Who is Arcade Fire?
A very brief history: *From some humble beginnings, their 2004 kickoff LP Funeral has been hailed as one of the greatest albums of all time. It was meta-critically ranked as the 2nd most acclaimed album of the 2000s. Since then, they come up with a concept album every 3 years. They've all been great thus far and have accelerated the band's commercial success. Still with little-to-none radio-airplay in the U.S., they've somehow become the biggest band in the world.*
This success is pure happenstance, in my opinion. Funeral set the stage for indie bands in the next 10 years, but that was on mistake. The band's follow up albums have increasingly strayed from that original sound. Reflektor does anything but reflect the sound of Funeral, their popularity is also foreign to what it was 9 years ago. It's a move that big rock bands have done in the past- U2's Achtung Baby was U2's abandoning the sounds that made them popular in the first place and showing off a rock-star persona that's both really goofy and really scary. Reflektor doubles as both AF's Achtung Baby AND their Magical Mystery Tour, toying with crazy studio production tricks with help from indie-music production hero James Murphy.
The title track is the band's first song to actually reach the U.S. Hot 100 (peak at #99), but I feel like no matter what the lead single was, this was going to happen anyway, because of where they are. But for the record, it's a GREAT track. It's a powerful album opener, the lyrics are open to interpretation, it's catchy, it's danceable, it's dark, the production is top-notch. Too many good things to say about this track. The rest of the album is not as instantly loveable. Like... at all.
No matter what you say about the music, Mr. Murphy definitely worked his butt off on this thing. "Normal Person," despite it's lyrical stupidity, packs a lot of glam rock energy and comes off a very enjoyable, Bowie-esque standout track. "Joan of Arc," my indefinite least favorite track, comes off overly cheesy and I'm 75% sure it's just about love. Murphy's handiwork saves this track from hopelessness with epic overdubs in the chorus and a cool-enough Gary Glitter beat. (Gosh, this song bugs me though.) Also, I feel like in scattered parts of the album, Win Butler's lyrics aren't as strong as they've been in the past, especially after the very much "songwriter" album The Suburbs.
I've never taken drugs before. But this album would sound GLORIOUS if I was high.
"We Exist" > "Flashbulb Eyes" > "Here Comes the Night Time" make for a great coked-out trio of songs. The beat on "Exist" is worthy of a disco ball. "Eyes" has freaky production tricks chopped up throughout. "Night Time's" lyrics creep me out behind its dark yet joyful rhythms that speed up and slow down unexpectedly. Disc 2's closer "Supersymmetry" would fit in nicely on the recent LPs from Destroyer or M83; it's hazy, dreamy, there's a nice use of strings to keep it interesting.
This album tells a story, but I'm not sure what. Unlike the friendly, relatable tales of childhood that Suburbs tell, Reflektor talks about death and makes senseless statements throughout. ("We exist!" "Love is real, like a disease." "If you're looking for Hell, just try looking inside.") Despite Butler's elaborate lyrics in the past, I love this. It fits the band's new personality. "Afterlife" is an emotional highlight on the album with a sprinting rhythm, while Win cries out his fear of death and anything afterwards. It's a great track placed perfectly, saving disc 2 from being too quiet or too boring.
There's supposed to be a personal intermission between disc 1 and 2. The album is a lot more enjoyable this way. Like most musical theater productions, the first half is fast, loud and interesting, and the second half is for those who've been following the real plot, testing the audience to see if they can stay awake. It's a neat idea. Considering the strenuous length of the album, the 5 minute fade following "Supersymmetry" is a good way to exit the theater.
The sound samples of introducing the band and people cheering on disc 1 weren't necessary. I suppose it made me smile at 1 in the morning. "Awful Sound" is a beautiful, uncomfortably emotional track. "Porno" has some awkward lyrical content that I approve. Actually, a lot of this of this album is awkward, and I do quite enjoy it.
How does Reflektor compare with other AF albums? How does it compare with other 2013 albums? It hurts me to think about this, so I'll leave that up to you. But fact is, Arcade Fire passed the test of tortured artists disguised as senseless rock stars. It's definitely not a perfect album, but it fits the criteria for a "beautiful dark twisted fantasy." AF and Murphy worked hard on this, but arguably harder than they needed to. Hmmm...
I usually don't score albums, but what the hey: 8.5, maybe 9 out of 10...
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Friday, October 11, 2013
4 songs from 2013 I HAD to write a blog about
Before I go into this, here are a few songs I considered writing about:
* 'Get Lucky' (Daft Punk) * 'White Noise' (Disclosure) * 'God Made the World' (Cold Cave) * 'Wakin' on a Pretty Day' (Kurt Vile) * 'Ya Hey' (Vampire Weekend) * 'Retrograde' (James Blake) * 'Hang on to Life' (Ariel Pink) * other stuff *
Okay. 2013 isn't over yet. Not even close. There are plenty of releases coming up that I predict to be really really good. But when it comes to songs, it's hard to follow. I myself don't consider critic's lists for songs at the end of the year to be all that accurate. It's hard to tell which songs are going to last a long time. But here are 4 songs (in no particular order) that I have totally loved all year.
DOIN' IT RIGHT -Daft Punk (ft Panda Bear)
"This Daft Punk album would probably be really good to take drugs and listen to on a rainy bridge across the Gulf of Mexico." -Diplo. I have never never done drugs or visited the Gulf of Mexico. But I think this song captures that feeling more than any other. I'm specifically referring to the short, basic keyboard solo in the middle of the song. Panda Bear's voice in this song is basically the sound of magic, echo, overdub and all. There are only a few lyrics to the song. You hear robots saying the same 4 lines over and over again. This is like the song you've heard a million times before you've even heard it once. In an attempt to make an album that sounds like it could've been made 30 years ago, Daft Punk gave us something that just might last 30 years and beyond.
MUTE -Youth Lagoon
I feel stupid trying to explain how Youth Lagoon sounds. I always conclude that it's like MGMT & Mercury Rev covering AC's Merriweather Post Pavilion. And then I actually listen to them and I'm like- nah. Trevor Powers (aka Youth Lagoon) comes from Boise, ID, and I'm glad I can enjoy an artist that lives so close to my hometown. He music has been defined as lo-fi, psychedelic, dream pop. The lyrics on his Wondrous Bughouse album are mostly about death, ghosts, sleep. One of my favorite critics Anthony Fantano, didn't even review the album. He makes a case for artists who make plain melodies behind unnecessary noise. I guess Youth Lagoon goes under that category. If you're lame. This is probably my favorite album opener of the year. Great guitar riff, great playful, mysterious noises in the background. It's the beginning of something weird and epic.
BLURRED LINES -Robin Thicke (ft Pharrell Willians & T.I)
Am I sell-out? I sold out from the very first time I heard this song. IT'S STUPID. There are only a few notes here. It's not exactly the most harmonic thing in the world. The song is about sex. Zero poetic value ("Baby, can you breath? I got this from Jamaica!" ...I don't know what that means) .Anyway, what I love about this song is that Thicke & his crew didn't try too hard. Spoon's Kill the Moonlight has been praised for it's sounding like the perfect "bare bones" rock record. This is the bare bones of generic pop/r&b. We have the lead guy who's only made 1 good song his entire life, we have the sexy black dude, and we have a rap verse in the middle. What more do you need, what more do you want? Each line should be classic, doesn't have to make sense or be intelligent, just has to be quotable (see Janelle Monae's "Tightrope" or Outkast's "Hey Ya!" for further instructions on that one). You want more cowbell, we got plenty of cowbell. Can there be a 100% guaranteed "feel good hit of the summer"? Let's just make this the #1 song in America from June 22-September 7. This song shouldn't be so controversial to the public- it's the perfect example of every generic pop hit from the last 20 years. Get over it.
STEP -Vampire Weekend
I said these songs were in no particular order. The other 3 aren't. This is my favorite. And for the record, Vampire's Weekend album has been my favorite album of the year thus far (it might get beat!), but this song is a golden child. Webster's dictionary defines nostalgia as "a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition." Aren't songs about ex-girlfriends and growing old supposed to be depressing? Ezra Koenig turns these topics into something "wistful." It's both cheeky and tongue-and-cheek. Think Paul Simon's "Kodachrome" or "You Can Call Me Al"... only with church organs, synthesized choirs, a cool harpsichord part, tons of cultural references and hints of hip-hop. It's hard, I know, but think about it. Koenig delivers line-after-line on this song more than any other VW tracks. I have not studied what every single line is about, but if you really want to, there's this: http://rock.rapgenius.com/Vampire-weekend-step-lyrics#note-1593862. For a song about personal memories, it doubles as university-class library of history. Now just because a song has a bunch of personal pronouns in its lyrics, that doesn't make it better than everything else (then again, the Barenaked Ladies were launched to popularity with "One Week" and "If I Had $1,000,000"). But I think the music captures the lyrical concept and turns it into something joyful- and as far as pop music goes- spiritual. Here's a crisp, delicate wine-glass toast to everything stupid you've done in your youth, and everything you've learned as well.
* 'Get Lucky' (Daft Punk) * 'White Noise' (Disclosure) * 'God Made the World' (Cold Cave) * 'Wakin' on a Pretty Day' (Kurt Vile) * 'Ya Hey' (Vampire Weekend) * 'Retrograde' (James Blake) * 'Hang on to Life' (Ariel Pink) * other stuff *
Okay. 2013 isn't over yet. Not even close. There are plenty of releases coming up that I predict to be really really good. But when it comes to songs, it's hard to follow. I myself don't consider critic's lists for songs at the end of the year to be all that accurate. It's hard to tell which songs are going to last a long time. But here are 4 songs (in no particular order) that I have totally loved all year.
DOIN' IT RIGHT -Daft Punk (ft Panda Bear)
"This Daft Punk album would probably be really good to take drugs and listen to on a rainy bridge across the Gulf of Mexico." -Diplo. I have never never done drugs or visited the Gulf of Mexico. But I think this song captures that feeling more than any other. I'm specifically referring to the short, basic keyboard solo in the middle of the song. Panda Bear's voice in this song is basically the sound of magic, echo, overdub and all. There are only a few lyrics to the song. You hear robots saying the same 4 lines over and over again. This is like the song you've heard a million times before you've even heard it once. In an attempt to make an album that sounds like it could've been made 30 years ago, Daft Punk gave us something that just might last 30 years and beyond.
MUTE -Youth Lagoon
I feel stupid trying to explain how Youth Lagoon sounds. I always conclude that it's like MGMT & Mercury Rev covering AC's Merriweather Post Pavilion. And then I actually listen to them and I'm like- nah. Trevor Powers (aka Youth Lagoon) comes from Boise, ID, and I'm glad I can enjoy an artist that lives so close to my hometown. He music has been defined as lo-fi, psychedelic, dream pop. The lyrics on his Wondrous Bughouse album are mostly about death, ghosts, sleep. One of my favorite critics Anthony Fantano, didn't even review the album. He makes a case for artists who make plain melodies behind unnecessary noise. I guess Youth Lagoon goes under that category. If you're lame. This is probably my favorite album opener of the year. Great guitar riff, great playful, mysterious noises in the background. It's the beginning of something weird and epic.
BLURRED LINES -Robin Thicke (ft Pharrell Willians & T.I)
Am I sell-out? I sold out from the very first time I heard this song. IT'S STUPID. There are only a few notes here. It's not exactly the most harmonic thing in the world. The song is about sex. Zero poetic value ("Baby, can you breath? I got this from Jamaica!" ...I don't know what that means) .Anyway, what I love about this song is that Thicke & his crew didn't try too hard. Spoon's Kill the Moonlight has been praised for it's sounding like the perfect "bare bones" rock record. This is the bare bones of generic pop/r&b. We have the lead guy who's only made 1 good song his entire life, we have the sexy black dude, and we have a rap verse in the middle. What more do you need, what more do you want? Each line should be classic, doesn't have to make sense or be intelligent, just has to be quotable (see Janelle Monae's "Tightrope" or Outkast's "Hey Ya!" for further instructions on that one). You want more cowbell, we got plenty of cowbell. Can there be a 100% guaranteed "feel good hit of the summer"? Let's just make this the #1 song in America from June 22-September 7. This song shouldn't be so controversial to the public- it's the perfect example of every generic pop hit from the last 20 years. Get over it.
STEP -Vampire Weekend
I said these songs were in no particular order. The other 3 aren't. This is my favorite. And for the record, Vampire's Weekend album has been my favorite album of the year thus far (it might get beat!), but this song is a golden child. Webster's dictionary defines nostalgia as "a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition." Aren't songs about ex-girlfriends and growing old supposed to be depressing? Ezra Koenig turns these topics into something "wistful." It's both cheeky and tongue-and-cheek. Think Paul Simon's "Kodachrome" or "You Can Call Me Al"... only with church organs, synthesized choirs, a cool harpsichord part, tons of cultural references and hints of hip-hop. It's hard, I know, but think about it. Koenig delivers line-after-line on this song more than any other VW tracks. I have not studied what every single line is about, but if you really want to, there's this: http://rock.rapgenius.com/Vampire-weekend-step-lyrics#note-1593862. For a song about personal memories, it doubles as university-class library of history. Now just because a song has a bunch of personal pronouns in its lyrics, that doesn't make it better than everything else (then again, the Barenaked Ladies were launched to popularity with "One Week" and "If I Had $1,000,000"). But I think the music captures the lyrical concept and turns it into something joyful- and as far as pop music goes- spiritual. Here's a crisp, delicate wine-glass toast to everything stupid you've done in your youth, and everything you've learned as well.
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