Karkwa scoops up Canada's coveted Polaris Prize

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Weeks after The xx picked up the UK's Mercury Prize for the band's debut album xx, Montreal rockers Karkwa pocketed Canada's own version, the Polaris Prize, on September 20 for the album Les chemins de verre. The band won out over frontrunners Broken Social Scene, Tegan and Sara, Caribou, and Radio Radio. 

Now in its fifth year, the Polaris Music Prize awards CAN$20,000 (€14,800) to the best full-length Canadian album of the year, regardless of genre, sales, or label affiliation. Nearly 200 music journalists, critics, and bloggers from across Canada compiled a list of 40 nominated albums, with the shortlist of 10 albums announced in July 2010.

Together for 12 years, Montreal indie-rockers Karkwa are well known in their native Quebec and have earned nine Félix Awards, annual music awards for artists in Quebec. But they've received scant attention in the English-speaking world. Les chemins de verre is their fourth studio effort and the first francophone album to win the Polaris Prize.

Last year Fucked Up won for The Chemistry of Common Life. Previous winners also include Patrick Watson for Close To Paradise in 2007 and Final Fantasy for He Poos Clouds in 2006.

Electronica band The xx received the prestigious British music award the Mercury Prize on September 7 for their album xx, beating off stiff competition and winning a prize of £20,000 (€24,000).

To sample all the tracks from Les chemins de verre, visit http://www.karkwa.com/english.php

http://www.polarismusicprize.ca/