arcade fire: pitchfork #1

1. Various Artists: Bright Lights, Big City [Soundtrack]

no mclusky and no liars and no oneida. that sucks. the pop stuff on there was pretty good - good to see annie so high, i do wanna check out the pretty toney album. i like the dj/rupture. i like camera obscura, i really like ac newman. disintegration loops is pretty good.

more things i wanna hear from this list:
mirah
futureheads
dfa comp
tv on the radio
mia/diplo

ahh christ. now the page isnt loading...

Where's MF Doom's Mmm...Food?

I guess so. I kinda prefer records that engage me. Most good music will do that.

those looking for instant pop hooks are obviously dissapointed

How about any hooks, whatsoever?

The Arcade Fire just sound like a semi-decent local band to me.

WELL IT SHOULD BE...

IT'S THE PIXIES (but not as good).

SO THE ANSWER IS...

no!

Arcade Fire made me feel physically sick when I first heard it, gave it several tries to appease friend, now consider it plenty decent. It's a "grower" - like the Cheeky Girls!

otm

perhaps I stated that wrong...there are no INSTANT hooks...but, indeed, the album is saturated with hidden hooks...hooks that take time to grow...like the Wrens album last year, the layers of emotional depth aren't apparent at first, but once you become aware of them, they are the type of hooks that never fade

"I kinda prefer records that engage me"

I'd much rather find an album that is not instantly memorable but unfolds over time...once Funeral finally exposes its inner substance, it is forever engaging

(xpost)

Feel free to visit Pitchfork's Wiki in the interim:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitchfork_Media

115, 000 !

-- peter smith (reesewitherspoo...) (webmail), December 22nd, 2004 10:22 AM. (plsmith) (link)

Nothing more needs to be said.

Feel free to visit Pitchfork's Wiki in the interim:
If you click on the link to the Pitchfork site over there, that seems to work really well.

That might have something to do with the fact that nothing I've heard this year has really wowed me. Maybe I'm looking in all the wrong places, but I don't even have a top 15 this year, much less a top 50. Which if you know me, is highly unusual.

(ps - Islaja was in my personal top 50, though - thanks!)

Yeah, I thought you'd like Islaja. What else made your top 50?

it's just a good rock record.

"sung tongs" doesn't deserve #2, but animal collective probably does. i think a combination of word gettting out + re-issues of all the old stuff = AC finally getting acknowledged as a great band. and in a top 50 of a specific year, "sung tongs" is the vessel, regardless of it's worthiness. (sure it's great, but it doesn't compare to spirit when vanished in my humble o, and thus, i think it's AC that's #2 more than "sung tongs".)

not a bad list. yeah, it appears that 'fork is getting /.ed.
m.

I so have to hear this now.

this was my list:
1 Brian Wilson: Smile
2 Animal Collective: Sung Tongs
3 Bjork: Medulla
4 Excepter: KA
5 Devendra Banhart: Rejoicing in the Hands
6 Charalambides: Joy Shapes
7 Nellie McKay: Get Away From Me
8 Magma: K.A
9 Espers: s/t
10 Erlend Øye: DJ Kicks
11 Korekyojinn: Arabesque
12 Craig Taborn: Junk Magic
13 V/A: DFA Compilation #2
14 M.I.A./Duplo: Piracy Funds Terrorism, Vol 1
15 Felix da Housecat: Devin Dazzle and the Neon Fever
16 R.Stevie Moore: Conscientious Objector
17 DILL: WYHIWYG
18 Felix Kubin: Matki Wandalki
19 Yoshida/Fujii: Erans
20 Dawn Upshaw: Voices of Light
21 Devendra Banhart: Nino Rojo
22 Soft Pink Truth: Do You Want New Wave…
23 Angel Molina: Pasada Professional
24 Hafler Trio: Normally
25 Fe-Mail w/Lasse Marhaug: All Men Are Pigs
26 Keith Fullerton Whitman: Antithesis
27 Squarepusher: Ultravisitor
28 Panda Bear: Young Prayer
29 Sagor & Swing: Orgelplaneten
30 Fripp/Eno: The Equatorial Stars
31 Faust/Dalek: Derbe Respect
32 V/A: Kompakt 100
33 Ruinzhatova: Close to the RH Kiki
34 Black Dice: Creature Comforts
35 Mouse on Mars: Radical Connector
36 Wolf Eyes: Burned Mind
37 Pan Sonic: Kesto
38 Superpitcher: Here Comes Love
39 Flying Luttenbachers: The Void
40 Sagan: Unseen Forces
41 V/A: Golden Apples of the Sun
42 Islaja: Meritie
43 Michael Mayer: Touch
44 DAT Politics: Go Pets Go
45 Dungen: Ta Det Lugnt
46 eX-Girl: Endangered Species
47 Agata: Spike
48 Fennesz: Venice
49 Liars: They Were Wrong So We Drowned
50 Charming Hostess: Sarajevo Blues

Now, none of this excuses them selling out three nights in SF next month in 20 minutes, but, as far as hyped indie goes, this album deserves it more than the strokes or interpol did.

(My friend has already constructed the new indie equivalent of the beatles/stones fued, as the Decemberists vs. the Arcade Fire. I think this fued only exists in his head though. But maybe there is something to contrast there).

Boomkat Home Listening 2004
http://www.boomkat.com/promotion.cfm?id=3

Right, well we red-state hermits take our yankee culture in limited doses.

50: Xiu Xiu
Fabulous Muscles
[5RC]

49: Max Richter
The Blue Notebooks
[FatCat]

48: Loretta Lynn
Van Lear Rose
[Interscope]

47: Comets on Fire
Blue Cathedral
[Sub Pop]

46: Iron & Wine
Our Endless Numbered Days
[Sub Pop]

45: The Concretes
The Concretes
[Astralwerks]

44: Camera Obscura
Underachievers Please Try Harder
[Merge]

43: Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
[Polydor]

42: DJ/Rupture
Special Gunpowder
[Tigerbeat6]

41: Les Savy Fav
Inches
[Frenchkiss]

40: The Walkmen
Bows and Arrows
[Recordcollection]

39: Cee-Lo
Cee-Lo Green Is a Soul Machine
[Arista]

38: Morrissey
You Are The Quarry
[Attack]

37: Jóhann Jóhannsson
Virðulegu forsetar
[Touch]

36: Excepter
KA
[Fusetron]

35: Mirah
C'mon Miracle
[K]

34: Espers
Espers
[Locust]

33: The Futureheads
The Futureheads
[679]

32: Califone
Heron King Blues
[Perishable]

31: De La Soul
The Grind Date
[Sanctuary Union]

i can't access the site at the mo..

20: Air Talkie Walkie [Astralwerks]
019: Björk Medulla [Elektra]
018: Kanye West The College Dropout [Rocafella]
017: Sufjan Stevens Seven Swans [Asthmatic Kitty]
016: Dizzee Rascal Showtime [XL]
015: Annie Anniemal [679]
014: Erlend Øye DJ-Kicks [!K7]
013: Dungen Ta Det Lugnt [Subliminal]
012: M.I.A. / Diplo Piracy Funds Terrorism, Vol. 1 [Hollertronix.com]
011: Sonic Youth Sonic Nurse [Interscope]
10: Joanna Newsom The Milk-Eyed Mender [Drag City]
09: Ghostface The Pretty Toney Album [Def Jam]
08: The Go! Team Thunder Lightning Strike [Memphis Industries]
07: Devendra Banhart Rejoicing in the Hands [Young God]
06: Madvillain Madvillainy [Stones Throw]
05: Brian Wilson Smile [Nonesuch]
04: The Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat [Rough Trade]
03: The Streets A Grand Don't Come for Free [Vice]
02: Animal Collective Sung Tongs [Fat Cat]
01: The Arcade Fire Funeral [Merge]

50 Xiu Xiu: Fabulous Muscles [5RC
49 Max Richter: The Blue Notebooks [FatCat]
48 Loretta Lynn: Van Lear Rose [Interscope]
47 Comets on Fire: Blue Cathedral [Sub Pop]
46 Iron & Wine: Our Endless Numbered Days [Sub Pop]
45 The Concretes: The Concretes [Astralwerks]
44 Camera Obscura: Underachievers Please Try Harder [Merge]
43 Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters [Polydor]
42 DJ/Rupture: Special Gunpowder [Tigerbeat6]
41 Les Savy Fav: Inches [Frenchkiss]
40 The Walkmen: Bows and Arrows [Recordcollection]
39 Cee-Lo: Cee-Lo Green Is a Soul Machine [Arista]
38 Morrissey: You Are the Quarry [Attack]
37 Jóhann Jóhannsson: Virðulegu forsetar [Touch]
36 Excepter: KA [Fusetron]
35 Mirah: C'mon Miracle [K]
34 Espers: Espers [Locust]
33 The Futureheads: The Futureheads [679]
32 Califone: Heron King Blues [Perishable]
31 De La Soul: The Grind Date [Sanctuary Union]
30 William Basinski: The Disintegration Loops [2062]
29 A.C. Newman: The Slow Wonder [Matador]
28 Junior Boys: Last Exit [Kin/Domino]
27 Interpol: Antics [Matador]
26 Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand [Domino]
25 VA: DFA Compilation #2 [DFA]
24 TV on the Radio: Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes [Touch & Go]
23 Modest Mouse: Good News for People Who Love Bad News [Epic]
22 The Foreign Exchange: Connected [BBE]
21 Fennesz: Venice [Touch]
20 Air: Talkie Walkie [Astralwerks]
19 Björk: Medulla [Elektra]
18 Kanye West: The College Dropout [Rocafella]
17 Sufjan Stevens: Seven Swans [Asthmatic Kitty]
16 Dizzee Rascal: Showtime [XL]
15 Annie: Anniemal [679]
14 Erlend Øye: DJ-Kicks [!K7]
13 Dungen: Ta Det Lugnt [Subliminal]
12 M.I.A. / Diplo: Piracy Funds Terrorism, Vol. 1 [Hollertronix]
11 Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse [Interscope]
10 Joanna Newsom: The Milk-Eyed Mender [Drag City]
09 Ghostface: The Pretty Toney Album [Def Jam]
08 The Go! Team: Thunder Lightning Strike [Memphis Industries]
07 Devendra Banhart: Rejoicing in the Hands [Young God]
06 Madvillain: Madvillainy [Stones Throw]
05 Brian Wilson: Smile [Nonesuch]
04 The Fiery Furnaces: Blueberry Boat [Rough Trade]
03 The Streets: A Grand Don't Come for Free [Vice]
02 Animal Collective: Sung Tongs [Fat Cat]
01 The Arcade Fire: Funeral [Merge]

why can't ryan pitchfork learn a lesson in information presentation ? ;-)

for the kind of music pf understands, sure

Also: It's hard to imagine that people can listen to that album year-round. It's such a wintery album!

04 The Fiery Furnaces: Blueberry Boat [Rough Trade]
03 The Streets: A Grand Don't Come for Free [Vice]
02 Animal Collective: Sung Tongs [Fat Cat]
01 The Arcade Fire: Funeral [Merge]

but they'd have to be somewhere in a top fifty of the most mentionable in college campus cafes. Ryan Schreiber, if you're reading this, next year do a list, in alphabetical order, called "What Boozhie Hipsters Bought."

Re Decemberists vs. Arcade Fire, haha, you're basically pitting a friend of mine's favorite new band of last year against his favorite new band of this year.

The Wrens/ Arcade Fire comparison seems very apt to me. You have to give them both many spins before you finally fall in.

average about 20 or 30 people's favorite records and there you go...
m.

Also: It's hard to imagine that people can listen to that album year-round. It's such a wintery album!"

Totally OTM.

I imagine that the thing about the Fiery Furnaces that puzzles you is its abundance of these things called "hooks."

I think that Margarine Eclipse is okay, but it's not Stereolab's best work by any stretch.

Same reaction I've had to every release of theirs since Dots & Loops.

"Why do they bother ranking these records? I mean, no one who heard the RTX record or The Hot Snakes or Wolf Eyes or Isis or Stereolab would ever say these are the top four albums of the year"

Oh come now.

Funny, I would have said the same thing- except substitute Blood Brothers, Magnetic Fields, Black Keys, and N.E.R.D. for the bands you mentioned.

It actually might be a better idea to start with Gallowsbird's Bark, which is a better, more conventional album full of brief, catchy tunes. That record is my favorite album of this century thus far. It's perfect as far as I am concerned. Blueberry Boat is really wonderful, but it'd be better if it was 20 minutes shorter and the remaining songs were on singles or EPs.

hell, even their earliest stuff was almost best when it droned endlessly.
m.

Re: BB. Maybe one of these days...

i just wish i could finally come round to more than sort-of-liking a grand don't come for free.

Also, their live show is amazing. That's why it's selling out. You should go see them in person, maybe there the energy, etc., will be more immediately convincing.

This is a perfect description of the reification of mediocrity that Pitchfork stands for. The Arcade Fire record is OK, I like it even, but it really sounds quite a bit like Echo and the Bunnymen, and there's just *no way* that it's a benchmark for the year. I can't believe that anyone will remember it even in a year's time.

I could agree with that. It's the kind of album you could safely buy for just about anyone you know who likes indie rock.

okay, maybe the arcade fire record is total shit. (i kid! i kid!)
m.

Yeah, well, as was clearly demonstrated by that best of the 90s poll, polls (as opposed to lists, drawn up by one person) are some crazy shit. It's just what happens what opinions are averaged out. I'm surprised Junior Boys placed so low--they would've been in my top 10--but that's what happens when you do these averages. Polls don't ask, "what's the best," they ask, "what's the most popular?"

They are pretty much the opposite of that sort of thing. They sound more like The Avalanches.

The points system in PFM polls is also suspect ... I think, in a top 50 ballot, they assign 50 points to a #1 vote, 49 to a #2 vote, etc.

That means the difference between ten #1 votes and ten #5 votes is ten points, i.e. the difference is a big fat #41 vote. Thus, the poll really does become a popularity contest in that the # of votes something gets becomes more important than where it is ranked.

We've tried to avoid such things in our polls by weighting the votes, which is one of the things that makes our polls better.

OFFICIAL THREAD FOR 2004 ALBUMS & SONGS POLL

New deadline for ballots (due to ILX downtime) is Jan 3.

totals, but the packaging is kinda neat - xpost

your polls are not better at all.

(xxpost)

i got totally confused, ignore previous post.

That's how they used to be conducted.

(and no, the sys wasn't switched up to avoid that, it was decided to use the P&J sys from the start this year)

It is my actual name. Why do you ask?

of course, you can still get pissed off at the poll, and then you can reduce the sample of the poll until its outcomes match exactly your own preferences. so then you end up with the ILM poll, and eventually with a poll of one person--you! then you don't have a poll, which tells you about popularity, but a list, which tells you about your own opinions about quality, etc. So for instance this poll is pretty crazy and interesting.

it's so an individual can jack up the value of a particular record. certainly better than 1 point per entry, which really is a popularity contest... it's like measuring attendance... "arcade fire?" "HERE!"

m.

Didn't someone ask for individual writer's lists a while ago? Why haven't we seen those yet? I'm usually partial to the stuff Leone chooses and generally I've never heard of it before.

oh, and xpost: "no poll will ever convince me that animal collective is good, but the pfm poll does show pretty convincingly there are people who do like it."

How many people, though? Enough to really justify the term popular?

-- Spencer Chow (spencercho...), December 22nd, 2004.

I've always wondered this as well- but that's b/c I went to college (Binghamton) with a Spencer Chow.

Is "Dominique Leone" hot?
-- Felonious Drunk (wangchungvsah...), December 22nd, 2004

It's a he, not a she, just an FYI.

Or maybe what I said was so controversial that a sane person would only post it under a pseudonym because pitchfork readers and editors are certain to come after me??

Also, why not address me directly?

Ha ha.

Dominique, you ARE right in that the Mara Carlyle strays into easy-listening at moments, but it is still the most gorgeous record I have heard this year. In fact, one of the things I like the most about it is that it's so unassuming. Something about the Islaja rubs the me the wrong way, even though it does remind me of Greek mourning songs at moments, which is a bonus for me.

I have liked the Oren Ambarchi record ("Grapes from the Estate")---not too crazy about the guitar-only tracks on this one, I'm more about the more sonically varied ones, esp. "Remedios the Beauty"---both FourColor records, Rosy Parlane's "Iris," and Toshiya Tsunoda's "Scenery from Decalcomania."

The Wasteland October record was twisted and worth checking out. And I'm angry at Keith Fullerton Whitman for making his releases vinyl-only, but those were great, too.

Greg Davis (bless that man, he's such a wonderful spirit) released his exploration into denser territory this year; "Somnia."

A lot of great reissues, though. The Can reissues, the Arthur Russell with Phil Niblock's DVD, the Jack Rose stuff (which, even if you don't like the music, you MUST admit the sheer TALENT of the man), Ilhan Mimaroglu's "Agitation" on Locust records---awesomeness.

I somehow don't understand the new "folk wave" as it comes across to me as just being a fad. I don't like Joanna Newsom, though I've heard from trustworthy sources she's a great live performer and her harp does sound gorgeous. But she sounds like Macy Gray on hallucinogens so that's a no-no. And I honestly don't get the appeal of Devendra Banhart. And don't get me started with the Arcade Fire.

xpost

Andy Beta, though.

Strange year for music, at any rate.

>> MARK PYTL1K
1. The Streets: A Grand Don't Come For Free
2. Air: Talkie Walkie
3. Dizzee Rascal: Showtime
4. Junior Boys: Last Exit
5. Fennesz: Venice
6. Max Richter: The Blue Notebooks
7. Mia & Diplo: Piracy Funds Terrorism
8. Superpitcher: Here Comes Love
9. Sufjan Stevens: Seven Swans
10. Wiley: Treddin' On Thin Ice
11. Madvillain: Madvillainy
12. Kanye West: College Dropout
13. Animal Collective: Sung Tongs
14. Erlend Oye: DJ Kicks
15. Various: Nicky Siano's The Gallery
16. Foreign Exchange: Connected
17. Elliott Smith: From The Basement On A Hill
18. Snow Patrol: Final Straw
19. Various: Kompakt 100
20. Interpol: Antics
21. Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters
22. Annie: Anniemal
23. Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand
24. Arthur Russell: World of Echo
25. Ghostface: The Pretty Toney Album
26. Savath & Savalas: Apropa't
27. Young Buck: Welcome To Cashville
28. The Go! Team: Thunder, Lightning, Stike
29. Lori Scacco: Circles
30. William Basinski: The Disintegration Loops
31. Morgan Geist: Unclassics
32. Feist: Let It Die
33. Loretta Lynn: Van Lear Rose
34. Lali Puna: Faking The Books
35. Seven Star: My Mother And Father Were Astronauts
36. Phoenix: Alphabetical
37. Various: Lord Of The Decks II
38. Squarepusher: Ultravisitor
39. Karen Ann: Not Going Anywhere
40. Akufen: Fabric 17
41. Michael Mayer: Touch
42. !!!: Louden Up Now
43. Arthur Russell: Calling Out Of Context
44. Devanda Banhart: Rejoicing The Hands
45. Talib Kweli: The Beautiful Struggle
46. Marz: Wir Sind Hier
47. Bjork: Medulla
48. Beta Band: Heroes To Zeroes
49. Adem: Homesongs
50. Iron & Wine: Our Endless Numbered Days

Dial Rat For Terror is not your actual name, right?

This is the kind of comparison that would want to make me become Gallagher so I could take the mighty hammer of Thor and squash the world watermelon-style.

Spencer's name, like the man himself, rocks.

http://pitchforkmedia.com/top/2004/lists.shtml
is this an eye test ? or what?

Try View->Text Size->Larger in IE, or the equivalent in whatever browser you use.

because i hadn't had any coffee yet. I kept looking at it and thinking "that is wrong. but I can't be fucked to figure out what is wrong about it."

Also: apart from a couple killers at the beginning I could more or less take or leave the Arcade Fire album, but calling it boring or generic is kind of a non-starter -- it's its solid execution of generic moves that makes it likeable in the first place. It's like Illmatic, let's say: this kind of down-the-middle great-executution genre-convention record whose good points people who aren't presently taken by the genre are slightly less likely to see.

Also: it completely baffles me that anyone could have any intensity of dislike for Sung Tongs -- it's totally gorge! The worst view I could imagine having on this is that it gets boring and formless after the first couple songs -- never have I imagined "boring and formless" inspiring much hatred.

I think is a bit unfair to Illmatic, which only seems "down the middle" and "genre convention" in hindsight, because it has been widely imitated.

xpost

I agree. I bet if it had come out in the second half of the year (or had been made in a more exotic country, like Norway), it would have placed much higher.

Actually (not having heard it) the most surprising omission to me is Wilco.

http://www.mugshots.com/Gangsters/Nicholas+Sylvester.htm

ihttp://www.mugshots.com/IMAGES/P__sylvester.jpg

spencer i was merely trying to divert you from pfm hate. keep in mind the name jab is coming from a person who, as you pointed out, does have two first names, and who in grade school was called "Dick Molester" and sometimes even "Trick Dick Molester".

Also, I praised the PFM singles list (one of the better lists I've seen in a while).

This would probably be true if it were for the fact that this had been the first Ghost release in five years. I think what raised it in most fans eyes was that it fact, whereas it probably isn't as good as they would like to believe it is. I certainly wouldn't say it's close to being my favourite Ghost album, and wouldn't boost its ranking on how great the older ones are.

(NO, I DIDN'T SPELL IT WRONG! THEY SPELLED IT "IMMENENCE!")

Flagrant plagiarism. *contacts lawyers*

-- mrjosh

O
T
M

and yeah (xpost x 99) i'm giving FF BB another try today. i'll probably only get through like a third of it at lunch, so i'll see how that goes down.

Brother Danielson - Brother:Son
Destroyer - Your Blues
Elliott Smith - FBOTH

All three brilliant albums - passionate and, in the case of the first two, like nothing else out there right now. All three are geniuses.

That's what I love so much about year-end roundups. I'm not going to pretend I've heard everything all year, let along that my tastes are sui generis. I look forward to all the lists, and being reminded of (and introduced to) stuff that slipped me by, from the Arcade Fire to, I dunno, M.I.A./Diplo's mix, or the Walkmen, or Annie. There's honestly little greater than downloading them all over the course of a single day and discovering that much if not all is very much to my liking. That reminds me, I'm going to put on that awesome Ghost album right now, and album (like the most recent Ex album) that I didn't put on my top ten because, well, because I expect as much from both bands, I guess, if that makes any sense.

Arcade Fire: top ten list material? Eh, who cares. I write 'em, but I don't stand by 'em. I just like what I like on the day I write it.

Now, why Ted Leo got no love at PFork is beyond me.

"42. McClusky: The Difference Between This and Felix Da Housecat's Album Is That I Remember This Title"

No way would that have happened before the PFM list. Damn them and their influence.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/new-for-you/top-sellers/-/music/all/ref=pd_dp_ts_m/002-7880051-0824841

30 seconds of Paris Hilton by Mu is better than this entire album.

The Arcade Fire have, so far, recorded exactly one interesting song, "Haiti." It's worth your time, but you'll have to get through ¾ of their abysmally out-of-focus album Funeral to get to it, and when you do, you may mistake it for Kate Bush. Or the Waterboys. Or Men Without Hats. It's all in there, which is why everyone's so excited about Funeral: it's familiar. (my year-end rant)

And the U2 comparisons are way off-- all that swill Bono crap is forty times more sweeping and altruistic [bad things] than anything on "funeral."

Just wanted to tidy that up for you.

I should say, though, that I'm with the consensus here, in that Pitchfork can't take any real credit for AF's success. I do think we helped get the word out faster, but I also think it was only a matter of time before they blew up purely on the strength of that record and their live shows. We rave about all kinds of stuff, and very little of it catches on like these guys have (Fiery Furnaces included, which we went almost as nuts for, and that even had int'l distro thru Rough Trade).

That said, I also respect that Miccio, Momus, et al can't get into the band, and can even see why (though I do think the "it's all been done before" stance is a bit tired by now), but I am really happy for the band, and love seeing groups that I really like getting attention and selling out venues. Whether or not we ever have anything to do with any band's success at all, I'm just happy to see them getting attention-- especially because they tend to not cop some shitty indie-rock-star pose but rather get visibly excited that they have the opportunity to do what they love, and that other people are getting something out of it. Indie musicians and fans just seem increasingly cynical-- and it was already bad enough a decade ago. I guess I just find it refreshing to see people having fun for once and not taking it all so morbidly serious.

ENHANCEMENT: What does the artefact enhance or intensify or make possible or accelerate?
REVERSAL: When pushed to the limits of its potential, the new form will tend to reverse what had been its original characteristics. What is the reversal potential of the new form?
RETRIEVAL: What recurrence or retrieval of earlier actions and services is brought into play simultaneously by the new form?
OBSOLESCENCE: If some aspect of a situation is enlarged or enhanced, simultaneously the old condition or unenhanced situation is displaced thereby. What is pushed aside or obsolesced by the new 'organ'?

For me, Arcade Fire scores mostly on 'Retrieval'. I'd hate to think that 'Enhancement' and 'Reversal' had ceased to matter to Pitchfork.

I wonder if this means they are spiralling out the indie rock world and into...?

and into NPR. There's precedent.

Re reversal: Momus this trickledown facet of Freudian dream therapy has been proven time and again to oversimplify aesthetic representation and the reception thereof.

Eh. This band's popularity has far surpassed anything I expected, and it continues to both surprise and impress me. Even though I only like them a bit, I am somehow obsessed with their trajectory.

Was the Moore bit directly from his review? I didn't catch all of that.

Yeah, but it bumps us up a step or two beyond 'I like it because it sounds a bit like U2'. I like McLuhan's radicalism. I like the giddy feeling he gives me -- as if anything might be possible.

I love the idea of the Arcade Fire sitting around asking themselves 'How can we throw the whole of rock music into reverse with this track? Accelerate and intensify the medium? Make all previous rock music obsolete?' I mean, I can imagine Animal Collective asking those questions, but not AF.

(By the way Momus are you watching C-Span right now? Holy shit! Not to overdetermine things but nevertheless perhaps The Arcade Fire "enjoys" some sublimated regret for the underdog spilled over from the disaster of November the 4th.)

Loaded question ahoy! Maybe it's nothing to do with people being sheep who pretend to like whatever the flavour of the month is. Maybe people just like them more.

I can't decide about them myself. It's like it's absolutely not speaking to me at all, existing in some North American cosmos than I can't get a hold on. And I find it a bit embarrassingly overwrought in parts, but part of me wants to embrace that for once in my life. Except I already do, with soul music and maybe even I dunno - 'Seamonsters'. But somehow they just seem wrought. Maybe it's more bombast or something. Their website freaks me out a bit.

(x-post)

alba otm. I do like the jaunty jingles in a "Life In A Northern Town" kind of way.

Nobody really went out for Death Cab like Pitchfork did with Arcade Fire. (But notice that Airplanes was given high marks by Pitchfork)
I think the whole music environment was much different then. If people had been paying attention to Pfork as much, then I think DCFC would have achieved the same level of intitial success that Arcade Fire has.

One thing I've is that no one really hates Arcade Fire. It seems almost impossible; there isn't enough there to hate.

If they were on a major and getting this much attention, people *would* hate them. But I think if they were on a major, they wouldn't have even been noticed (at least not to this extent).

I agree about the major/indie thing.

(x-post)

in this case it's the bling of the 10 years ago and hence some folks confusion over all those people shielding their eyes

i tried get into all that tasteful/melancholly indie stuff for a while because its what the college kids are into and/or its what gets pushed on college radio. i still like some of it out of familiarity, if nothing else, but, damn, i really pity someone who listens to this shit non-stop mixing in some kayne for a breather now and then.

AF is maybe missing the charismatic front man? Actually, come to think of it, that's what a lot of these bands are missing.

AF COVER g UNIT!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!??!~?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?

This, as well as Momus' RETRIEVAL bullshit, help me understand why people don't like this band...this false assumption, that artists should question how their music is making previous music "obsolete", is the major glitch in logic from many music critics...in reality(at the risk of sounding cliche), true artists do not consciously compare their works to others' in a hope to create something new...they simply cater to their individual creativity, heart, and soul....artists that DO consciously make something "new", lack the longevity, timelessness, and (sorry) SOUL that mark the work of true artists....Animal Collective sound the way they do because they've created their own world, not because they've compared themselves to others and purposely made adjustments...in a way,criticism of The Arcade Fire and The Strokes are very similar: many people argue that they are copying other bands, but no one can pinpoint which band...this is because both The Strokes and The Arcade Fire have created their own worlds, worlds influenced by music they enjoy (obviously) but NOT copying it

Can relate to the sentiments A.Fire express but the music's too broadly derivative and listening to it's like forcing myself to sit through a really boring lecture.

Nanker Phelge, the sweetness follows.

not very prolific are they

New album supposedly out in the "second half of 2010."

Arcade Fire; Vampire Weekend of 2005?

lock thread

less of this shit there is the better imho

I have a love/hate relationship w/ this band, but I'm fine with nonprolific pace. If you're going for "epic," I can see taking yr Kubrickian time about it.

what's nonprolific about them? they've got three discs in roughly 10 years. seems standard to me.

mookieproof is using The Fall as a standard

fairly indifferent about arcade fire, except to say that they have been a baaaaaad influence on a lot of bands. not necessarily huge bands, but in the local scene here, there have been a proliferation of oversized, over-emotional "epic" bands. people seem to love it though. "oh man, there are 9 dudes onstage getting SO into it! and one of them has an accordion, oh shit!"

i'm saying it's a bad sign when you apparently have so few ideas that it takes this long to make your second and third full-lengths (not least when one of the best songs on the second one was a re-recording from your debut ep).

i mean u2 has just as many albums out since 2004 and bono has to write op-eds for the times and shit

nah it takes em that long because they have to track 50 different parts for every song

but i guess people grow up and move away and you don't see them in drama club every day so

they have been a baaaaaad influence on a lot of bands

I like the two albums, Neon Bible more so than the first one, and while I'll agree with the above statement I personally listen to them less for the influences they have than the ones they cherry-pick and then form into something new. I'm a huge Bunnymen fan and, as much as it pains me to say this, the Arcade Fire honestly do the Ocean Rain-esque, orchestral bombastic rock album thing a LOT better than the Bunnymen do these days. Likewise with U2; I like a lot of the '80s U2 stuff, and Arcade Fire have taken those ideas and made them into something comparatively fresh, instead of churning out shit like "Beautiful Day" and "Vertigo" well into upper middle age.

* less for the influences they have ON OTHER BANDS, I should have said.

And really, I'd rather the Arcade Fire not make another album ever again than start devolving ever so slowly into piss poor, pointless self-flagellation like the Bunnymen, U2 and most every other band that's been going 30 years.

"this food is terrible! and such small portions!"

They are way more irritating live.

"oh man, there are 9 dudes onstage getting SO into it! and one of them has an accordion, oh shit!"

AF = "What if Slipknot met at community theatre tryouts?"

or better yet,

Arcade Fire : Our Town :: Slipknot : Saw II

"oh man, there are 9 dudes onstage getting SO into it! and one of them has an accordion is banging on an aluminum garbage can, oh shit!"

^ Slipknot.

i guess a lot of the arcade fire-influenced stuff i've heard seems to be ALL ABOUT musical climaxes and intensity/drama/feelin' it. and that gets crazy boring after about two songs. you have to hold things in reserve sometimes. suggest things, rather than scream about them ...

I loved Neon Bible and thought it superior enough to Funeral that I'm honestly curious/excited to see what comes next

I like Tunnels, and LOVE Laika (neighborhood #1 & #2) but it never fails...once Power Out comes on, I turn the CD off...

(xxxpost ilxor gets it...)

I do get it. And I say this as a mild Arcade Fire fan (I like both albums to some degree). The reverent worship over the live show is a bit ridiculous, ain't it?

isn't that just because they're really great live?

I will be really surprised if I enjoy their next album.

https://pitchfork.com/news/arcade-fires-win-butler-accused-of-sexual-misconduct-by-multiple-women-frontman-responds/

Sad

rolling #metoo thread for sexual harassment in the music industry so no one misses out when artists we don't give a fuck about like Tim Westwood and Bassnectar get caught

being discussed here

Oh sorry

Tragic symmetry there though. Made and fallen in the pages of Pitchfork.

not gonna post this in the metoo thread but i just imagined anti-cancel culture crusaders Bari Weiss and Glenn Greenwald forcing themselves to enjoy like Neighborhood #666 (Tunnels) or whatever and lol'd

i know ads are random etc (maybe up to a point? idk) but come on

Very tone deaf for @pitchfork to have an advertisement for Louie in the middle of their sexual assault story about Win Butler. pic.twitter.com/yVnH61yL09

— Bob Woolsey (he/him) (@bob_woolsey) August 29, 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zitMVjtMd_I

I can't believe someone's still buying ad space for Louie.

it looks like the ad was bought by Louis CK himself since it links to his personal website.

ARCADE FIRE – PINK ELEPHANT:

Open Your Heart or Die Trying
Pink Elephant
Year of the Snake
Circle of Trust
Alien Nation
Beyond Salvation
Ride or Die
I Love Her Shadow
She Cries Diamond Rain
Stuck In My Head

Out on May 9 via Columbia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpYapWU--JA

Circle of trust, you say

Someone suggested a better title would be "Elephant in the Room."

Beyond Salvation

Yeah, that app sounds particularly creepy now.

In case it wasn't clear, apparently the band also launched an app called "Circle of Trust" as well.

Saddest thing here is stealing a song-title pun from Scorpions

Circle of Trust is some NXIVM-level shit.

Song is creepy too

"If you feel strange, it's probably good"

aside from the elephant in the room everything about this band has screamed MIDLIFE CRISIS for quite a while now, and the crisis only seems to get deeper

Couldn't get through that SNL performance. Considering how much I loved Funeral, the band has fallen pretty far. Win is officially someone that makes me wince when I look at him. Ugh x 100

Yeah, I know. I loved their third album and naively thought it signaled that they'd be major artists for the long haul. tbf I thought the bloated fourth album would've been a really good one had they left out most of the second disc (i.e. it should've been a single LP). But things kept going downhill and then Win turned out to be a real creep.

I agree with all of that. Reflektor wasn't bad at all; it just felt like a band stretching out and seeing what they could do which was fun even if it didn't always succeed.

Turns out they were heading straight for Suck City.

i liked reflektor a lot but never paid attention to anything since then

Wish this band was cancelled

Amazing how Will fell into a whole other career - first time out he ended up with a Tony-winning bonanza.

Well, he didn't win any, but the play won a ton including the top prize.

Also forgot he was nominated for an Oscar (and again didn't win) for scoring Her.

he and ... some other guy

Everything about this is just so horrible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOWZ8iNgufc

You would think a band of their stature could afford two mic stands.

What if Flaming Lips but with suck dialed up to 11

I don't like anything after The Suburbs, or didn't listen long enough to even try to like, or for that matter hear enough to want to like, but I did see them on the "Everything Now" tour and ... it was pretty good. But that was the last time I listened to them on purpose. It's also possible it's the last time I've heard them at all. Kind of a shame, those first three records all have a lot going for them, and they were great live. I'm trying to think of another band that just lost the plot so badly, going from "this band will change/save your life" level to big bummer. I'm sure there are people out there that consider them their favorite.

I forgot how ugly this band was

I loved that first album when it came out like everyone else, and also liked Suburbs a lot. all the misconduct aside, revisiting them recently didn't do much for me...it was like those albums were great for the time, but thye didn't have the lasting power I expected.

funeral is still an incredible album but there's diminishing returns from there. i didn't even realise the new one had come out and it seems like it's getting dreadful reviews, don't see a reason to even bother finding out just how bad it is given everything else

I saw them on the first stop of the Everything Now tour at Roskilde, and it was offputting and bad. Win seemed in a bad mood, and the whole thing came off as him sneering at and belittling the audience. I especially remember him singing Here Comes the Nighttime standing at the gate to the crowd, and all of a sudden the lines Yeah, heaven's a place and they know where it is / But you know where it is? / It's behind the gate, they won't let you in sounded like him and his band were in a special place, and he didn't want us to be there with them. It was weird. Then the album came out, and I really liked it. I thought it was silly and experimental, and had some really good songs on it. Then I saw them again next summer at Haven Festival, and it was absolutely great. This sounded like a great sing-a-long that Win and the rest of them loved to share with us. Then a couple of years went by and the awful stories came out, but I still don't get why their music has been quite that bad since then. It's really really bad. New one is amazingly bad, like a bunch of unfinished demos.

funeral still the GOAT

Craig Jenkins lets'em have it.

Even if the band feels like its cards were laid on the table years ago, and that’s why it hasn’t revisited the matter since, pushing a trust-themed social-media initiative warranted a check-in on how its stewardship of such spaces evolved in the wake of accusations of abuses of power. Increasingly, it feels like everything on the planet, even “Wake Up” and “No Cars Go,” is coated in the same milky film of unpleasantness, in the dissonance created by papering over a respected figure’s worst qualities to enjoy their best. In the year of the messy comeback tour struggling to distract us from some disconcerting elephant in the room, it’s too bad the surreptitiously uncanceled aren’t using their newfound freedom to be more forthright.

I'm trying to think of another band that just lost the plot so badly, going from "this band will change/save your life" level to big bummer.

― Josh in Chicago, 13. maj 2025 14:29 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Well, Kanye West, I guess.

Ooh, good point. I had forgotten about him as someone that makes music.

xpost Review could have used a trim, but it's still pretty sharp. Had no idea the new one was made with Daniel Lanois, or the last one was made with Nigel Godrich. Or the one before that was made with one of the Daft Punk guys and one of the Pulp guys! Def. knew the one before *that* was made with James Murphy and Markus Dravs. Which is all to say, I was going to hypothetically suggest smarter choices in producers as a (again, hypothetical) solution, but clearly the band's decline has been so steep and the inertia so severe that it trumps whatever talents they work with. Maybe they'll shell out for Max Martin next? Or, maybe more fitting, Dr. Luke.

lol they could get Kanye to produce. Nowhere to go but up!

Arcade at The Reichstag Fire

seeing mid-40s Win Butler cradling and rocking his guitar like a little dolly is something i may never recover from, man should be doing life in a supermax jail for crimes against rock

his body is a caaaaaaagge

Despite all his etc.

this was one of my most anticipated hate listens, but after reading that review alfred posted... sheesh, i feel embarrassed that i ever listened to this band in the first place

I'm trying to think of another band that just lost the plot so badly, going from "this band will change/save your life" level to big bummer.

― Josh in Chicago, 13. maj 2025 14:29 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Grimes?

Cee Lo

Ooh, good point. I had forgotten about him as someone that makes music.

xpost Review could have used a trim, but it's still pretty sharp. Had no idea the new one was made with Daniel Lanois, or the last one was made with Nigel Godrich. Or the one before that was made with one of the Daft Punk guys and one of the Pulp guys! Def. knew the one before *that* was made with James Murphy and Markus Dravs. Which is all to say, I was going to hypothetically suggest smarter choices in producers as a (again, hypothetical) solution, but clearly the band's decline has been so steep and the inertia so severe that it trumps whatever talents they work with. Maybe they'll shell out for Max Martin next? Or, maybe more fitting, Dr. Luke.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, May 13, 2025 7:11 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

The portishead guy worked on everything now too. after they won the grammy, it felt like they decided to only work with capital-F famous people

His body is a cringe

suburbs still sounds great imo but funeral felt plodding and muddy when i revisited it recently. some of the guitar tones on that album sound terrible

Wish this band was cancelled

― Iza Duffus Hardy (President Keyes), Tuesday, 13 May 2025 02:30 (fourteen hours ago)

what's weird to me is i thought they were cancelled until i saw they were playing snl last week. what happened to win being cancelled?

I guess they are sorta cancelled? Like, Pitchfork hasn't reviewed it and I don't believe they've reported on any of the roll-out. And I know other places don't seem to touching it, but it is being reviewed in some outlets.

I guess given some of the hosts they've been willing to put up with, being cancelled doesn't mean much to SNL. Was surprised to see them brought on though.

That Craig Jenkins piece Alfred linked does have more about it all.

I think Win's crimes would get someone cancelled on the indie level, but for a group on the level of AF there are a lot more people who are going to ignore it/write it off as rock star behavior.

i'm frankly surprised the band is as big as they apparently are.

they’ve been huge for a long time and have a massive base of non pitchfork reading (and generally not that “online”) fans. i took an uber in germany a couple years ago and the driver was a retired guy in his late sixties who had seen them a dozen times in several different countries

grimes an interesting counterexample but (1) musically she never really fell off (without the elon stuff miss anthropocene would be regarded as a minor but interesting experimental third album detour) (2) her fan base was much smaller and more tilted towards very online hipsters (3) she kinda stopped making music while arcade fire just keep chugging along

That review articulates my frustration with Arcade Fire better than I can. It's bad enough that their music has been getting progressively worse since Suburbs, but to decide to cut their losses and ignore the fans they've alienated instead of addressing things honestly (20 uears ago they won over everyone with their contagious sense of community), it's so cynical and hollow and white and male.

Funeral was a miracle. They're nothing but frauds now.

they’ve been huge for a long time and have a massive base of non pitchfork reading (and generally not that “online”) fans. i took an uber in germany a couple years ago and the driver was a retired guy in his late sixties who had seen them a dozen times in several different countries

― flopson, Tuesday, 13 May 2025 17:13 (eleven minutes ago)

ok thomas friedman

lol ok solid burn. but they do legit have a very big fan base. we (the album) didnt sell that well but the tour was pretty huge iirc. the sexual misconduct stuff leaked days before it started so maybe it didn’t affect ticket sales as much

not a burn, just goofin'

I feel like they kept some indie cred because they were on Merge for ages, but 15 years ago they were getting licensed and marketed internationally by major labels.

they suck but their success has probably bankrolled dozens of great records on Merge

I guess given some of the hosts they've been willing to put up with, being cancelled doesn't mean much to SNL. Was surprised to see them brought on though.

Lorne Michaels apparently is a huge fan (maybe it's a Canada thing?). They were part of the SNL 50 concert earlier this year and (along with the Foo Fighters & Jeff Beck) were one of the featured acts with Mick Jagger for Kristen Wiig's final episode in 2012. Also: when Reflektor came out, not only did the band do the show, NBC aired a 30 minute concert special on them afterwards--and this also happened:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLrxp9OOSbc

xps yeah, a lot more than Arcade Fire. Besides Kanye West and Grimes, don't forget MIA, but they were all the leading figures of that era IMHO. At this rate, we're going to find out James Murphy has some horrendous side to him. (Yes, I realize he's a douchebag to quite a few, but that's not the same thing.) That whole era has been tainted for me as something I can never be nostalgic for.

I assumed they were going to disappear for about 8 years

James Murphy has some horrendous side to him. (

Well, in 2023 I brunched at the Brooklyn restaurant he owns.

man these guys suck

That SNL video is Spinal Tap level bad.

That whole era has been tainted for me as something I can never be nostalgic for.

I'm lucky in that all my '50s/60s/70s heroes were morally beyond reproach.

xpost Lorne has been notorious for giving people a second chance despite them not really making any effort to deserve a second chance. Morgan Wallen, Shane Gillis, Trump, Elon, Chappelle ...

Watching it the first time I was so repelled by their Adult Muppet Babies routine that I forgot to notice how bad the actual song is - it really is a new low even for them

who gives a shit. SNL is such a sad joke. just like the music of this band, which has always been total shit lol

I know SFJ has a mixed reputation as well but he was pretty spot on about this band

Is Paul Krugman still into them?

roll over, Stevie Nicks, and give Win Butler the news

I'm lucky in that all my '50s/60s/70s heroes were morally beyond reproach.

Hah, point taken!

Chappell Roan redeemed the whole SNL season imo. Chalamet doing obscure Dylan was fun too

bj otm

That wasn't directed at you, bird--just laughing at what a cesspool my own nostalgia draws from. Even Smokey Robinson now.

Your generations shitty people had better rhythm sections

heez i need to stay this focused all the time. you are the example. thank you.

That whole era has been tainted for me as something I can never be nostalgic for.

I still jam the first Strokes, Interpol, and YYYs albums, they remain great!

Loving the phrase ‘reputational upheaval’.

LCD's sequel to "Losing My Edge"

Only time I ever got into an out-loud verbal fight with someone was during an Arcade Fire show. This band has always sucked.

If they were good it would have been a fistfight.

Fistfights happen even when the band sucks.

Is there a fist fights at shows thread? I have a story

Is it true Heez got sonned by a wite kid over a AOL beef?

xpost start it, I've got a good one, too

i went thru a phase where i was kinda switched off from music but still aware of what bands were big or hyped - and would occasionally go and see a show out of curiosity or with friends

anyway i saw some terrible bands during this time

I don’t know if i would class Arcade Fire as necessarily terrible but i saw them maybe around the time of their 2nd album? And i have never felt so deeply that i was at the wrong party - all the audience in religious fervour singalong mode, and i was just standing there psychically distant from all this rapture, thinking “fuck this is pretty boring and uninvolving music”

they were dull and uncharismatic and the music had no magic

so i suppose actually yes they were terrible

people whose taste i respect really liked em tho (albeit back at the time - can’t remember the last time i heard anyone bring them up in conversation)

i think they were a legitimately great band circa 2003-2004

perhaps best not to ask for more (particularly of canadians)

never understood for a second what people heard in these goofs. also I get the impression their relationship with Merge ended less than ideally.

their relationship with merge seems pretty straightforward compared to that of spoon or the magnetic fields

Here's a great op-ed from a Montreal perspective.

https://therover.ca/opinion-arcade-fires-rotten-legacy/

Gotta say I don't miss the 2000 era of bands with 500 members as cheap shorthand for EPIC.

All of them 'hitting things'

Sad that Arcade Fire have become so white over the years.

Gotta say I don't miss the 2000 era of bands with 500 members as cheap shorthand for EPIC.

dud for cursing us with the millennial whoop “hey Jude”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2025/05/21/what-happened-to-arcade-fires-new-album/

Previously, the group’s debut effort, Funeral, stood as its lowest-charting success, and even that managed to rise to No. 123 more than 20 years ago. Since then, every one of Arcade Fire’s projects has cracked the top 10 on the Billboard 200. Three of them — The Suburbs, Reflektor, and Everything Now — hit No. 1.

It’s only been three years since Arcade Fire last debuted a full-length on the Billboard 200. The simply-named We arrived in May 2022 and peaked at No. 6. Now, just a relatively short time later, Pink Elephant doesn’t even mark a new low, as it can’t reach the Billboard 200 at all.

Pink Elephant does crack the top 10 on one other Billboard list this frame. It starts at No. 10 on the Top Album Sales chart with a little less than 6,200 pure purchases, according to Luminate. That sum, entirely in pure purchases, is enough to make it one of the bestselling releases in the country — but not quite large enough to bring it to the Billboard 200.

So much for the SNL effect.

Perhaps carrying on as normal was a mistake

i don't think people would care about this album even if the misconduct allegations never happened. from what i've heard of it, it's bad, and they are still firmly in their passe era. no one is nostalgic for that period yet.

they will be though.

Wait what does the Billboard 200 measure if not album sales? Sales plus streams?

album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA)

^^The sales charts are skewed a bit because SoundScan has become a pay-for service after it got bought by Penske Media. Many smaller retailers aren't covered anymore...not that it have necessarily helped them in this case.

More smaller retailers are covered now, due to Luminate using Street Pulse data for stores that only report to them (new development last year) and the return of weighted sales, which entails coming up w a multiplier to make up for the delta between reporting stores and actual number of stores (reinstated this year). Neither of these were the case last late Winter/early Spring, so, some records did suffer a bit.

This appears to have bricked on its own.

Their sales progression at the retailer I work for:
Funeral = 14K+
Bible = 7K+
Suburbs = 6.5K+
Reflektor = 2.5K+
Everything = 500+
We = 500+ (most sold on markdown)
Elephant = 16

Thanks for the update on sales data. I was going on stories from last year and the 'failure' of the last VW album (among other recent LPs that probably sold better at uncovered indies).

Yep. That came out when the indie reporting was an absolute mess!

Yeah, the VW album's peak last year sorta shocked me.

it didn't seem right

Their sales progression at the retailer I work for:
Funeral = 14K+
Bible = 7K+
Suburbs = 6.5K+
Reflektor = 2.5K+
Everything = 500+
We = 500+ (most sold on markdown)
Elephant = 16

― mr.raffles, Thursday, May 22, 2025 12:26 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

lmao wow

I'm kind of surprised Funeral is so far out front, twice as much as the next. I thought Suburbs would've been close, especially given the broad mainstream exposure they were getting at that point.

As for Elephant, Jesus, I saw Maria Schneider sell more copies of her latest album at the last show I attended.

I assume Funeral came in at the tail end of physical media still being a Thing.

Suburbs was kind of a mainstream breakthrough (ALBUM OF THE YEAR GRAMMY) and was available everywhere that was still selling CDs/LPs, so buyers were buying, but not necessarily at whatever shop/chain cited here.

In other words, if you wanted to buy Funeral during it's first few years of issue, you most likely would have gone to an indie shop; a chain like B&N or Borders; or got it online. By the time of Suburbs, Merge had distro in place that added big box retailers and department stores like Target etc. Plus they made online deals: Suburbs was the only AF album I owned, mainly because Amazon had it for like $8 and I needed to hit $25 to get free shipping on something I wanted worse.

I bought Funeral at a Target in December '04 iirc

Well then!

I genuinely would have thought that Suburbs would at least top Neon Bible, but I guess that one probably sold tons of pre-orders and early copies after the buzz built from Funeral.

Looking at Wiki, they say only Funeral & Suburbs went gold stateside, while Neon Bible just fell short of doing so (the sales figure citations are pretty old, all predating the streaming era, so they could all be closer to platinum now if someone did an audit).

I didn't realize how big they were in the UK: three platinum, then two golds, and finally a silver for WE.

I needed to hit $25 to get free shipping

This was actually my primary means for exploring indie bands in-depth for about five years.

I have the first four AF albums and I bought all of them in charity shops. That's about their worth to me.

New album at No. 18 in the UK. Deacon Blue were at No. 3 the other month. AF Sr played the long game but they are officially more desirable in 2025.