Pitchfork: Sufjan Stevens Wins New Pantheon Award

Congratulations, Sufjan! Mr. Stevens can add yet another notch to his belt, as it has just been announced that his Illinois album has won the inaugural New Pantheon Music Prize. In addition to a trophy, Sufjan also takes home a $5,000 cash prize. That'll buy a lot of pom poms.

Illinois beat out records by Animal Collective, Antony and the Johnsons, Fiona Apple, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, Death Cab for Cutie, the Decemberists, Kings of Leon, and M.I.A. for the award, which honors the year's best under-the-radar music. In order to be eligible, an album must have been released in the United States between July 1, 2004 and October 30, 2005, and sold less than 500,000 copies at the time of nomination.

The nominees, and the winner, were chosen by a panel of 27 entertainers, journalists, and industry types, including Ric Ocasek of the Cars, Elton John, Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson of the Roots, Elijah Wood, Margaret Cho, Shirley Manson of Garbage, Beck, John Legend, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, country superstar Keith Urban, Adam Brody and Josh Schwartz from "The O.C.", and Pitchfork's own Ryan Schreiber.

John, Wood, Legend, Vega, and Schreiber were among those who voted for Sufjan. For the full list of nominators and their choices, check out the New Pantheon website.