Caribou Horns In On Indie Award

Canadian act Caribou has won IMPALA’s award for the best European album of the year.

Bestival, Robin Hill Country Park, Isle Of Wight, UK

Our Love, which was released by City Slang in June 2014, finished ahead of competition from The Dø, Young Fathers, Batida, Broken Twin, Sleaford Mods and Aphex Twin among others, as well as previous IMPALA Album of the Year award nominees Alt-J and IceAge.

“Wow, this is a huge honour for the artist and my label. Caribou deserves this award for his outstanding talent and hard work,” said City Slang founder Christof Ellinghaus, accepting the award while Caribou is on a European tour.

Nominated albums were required to have been released on a European independent label between January and December 2014.

“Caribou emerged a worthy winner in a vote which pitched “Our Love” against Europe’s very best releases of 2014,” said IMPALA executive chair Helen Smith. “This year’s award winner also underlines the work by European independent labels, not only with European artists but with acts from all over the world.”

City Slang is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany, that Ellinghaus founded in 1990 to release material from the Flaming Lips.

It quickly became a home for other U.S. .acts such as The Lemonheads, Das Damen and Yo La Tengo, all looking to bring their music to Europe. City Slang’s catalogue also has records by Lambchop, Nada Surf, and Arcade Fire.

Previous winners of the IMPALA award include Efterklang, Adele, The xx and Guadalupe Plata.