Owen Pallett, aka Final Fantasy, has won the first-ever Polaris Prize in Canada.
The violinist won the Candadian take on this country's Mercury Prize with his He Poos Clouds album (DiS's nine-outta-ten review here). The award ceremony took place last night (September 18) at the Phoenix Theatre in Toronto.
The award was decided by a panel of around 120 journalists and industry types, a la the Mercury. Pallett picked up a cheque for $20,000, and told reporters:
"I always feel like Canadian critics, especially, have for a long time, been hesitant to get behind something and say, hey this is really great.
"It's just part of the Canadian mentality. I think the best thing about the Polaris prize is it's maybe going to set a precedent for people to actually get behind our artists."
Also nominated were Broken Social Scene for their self-titled third album, Wolf Parade for Apologies to the Queen Mary and Metric for Live It Out. A full list of nominees can be seen here.
that is hilarious.
that all the journos and critics have given a prize to an album called 'he poos clouds.'
That's fantastic
:D
Preferred Twin Cinema
but I enjoyed this as well, well done Owen.
Wow, I really didn't expect him to win!
Well done to him. He definitely deserved it.
YAY.
fantastic news.
Glad he won
Nice album, although I don't think it's a 9/10 album.
oh, Owen Pallett, you're my hero.
Love him, love the album, and I'm going to be seeing him in Bristol next month, woooargh!