Polaris Prize goes to Montreal band Karkwa

TORONTO (CUP) — After the longest jury deliberation in the indie music prize’s history, Montreal’s Karkwa went home the Polaris star.

(...) like any “increasingly prestigious” award, as dubbed by the New Yorker, Polaris is not without its politics and tokenism. So far, it has gone to the avant-garde Owen Pallett, the folksy Patrick Watson, Caribou’s synth, hardcore Fucked Up and now, what Karkwa’s lead singer Louis-Jean Cormier calls, French “Montreal indie rock.”

The decision to award the all-francophone band may not be totally unexpected. The grand jury had three francophones on hand: François Marchand, André Peloquin and Philippe Rezzonico.

What most of the English music scene has been asking since the shortlist came out is, “car, quoi?” Who is this random band that triumphed over two prior winners and industry heavyweights like Broken Social Scene and Tegan and Sara?

For Karkwa, as their album title — Les chemins de verre (The Glass Paths) — would suggest, it was a lonely path to get to Polaris as the only francophone musicians nominated, not counting Radio Radio’s Franco-Acadian Chiac.

After the announcement, Cormier, nearly in tears, took the stage with his bandmates. Earlier in the evening, he said, “I think that the language barrier is still there,” and felt certain the only thing his band would win that night was exposure to an anglophone audience.

The band has been together for a dozen years, touring around all the francophone countries. They are now excited about the opportunity to play for their fellow countrymen — but not until they have the opportunity to use part of their $20,000 to hire a real tour manager and a new van.

Before their win, Cormier said his celebration music, if Karkwa were to triumph, would be Owen Pallett’s Heartland. Maybe collaboration is in their future?

“We try [to] do so some great poésie, but I don’t know if we succeed at that,” Cormier chuckled. “I guess it works.”

Indeed, it did.

Extraxt from the Article by E.D. CAUCHI, CUP President, The Sheaf.com, 21 sept. 2010

Image: Josh O’Kane/CUP