Toronto, ON (Top40 Charts/ Shore Fire Media) 2011 Polaris Prize winners Jeremy Gara and Tim Kingsbury of
Arcade Fire made the announcement at the conclusion of this evening's Gala, that METALS by FEIST was the winner of the 2012 Polaris
Music Prize. Held at the Concert Hall Studios at Bell Media's Masonic Temple in downtown Toronto,
Feist will take home $30,000.00. The other nine short list nominees were awarded $2000.00 by Slaight Music.
"Polaris is asking me for a quote.... I haven't had a second to consider how to talk about this yet, but what I want to say is thank you to the people who really listened to my record," said Feist. "I'm genuinely grateful from one solitary listener to another. Honestly, thanks."
Feist is a four time Grammy nominated artist with eight Juno wins including 2012's Artist of the Year, a two time Polaris
Music Prize Shortlist nomination and has earned the chance to teach the muppets to count on Sesame Street. In January 2011, her longtime collaborators Chilly Gonzales and
Mocky arrived in Toronto to arrange 12 songs that would become her fourth studio album, Metals. The songs range from low rumbling and moody ambiences to brutal and intense, as if it sonically maps the fog rolling in and the resulting cracking of thunder. Ultimately, Metals' aesthetic has a deliberate patience, elemental wildness and natural beauty.
The evening included performances by
Feist (Caught A Long Wind, The Bad In Each Other) and Short List nominees Cadence Weapon (Cheval, Conditioning, Hope in Dirt City), Cold Specks (Elephant Head, Send Your Youth), Kathleen Edwards (A Soft Place to Land), Fucked Up (Queen of Hearts, The Other Shoe),
Grimes (Symphonia IX (my wait is u), Genesis) and YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN (Reverse Crystal,
Hoshi Neko). Handsome Furs were also in attendance. The event was streamed live on Muchmusic.com and broadcasted live on SiriusXM radio (Sirius channels 151 and 152; XM channel 151) and CBC
Radio 3. Highlights from the gala will air in a one-hour special, exclusively on MuchMusic, on Saturday,
September 29 at 10pm ET.
The gala was hosted by CBC
Radio 3's Grant Lawrence and MuchMusic's
Lauren Toyota.
This winner was decided by the 2012 Grand Jury which included Gregory Adams (Georgia Straight), Michael Barclay (Maclean's,
Radio Free Canuckistan), Chris Bilton (The Grid), Ryan Bresee (CKCU 93.1fm), Lisa Christiansen (CBC
Radio 1), Shawn Conner (The Snipe News), Melissa Hetu (TFO),
Kevin Laforest (Freelance, ex-Hour), Ryan B. Patrick (Freelance), Tabassum Siddiqui (Freelance) and
Nicole Villeneuve (AUX TV).
James Keast, who oversaw the Grand Jury, had this to say "I'm very impressed with the thoughtful consideration given to the Short List nominees by the Grand Jury this year. It was a very difficult choice, since it's such an incredible talent poll among this year's artists."
The 2012 Polaris
Music Prize Short List
Cadence Weapon - Hope In Dirt City
Cold Specks - I Predict A Graceful Expulsion
Drake - Take Care
Kathleen Edwards - Voyageur
Feist - Metals
Fucked Up -
David Comes To Life
Grimes - Visions
Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital
Japandroids - Celebration Rock
YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN - YT//ST
About the Polaris
Music Prize
The Polaris
Music Prize is a not-for-profit organization that annually honours, celebrates and rewards creativity and diversity in Canadian recorded music by recognizing, then marketing the albums of the highest artistic integrity, without regard to musical genre, professional affiliation, or sales history, as judged by a panel of selected music critics. www.polarismusicprize.ca
