2013 Polaris Music Prize

The 2013 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 23, 2013^[1] at The Carlu event theatre in Toronto, Ontario.^[2]

Polaris Music Prize, 2013, by Dustin Rabin

The award was won by Godspeed You! Black Emperor for their album 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!.^[3] The band subsequently released a statement criticizing the prize's gala trappings in a time of austerity, asserting that "organizing a gala just so musicians can compete against each other for a novelty-sized cheque doesn't serve the cause of righteous music at all. Maybe the next celebration should happen in a cruddier hall, without the corporate banners and culture overlords."^[2] Despite their criticism the band accepted the award, but donated the prize money to a Quebec-based program of music education in prisons.^[2]

Shortlist

The prize's 10-album shortlist was announced on July 16.^[4]

• Godspeed You! Black Emperor, 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
• A Tribe Called Red, Nation II Nation
• Zaki Ibrahim, Every Opposite
• Metric, Synthetica
• METZ, METZ
• Purity Ring, Shrines
• Colin Stetson, New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light
• Tegan and Sara, Heartthrob
• Whitehorse, The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss
• Young Galaxy, Ultramarine

Longlist

The prize's preliminary 40-album longlist was announced on June 13.^[1]

• A Tribe Called Red, Nation II Nation
• Alaclair Ensemble, Les maigres blancs d'Amérique du Noir
• Anciients, Heart of Oak
• The Besnard Lakes, Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO
• Louis-Jean Cormier, Le Treizième étage
• Daphni, Jiaolong
• Mac DeMarco, 2
• Evening Hymns, Spectral Dusk
• Hannah Georgas, Hannah Georgas
• Godspeed You! Black Emperor, 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
• Chilly Gonzales, Solo Piano II
• Jim Guthrie, Takes Time
• Hayden, Us Alone
• Zaki Ibrahim, Every Opposite
• KEN mode, Entrench
• Kid Koala, 12 Bit Blues
• Kobo Town, Jumbie in the Jukebox
• Pierre Lapointe, Punkt
• Lee Harvey Osmond, The Folk Sinner
• Les sœurs Boulay, Le poids des confettis
• Corb Lund, Cabin Fever
• The Luyas, Animator
• Majical Cloudz, Impersonator
• Metric, Synthetica
• METZ, METZ
• Danny Michel with the Garifuna Collective, Black Birds Are Dancing Over Me
• A.C. Newman, Shut Down the Streets
• Old Man Luedecke, Tender Is the Night
• Lindi Ortega, Cigarettes & Truckstops
• Peter Peter, Une version améliorée de la tristesse
• Purity Ring, Shrines
• Rah Rah, The Poet's Dead
• Rhye, Woman
• Daniel Romano, Come Cry With Me
• Colin Stetson, New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light
• Suuns, Images du futur
• Tegan and Sara, Heartthrob
• Al Tuck, Stranger at the Wake
• Whitehorse, The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss
• Young Galaxy, Ultramarine