Last night, Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs took home the Polaris Prize, the coveted award for Canadian album of the year. To be fair, this isn’t quite as big a deal as winning the Grammy. In a more logical world, an album that won Best Overall Album would obviously win Best Canadian Album too. But we live in an age where a woman can win Video of the Year but somehow lose Best Female Video and nothing can be taken for granted. So congrats to Arcade Fire on winning the Polaris! It’s a prestigious accolade to add to what must surely be a growing trophy case in the band’s rec room.
In honor of the acclaimed album’s latest honor, we put together a quickie cover tribute. For an album that’s barely a year old, The Suburbs has garnered plenty of cover love. Here’s a set of some of our favorites. Hopefully these can answer once and for all that timeless question: Who is Arcade Fire?
MP3: Mr. Little Jeans – The Suburbs (Arcade Fire cover)
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MP3: Calexico – Ready to Start (Arcade Fire cover)
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MP3: Lenka – Deep Blue (Arcade Fire cover)
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MP3: Ace Reporter – We Used to Wait (Arcade Fire cover)
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MP3: The Oxycontinentals – Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) (Arcade Fire cover)
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Don’t own the original? Pick up ‘The Suburbs’ at iTunes or Amazon.
If “Deep Blue” were traded out for a “Modern Man” cover, you’d have picked the only five songs on “The Suburbs” that I think are actually really good.