a trippy and frightening experience for a clean-cut white boy like me, but I’m willing to let The Weeknd be my guide for 50 minutes at a time.
The Weeknd have already released part two of the trilogy that started with House of Balloons (Thursday dropped less than a month ago on August 18) and part three (Echoes of Silence) will be out sometime this fall. Meanwhile, Tesfaye has been wading knee-deep in record company drool as they offer up all kinds of incentives for him to sign with them, further feeding the frenzy surrounding him and his music. A Polaris win next week would be mind-blowing, and would make for one hell of a party and after party, indeed.
I can see the headlines now: “Polaris Prize tornado drops House of Ballons on The Suburbs and crushes it”.
House of Balloons was released independently on March 21, 2011, on the-weeknd.com.
So, how can I run a contest giving away a free record? I can’t. After Thursday was released, the download link on The Weeknd’s official site ceased to be, so you’ll have to content yourself with a stream of it from SoundCloud (download limit already met) or you could do an online search for someone still hosting it. or you could try this (you’re welcome). But whatever you do, be sure to check back here tomorrow because you won’t want to miss it when the “wicked games” really begin.
MP3: The Weeknd “High For This”
Facebook: The Weeknd
Twitter: The Weeknd
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This entry was posted on Monday, September 12th, 2011 at 7:00 am and is filed under Contests, MP3. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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