Arcade Fire - Reflektor

http://cdn3.pitchfork.com/news/52041/f051048f.jpeg

Arcade Fire confirmed their connection to the campaign with a billboard put up in New York City on August 26, 2013 on the corner of Grand and Lafayette.[78]

oohhh.. so mysterious..

this is kinda stupid

Hey! It seems they have finally embraced their hipster branding with that logo.

i don't really care to anticipate anything from this band, although i'll gladly check out whatever they have to offer after it's available.

otm, though the fact that James Murphy produced the album raises the level of anticipation for me from 1 (out of 10) to 2.

Hm, on two listens, I'm not totally sure what I think of this but it's definitely interesting and has some great moments:

http://cultmontreal.com/2013/09/hear-the-new-arcade-fire-song-here/

Going at James Murphy's set tonight in Montreal, I guess he might play something. As for the song, I think I like the idea better than the execution but it might grow on me.

i think it's way more successful than anything on "the age of adz", which seems like it's going to be an obvious point of comparison for this album. win's sort of moaning voice works well in an electro context.

The Age of Adz?

sufjan stevens' foray into electronic music with dancey elements. arcade fire and sufjan stevens are similar.

I don't know if I'm calling that album 'electronic' just yet, but I see your point now.

Also, I know Régine is from Haiti and that the band is associated with Montreal but every time they sing in french it sounds inauthentic to me.

I always assumed that French is her first language. Is that wrong?

No, it's correct, french is her first language. But to me, it sounds gimmicky. I keep wondering what's the point of those french bits, what does it add? Feels like cheap (and harmless) exploitation of a romantic language and it's ooh exoticism for people who 'like french women and Midnight in Paris'.

The exception would be Haiti, which is one of their finest songs I believe.

This sounds fine, but I really need to hear it in the context of The Big Vague Concept before I pass judgement.

lol, big vague concept

i feel ready to name this my album of the year for my year end list

i'm going to be so psyched when all this shit is over

big vague concept

one song is apparently called 'staring at a screen' so take that, internet board user

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX6i6hWJQHw

i'm going to be so psyched when all this shit is over

What sweet truth.

do you two just wanna help me post garbage in this thread until it's over?

here's a gif of a hedgehog

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnvmr8W2cF1qg9ny9o1_400.gif

http://www.pbh2.com/pets-animals/cutest-hedgehog-gifs/

http://www.pbh2.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Cutest-hedgehog-gifs-shopping.gif

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/5064784/gambling_machine_fire_china_large_verge_medium_landscape.jpg

cute hedgehog, great music crit

#Win Butler

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/05/17/article-2326363-19D7E42F000005DC-381_634x485.jpg

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmv0nlXoyT1qznuqjo1_250.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_RyYC59uMs

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nDoCPCQFOws/UAZJ2MdwgbI/AAAAAAAAAo8/0wrfqkWBOQs/s320/the-burbs-original1.jpg

http://ukcyclerules.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/bikelights.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/57/Fire_Truck_Poster.png

http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8vndcE6TV1qgu7bjo1_500.jpg

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2010/08/800px-Meiolania_Platyceps.jpg

http://static.neatorama.com/images/2007-05/soft-shelled-turtle.jpg

http://www.ukhighland.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/m/a/matin-collapsible-macro-reflector-h-packaging.jpg

http://www.ripleys.com/weird/files/2012/02/Mary_River_Turtle_5.jpg

http://s1.entpulse.com/thumbs/300x250/the-flaming-lips-wayne-coyne-to-appear-on-new-moby-album-6825cb89181cf8617646bf2c95ac2ee0.jpeg

did you guys all check off boxes on calendars to countdown to hating on this? this thread is as thrilled to volubly express eye-rolling weariness about this as any fans are to hear it. it's like queuing up outside an apple store to not buy anything & talk about how macs are for phoneys.

more like "let's not take the bait a cynical, interminable slow "viral" rollout campaign"

http://campusbasement.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/iphone-300x300.png

and also

http://31.media.tumblr.com/d88c0a38bab7da4eafbc86ad8a3076b7/tumblr_mj204jSsc81s43p1yo1_500.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s9pYcTPrqM

yeah I know. I just feel like there is some dream scenario in which the rollout campaign rolls quietly on by without spectatorship. you all maybe have to be exposed to this more than me though so

http://31.media.tumblr.com/d22dd0f22851aeb77edecca5e241b962/tumblr_mfaprpV0RW1s0724yo1_500.gif

^ argh, Fantano, stop masturbating!

I just feel like there is some dream scenario in which the rollout campaign rolls quietly on by without spectatorship.

Oh I have a dream scenario all right, which involves the erasure of hard drives, the donation of musical instruments to poor schools and a solemn vow to never perform again. (Also, the exile of the red-head accordion dude to the most isolated part of Baffin Island, regardless of his opinion on the matter.)

http://instagram.com/p/d5ugc1Luxg/

dysntrymgg
You broke my hymen, god, thomas :(((((

o_O

that does happen sometimes.

i'm sensing a lot of negativity in this thread btw. cool it guys.

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr283/FLCL/0003.gif

hey, have you guys ever heard this song?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUO_5EALZoM

http://i.imgur.com/amDC62Q.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD5tnb2RBYg

I see that arcade fire hopes to catch the Herman cain 9-9-9 wave. Very smart.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/61237000/jpg/_61237789_999_3.jpg

Wait. The dial tone was 'a purring sound' at one time?

http://www.picgifs.com/celebrities/j/john-mayer/celebrities-john-mayer-384849.jpg

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18mkzdvkkinc8jpg/original.jpg

http://knowledge.brandify.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/logos.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3285/2901971797_a65496189a_z.jpg?zz=1

more like "let's not take the bait a cynical, interminable slow "viral" rollout campaign"

Yeah, pretty sure Arcade Fire is not the only act guilty of this right now. Let me know when Win Butler starts compulsively sticking his tongue out.

FWIW, the phrase "win butler twerk" is virgin google territory right now, with no hits!

No, it's correct, french is her first language. But to me, it sounds gimmicky. I keep wondering what's the point of those french bits, what does it add? Feels like cheap (and harmless) exploitation of a romantic language and it's ooh exoticism for people who 'like french women and Midnight in Paris'.

That's interesting: I can see what you mean, although I never thought of it that way. Do you feel the same way about Beck's Spanish bits? I never really questioned it: I think I just always saw it as reflective of the way many people in Montreal (or in my current neighbourhood and campus in Ottawa) switch between the two languages. Why wouldn't they both sing in their own first languages, and occasionally switch, you know?

http://i.imgur.com/XFQsK77.jpg

http://24.media.tumblr.com/9abfdae1942a5731766940dbf8526adf/tumblr_mgt7c4teK11qhb6zqo1_500.gif

Yeah, pretty sure Arcade Fire is not the only act guilty of this right now. Let me know when Win Butler starts compulsively sticking his tongue out.

Tbh, I was completely unaware of any viral campaign. I'm still not sure why this modest thread revival triggered the reaction that it did.

Sep 4

http://www.spin.com/articles/arcade-fire-reflektor-teaser-video-song/

Sep 5

http://www.spin.com/articles/arcade-fire-reflektor-single-video-september-anton-corbijn/

Sep 6

http://www.spin.com/articles/arcade-fire-salsa-club-secret-show-reflektor-dance-new-songs/

Sep 7

http://www.spin.com/articles/arcade-fire-reflektor-leak-stream/

But wait, doesn't ... work at ... ?

HEARTLESS CYNIC

so reporting! very scoop.

So did arcade fire "reinvented" themselves?

Exclusive: Arcade Fire Reinvents Music With Exclusive Fourth Album!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WolAVmZJ7Ds/TW8gzjglbeI/AAAAAAAAAe8/Q3dSbXx3_uQ/s320/Foreigner_MV_4-B000063NDY.jpg

heard the song.
two words:
Blondie - Atomic

http://fanart.tv/fanart/music/bf600e2b-dc2d-4839-a1be-6ebef4087cd0/albumcover/transistor-4f88adb81914d.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pCCJPYhH28

more like "let's not take the bait a cynical, interminable slow "viral" rollout campaign"

― Vinetalic - "My Friend Terio" (Whiney G. Weingarten), Sunday, September 8, 2013 12:44 AM (19 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Maybe they can release the album as a listicle where each song requires a separate pageview.

http://loldamn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/cute-baby-alligator.jpg

Maybe they can release the album as a listicle where each song requires a separate pageview.

― Marlo Poco (Phil D.), Sunday, September 8, 2013 8:40 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

when u put an album in itunes and surf through it it's basically a listicle...........

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1235087_10151648045077602_971633983_n.jpg

http://eil.com/images/main/Len+-+Steal+My+Sunshine+-+5%22+CD+SINGLE-500946.jpg

http://tilde.snt.utwente.nl/~schol/gallery/media/ZOOM.GIF

No, it's correct, french is her first language. But to me, it sounds gimmicky. I keep wondering what's the point of those french bits, what does it add? Feels like cheap (and harmless) exploitation of a romantic language and it's ooh exoticism for people who 'like french women and Midnight in Paris'.

this is kind of a gross thing to say imo, like the idea of actually being bilingual is "inauthentic" to you

Laetitia Sadier was just showing off

Listen Regine, I know French is your first language and you're proud of your exotic heritage and all but Van Horn Street finds it gimmicky so give it a rest, eh?

It's a legit, not-gross concern w/in the Montreal cultural landscape, imo

I'm still not totally clear on what the issue is. Do you or VHS think it would be less problematic if they had more French songs or if e.g. a whole verse of "Black Mirror" was in French instead of just that bridge?

I was thinking today: What's the most famous horror movie without a single remake, reboot, or sequel?

Actually I was thinking that yesterday

why does that matter?

obviously it doesn't,

but like we're getting to the point where we're remaking cult classics like Maniac, Evil Dead, My Bloody Valentine, and was just kind of wondering what's still been left untapped at this point

driller killer

Pontypool sequel coming lol

God Told Me To

oh boo how come i could watch their last google chrome ad without having google chrome and now this google chrome ad won't load

Eraserhead? Braindead (AKA Dead Alive)?

Basket Case!

Freaks

this is where Arcade Fire wins over Ned.

ITT: Whiney attempts to prove how little he cares about the Arcade Fire by posting 17 times in a thread about them

xposts

Having two french sentences thrown in a song hardly qualifies as bilingual. I would actually love to hear actual songs in french by Arcade Fire/Régine, not just the occasional corny french sentences, that would be a proper use of her haitian heritage. As I said, Haiti works for me and I would love to see more of that.

is this the first time someone has accused the arcade fire of impropriety

Freaks

this is where Arcade Fire wins over Ned.

I admit befuddlement. (Not about Freaks, a wonderful film.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E0fVfectDo

Basically, James Murphy is just using Arcade Fire as his plaything now?

- hey what are you doing these days?
- oh an oversized richard parry head in papier maché for some video.

I couldn't make it through an entire minute of that

is this a belated response to sasha frere jones' request that the arcade fire be more like mick jagger?

this might be slightly better than "Hot Stuff" but that's no reason to be two minutes longer

that would be a proper use of her haitian heritage

I would love to be there when you tell her that.

cool Arcade Fire is finally releasing their Chk-Chk-Chk album

wow that song feels like it's about 15 minutes long

i thought the interactive video stuff was p cool

xposts

'Use' isn't the appropriate word, but whatever, i would be very happy to discuss this with her.

ITT: Whiney attempts to prove how little he cares about the Arcade Fire by posting 17 times in a thread about them

― frogbs, Monday, September 9, 2013 1:45 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

missing the point

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8146/7105040123_6786e29cfd_o.jpg

I agree that Arcade Fire are generally cloying but, how come Boards of Canada can have a "viral roll out campaign" but they (Arcade Fire) can't?

***runs and hides***

I've been a card-carrying member of the AF Hate Squad but this is a jam. ¯\(°_o)/¯

People trolling this thread look mad juvenile btw.

that's how some of those ppl always look

and i agree with you rev, this band has always been terrible but i kinda like this song

everybody knows that scene toward the end of the first Hellraiser where the chains with hooks on em keep whipping into the dude's skin and he's standing there beginning to understand that eternity in Hell is immanent? that's Whiney every time you guys say you're enjoying an Arcade Fire song

wes anderson has admitted to liking arcade fire. i'm not sure what the problem is.

you guys are so basic that you think i'm doing some ca. 2009 anti-corny-indue-fuxxor rant? "Keep the Car Running" is a jam.

http://blogs.southtownstar.com/money/mustard.jpg

so basic

not to get all bennett brauer, but maybe I've noticed this insufferable campaign for months and months because I "use the internet" and then "leave the house" and "read music news websites"

i mean, I'm not the only one burnt on this shit already

https://twitter.com/austinlouisray/status/377264369236983808

like I'm at the point where Im tired of reading about the backlash, but I'm sorry to interrupt this thread of doe-eyed babes wiping the morning dew from their eyes as they gaze upon the internet for the first time

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls2qm7wrrL1r3y4i8o1_400.gif https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybGOT4d2Hs8
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls2qm7wrrL1r3y4i8o1_400.gif

It's not like the thread was revived because of a 'teaser' or a dumb story about them playing new material in a salsa club. I revived it to link to and comment (ambivalently) about an actual new song, i.e. a piece of music, i.e. something that it makes sense to discuss on a music discussion board. I was annoyed by the BoC marketing campaign but I mostly tuned it out until actual music was released.

I don't think I knew they were coming out with a new album until like...a couple days ago? And then I only payed attention because a bunch of people on twitter I trust were saying the song was good? Sorry if the air around you is filled with rumors of the Arcade Fire at all times. Dunno why you're being so aggy other than that you're stuck that way.

It's cool if you spend way more time paying attention to the indie rock internet tho.

because I "use the internet" and then "leave the house" and "read music news websites"

imagine if you could read music news websites at home, you'd never have to leave the house

Does anyone want to talk about the song?
James Murphy seems like a better fit for producing this band then I expected.
Bowie seems a bit underused?
The happy house piano at the end ties the room together nicely.

In a year of preposterous hype juggernauts I'm not sure why anyone would bother to single this one out. I've only really been aware of it in the last couple of weeks too.

because this is, in fact, a basic anti-corny-indie-fuxxor rant

I assume at this point these viral teasing campaign are mostly hype candy for the fans (not that different from when leaks of cover art or track listings would come out in Melody Maker or whatever) so I don't see what's so annoying about this one. Having said that, I found the BoC one particularly pointless since as soon as the first mystery 12" was "found" it was pretty obvious than a new album was coming out and there was nothing particularly mysterious about the whole thing.
Anyway, I used to virulently hate AF but Suburbs won me over - looking forward to this record.

Whiney your schtick on this is really boring and unfunny fyi. Even your pals are trying to tell you you sound seriously boring. I am proud of you for noticing that there's a big ad campaign for a band whose last album won album of the year. Here is your cookie, now stfu and learn that Grammy Album of the Year winners get massive campaigns on their next release literally every time without exception no matter what kind of music they play.

this sounds like holy ghost with that annoying religious quality the arcade fire tend to bring

I'm surprised to find myself enjoying this single. I already like it way more than anything on the last album, even the Knife one. I think James is a great fit as a producer.

Disagree entirely on James Murphy here. Like you can tell he's not just there to put a gloss on the record or give it a glorified remix, he's had an audible influence on what the band are actually playing. But it's a weirdly tentative performance, like the band are not entirely comfortable and nervously trying not to fuck up. They're throwing themselves at this new direction with all the conviction of a lumbering footballer suddenly asked to play out of position against one of the best players in the world.

Contrast with Sprawl II off the last album which sounds nothing like any of their other output but also sounds like they know what they're doing.

James Murphy's involvement on this track (i.e. "producer") has not been confirmed by anybody, afaik

this track should be released on a relaunched output recordings label, ltd 12" with hand printed covers by trevor jackson.

i actually like the mismatch that matt describes.

xp

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/4513400/james-murphy-producing-arcade-fire-was-way-better-than-expected

The fact that he did production work on some tracks on the record has been confirmed, yes. That he is credited as "producer" on the song "Reflektor" has not been confirmed, as far as I know.

knowing that he worked on tracks from the album, i would be utterly blown away if he did not work on this track

Whiney your schtick on this is really boring and unfunny fyi. Even your pals are trying to tell you you sound seriously boring. I am proud of you for noticing that there's a big ad campaign for a band whose last album won album of the year. Here is your cookie, now stfu and learn that Grammy Album of the Year winners get massive campaigns on their next release literally every time without exception no matter what kind of music they play.

― combination hair (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Tuesday, September 10, 2013 7:46 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I could probably go to a music festival in 2004 without seeing """mysterious""" Norah Jones fans and then have to read NORAH JONES CONFIRMS ALBUM TITLE IS FEELS LIKE HOME and read "IS THIS THE NEW NORAH JONES SINGLE?" """"""news"""""" articles and not see wacky Norah Jones graffitti in Washington Square Park, but hey ymmv

Sorry i'm so BORING

Whatever, I shoul;d expect nothing less than derision for my A+++ message-boarding from the twee cuddle puddle that ILX is now. Enjoy your Arcade Fire, campaign everyone, whiney out

you should apologize for such weak trolling, I don't really like this band but christ you are insufferable

word

J'appuie Whiney

Derision would probably be preferable to the mass yawn you're eliciting here.

Whiney operating on a higher level here. One day we'll understand and feel bad about finding it so tedious.

I feel about this much the same I feel about Janelle Monae in that recently they have both come to the discovery that being able to dance to music might be important without really being able to to land the making of that sort of music.

I could probably go to a music festival in 2004 without seeing """mysterious""" Norah Jones fans and then have to read NORAH JONES CONFIRMS ALBUM TITLE IS FEELS LIKE HOME and read "IS THIS THE NEW NORAH JONES SINGLE?" """"""news"""""" articles and not see wacky Norah Jones graffitti in Washington Square Park, but hey ymmv

the "Norah Jones Confirms Album Title" pieces run in USA Today and Time. I know you think it's somebody else's fault that you like to read Pitchfork but it's not

you really are this stupid huh

Are you this bored? What do you do for a living? Are you a parking garage attendant? Did the AF street team tag your booth? Is it making life difficult for you in that booth? Do you need a Slurpee from the 7-11 across the street? What time do you get off work? Do you have a journal where you can write down your feelings about AF? Someone you can talk to about it? Friends, lovers, perhaps even a pet?

i feel like there must be a higher concentration of chalk drawings in whiney's neighbourhood

here, as just one example, is the list of headlines pitchfork and Stereogum ran about Arcade Fire since June. This is not an indictment or criticism of Pitchfork and Stereogum, but just to show the tediousness of this slow, obnoxious rollout.

This is just TWO news sources. Imagine this multiplied by MULTIPLE news sources over the last two months

New Arcade Fire Music Coming In September
Arcade Fire LP4 Out 10/29
Arcade Fire Announce New Album Release Date
James Murphy Talks New Arcade Fire Album
James Murphy Talks Up New Arcade Fire LP
Preview Arcade Fire's Cover Of Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers"
Is Arcade Fire's New Album Titled Reflektor?
Arcade Fire Further Tease Reflektor With NYC Mural
Arcade Fire Return to the Stage
Watch: Arcade Fire Share Trailer for Reflektor
Watch An Arcade Fire Reflektor 9/9/9 Teaser
Arcade Fire Will Release a New Single and Video Monday
Is This Arcade Fire's New Single "Reflektor"?
Is This Arcade Fire's "Reflektor" Art & Lyrics?
Arcade Fire - "Reflektor"
This Might Be Arcade Fire's Reflektor Album Cover
Arcade Fire Album Cover Revealed
Arcade Fire To Play SNL Premiere
Arcade Fire - "Reflektor" Interactive Video
Video: Arcade Fire's Amazing, Interactive "Reflektor"
Watch "The Reflektors" Video From Creators Project
Arcade Fire - "Reflektor" Video
David Bowie Confirms Arcade Fire "Reflektor" Collaboration
Report From Arcade Fire's Surprise Show At Montreal's Salsathèque 9/9/13

poetry

It's pretty tedious, but equally it doesn't matter at all and is perfectly ignorable unless you spend like your entire day staring at online music media. I do like the inference that people who aren't outraged by this aren't spending enough time on the internet though.

its almost as if that sort of thing generates pageviews because people who read P4K unironically are interested in the Arcade Fire

http://25.media.tumblr.com/5fa94eb6ae0c325210cd7b0520ef3b46/tumblr_moxd5dPgNB1s48bbso1_500.png

This Might Be Arcade Fire's Reflektor Album Cover
Arcade Fire Album Cover Revealed

This is my favourite.

lol poor Whiney. people like the music he doesn't like. what a world

yep, love you new cultural relativist ILX, where you shoot the messenger and prop up frogbs and waterface

aero, i already said i liked "Keep the Car Running" so your little ad-hom "blink 182 isn't REAL PUNK" arguments hold zero water right now

No one's propping me up Big Man

ah yes "the messenger" aka the dude lazily attempting to destroy a thread with sub-FYAD level posting because a website he dislikes is posting too many articles about a band that some people like

more adhoms, because i mentioned multiple websites PLUS seeing the graffti PLUS all the marketing at festivals etc etc etc, but keep trying

whiney if you don't like your job quit

this cycle of violence, where you demand our attention the way pr emails demand yours, has to stop

OH NO I SAW GRAFFITI

HELP ME

can't deal with the irony of whiney claiming "adhoms," i'm gonna need to leave the room for a little bit

did you do this for the Daft Punk thread too or were you afraid to because the fans might shout you down?

i love it when threads make me feel good about my actual irl life choices

http://i42.tinypic.com/vh81ly.png

yeah its striking me as a little odd that the dude crying "adhoms" is the guy whose reponse to Arcade Fire's stupid marketing campaign and overexposure is to half-assedly attempt to ruin an ILX thread about them, way to "rage against the machine" (lol) Whiney

it is literally impossible to escape this milquetoast middlebrow hipster band! they're all over the milquetoast middlebrow hipster web sites everyone looks at! they're at the milquetoast middlebrow hipster music festivals everyone goes to! they're even plastered all over milquetoast middlebrow hipster neighborhood everybody lives in! WHY IS NO ONE ELSE ANGRY ABOUT MILQUETOAST MIDLEBROW HIPSTER BULLSHIT TAKING OVER THEIR LIVES???

WONT ANYONE THINK OF THE GRAFFITI

But why weren't you doing this for Jay-Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail?

Err I mean Jay Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail

kind of rhetorical, no?

yep, love you new cultural relativist ILX, where you shoot the messenger and prop up frogbs and waterface

like most grownups, in discussions of stuff I care more about what people say than whether they're my buds or not. if frogbs says 2+2=4 and Whiney G Weingarten says OH MY GOD PEOPLE LIKE MUSIC I DON'T LIKE AND READ NEWS STORIES ON IT THERE'S NO GOD THIS IS QUALITY BOARDING HERE!!! then frogbs is right and Whiney is being a dumbass. Which of two I'd prefer to have a pizza with while humming Beatles jams doesn't really enter into it.

this is like a dude getting pissed off at seeing too many Papa Johns commercials and deciding to go to the grocery store to throw tomatoes on the ground, then yelling at the onlookers staring at him

this is like a pizza delivery guy getting pissed off at seeing too many Papa Johns commercials and deciding to go to the grocery store to throw tomatoes on the ground, then yelling at the onlookers staring at him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLRn-UNuO80

this is like a dude delivering pizzas to himself and then eating all the pizzas and then he has nothing to deliver

lol waterface

personally i think rock critics should be heartened whenever they see evidence of money being burned on music promotion

ugh so tired of seeing all these stories about the nfl on sports sites -- gonna go image-bomb i love nfl

I just chronicled a list of Tebow mentions on just ONE 24-hour Sportscenter cycle. JOIN ME IN REPOSTING KITCHEN-HEDGEHOG.GIF ON THE TEBOW THREAD

i'm still caught off guard by their decision to go for a mid-'70s stones vibe, but the song's way better on 2nd listen

if 2013 is anything to go by, we are going to see more and more of those tedious slow news rollout campaign.

wau this thread

anyway this new song of theirs is the first one I've liked

i can't believe you got sucked in by this horrible marketing campaign!

it's insidious, this marketing campaign that I didn't know existed until I clicked on this thread

btw pro tip, there is no mysterious graffiti campaign for Arcade Fire going on in Paris or Berlin, unless they were responsible for the "Fuck the US!!!" tag on the back of the East Wall Gallery

Different sounds but in terms of aim Win and company seem to be deeply intent on reviving Bono's 1991-era 'oh man, maybe we should...DANCE! yeah, that's it!' approach to saving them from themselves. And my love of Arcade Fire equals my love of U2 in any phase.

the thing is, Achtung, Baby! rules

perhaps I'm way off base here, but the "we're so connected, but are we even friends" line did two things simultaneously

1. it made me kinda wince at its eagerness to Sum Up The Modern Age of Technological Alienation In A Quotable Tag- like you can just hear the thinkpiece engines cranking up, with nostalgic 30 and 40 somethings like myself tsk tsk-ing at What We Have Lost While Tweeting etc.I think that pressure to speak for a generation thing is really dangerous and can lead straight to U2-ish pomposity (or, barring that, a kind of "me too" relationship to, say, OK Computer?)

2. in the context of the whole song it seemed to actually be about a relationship that is struggling to persist in the face of change/success/schedules/distraction/obligation, and so the generality of its social-media-as-ennui-device / "lonely in a crowd" implications are maybe just a camouflage for something more domestic and local and kinda painful? and if that's true, then there is a kind of Pop Psych 101 message here, which is that relationships are haunted by the problem of narcissism, thinking you're with another person but really using that other person as a way to confirm or prop up a self image. Cue Lacan's dictum that "There is no sexual relationship / There is no sexual rapport", i.e. love is a two way projection rather than some kind of impossible moment of genuine co-incidence. Maybe music fandom is too? So audience / band relations also have this problem?

sorry I'm not taking sides about the ongoing turf war thing re: hype or what have you, let's all hug it out

xpost -- one of our rare points of absolute difference, I'm afraid.

I think that pressure to speak for a generation thing is really dangerous and can lead straight to U2-ish pomposity

Like I was saying!

now I don't have anyone to ride wild horses with me ;_;

also re: the Arcade Fire song, it has lyrics? I haven't noticed them yet

i don't know anything about the arcade fire or this publicity campaign, maybe they have a mission statement that i've overlooked, but an indie-rock band making dance music in 2013 is just the norm

I thought an indie-rock band making dance music is almost a thing of the past. Like this keeps making me think of stuff from ten years ago like !!! and Out Hud.

hi guys have a blessed day

i try not to criticize bands having quotable, zeitgeisty lyrics that thinkpiece writers will hop on unless the lyric sucks. Like, it was annoying that every review of Return To Cookie Mountain quoted "I was a lover before this war," but my real problem with it was that it was a bullshit lyric. "we're so connected, but are we even friends" feels pretty valid.

if i see it in too many thinkpieces in the weeks to come, well it's my fault for reading thinkpieces

You should make that a lyric.

in French tho

I won't allow that.

c'est ne pas un graffiti

Album release date announcement; website launch; chalk and billboards; teaser video; video+single launch+secret show. I do not know how many press releases accompanied these five things. My guess is one? More likely zero? All other """"news items"""" have been generated by the blogs themselves, fan research, internet foul-ups and leaks. If you're going to fault AF for anything, it's obscurantism. I "blame" the blogs themselves but mostly am hoping everybody is getting a paycheque

Also

http://31.media.tumblr.com/465d00844e7e61db953bb4b65dfe8eec/tumblr_miyd86ZQNk1s5xnzpo1_500.gif

space's point #1 has been a problem for these guys since they Got Topical on Neon Bible, that album was filled with broad groaners. miss the weird vivid personal imagery of Funeral

So, David Bowie sounds nice on here

lol Whiney, you do realize I live in a heavily hispanic manufacturing town of 100k in WA, not fucking North Brooklyn, right? I mean, I can't step outside without seeing the Arcade Fire marketing campaign either, but that's only bc AF's team decided working-class, small town latinos in provincial regions were as high a priority demographic as yuppies in the cultural capitol of america. Also I click on Pitchfork like once a month at best when someone links a review and stereogum neva.

And the last festival I've been to was about a year ago.

Guys this marketing campaign is not that big or ridic; ppl are freaking out bcz it's new Arcade Fire material. I mean seriously, hate the game, not the player.

Like idk maybe there are major music publications that are giving this thing more attention than it deserves

how much attention does a critically adored, commercially successful and Album of the Year Grammy Award winner deserve? what do you want major music pubs to do, ignore this until they run a review on release day?

i mean i get that Whiney's list up there looks a bit silly when stacked up like that but i don't know what else ppl expect. it is 2013 and the internet exists and this is a huge (and p good) band!

This sounds like my morning jacket

Win has a pretty good reflectometer. It's a reflector! They are all reflectors!

you guys are so basic that you think i'm doing some ca. 2009 anti-corny-indue-fuxxor rant?

― Vinetalic - "My Friend Terio" (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, September 10, 2013 12:00 AM (16 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Most ridiculous "news" item on Pitchfork regarding the horribly overhyped crapfest known as The National's High Violet

look at what you've been reduced to

you guys are so basic that you think i'm doing some ca. 2009 anti-corny-indue-fuxxor rant?

― Vinetalic - "My Friend Terio" (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, September 10, 2013 12:00 AM (16 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

thinking yr not doing something and actually not doing something are two different things

nice find, flopson

album of the year

more like fartcade dire

it's not "Reflector" - it's Reflektor! K!

I keep hearing people say this song is good, is it good?

No. It's not good.

I easily prefer this to anything they've done previously. Self awareness.

it's overall ok, but the hype obviously makes it overrated.

It could have been released as James Murphy's "Reflektor (feat. Win & Regine)" so I'm not surprised the most enthusiastic audience seems to be people who didn't already like the arcade fire

this is okay... it's certainly competent. it's too dense for me, though. i don't like the production at all. like the production on old funk and disco records makes it so that you can hear each individual playing... you get see the how the pieces of the puzzle connect etc

this is produced like a granola bar though

and likewise there's no personality to it at all... the song sounds exactly as if someone had written a program to spit out an original song after being given the entire arcade fire and lcd soundsystem discographies as inputs

lol this reminds me a lot of that last pocahaunted record, glad the arcade fire had to go to all those places and employ all those "voodoo rhythms" to sound like a proggy low-energy esg

all three posts have otm elements but i read them as positives tbh

*the last three

that means we did well!

It could have been released as James Murphy's "Reflektor (feat. Win & Regine)" so I'm not surprised the most enthusiastic audience seems to be people who didn't already like the arcade fire

afaik, James Murphy did not mix or produce this track. James' records are impossible to listen to on headphones because they hit too hard. "Reflektor" in comparison settles like a fat man in a mamasan. Not James.

why is everyone saying he produced it?

I dunno! He said in interviews that he worked on the record and I guess people interpreted that as "he produced every song"

says on pitchfork he produced it: "Yes, James Murphy produced the title track from their fourth LP, Reflektor"

well afaik that is incorrect, but maybe somebody at Pitchfork's office worked on the record and would know better than I do

lol

Can we just call them Arcade Soundsystem or LCD Fire for this record already?

do u know that he didn't produce it? who did?

wouldn't the person who actually produced it be, like, yo wtf i produced this, though? i mean like just googling around every single thing about it says he produced it: atlantic "The song is great: The toe-wiggling influence of the record’s producer, LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, is nicely evident, and the production’s stunning." spin "Some of the stuff on here is going to surprise people. It's even more different than 'Reflektor,'" referring to the record's James Murphy-produced, David Bowie-assisted title track.

have u seen a press-release?

Jeez flopson

I would rather look at shiba inu gifs tbh where's Whiney

ha sorry didn't mean to seem like i was grilling u, just confused

i thought you had some secret info and was trying to get you to dish, is all

wouldn't the person who actually produced it be, like, yo wtf i produced this, though?

albini produced it, obviously

I produced it.

i don't like the production at all. like the production on old funk and disco records makes it so that you can hear each individual playing... you get see the how the pieces of the puzzle connect etc

There's nothing wrong with this sort of production but you need musicians who can pull it off and the Arcade Fire... can't. There's something tentative and funkless about the whole thing, I'd probably prefer it if it were all like the French bits.

Also Win Butler's vocals really don't work in this environment at all. He's an over-emoter who needs to learn to emote in ways other than 'world-weary gasp'.

http://i.imgur.com/E3qWbsO.png

http://i.imgur.com/OzifpKm.png

david bowie's facebook says "We can confirm that David Bowie has supplied a brief backing vocal on the James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem) produced track"

I was hoping that said "a brief barking vocal"

Experience

matt dc otm

i bet JM was a producer in the old-school 'creative guidance & decision making' sense, not the hip-hop/electronic 'actually making the track' sense.

the bongo disco beat sounds totally dfa though

yeah i was gonna say

It basically sounds like a DFA remix of a so-so Arcade Fire song. I don't think there's any mystery here.

There will be Arcade Fire production credit truthers here long after the album liner notes are printed and a documentary about the recording process is released

Probably because of Win's voice, there is no Arcade Fire song I can enjoy after 4-5 listens, it just wears me down and Reflektor is no exception.

Made me think of this thread:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/09/12/arcade_fire_graffiti_marketing_vandalism_or_both_relektor_ads_are_a_nuisance.html

yikes.

http://m.pitchfork.com/news/52254-arcade-fires-win-butler-on-reflektor-a-mash-up-of-studio-54-and-haitian-voodoo/

At least one of the band members is from Haiti? I don't think it would be that weird to draw on that. They've been doing some sort of that since "Haiti" and some other stuff from Funeral.

Maybe that would sound better however she would explain it cause Win sounds like he has some noble savage thing going on.

is this a belated response to sasha frere jones' request that the arcade fire be more like mick jagger?

― da croupier, Monday, September 9, 2013 5:47 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

prescient post given that interview, lol

Hah!

01 Reflektor
02 We exist
03 Flashbulb eyes
04 Here comes the night time
05 Normal person
06 You already know
07 Joan of arc
08 Here comes the night time II
09 Awful sound (oh eurydice)
10 It's never over (oh orpheus)
11 Porno
12 Afterlife
13 Supersymmetry

Do not want an Arcade Fire song called 'Porno'.

I thought it was called PONO.

I thought it said "Pomo"; I can't decide which is better

09 Awful sound (oh eurydice)
10 It's never over (oh orpheus)

Somewhere, Colin Meloy is taking notes.

Actually, speaking of PONO, I'm suprrised these guys haven't hooked up with Neil Young yet. He seems a much better match than Murphy or Bowie.

Oh, wait

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUD2JUacpPo

Do not want a 75 minutes album, seriously. I know James Murphy is good at making long songs seem short, but there is so much Win's voice one can take.

Then a week after it comes out Questlove will announce a sequel...

when i listen to this band i hear the lunch table conversations of students at win butler's high school alma mater phillips exeter academy who are fascinated by struggle. what would it be like to be uncomfortable?

whoooooa

extra-sensory privilege

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81WSbCgAcQL._SL1500_.jpg

Double?

I'd despair too.

cool they pointed out that the song reflektor is on there

it is a double, i saw the track listing upthead and thought it was a single album. so that threw me.

also i laughed at Ned comment but i am a fan.

actual art work without sticker:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ArcadeFireReflektor.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/57/ArcadeFireReflektor.jpg

I haven't dug an album of theirs since NEON BIBLE. Yes, I dug NEON BIBLE, though I haven't relistened in some time. What's the over/under on me getting through one disc of this?

Whoa, you haven't dug an album of theirs since the one before the last one?

Let's just see what the oddsmakers crunch for this, the least interesting action ever

when i listen to this band i hear the lunch table conversations of students at win butler's high school alma mater phillips exeter academy who are fascinated by struggle. what would it be like to be uncomfortable?

― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, September 25, 2013 7:48 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

he went to philips exeter? hahah

On a rock scholarship iirc

I finally heard the single, don't hate it

I think they should have let David Bowie sing lead, instead of just that one backing verse

Regarding their SNL performance... I didn't know it was possible to dance that poorly. Dancing like they sing.

that SNL performance was the most hilarious thing I've ever seen.

Why was the girl in a glass box? was it the Phantom Zone?

damn, i was going to watch that but forgot all about it.

i thought it was so much fun tbh

and that she was actually a p good dancer

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

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

All the cameos and "funny stuff" distracts from the actual music there.

feelin the first track

Is there a way to see the actual SNL spot in Canada?

the 1st and 2nd songs sound thin and uninteresting.the last song was good.

tiny bananas

So is Arcade Fire going the full Achtung Baby?

the 1st and 2nd songs sound thin and uninteresting.the last song was good.

was the last song the 'normal people' song? i thought that one sounded pretty cool. didn't here anything before it.

i know i could watch the video above and find out for myself but this episode of The Great Food Truck Race is getting pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty tense.

It aint' the number of albums, but the time between 'em.

don't let the long campaign fool you.
the record is weak.

oh well

Quick, start the campaign for the next record!

on first listen: it's ok.

this is more like it but still not knocking this

YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN - YT//ST

off my list of canuck neo-prog

"You Already Know" works; I'm not sure about the Orpheus-Eurydice tracks.

this is alright i guess, better than the last one, which i thought was horrendously dull. this is less po-faced and more dynamic in general, but, like the suburbs, is way too long. pretty much every song in disc 2 outstays its welcome by a couple of minutes. ~6 mins of an orchestra tuning up at the end was entirely unnecessary.

i wish they'd let regine sing on her own a bit more too.

It's good, very good. I like the bass on this record. But I had the impression some parts reminded me of something familiar... like they were ripping off someone else. Just a feeling

themselves more like

I don't think so. this one sounds clearly different from the previous albums

this thing is LOOOOOOONG

might even say it's rococococococo

Here Comes the Night Time sounds like a slow reggaeton!

Stream Reflektor and watch Black Orpheus at the same time

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

I'm super into the new album. I think it's pretty fun and propulsive (especially for being a double album with mostly 6 minute songs). But it sounds just wretched to my ears. Part of it is the headphones I'm using, I'm sure. But listening to Neon Bible (which I thought sounded pretty bad, too) I have hardly any of the same issues: massive sibilance, the snares and hi-hats sound like stabby needles, the vocals are all sibilant and hissy. It seems like, to listen to the album at a volume where the low end really rumbles, the higher end is just unbelievably painful.

(Listening to a pirated V0 from FLAC via iPhone and iTunes on Audiofly 56 Series headphones.)

Gotta love the CBC: http://music.cbc.ca/#/blogs/2013/10/Build-your-own-Arcade-Fire

80s time warp record

this thing makes The 20/20 Experience feel like an OFF! record.

can't stop cringing at "never met a normal person / HOW DO YOU DO?"

@diamonddave85 - I think the AF's lyrics are really, terribly, utterly cringeworthy. This album is no exception. That song is pretty cool, I think, but the lyrics about "normal people" are so bad. (See the opening couplet to "Sprawl II", one of their best songs: "They heard me singing and they told me to stop / Quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock"; or any lyrics about soldiers dying at war.)

I've refined my thoughts about the sound of the album: those headphones I got suck. It sounds just fine on better headphones, I think. I'm interested to hear other perspectives though.

*AF lyrics post-Funeral

Joan of Arc is so bad.

Normal Person could have been written by Don Henley.

^ Boys of Summer Don Henley? That would work for me ;)

Here Comes The Night Time is pretty cool, but I was kinda disappointed when it slowed down after like 10 seconds.

http://www.avfc.co.uk/javaImages/bc/b5/0,,10265~12105148,00.jpg

You can smell the Brewdog just by looking at him.

Hah, wrong thread, but he's probably a regular Pitchfork reader so it's kind of on-topic.

So yeah, this album is pretty bad. However, I love Afterlife, perhaps my favorite song by them.

man this thing is a slog. I dread writing even a sentence beyond the level of the last one.

Afterlife is a jam though

9.2?

i puked on my keyboard

not that i read pitchfork

It's likely that the first time you heard the Arcade Fire's monstrously anticipated fourth album Reflektor, you were—to borrow a phrase that Win Butler spits out like a bite of bad food during the record's disco-noir title track—"staring at a screen."

daaaaamn

in the same moment I saw the band's official tweet announcing it, two people simultaneously instant-messaged me the link. It was late afternoon on the East Coast, lunchtime on the West, and in that moment I did exactly what thousands of other people in those and all other time zones did: Stopped what I was doing, closed some extraneous tabs and programs, and listened. The auto-updating comments became a chronicle of knee-jerk first impressions: fervent gushing ("The bassline on 'Joan of Arc' is fucking epic"), groan-worthy puns ("I can't even reflect how excited this makes me!"), and egregious misspellings ("I don't understand what all the fuzz is about"). This scene would have seemed bizarre—and likely a little sad— to us decades ago, and it's frightening to imagine how quaint it will seem in the future. But this is how a lot of people at this moment in time—the one in which Reflektor was made, and the one it distrustfully interrogates—discover new music: Alone; together.

the album is, how you say, reflection of our times yes?

"Do you like rock'n'roll music?" Butler asks in a mock-Elvis shudder at the beginning of glam-rock earthquake "Normal Person". "Cuz I don't know if I do…" The only way to make a Big Rock Record in 2013 is to make one that is skeptical of what it means to be a Big Rock Record in 2013.

reading this garbage is giving me 'joy of missing out'

#jomo

I'm the type of person that really immerses myself in music probably more than most people, you know? Like, I'll usually close extraneous tabs and programs and just listen.

Well, most tabs tbh. I do have my smartphone after all.

I was so enraptured by this album that I only answered half a dozen emails, tweeted twice and updated my Netflix queue once.

Listening to "Reflektor" - why are these people so bad at production?

...

If something that happens on the internet can be considered An Event, then this certainly was one; in the same moment I saw the band's official tweet announcing it, two people simultaneously instant-messaged me the link.

Chassagne has said that her earliest and most stirring musical memories were "listening to her neighbor's music, the sounds coming through the walls" and then trying to replicate them on piano; in the same interview, the Texas-born Butler spoke similarly about U2's (much maligned) Pop Mart tour.

ok, I know this is just a trick of the sentence construction, but I want to believe that Win Butler's earliest and most stirring musical memory is the PopMart tour.

like athena, he sprung forth, fully grown, from Bono's lemon

The only way to make a Big Rock Record in 2013 is to make one that is skeptical of what it means to be a Big Rock Record in 2013. Then perhaps it's not worth doing anymore?

That said, the album is actually better than I'd feared. Though pretty fucking far from 9.2-good.

"... instant-messaged me the link."

AIM? #noob #okgrandpa #9.too-good!

da croupier hahahahaha

Yeah, definitely a trick of sentence construction there. He basically said it was his first concert, and he liked the spectacle of it even though he knows how much that tour was mocked.

let's treat all of america's children as well as win butler gets treated. punk rock

a band of gentry hoarding acclaim like the well-to-do hoarding opportunity is a sign of the times, no? trying to figure out what it is about 'reflektor' that inspires otherwise hyper-critical people to apologize for music that would get slammed if released by someone else

yeah arcade fire, your hoarding of acclaim is indicative of a systemic inequality of plaudits, and we should't stand for it!

1% of bands hold 46% of critical accolades! This injustice is eating away at our democratic society.

At what point did you give up on caring about music?

http://www.businessinsurance.org/10-rock-stars-who-are-brilliant-businesspeople/

^ heady company!

Odds that the band appears with Bowie, Bono and others at the first available awards show tribute to Lou Reed ... ?

Making the businessinsurance.org list is like the 9.2 of the business insurance world.

i'll say

Calling it an "85-minute epic" or whatever is a little disingenuous. There's, like, 65 minutes of actual song on this thing?

Also, the mixing is fantastic, but I'm less sold on the actual production. Let alone the fucking lyrics, dear Jesus.

One listen, I sort of appreciate its ... shoddiness? It's a little like finding some weird unreleased rehearsal tape.

2/3s of the way in and this is so much more enjoyable to me than pretty much anything else these awful pretentious yokel sap fucks have ever done. They're basically the Yank/Cannuck Mumford & Sons prior to this.

That's very harsh of me.

And I'm not sure I actually mean it.

Oh, they're so much better than Mumford & Sons. At least these guys pose/change in the name of Art. Pretentious, sure. But they at least aspire to more than broad strokes, imo. I mean, jeez, heard any Bowie lyrics ever?

This is really good.

Yeah they've always at least had more depth than the formula of Dave Matthews + folky gimmick + la la la/ya ya ya/other-cheap-catchiness-tactic wielded by Mumford & Sons. A little credit, c'mon!

your set is not orthogonal

I rarely even notice who writes music reviews but I noticed Lindsay Zoladz's terrible review with the same lowlights pulled above, because I had just read her also awful Fiona Apple piece on "The Pitch":

Midway through her set last night at New York's Beacon Theater, Fiona Apple announced that she had two jokes to tell. The first: "Why did the prostitute climb over the whale?" The sold-out crowd boomed, "WHY?" "To get to the other side." She immediately promised us that the next one was better, because she'd just written it that afternoon: "Why did the 17-year-old sign the recording contract?" "WHY?" Apple just shrugged and stared at us with a devilish smirk for about ten seconds until we—chuckling, applauding, then suddenly straight-up roaring—realized that that was the punchline.

oh come the fuck on, you're calling a writer awful for transcribing what a musician actually said

It's really the last sentence that's the capper. But also the article isn't just a transcription of everything Fiona Apple said, she chose which quotes to include (let alone start the piece with).

getting a bit ridiculous now

I liked them back when they made songs instead of grooves. (This is 100% the opposite of what I thought about LCD Soundsystem in the end, btw)

Around about 2005 I was in a club and heard a DJ drop 'Rebellion (Lies)' into a house set, before everyone was super-familiar with it, and the place basically went a bit mental. It's a much better euphoric dance track than most of what's here.

Washington Post

Arcade Fire’s ‘Reflektor’: Still devoid of wit, subtlety and danger, now with bongos

"Arcade Fire still sound like gigantic dorks with boring sex lives."

But Jon Pareles in the NY Times seems to like it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/29/arts/music/arcade-fire-lightens-up-a-bit-on-reflektor.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131029

The album’s lyrics allude to Kierkegaard’s ideas about a “reflective age,” when passion and story line have been replaced by ambiguity and passive contemplation. And they trace a loose plotline similar to the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice: the musician who plays songs that are so beautiful that they persuade Death to give his lover a second chance, though the musician will only lose her again. (Auguste Rodin’s statue of Orpheus and Eurydice is on the album cover.)

...

Arcade Fire has soaked up more than carnival and club rhythms for “Reflektor.” It has gathered the deepest lesson of carnival: that joyful dance music can hold protest, healing, solidarity and transcendence. It has also taken something from the Orpheus myth, in which the musician loses his true love forever because he looks back too soon. The one thing Arcade Fire won’t do on “Reflektor” is look back.

I haven't heard the whole thing, but am skeptical based on what I have heard so far.

I liked that WaPo review. I agree with almost all his criticisms and still find stuff to like in here, though.

I've been meaning to see "Black Orpheus" cos my roommate played the me the soundtrack and it was INCREDIBLE. So Arcade Fire are gonna have to wait.

Pitchfork review read like a press release.

Glenn Kenny ‏@Glenn__Kenny 2h
Arcade Fire, proof that each generation gets the Jefferson Starship it deserves.

Either he hasn't heard Jefferson Starship or I haven't heard enough.

Interesting belated backlash in progress. Twas it the Grammy?

really liked some of the last album, really like most of this one. baffled by some of the negativity, i think they're getting better with every album. *shrugs*.

artwork sucks mind.

i love that wapo review

not bcuz i agree with it or anything (i haven't even heard this album) but i think it was a well argued backlash

just getting through the first disc. this is really not that bad, and is far and away the most tolerable thing this band has ever done.

Given how many folks were all 'arcade who?' after the Grammy, guessing a lot of knives got sharpened.

lol what backlash? one bad review in wapo? i'm pretty sure chris richards had heard of arcade fire before they won a grammy

"bongos"

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/Money_for_Nothing_Music_Video.jpg

that wapo thing would be pretty ok without the "I only listen to slightly cool people who sound like they have great sex lives" bits of bile

Decent points about familiarity and condescension bracketed by "oh yeah rock is supposed to scare your parents and make you wanna fuuuck" tropes older than Bowie's Low.

would be nice if the word "bongos" wasn't thrown around in its inaccurate and smugly racist way

did q and not u make anyone want to fuck?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH71qiWjF-w

Decent points about familiarity and condescension bracketed by "oh yeah rock is supposed to scare your parents and make you wanna fuuuck" tropes older than Bowie's Low.

― da croupier, Tuesday, October 2

I think he was going for more of "songs that are called Porno, for instance, should not be safe/conservative in the same way adult-contemporary is safe (hence 'parents')"

I don't know? Maybe.

why? are we trying to keep porn scary and edgy?

Yes, let's make porn all about torture and rape and violence. That's healthy.

"this music is old, familiar and trumpeted up, unlike SEX" is just a hilarious sentiment

though listing a bunch of bands you think are more exciting would get you far fewer clicks

Nothing to say except what a fucking mundane album title

The thing with reducing all the inspiration they've taken from caribean music to 'bongos' and 'Talking Heads' is really irritating. Also, all the best Arcade Fire songs are in first person plural.

And when co-vocalist Regine Chassagne materializes to play Butler’s vocal foil, she toggles between cheerleadery English and breathy French, because — ooh-la-la — it wraps these bland songs in a thin cloak of cosmopolitan sophistication.

I forget whether she has sung in French before. Richards in his Post piece also never mentions her heritage and the group's recent trip to Haiti. And its congas not bongos. Richards could still have sneared and gotten the instruments right. But he may defend the piece by saying he only had so much of a wordcount and therefore "bongos" and "Talking Heads" gets the point across in a quick, effective manner.

u say conga, i say bongo

i say bono. would much rather hear a jamz murphy solo record than this mfa rock glop

every lcd soundsystem album is a james murphy solo record

But not every Arcade Fire album despite his production work. Unless folks are ready to blame him for this if they don't like it.

That French dig seems pretty cheap/easy; Her parents were Haitian, she grew up in Quebec, and the band is based in Montreal. Are we really supposed to sneer at occasional French on these records?

Also, to answer a question above, from the first record: 'Haiti' is half in French, and so is 'Une année sans lumière'

we are supposed to celebrate the arcade fire for existing

i find the way she pronounces "jeanne d'arc" interesting, sounds more like she's saying "jeanne d'août" (jeanne of august) but i don't think she is.

Sure, there are a lot of b.s. statements in the review, but it does a good job at capturing some of the more eyeroll-inducing elements of this band. Good to see a major newspaper break from the pack. I still like this band and enjoy some of the album, but they have become increasingly annoying. I don't know if it's because I'm older or if Win Butler is lazier with his songwriting, but those lyrics KILLLL me.

I think it sounds pretty good. Not sure about the songs themselves, but it is a good sounding album.

People hungry for a ho-hum review should check out perpetua's buzzfeed piece, which manages to express disappointment in the arcade fire evolving exactly how their parents evolved without slipping into the rock-hornytoad jive in that wapo one

basically the WaPo review is the kind of fun, inaccurate, perfect lead review RS still published into the mid eighties.

Only got a few songs in today but basically my problem is I thought they were an improvement on the waterboys but aren't up to the challenge of improving post-punk dance stuff

Yeah, re-reading it, I can appreciate the "humorous over-the-top rant that cracks up your friends" quality in the review, even if some of the precepts seem kind of stale to me ("Because great art should crack away at what came before, right?")

like this: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/autoamerican-19850220

this album is an outright disaster. I disliked The Suburbs but I could still sing Tom Petty over "Modern Man."

I haven't been following all of the press surrounding this album, but that Reflector song reminds me of something Dirk Diggler would record at the end of Boogie Nights.

they don't have a good enough drummer or vocalist to make this music work

Pareles in the NY Times:

It’s probably Mr. Murphy who got the Latin percussion popping in the title track (and perhaps pushed it toward its seven-minute length, stretched out like a 12-inch disco remix); polished the Motown-style bass line and Roxy Music guitar jabs in “We Exist”; and overlaid the mechanized, asymmetrical syncopations of New Order into what might have been another march, “It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus).”

The title track seems to me more like a failed post-punk dance effort

canny intro and outro of "normal person" sour an already shitty song

these dudes used to write pretty okay choruses at least, right?

Title track sounds like a tribute to "The Chase." They should have hired Moroder to talk over it.

i can't believe this orpheus/eurydice thing is going to take 12 minutes

Tell it to Nick Cave.

At least he had the wherewithal to rhyme "Orpheus" with "orifice."

never would've guessed the keeper from this album would be "porno"

This may be dull as fuck but it has 127 new answers

now go bump your artistry thread.

now go home and get your fuckin artistry

some of the shittiness toward Richards on twitter today has been really disheartening. the internet sucks.

team Arcade Fire think they're defending their heroes

some of the shittiness toward Richards on twitter today has been really disheartening. the internet sucks.

― alpine static, Tuesday, October 29, 2013 5:09 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark

idk man if you're gonna come out in your first sentence and say that a band has boring sex lives you gotta be prepared for 2x as worse coming back at you

seriously!

also it's a literally unbelievable notion, like this album is kind of boring but i have to believe arcade fire is having insane sex all over the place

don't start your reviews with ad hominem, eye-catching bullshit if you don't want the kind of eyes ad hominem bullshit gets you

the whole "these guys probably dont have sex" argument is pretty pathetic
esp when it's a newspaper writer talking about rock stars

initially sounds like Fleetwood Mac trying to moonwalk through “Billie Jean” in uncomfortable footwear

this sounds like an awesome song, tbrr

i have to believe arcade fire is having insane sex all over the place

http://i40.tinypic.com/34ffdef.jpg

It’s an album with a song called “Porno” that you could play for your parents. It’s fraud.

like, this would be cool if dee snider or gene simmons said it, but no rockcritic should talk like they're some retrograde rock ass clown

#1 in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Namibia :D

#40 in Venezuela u_u

man, now i wish dee would review this album for talkhouse so nerds desperate for an arcade fire slam would have an ol' rock stud worthy of living vicariously through

i bet dee has some great anecdote about rolling his eyes at the talking heads, which would immediately put his review over any "this is not as good as talking heads" review

i really hate how this album is produced

why is everything so muffled? what are they going for

Heard that title track earlier today. Sounded good but like an electroclash-era also-ran. I bet this album will get lots of play in clubs/bars. Good modern dance sound.

the bass on this sounds broken

I don't have any idea what this album is supposed to be doing.

Agreed on the muffled sound. This album is growing on me, but it would be so much better with different production.

james murphy's own records don't sound like this so i assume the granola bar effect is intentional but.... why

I mistakenly played the new Cut Copy after this and thought ugh fuck you Arcade Fire for making secondhand disco-gauze sound worse.

"It's Official: Arcade Fire are the Eagles of Our Generation" - http://www.businessinsider.com/review-arcade-fire-reflektor-2013-10

Groups like Vampire Weekend or (early) MGMT seem to write music effortlessly, their songs emerging fully formed.

o rly

"Some albums make you feel like dancing. Some albums make you feel like being sad." this business insider dude is bringing the truth

Sonically, that was never a problem for Henley and Frey. But it often happened whenever they strove for "concepts."

he's been on ILM recently!

I'll say this much. I like Arcade Fire, and hate the Eagles, but god knows an every-last-Arcade-Fire-song thread would horrify me. Also, it would probably die on the vine a few tracks in.

1. Track one. "Yep, it's the Arcade Fire."

GLENN: I like Arcade Fire, and hate the Eagles, but god knows an every-last-Arcade-Fire-song thread would horrify me. Also, it would probably die on the vine a few tracks in.

DON: Well, yeah.

Yeah, Arcade Fire lack a lot of the things that make that Eagles thread so entertaining. Things like gigantic swings in quality of songwriting/performance, world-historical sleazebags at the helm, a seemingly endless supply of tasteless stories/artistic decisions, a song called "Chug All Night," etc.

LOL

Yes I definitely felt some self-importance/These Guys Are Writing Meaningful Stuff vibes from that Pitchfork article that really put me off.

"You probably heard this staring at a screen" Wow, brilliant insight, Einstein. How is that different from 95% of my waking life? Also didn't "Kid A" cover all that ground 10 years ago, and in a far stranger and more enjoyable way?

you probably watched the series finale of breaking bad while staring at a screen

Screengazer

the subject matter is so typically arcade fire and the evolution is so typically "college rock heroes a decade in" that I almost can't blame people who enjoy it for overstating its grandeur and people who hate it for getting on some silly "where's the NUTS?" soapbox.

not to mention no indication that Win Butler has a "Boys of Summer" in him.

He just needs to hook up with the Mike Campbell of this generation, whoever that is.

has anyone other than an acolyte of (early) MGMT who just saw that doc within the last month actually compared arcade fire to the eagles?

He just needs to hook up with the Mike Campbell of this generation, whoever that is.

― intheblanks,

go on say John Mayer

Regine to sing "Leather and Lace" knockoff with Ezra Koenig

"we exist" sounds like "billy jean" and still manages to suck

also has anyone actually familiar with Haitian music spoken about this album and its pretensions on that front, yay or nay? So far I've just seen kneejerk scoffing on one side and "long they spent in the ancestral home of their baton twirler" on the other.

Haitians are chuffed

skipped a ton of posts cuz boy rock critics and arcade fire fun topic for discussion, sure to be some gold mined there (question: in ten years will there be more ppl making a living soley from rock criticism or more people making a living solely from being a member of arcade fire?). however this quote -
like, this would be cool if dee snider or gene simmons said it, but no rockcritic should talk like they're some retrograde rock ass clown

― da croupier

- reminded me of reading something w/ alice cooper a few years back of him buying a grizzly bear album and being VERY disappointed

One of their Miami shows last week in Little Haiti neighborhood.

http://www.stereogum.com/88301/alice_cooper_thinks_vampire_weekend_have_no_balls/franchises/wheres-the-beef/

Looks like it was Vampire Weekend, which tbf is also pretty damn funny.

so i finally had a chance to listen to this thing. it's way too long and just good, was honestly expecting a bit more. favorites so far are "Here Come the Night Time" and "Porno."

It's exhausting.

eh

Was reading Jody Rosen tweeting objections to Chris Richards review to other Post people, and then tweeting to Chris himself, with Chris defending his tone.

But I haven't heard the whole album yet.

Perpetua's piece - http://www.buzzfeed.com/perpetua/how-arcade-fire-changed-to-stay-exactly-the-same-on-reflekto

13 reasons the Arcade Fire is OK.

GAH

http://www.nme.com/images/NMECoverArcade_CMA3_291013.jpg

lmao

lies
lies

If you put on your special glasses, that cover goes INSIDE YOUR HEAD!

http://www.name-list.net/img/images.php/Lurch_6.jpg

we're a weird band in a mainstream context

The Arcade Fire aren't even the worst thing about that cover.

we're a mainstream band who'd like everyone to think we're not

we're a mainstream band doing what we like

And if we get a Grammy for it that's a bonus.

what is even a little bit weird about these guys?????????

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

their hair

Compared to the Fratellis these guys are fucking crazy intellectual boho mothercukers, to be fair. Leaving that typo in.

most exeter graduates go on to wall street, or corporate law. getting involved in the arts is a little eccentric

Wow, so much I did not know in here:

Edwin Farnham Butler III, son of an oilman and a harp-playing singing mother, grandson of the man who, it seems, more or less invented the pedal steel guitar, attended the school from 1995.

Wow, Edwin Farnham Butler III? Waspy name crack me up. And wow, Alvino Rey:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPd9cxqKCVg

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/mar/18/popandrock.features11

more like fartcade dire

yeah, they are more like that

i genuinely do want to know how they think of themselves as weird, it seems like their influences are all firmly established in the rock canon type artists, but i haven't heard a lot of their material & there must be something more to it. do they have some weird songs?

funeral and the EP before it were weird in a somewhat surreal aeroplane over the sea way; since then not so much

He meant "weird" like Nirvana or The Cure, not weird like Jandek or Merzbow:

http://www.nme.com/news/arcade-fire/73525

He thinks Guns N' Roses AREN'T weird?

Axl out-weirds Kurt.

Maybe it didn't necessarily seem that way to a 12-year-old in 1992

I mean, obviously Axl Rose is an outrageously weird individual, but GnR at that stage probably seemed firmly in the mainstream hard rock tradition. Especially to a kid, which is what Butler's describing.

Which is fair enough. But to be still using that as a gauge of weirdness 20 years later, though...

Yeah, I think he just means Arcade Fire is the weirdest bunch at, say, the Grammys. The same way Nirvana were the weirdos at the 92 VMAs. Make of that what you will, but I don't know if it's worthy of some of the outrage above. People call themselves weird all the time. He wasn't saying they were outsider artists that are redefining what music is, or anything like that.

Intervention was pretty weird... As is Here Comes the Night Time and Flashbulb Eyes and quite of lot of the details on the new album. They are definitely weird for a grammy winner.

Good meditation on Arcade Fire and weirdness from Nitsuh Abebe's tumblr three years ago:

http://agrammar.tumblr.com/post/903734771/an-alternate-universe-arcade-fire-more-with-the-creepy

Psssh... the Wrens are great...

that washington post review made me sympathetic to the arcade fire

And when co-vocalist Regine Chassagne materializes to play Butler’s vocal foil, she toggles between cheerleadery English and breathy French, because — ooh-la-la — it wraps these bland songs in a thin cloak of cosmopolitan sophistication.

Or, y'know, because she was raised bilingual in a blingual city by bilingual parents.

This reads like an attempt to do what Pareles did with The Case Against Coldplay, but it's too sophomoric ("boring sex lives") and off-target (do they really just recreate the sound of U2?) to hit home.

I really like this.

http://sickmouthy.com/2013/10/30/arcade-fire-reflektor/

I read 'shitty horse listicles' as 'licky horse testicles' at first.

sounds like they've been listening to oceania

i was just watching their performance on kimmel and had to extract the video from near the end to lol

http://oi43.tinypic.com/2ebfjhl.jpg

thank you

I really like this.

http://sickmouthy.com/2013/10/30/arcade-fire-reflektor/

― I can still taste the Taboo in my mouth when I hear those songs (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, October 30, 2013 5:49 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

really nice job on the writeup! regardless of my thoughts abt the album this is the most interesting thing i've read about it by a long shot.

The first half of this is really working for me now, absolutely love Flashbulb Eyes and Here Comes The Night Time. The second half still drags a bit but it has its moments, and the outro to Supersymmetry is rather lovely.

This is the first Arcade Fire album where I can hear the Bowie and Talking Heads influences that folks have been talking about since album one but which I'd never heard. I always felt there was a side of the band that, when faced with the adulation of Bowie and David Byrne, readily accepted it (like anyone would) and reciprocated by pushing their sound a tad toward one pole or the other as the circumstance demanded it (mostly via cover songs), but for the first time I'm hearing it on an album. I guess it should be no stretch to credit James Murphy, who knows a thing or two about cribbing from Bowie, Byrne and Eno (mostly for the better).

There's a lot to like here but the sticking point for me is that Win hasn't changed to suit the new sound. He can't do arch or playful, unlike Bowie, Byrne, Murphy or even 90s Bono. If Bono had kept using his Joshua Tree voice, Achtung Baby wouldn't have worked. So whatever's happening musically, Win still sounds earnest and worried, banging on about technology like a Jonathan Franzen op-ed when he needs to be having some fun with it. As noted above, the rhythm section's not quite strong enough either. So all this experimentation ends up spotlighting the band's limitations, whereas The Suburbs expanded their sound while still playing to their strengths. Still some great songs though - Here Comes the Night Time and Afterlife especially - and I can't knock them too hard for trying something new.

haven't listened to the album yet but enjoyed the single. every time i've listened to it though i'm always amazed/amused at how much better it worked for me during the twenty seconds or so of bowie vocals vs butler's vocals the rest of the song, would solve so many problems w/ arcade fire and 2013 bowie for me. win butler also works as a rejoinder to ppl who have made the 'u2 would be so much better w/o bono' argument over the years.

the other thing i got from the single and what has kept me from listening to the album (beyond just no arcade fire album working me at all even on their own terms since the debut) is that murphy had specifically mentioned arcade fire as a band he wanted to produce and had alot of ideas for but had to pass up working w/ cuz of lcd commitments and so to hear the result and it sounds like two tired ideas thinking if they merge maybe something fresh will arise and instead you're just left w/ how tired the original components really are.

and AF-Murphy figured they can mitigate the staleness of their ideas but making their songs shorter and citing Greek myths, which, you know, worked for Hercules & Love Affair.

greece should start suing for cheap exploitation of their cultural heritage

it's a decent album with a few good songs, probably their best since funeral. still a massively overrated and overhyped band.

None of the songs here do that fuckawful indie plodding bullshit that the opening track on The Suburbs, ergo the whole thing is better.

A lot of people are saying Arcade Fire aren’t ‘fun’ or ‘sexy’, which is strange, as two of them presumably have sex with each other reasonably often, and have some physical proof of this to boot.

sex tape?

wtf does Oh Eurydice remind me of?!

Xpost BABY

ah

None of the songs here do that fuckawful indie plodding bullshit that the opening track on The Suburbs, ergo the whole thing is better.

these songs are ostensibly dancey but all have identical grooveless drum figures ergo it's still indie plodding bullshit

http://www.shadowlocked.com/images/stories/features/invasion/Sutherland_scream_Invasion_Of_The_Body_Snatchers_Kaufman_1978.jpg

"IIIIIIIINDIE!!!!!"

People forget that as fine/fun as the Talking Heads rhythm section was, when the band wanted to go all poly-rhythmic funky they brought in ringers: extra guitar, extra drums/percussion, second bassist. They understood their limitations. Arcade Fire is currently struggling to get around its limitations without adding too much/many to its already sprawling ensemble. Regardless, I agree that Win is the weak link. Can't really sing, can't dance, not funny/arch enough to pull off irony, not high strung enough to pull off anxiety. A singer more comfortable in his own skin - or more comfortable shedding it - would do better with this music.

Like, to his credit, Bono really sold '90s U2. He knew he had to get even sillier for the band to be taken seriously.

otm. But maybe you have to be really sick of yourself to reinvent yourself successfully. U2 were full of self-loathing by the end of the Rattle and Hum tour whereas AF are coming off a hugely beloved, Grammy-winning album.

arcade fire def had ringers on this album

Haven't heard the whole album yet, but that Reflektor song is so bloodless for a disco track. It went on for about 7 minutes and there I was waiting for it to kick in or do something, but it never happened.

I wouldn't call "Reflektor" a disco track though.

arcade fire def had ringers on this album

Perhaps, but they're sure as hell not adding much in the rhythm department. I hope they held onto their receipts.

http://i.imgur.com/Pjk5Vlc.png

http://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000031239883-vu06ix-crop.jpg?5ffe3cd

Spotted just now on campus here:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3784/10677469603_f351d8a756_c.jpg

I really like this record!

Let's play Boggle! I see:

feet
tore
rote
fee
tee
reel
for
fore
fork
let
lee
trek

feel
reef

eieio

reefr kolt
treefolk

Treefolk otm

leet
leer
fort

i'm seeing "freek folk"

Soon you will be singing it

freek trol

REEK
ROT

i like the track that sounds like peaking lights. i think it's track 3 on the first disc?

"flashbulb eyes"

based on only this thread, and my experience with their back catalog, let me ask/predict:

their New Jersey?

Arcade Fire burned through the competition on the way to the top of the billboard 200 this week.
The Canadian group bowed at No. 1 on the album charts Wednesday with "Reflektor," which sold 140,000 copies in the first week in the stores, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
This is Arcade's Fire second straight chart-tipper following 2000's "The Suburbs," which won a Grammy for album of the year and sparked widespread chatter about indie rock's increased commercial viability.

The Widespread Chatters, an Arcade Fire cover band.

I kind of like the title track, but "Afterlife" sounds like a failed attempt at building something new from New Order's "Temptation".

Beginning to think that this suffered from reviewers having to work from playbacks or streams. I like this about twice as much now as I did the first time I heard it. Really made sense at the London live show last night. There are still a handful of duds but I love Reflektor, Here Comes the Night Time, Afterlife, Normal Person, Porno, Joan of Arc and It's Never Over. It's winning me over a song at a time.

With these I went from loving Funeral and not understanding what drew all the backlash and criticism. Didn't like Black Mirror at all and there were maybe 2 cuts from The Suburbs I thought were okay. But this album really stinks. It's just so reedy and thin and I can't work out what its uh 'character' (best word I can think of) is supposed to be. There's something genuinely deflating about the experience - like a cheap cabaret show at an off-season holiday resort. Superficially dazzling but hollow, miserable at the core, its players beaming and laughing as they do their little choreographed high-kicks while you know that when they go back stage all they do is think about killing themselves.
I realise this sounds kind of cool in a way, sorta Roxy Music-ish, but I just can't get behind the production values, the delivery, the tackiness of the sound. Reflektor (the song) sounds like someone at some point had an idea to make a modern dance-pop song (like The Sprawl II which I actually really like), but decided to take a vacuum-cleaner to it, scooping out all its insides so it's just this microfibrous outline of a tune.

It's telling that a track came on shuffle while I was out the other day and I thought 'hey actually this is not bad', but when I checked it was actually a cut from the Lescop album. Listen to that instead, it does this sound a zillion times better.

There's a lot to like here but the sticking point for me is that Win hasn't changed to suit the new sound. He can't do arch or playful, unlike Bowie, Byrne, Murphy or even 90s Bono. If Bono had kept using his Joshua Tree voice, Achtung Baby wouldn't have worked. So whatever's happening musically, Win still sounds earnest and worried, banging on about technology like a Jonathan Franzen op-ed when he needs to be having some fun with it. As noted above, the rhythm section's not quite strong enough either. So all this experimentation ends up spotlighting the band's limitations, whereas The Suburbs expanded their sound while still playing to their strengths.
― Deafening silence (DL), Sunday, November 3, 2013 5:54 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Agree with this. It sounds like OG Arcade Fire filtered through different influences. I love Talking Heads and I hear the David Byrne thing in this, but Talking Heads themselves were arguably filtering Parliament and disco music through themselves. So this is like a filter of a filter, a photocopy of a photocopy and that's just a bit too dilute for my tastes. Win just doesn't have the tautness, the fidgety energy of Byrne, nor the coke-fueled distance of Berlin-era Bowie to pull it off.

Nowhere in your argument does the influence of Regine's Haitian lineage exist.

Yes, other people in the band besides Win, and the sound of this is fucking awesome, so not thin or reedy at all.

I'm really surprised at how much I continue to like it. I've started listening for the lyrics, and even they aren't as rubbish as I'd expected. There's a bitterness to much of it, which fits with the music much better than the usual messianic bullshit would have done.

Uh... what has Regine's Haitian lineage got to do with what I said, sorry?

Like I can see why Talking Heads are relevant but they're not the only reference point. It's like when people talked about the recent These New Puritans album in exclusive reference to Talk Talk.

It could be produced better and the sound is pretty bad in places, but that's obviously an (annoying) aesthetic decision given that James Murphy doesn't usually sound like this. But at its best its catchy as hell.

Beginning to think that this suffered from reviewers having to work from playbacks or streams. I like this about twice as much now as I did the first time I heard it. Really made sense at the London live show last night. There are still a handful of duds but I love Reflektor, Here Comes the Night Time, Afterlife, Normal Person, Porno, Joan of Arc and It's Never Over. It's winning me over a song at a time.

Be patient. After a few more spins, you'll hate it too.

Sure, Matt, I know TH aren't the only influence. I was referencing comparisons made upthread.

Yes, other people in the band besides Win, and the sound of this is fucking awesome, so not thin or reedy at all.

― I can still taste the Taboo in my mouth when I hear those songs (Scik Mouthy), Tuesday, November 12, 2013 12:36 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's a treble-fest. I don't like this style of mixing at all though. Reminds me of the kinds of frequencies bands like Grizzly Bear use, all thin and balsa-woody, every sound has to have this ugly damp plate reverb all over it. In a few cases that works for big, soaring stadium rock songs, but when you're trying to apply it to a kicking backbeat it sucks all the energy out. It's unusual for Murphy, who I really like as a producer.

See what frustrates me is that (on tracks like Reflektor), there's a really great, catchy song bursting to get out, it's just let down by the aforementioned factors, for me at least.

I'm def going to keep listening to this though. This is admittedly a reaction based on just a few listen-throughs.

What format have you got this on? Cos it does not sound like a treble-fest to me at all.

I'm listening to it on wax cylinder hooked up via a homemade amplifier and broken iPod headphones.

I really like your piece about it on your blog though Sicko.

filtering Parliament and disco music through themselves

Eh, not til much later on, really. This album is more in the mode of the sonic mud in "Fear of Music" and "Remain in Light."

I think key in the above discussion/debate is that "The Sprawl II" does indeed do what this album is (maybe) trying to do 1000% better, and it (maybe) wasn't even trying to do that.

Sprawl II is nothing like anything here though.

The album's Fear of Music, the live show's going for the second half of Stop Making Sense. Obviously it doesn't get there but at least the fun comes across whereas the album and the rollout felt so ponderous in its insistence that they're being playful now. Sprawl II just existed - it wasn't trying to make some point about dance music.

I think this album does way Sprawl II tried to do about 500x better than that managed, and I quite like that song.

Different people in different pinions shocker.

what not way

you're both wrong. wrong on the internet.

Sprawl II is great but it's the Arcade Fire attempting to do straight-up synthpop. This one is still very much a rock album with a load of disparate influences swilling around in it. I don't think the intention is even remotely similar, unless the band think that all music featuring synths is fundamentally the same, which I doubt.

I think what I Was hoping for was an album that was chocka with tracks as immediate and propulsive as The Sprawl II, but instead I got this Achtung Baby on stilts thing, which I'm not sure about.

Achtung Baby on stilts sounds fucking awesome to me.

Nowhere in your argument does the influence of Regine's Haitian lineage exist.

Matt, do you actually hear any Haitian influences (I asked upthread if anyone familiar with Haitian music could speak on this album - are you?) or are you just saying one should respect the band's press release?

has the band ever mentioned a specific Haitian artist as an influence ever?

Haitian influence is blatant on Here Comes the Night Time. They've mentioned styles rather than specific artists, which is nbd - people cite reggae and disco as influences all the time.

which styles?

my point is just that if someone says "all i hear is thirdhand post-punk dance music" and the retort is "but the lady with the accordion is french-haitian" the fact that one song has a part that sounds "haitian" doesn't really contradict the original statement.

I'm mostly going with what the band said in interview, including when they working with Haitian musicians. On rhythms that the rest of the band then couldn't reproduce, which tells you a lot. I'm not familiar enough with Haitian music to know to what extent this is bullshit. I guess I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Rara and compas but I'm no expert

I mean they might be really shit at translating the influence into their own music but I don't think they're just xeroxing white rock bands like Talking Heads or whatever Doglatin claimed either.

wow dog latin is killing the game itt, what in the world

but if you don't actually hear anything different, who cares how much time they spent in a room experiencing "voodoo rhythms" and jamming with people they couldn't speak to

:-/

is your point "if you don't know what a haitian rythm sounds like is it really haitian?"

Mark S to thread.

i just don't feel like regurgitating pr statements that are as dubious as the arcade fire's just because of one members blood lineage.

Did you actually read what that comment was in response to? I'm not actually claiming it sounds like Haitian music or anything.

what's dubious about it iyo

(xp)

matt, yes, dog latin said what he thought it sounds like, a filter of a filter, and you said he forgot regine's parents were haitian.

I mean he's right when he says "it just sounds like the Arcade Fire filtered through different influences", but that's because the band themselves aren't talented enough musicians to pull it off. I'm disagreeing that those influences are exclusively the usual post-punk or other rock influences, even if the treatment of them is completely hamfisted. And I think this record it at best 50% successful at what it's trying to do.

and again, i was just asking if you actually detect influences in the music or if you were just asking him to respect their tales of "instinctive" engagements with "voodoo rhythms."

Chassagne agrees: "I don't get it, because dance music, sometimes it's so dumb! Why does it have to be that dumb? The thing is I find either it's danceable and really stupid, or it's brave and artful and thoughtful, but you can't dance to it. But I want to have both!"

Speaking of the Talking Heads, I got the same thing about them and, I dunno, Peter Gabriel. For years people cited them as artists who fused rock music with "African" music, but just what African music they were supposedly borrowing from was vague at best. Like, just because they liked to use percussion?

I've already said I'm not familiar enough with Haitian music to know to what extent this is bullshit. I guess I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. Fwiw I believe they intended for some of that stuff to be present in there but it's not like this is the first rock band to be inept at translating their influences into their own music or to expect a medal for having done so.

it's clear byrne and gabriel definitely went beyond "we met these guys once and jammed it was wild, then we called james murphy with warm thoughts of those cool guys in our head," just by looking at the output of luaka bop and real world.

but yeah, there's not much value to the press release rewriting in most reviews of any of these artists

yeah whatever else about Byrne and Gabriel they weren't dilettantes

xpost But they went beyond it much later; Luaka Bop (1988) and Real World )1989) came long after Byrne and Gabriel's reputations as globetrotters. But the "world" influence in the Talking Heads is pretty vague until "Naked," and in the case of Peter Gabriel, I'm not sure how prominent it ever was beyond his choice of collaborators. Even Paul Simon dabbled pretty prominently pre-"Graceland."

Talking Heads already recorded "I Zimbra" in '79 and Remain in Light in '80, not to mention Byrne's Cahterine Wheel soundtrack.

Gabriel's third and fourth albums are steeped in African rhythms.

How anyone can fail to hear the African influence on Remain in Light is a mystery to me.

just saw this linked to in an atlantic piece going around