The Wedge A.M. News Round Up: Arcade Fire Win the Polaris Music Prize

September 20th, 2011

Last night, 11 judges made up of music journalists, bloggers, and broadcasters chose Arcade Fire as the winners of the prestigious Polaris Music Prize. On behalf of the band, Win Butler, Richard Reed Parry, and Jeremy Gara accepted the giant cheque of $30,000. Whether you were surprised or not, no one can deny that The Suburbs was a beautifully crafted album that demonstrated great musicianship, lyricism, and songwriting. The other shortlisted nominees included, Austra, Braids, Destroyer, Galaxie, Hey Rosetta!, Ron Sexsmith, Colin Stetson, Timber Timbre, and The Weeknd, who still went home with $2000. And perhaps these nine other bands will be getting more than just money because during Arcade Fire’s acceptance speech, Butler invited all of the bands to come record in their studio in Montreal. If you weren’t able to catch the live stream of the gala last night, MuchMusic will be airing the Polaris Music Prize on September 24 at 10pm, hosted by The Wedge’s Damian Abraham and CBC’s Grant Lawrence. (Via Polaris Music Prize)

Arts & Crafts recently signed Trust, a Toronto duo who describe their sound as “speed, space, and tears.” Trust’s Robert Alfons and Maya Postepski are readinging their debut album, which will be released in 2012 via Arts & Crafts. You can download their first single “Bulbform” over at ttrustt.com and catch the band peforming at Pop Montreal on September 24 at Casa Del Pololo. They’re also playing in Toronto on September 30 when they open for John Maus and on October 28 when they open for Death From Above 1979. (Via Arts & Crafts)

A few weeks ago, New Order announced that they would perfom two benefit shows, but without their bassist Peter Hook. Now, Peter Hook’s The Light are set to play two shows in Novemeber, where they will perform Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures and Closer in its entirety. This definitely looks like retaliation, but at least fans of New Order and Joy Division are happy! (Via NME)

Tags: arcade fire, Arts & Crafts, Joy Division, New Order, Peter Hook, Polaris Music Prize 2011, Trust