Over the past few months, we've been carefully following the fifth instalment of the Polaris Music Prize. First, the jury announced its long list of forty nominees, and then whittled those down to a short list of ten. Last night (September 20), the grand jury revealed its pick for the best Canadian album released between June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010: Les Chemins De Verre by atmospheric rockers Karkwa.
The Montreal band took home the $20,000 prize as well as the honour of their LP being deemed the best release of the past year based on artistic merit alone. Karkwa join the ranks of past winners Final Fantasy, Patrick Watson, Cairbou and Fucked Up, becoming the first Francophone band to win the prize.
The winner was announced at a gala at Toronto's Masonic Temple. For the second consecutive year, the evening featured live performances from all ten nominated artists: the Besnard Lakes, Broken Social Scene, Caribou, Karkwa, Dan Mangan, Owen Pallett, Radio Radio, the Sadies, Shad, and Tegan and Sara.
The event was hosted by CBC Radio 3's Grant Lawrence and MuchMusic's Sarah Taylor. Members of Fucked Up presented Karkwa with the award.
If you missed the gala, you can watch it live on MusicMusic on Saturday, September 25 at 9 PM and 12 PM EST.
Watch the Super Session below featuring current Exclaim! cover star, Elizabeth Powell of Land of Talk, performing with Karkwa.
The Montreal band took home the $20,000 prize as well as the honour of their LP being deemed the best release of the past year based on artistic merit alone. Karkwa join the ranks of past winners Final Fantasy, Patrick Watson, Cairbou and Fucked Up, becoming the first Francophone band to win the prize.
The winner was announced at a gala at Toronto's Masonic Temple. For the second consecutive year, the evening featured live performances from all ten nominated artists: the Besnard Lakes, Broken Social Scene, Caribou, Karkwa, Dan Mangan, Owen Pallett, Radio Radio, the Sadies, Shad, and Tegan and Sara.
The event was hosted by CBC Radio 3's Grant Lawrence and MuchMusic's Sarah Taylor. Members of Fucked Up presented Karkwa with the award.
If you missed the gala, you can watch it live on MusicMusic on Saturday, September 25 at 9 PM and 12 PM EST.
Watch the Super Session below featuring current Exclaim! cover star, Elizabeth Powell of Land of Talk, performing with Karkwa.
