Stars, Plaskett nominated for Galaxie music honour

The New Pornographers, the Weakerthans and Stars are among the recording artists vying for CBC Galaxie's Rising Stars Award at the Indie Awards next month.

Organizers announced on Monday a short list of 10 acts competing for the annual honour, which carries a cash prize of $3,000 and is presented at the Indie Awards during Canadian Music Week each March.

The short list includes:

• Basia Bulat for Oh My Darling.
• The Besnard Lakes for The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse.
• Caribou for Andorra.
• Jenn Grant for Orchestra for the Moon.
• Joel Plaskett Emergency for Ashtray Rock.
• The New Pornographers for Challengers.
• Stars for In Our Bedroom After the War.
• Tegan and Sara for The Con.
• The Weakerthans for Reunion Tour.
• Wintersleep for Welcome to the Night Sky.

While the Indie Awards are fan-voted, the Galaxie prize is a critics' honour that judges a recording's artistic merit and pushes aside any sales figures or airplay numbers.

Organizers poll music journalists from across the country representing print, broadcast and online media for their picks of the top five Canadian indie releases of the past year. The selections are boiled down to a short list, from which the critics pick a single winner.

The 2008 winner of the Galaxie Rising Stars Award will be announced March 8 at the Indie Awards in Toronto.