I am a Los Angeles-based twentysomething. I have a profession, and I have a secret life in music, and this blog isn't about any of that. I like Blogger because I can't read what you're thinking.
I Approve Of These Links
- A Blog Supreme
- AdamRiff
- AdFreak
- Hermitology
- Losanjealous
- Piano Jazz
|
Tuesday, November 2
>>
WHY ARCADE FIRE MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I CAN BOTH DO EVERYTHING AND NOTHING
The first time I paid attention to an Arcade Fire song was at a U2 show a few years back. The lights were dim before the show, and they became more dim as "Wake Up" started crescendoing the P.A. I'd never heard it before. It got everyone to a feverish roar. It was insane. And it made sense. Like all of U2's hits, "Wake Up" is about the collective experience. About screaming, about beating the shit out of something, and in passion. "Wake Up," like everything else on Funeral, could be about anything, and it would still get people really fucking fired up. It's also genuine. It isn't, "Let's make an ambitious album because it should be ambitious." It's more, "Let's make a really loud album because we want to go really nuts on this shit, and, hopefully, make everyone else go nuts."
When I heard "Neighborhood #3 Power Out" this morning, it was both very encouraging and discouraging. In one angle, that song makes it seem like you can get away with anything on a record. In another angle, you know you could never be as good as their channeling this sort of beautiful and musical rage.
I don't know what Arcade Fire are about--I'm not some radical fanboy, and am simply a fan--but I do know that I enjoy their music because it tests the limits of how hard you can push a group collectively, without ever turning into a "wall of sound." There's something really remarkable about that.
Maybe it's the mix, maybe it's the songs, maybe it's the way they know how to layer parts, or maybe it's the culmination of all that and more. Whatever it is, they're of the few groups in my entire collection who simply nail it. They nail it so fucking hard on Funeral it's not even funny, and I wouldn't blame anyone for putting their guitars away forever in fear of the uphill battle they face when trying to even attain a single shred of Arcade Fire's talent in making Funeral.
I say this because their sophomore was a real disappointment, but I don't think it's cool to take a shit on anyone's music, so let's just leave it at, "Funeral is really fucking dope and inspiring, and The Suburbs is very nice, which I like to listen to a lot, but not nearly as much as Funeral."
|