Last night (September 20), Montreal band Karkwa was crowned 2010’s Polaris Music Prize winners for their album, Les Chemins de Verre, (Paths of Glass), at the Toronto ceremony. The Canadian prize, which includes $20,000, is awarded annually to the best full-length Canadian album regardless of genre, sales or label affiliation.
Prior to the 2010 Polaris Music Prize ceremony, drummer Stephane Bergeron and keyboardist Francois Lafontaine of Montreal group Karkwa were hoping that being on the Polaris short list would help them get a bit more attention in terms of touring.
Nearly 200 music journalists, critics and bloggers from across Canada created a long list of 40 nominated albums earlier this year, with the final short list of 10 albums announced in July. An 11-member panel of jurors decided on the winner during the ceremony, which will be rebroadcast on MuchMusic on Saturday, September 25 at 9 p.m.
Finalists included the Besnard Lakes, Broken Social Scene, Caribou, Karkwa, Dan Mangan, Radio Radio, Owen Pallett, the Sadies, Shad, and Tegan and Sara.