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Topic ClosedGY!BE Responds to Winning Polaris Award

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Earendil View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: GY!BE Responds to Winning Polaris Award
    Posted: September 24 2013 at 14:18
Each year, an album released by a Canadian artist is awarded the Polaris Music Prize for "artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label". The award is voted on by a jury of over 200 Canadian music media folk (journalists, broadcasters, etc.). Along with the national recognition comes a cash prize of $30,000, which is sponsored by the Government of Canada, and other private organizations. This year saw the award handed to cult post rock act Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

In an interesting turn of events though, the band has released the following statement regarding their win:

"A FEW WORDS REGARDING THIS POLARIS PRIZE THING
hello kanada.
hello kanadian music-writers.
thanks for the nomination thanks for the prize- it feels nice to be acknowledged by the Troubled Motherland when we so often feel orphaned here. and much respect for all y’all who write about local bands, who blow that horn loudly- because that trumpeting is crucial and necessary and important.

and much respect to the freelancers especially, because freelancing is a hard f**king gig, and almost all of us are freelancers now, right? falling and scrambling and hustling through these difficult times?

so yes, we are grateful, and yes we are humble and we are shy to complain when we’ve been acknowledged thusly- BUT HOLY sh*t AND HOLY COW- we’ve been plowing our field on the margins of weird culture for almost 20 years now, and “this scene is pretty cool but what it really f**king needs is an awards show” is not a thought that’s ever crossed our minds.

3 quick bullet-points that almost anybody could agree on maybe=
-holding a gala during a time of austerity and normalized decline is a weird thing to do.
-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.
-asking the toyota motor company to help cover the tab for that gala, during a summer where the melting northern ice caps are live-streaming on the internet, IS f**kING INSANE, and comes across as tone-deaf to the current horrifying malaise.

these are hard times for everybody. and musicians’ blues are pretty low on the list of things in need of urgent correction BUT AND BUT if the point of this prize and party is acknowledging music-labor performed in the name of something other than quick money, well then maybe the next celebration should happen in a cruddier hall, without the corporate banners and culture overlords. and maybe a party thusly is long overdue- it would be truly nice to enjoy that hang, somewhere sometime where the point wasn’t just lazy money patting itself on the back.

give the money to the kids let ‘em put on their own goddamn parties, give the money to the olds and let them try to write opuses in spite of, but let the muchmusic videostars fight it out in the inconsequential middle, without gov’t. culture-money in their pockets.
us we’re gonna use the money to try to set up a program so that prisoners in quebec have musical instruments if they need them…

amen and amen.
apologies for being such bores,
we love you so much / our country is f**ked,
xoxoxox
godspeed you! black emperor"



Edited by Earendil - September 24 2013 at 14:22
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 24 2013 at 14:38
Wow. Clap
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 24 2013 at 14:59
What an inspired way of approaching this thing, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees these award type dealios in an awkward lighting. 
I'll join Steve-o in the clappies - we need more artists who aren't afraid of ruffling some feathers without coming off as hipsters who revel in being obnoxious for the sake of just thatClapClapClap
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 24 2013 at 15:06
Hear, hear! Just what I'd expect from those righteous skeptics.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 24 2013 at 15:34
Gotta listen to Skinny Fist just because of this amazing speech. This band is simply incredible Clap
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 24 2013 at 15:38
Even if someone doesn't agree with what they say, they gotta admit that Godspeeds are living legends.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 24 2013 at 15:39
Well they have convinced me now to go out and buy a second hand car not a new oneSmile
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 24 2013 at 15:40
^LOL
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 24 2013 at 15:44
What a way to respond to winning an award! I wish more artist said/did things like that.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 24 2013 at 15:52
Leave it to Godspeed to drop a screed at this kind of thing. I kind of appreciate the sentiment, but there's something really annoying about it too. Maybe I just appreciate brevity and think eco-warriors are fundamentally annoying. Also, the quirks in the writing. Ugh.

But oh well.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 24 2013 at 16:03
Originally posted by stonebeard stonebeard wrote:

I kind of appreciate the sentiment, but there's something really annoying about it too. Maybe I just appreciate brevity and think eco-warriors are fundamentally annoying. Also, the quirks in the writing. Ugh.

But oh well.

My sentiments exactly, but I guess we're a minority in feeling this way.  Tongue
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2013 at 08:31
100 years from now, nobody will be talking about, or even remember who Miley Cyrus was.

But they'll still be talking about Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2013 at 09:52
Originally posted by jmpatrick jmpatrick wrote:

100 years from now, nobody will be talking about, or even remember who Miley Cyrus was.

But they'll still be talking about Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Exact !


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2013 at 10:00
Originally posted by jmpatrick jmpatrick wrote:

100 years from now, nobody will be talking about, or even remember who Miley Cyrus was.

But they'll still be talking about Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Uh, I think you're slightly overestimating their importance.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2013 at 10:12
Originally posted by jmpatrick jmpatrick wrote:

100 years from now, nobody will be talking about, or even remember who Miley Cyrus was.

But they'll still be talking about Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Name one artist from 100 years ago people are talking about today, then compare to GYBE XD
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2013 at 10:40
Originally posted by Padraic Padraic wrote:

Originally posted by jmpatrick jmpatrick wrote:

100 years from now, nobody will be talking about, or even remember who Miley Cyrus was.

But they'll still be talking about Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Uh, I think you're slightly overestimating their importance.

Slightly.

But seriously, isn't Miley Cirus' importance overestimated ?


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2013 at 11:17
Originally posted by Padraic Padraic wrote:

Originally posted by jmpatrick jmpatrick wrote:

100 years from now, nobody will be talking about, or even remember who Miley Cyrus was.

But they'll still be talking about Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Uh, I think you're slightly overestimating their importance.
I adore the band but this.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2013 at 12:20
Originally posted by The-time-is-now The-time-is-now wrote:

Originally posted by Padraic Padraic wrote:

Originally posted by jmpatrick jmpatrick wrote:

100 years from now, nobody will be talking about, or even remember who Miley Cyrus was.

But they'll still be talking about Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Uh, I think you're slightly overestimating their importance.

Slightly.

But seriously, isn't Miley Cirus' importance overestimated ?


Well, who can compete against the TWERKING? Especially when done in a most outrageous way à la Miley Cyrus...

Now, if the people of GY!BE went to this award ceremony and started to twerk...
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