02 8 / 2010

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs Do you know the feeling, the anxiety when one of your favorite bands come out with a new album. Their first - Funeral - was an absolute gem. I can’t listen to it without being emotionally drawn into the universe of the music and lyrics. Masterpiece.  Neon Bible felt much more polished, yet the story in and about that album somehow gives it it’s own mythology. The thick, dark mood in Butler’s voice. The fact that it was recorded in an old church. It has nerve. I can almost feel the presence of the musicians when I listen to it. Despite the beforementioned polished production, it has a value of a live recording. And now I’m listening to the new record, The Suburbs. I don’t know the pace of the album; the highs and lows, the slow songs or the fast ones. What songs will become classics (if any!), and what songs will be the fillings in between those? The defining songs of the album. Even though Neon Bible and Funeral were fantastic albums as a whole, songs like Keep The Car Running, Rebellion (Lies), No Cars Go, Neighboorhood #1 (Tunnels) and Wake Up and Intervention all came out a bit more memorable than the others. But only a bit. And what if I actually don’t like the album? It’s always a question of adaptation, especially with bands that want to develop their style and experiment instead of just playing the same old recipes and overall sound. I think that is was defines a really really good band, or maybe rather the relationship you build with it: It’s not just about liking an album for a particular sound, mood or musical style. It’s about trusting the musicality of the artist and letting them express their genius through different genres if necessary. Yes, that might give some horrible results, that could overshadow your original love to that band. But when the experiments and explorations are succesful, it’s just fireworks.  I can trust a perfect band like Radiohead to come up with something a little new, a little different and absolutely marvelous every single time. Arcade Fire isn’t there yet. Only two complete albums and a handful of EP’s in their discography, but it could definitely be heading in the right direction.  I think ‘The Suburbs’ is a grower. It’s a relatively long album; 16 songs and more than 60 minutes of goodness. I’m listening to it right now, and it really is different from their prior works. I’m hearing synthesizers here and rocking guitar riffs there. And actually just got goosebumps while listening to the track ‘Suburban War’.  Maybe I’ll post an update when I’ve heard the whole thing more thoroughly. Feel free to comment on your experience with favorite bands and new albums, or just about ‘The Suburbs’ in general.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Do you know the feeling, the anxiety when one of your favorite bands come out with a new album. Their first - Funeral - was an absolute gem. I can’t listen to it without being emotionally drawn into the universe of the music and lyrics. Masterpiece. 

Neon Bible felt much more polished, yet the story in and about that album somehow gives it it’s own mythology. The thick, dark mood in Butler’s voice. The fact that it was recorded in an old church. It has nerve. I can almost feel the presence of the musicians when I listen to it. Despite the beforementioned polished production, it has a value of a live recording.

And now I’m listening to the new record, The Suburbs. I don’t know the pace of the album; the highs and lows, the slow songs or the fast ones. What songs will become classics (if any!), and what songs will be the fillings in between those? The defining songs of the album.

Even though Neon Bible and Funeral were fantastic albums as a whole, songs like Keep The Car Running, Rebellion (Lies), No Cars Go, Neighboorhood #1 (Tunnels) and Wake Up and Intervention all came out a bit more memorable than the others. But only a bit.

And what if I actually don’t like the album? It’s always a question of adaptation, especially with bands that want to develop their style and experiment instead of just playing the same old recipes and overall sound.

I think that is was defines a really really good band, or maybe rather the relationship you build with it: It’s not just about liking an album for a particular sound, mood or musical style. It’s about trusting the musicality of the artist and letting them express their genius through different genres if necessary. Yes, that might give some horrible results, that could overshadow your original love to that band. But when the experiments and explorations are succesful, it’s just fireworks. 

I can trust a perfect band like Radiohead to come up with something a little new, a little different and absolutely marvelous every single time. Arcade Fire isn’t there yet. Only two complete albums and a handful of EP’s in their discography, but it could definitely be heading in the right direction. 

I think ‘The Suburbs’ is a grower. It’s a relatively long album; 16 songs and more than 60 minutes of goodness. I’m listening to it right now, and it really is different from their prior works. I’m hearing synthesizers here and rocking guitar riffs there. And actually just got goosebumps while listening to the track ‘Suburban War’. 

Maybe I’ll post an update when I’ve heard the whole thing more thoroughly.

Feel free to comment on your experience with favorite bands and new albums, or just about ‘The Suburbs’ in general.

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