And the accolades keep on coming for Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs. Having already earned Album of the Year at the 2011 Grammy Awards, Best International Album at the 2011 BRIT Awards, and Album of the Year at the 2011 Juno Awards, the band’s third LP was just awarded this year’s Polaris Music Prize. The annual prize, which honors the best album from Canada, is selected by a small jury of music journalists, bloggers, and broadcasters.

Their first-ever Polaris Music Prize win, Arcade Fire beat out such formidable candidates as Destoryer, The Weeknd, Austra, and Colin Stetson. Along with bragging rights, Win Butler and co. also receive a $30,000 cash prize.

The band is just finishing up some Canadian festival appearances, including a set they squeezed in a day before the unfortunate events at the Ottawa Bluesfest. They’ll play Osheaga and a handful of other fests in the North before trekking through North America in the fall with Pepper Rabbit (who offered up an exclusive download of their Rose Mary Stretch EP not too long ago). In the midst of the tour, they’ll join Arcade Fire, Destroyer, The Weeknd, and the other nominees at the Polaris Prize gala event on September 19th.

See Braids’ complete itinerary below.

Braids 2011 Tour Dates:
07/22-23 – Calgary, AB @ Calgary Folk Festival
07/24 – Guelph, ON @ Hillside Festival
07/30 – Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Music Festival
08/05-06 – Regina, SK @ Regina Folk Festival
09/06 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
09/07 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church *
09/08 – Washington DC @ DC9 *
09/09 – Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Festival
09/10 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn *
09/11 – Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree *
09/13 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle *
09/14 – Ames, IA @ Maintenance Shop
09/15 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *
09/16 – Winnipeg, MB @ The Royal Albert Arms Hotel *
09/18 – Saskatoon, SK@ Jale
09/18 – Toronto, ON @ CTV’S Concert Hall Studios at Toronto’s Masonic Temple (Polaris Music Event)
09/22 – Victoria, BC @ Rifflandia Music Festival *
09/23 – Vancouver, BC @ Olio Festival
09/24 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern *
09/25 – Portland, OR @ Holocene
09/27 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill *
09/28 – Costa Mesa, CA @ Detroit Bar *
09/29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echo *
09/30 – Tempe, AZ @ Sail Inn *
10/01 – Santa Fe, NM @ Sol At Santa Fe Brewing Co. *
10/02 – El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace *
10/04 – Austin, TX @ The Mohawk *
10/05 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada *
10/06 – St. Louis, MO @ Firebird *
10/07 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop *
10/08 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern *
10/09 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick Lounge *
10/10 – London, ON @ Call The Office *
10/11 – Kingston, ON @ The Grad Club
10/14 – Toronto, ON @ Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
10/15 – Ottawa, ON @ Babylon
10/16 – Quebec, QC @ Le Cercle *
10/17 – Fredericton, NB @ The Capital Complex
10/19 – Portland, ME  @ SPACE *
10/20 – Boston, MA @ Great Scott *

* = w/ Pepper Rabbit

The Polaris Music Prize is the annual award given to the best Canadian album. Past winners have included Fucked Up, Caribou, and the artist formerly known as Final Fantasy. Surprisingly, Arcade Fire has never won, though their LP The Suburbs is on the shortlist for this year’s award, as are Destroyer’s Kaputt, The Weeknd’s House of Balloons, Austra’s Feel It Break, and Braids’ Native Speaker. The full list of nominees is available below, and the winner will officially be announced on September 19th.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Austra – Feel It Break
Braids – Native Speaker
Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
Destroyer – Kaputt
Galaxie – Tigre et diesel
Hey Rosetta – Seeds
Ron Sexsmith – Long Player Late Bloomer
Timber Timbre – Creep On Creepin’ On
The Weeknd – House Of Balloons

The Polaris Music Prize is like the Mercury Prize, only it crowns Canada’s best album as opposed to the UK’s. Winners of the award include Fucked Up, Caribou, Patrick Watson, and Owen Pallett, and you can now add Karkwa to that list too. The Montreal based outfit’s fourth album Les chemins de verre was awarded the 2010 Polaris Music Prize earlier tonight, beating out formidable full-lengths from acts like Broken Social Scene, Tegan and Sara, Caribou, The Besnard Lakes, and Pallett.

In addition to the bragging rights, Karkwa’s victory also earns them $20,000 Canadian smackaroos.

In music there’s always something to look forward to. Stay tuned.

– Across the pond, BBC 6 drama continued.

– The Polaris Music Prize revealed its shortlist.

– Now that he’s made his stance on immigration known, Conor Oberst and two of his more notable, newly reunited projects — Bright Eyes and Desaparecidos — will play the Concert For Equality in Omaha, NE later this month.

– Wilco left Nonesuch Records.

– Curious to know how the Rage Against the Machine-esque campaign known as Storm the Charts went over? Find out here.

– No, Ted Leo‘s not retiring.

– Don’t hold your breath for a new Van Halen album, but there are plenty of other new titles to look forward to. Keep reading and you’ll see what I mean.

– Swedish neo-psychedelica aficionados rejoice: Dungen‘s latest LP is slated for a mid-September release.

– Nerds have a reason to rejoice, too: Daft Punk‘s score for the Tron remake should be available just in time for the holidays. November 23rd may or may not be the day.

– Many other groups detailed their forthcoming albums, including Swans and Grinderman.

– And while we’re on the subject of new material, check out the DJ Shadow, Smashing Pumpkins , The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, and Of Montreal singles that dropped this week. There’s also an intriguing new Converse promo single to hear.

– M.I.A.‘s new album is streaming on her MySpace page. Stop reading this recap right now and listen. Or you could open up another browser. Your call.

– Three words: Lil’ Wayne video. Need I say more?

– David Byrne, Alex Turner, and Pet Shop Boys will provide scores for some pretty outrageous projects.

– Big Boi stepped out on his own. Chris Coplan reviewed the beatmaker’s long-awaited solo effort.

– Karina Halle checked out a Melvins gig. This is what she had to say.

– Ray Padgett reported on the Nateva Music and Camping Festival.

– Want a couple of three-day passes to Lollapalooza? How about a Radiohead prize pack? Enter our Ultimate Giveaway. Click here to find out more.

Fucked Up now joins past winners Caribou, Patrick Watson, and Final Fantasy in the Polaris fraternity.