After months of online bickering--er, debates--and two rounds of voting, 178 music critics, broadcasters and bloggers (including myself) have compiled a shortlist of the "best" Canadian albums of the past year which will now compete to win the third annual Polaris Prize's bragging rights and $20,000.

Modeled after Britain's Mercury Music Prize (and, to a lesser degree, America's Shortlist prize), the goal is to spotlight Canadian albums which, despite the still-surging indie scene, were being ignored in major Juno categories because of the industry awards' sales requirements.

Arguably, Polaris has overshot in the opposite direction--last year Feist lost to little-known Montreal band Patrick Watson, but later won the Shortlist Prize and an armload of Junos--however this year's list is a respectable cross-section of the Canadian indie scene, ranging from Vancouver retro-rockers Black Mountain, Winnipeg folk-punks The Weakerthans, Ottawa alt-country crooner Kathleen Edwards, Montreal indie-pop vets Stars, London rapper Shad, Toronto electro-rockers Holy F**K and Charlottetown power-pop newcomers Two Hours Traffic.

Interviews and more after the jump...

"I was really surprised and honoured to be nominated," Shad told me at the shortlist unveiling. "Last year I was a fan of a lot of people on the list. With Canadian indie music being so big around the world it's cool to have something to recognize it here."

That said, most recognition for Canadian indie music has centered on rock, not rap, so Shad's well-deserved nod adds some much-need diversity to a list that lacked it last year.

"I have a really good team that isn't afraid to put the music out in places where it's not my primary audience and people have taken to it," he says. "I'm really open to that because I like all kinds of music, so I know from firsthand experience that people can like everything.

As for what a win might mean, Shad half-jokes, "it would impact my debt, that's for sure. It would definitely have an impact, especially worldwide. We're still looking to get into other territories and I think Polaris is on people's radar around the world."

But is Polaris intended to reward the best album? Or is it intended to reward the best album from the artist who most needs the money and media attention? Officially, it's the former. Realistically? Not so much. (The Shortlist prize avoids this dilemma by narrowing its field to albums which haven't gone gold, or sold 500,000 copies. In Canada gold = 50,000)

"We've been doing this for a long time and we have our audience and if we won this it would be fabulous but bands like Two Hours Traffic or Basia or Shad, it would be a great thing for them and expose their music to more people."

Certainly, they could all use the exposure. With the possible exception of Stars, whose last album has not received as positive reviews as previous efforts, there are no big names like Feist, Arcade Fire or Wolf Parade in the running. Even heavily-hyped electro act Crystal Castles, who have already made the coveted cover of British weekly New Musical Express, failed to make the final cut.

"It's a great list with a little bit of everything," says prize founder Steve Jordan. "[But] it'll make picking a winner all the more interesting because there won't be that angle of early favourites.

"Maybe it's a way more Polaris list this year because there are no favourites."

Full Shortlist:

• BLACK MOUNTAIN - In The Future
• BASIA BULAT - Oh, My Darling
• CARIBOU - Andorra
• KATHLEEN EDWARDS - Asking For Flowers
• HOLY FUCK - LP
• PLANTS AND ANIMALS - Parc Avenue
• SHAD - The Old Prince
• STARS - In Our Bedroom After The War
• TWO HOURS TRAFFIC - Little Jabs
• THE WEAKERTHANS - Reunion Tour