Arcade Fire - Reflektor

I have never been a huge fan of this band, they do have some killer songs but this, this song is killing me. so awesome. very talking head-like.

As mentioned in the other thread in general music discussion, definitely Talking head-ish. They were inspired by Haitian rhythms & are to feature heavy percussion on their 2xLP. Much like Talking Heads were inspired by these rhythms. So the comparison is there. Supposedly several 7+ minute tracks on this album. Not really big on this track I have to say. Thought the interactive video mod they used for this track was kinda cool though.

Never been a big fan. Like a few of their tracks, but I could never get past their live antics. Always seemed too "something" for me.

lol is david bowie singing on this?

i'm not a fan of them at all. liked that sprawl II track on the suburbs. it sounds like they've actually pursued that sound a bit. so maybe i'll like this. but the earnest, twenty people on stage banging every instrument in sight live shows mixed with some really on the nose lyrics have always kept me away.

i have a feeling this album is going to be awesome. the double album scares me a little for fear of filler, but it could be two 35/40 minutes halves too.

  On 9/13/2013 at 5:19 PM, zaphod said:

but the earnest, twenty people on stage banging every instrument in sight live shows mixed with some really on the nose lyrics have always kept me away.

Yup.

They could release a gangsta rap album, but they made Funeral so you can't take that away from them.

This is almost interesting to me.

  On 9/13/2013 at 9:14 PM, AdieuErsatzEnnui said:

This is almost interesting to me.

with cowbell, would it push you over to interested?

Always been into this band, ever since the first album. I'm afraid I can't resist some of their music, some tunes are impossible for me to dislike. The second album is mediocre but the albums that bookend it? Classics imo.

This track sounds good, I get the vibe but I thing it drags a bit...

Ps A lot of people slate them live. I saw them at Reading Festival in a tent when they first came over touring the first album. It was a sight to behold, incredible, so much so since they have become a stadium band I'm reluctant to see them play....

  On 9/13/2013 at 9:23 PM, olo said:

 

  On 9/13/2013 at 9:14 PM, AdieuErsatzEnnui said:

This is almost interesting to me.

with cowbell, would it push you over to interested?

 

If it wasn't so clean, had more sonic depth, and had more heart I would be interested. The style of the video screams late nineties to me. Some of the melodies and vocals are super weak in my opinion. Props to them for recognizing the added value of electronic elements in guitar oriented music though. It just doesn't make me feel anything.

  On 9/13/2013 at 9:55 PM, beerwolf said:

Always been into this band, ever since the first album. I'm afraid I can't resist some of their music, some tunes are impossible for me to dislike. The second album is mediocre but the albums that bookend it? Classics imo.

I agree. Funeral is unfuckwithable, The Suburbs is quite solid. Neon Bible has some really good tunes, but a lot of the lyrics have this really pompous vibe. Like they were appointing themselves as the voice of their generation or something, but in a way that a high school kid would write an essay about some current issue. It has lots of musical merit, but the bandmembers come across like those overzealous theater kids you knew in high school on that album. IMO.

  On 9/14/2013 at 3:23 AM, Candiru said:

 

  On 9/13/2013 at 9:55 PM, beerwolf said:

Always been into this band, ever since the first album. I'm afraid I can't resist some of their music, some tunes are impossible for me to dislike. The second album is mediocre but the albums that bookend it? Classics imo.

 

I agree. Funeral is unfuckwithable, The Suburbs is quite solid. Neon Bible has some really good tunes, but a lot of the lyrics have this really pompous vibe. Like they were appointing themselves as the voice of their generation or something, but in a way that a high school kid would write an essay about some current issue. It has lots of musical merit, but the bandmembers come across like those overzealous theater kids you knew in high school on that album. IMO.

 

with you on that. the second album is saved because of No Cars Go and Keep the Car Running, without that it would be very poor imo.

I look forward to the new album.

  On 9/14/2013 at 3:23 AM, Candiru said:

 

  On 9/13/2013 at 9:55 PM, beerwolf said:

Always been into this band, ever since the first album. I'm afraid I can't resist some of their music, some tunes are impossible for me to dislike. The second album is mediocre but the albums that bookend it? Classics imo.

 

I agree. Funeral is unfuckwithable, The Suburbs is quite solid. Neon Bible has some really good tunes, but a lot of the lyrics have this really pompous vibe. Like they were appointing themselves as the voice of their generation or something, but in a way that a high school kid would write an essay about some current issue. It has lots of musical merit, but the bandmembers come across like those overzealous theater kids you knew in high school on that album. IMO.

 

weird, i feel this way about the lyrics on all their albums. they have real pompous vibes.

did like the suburbs a bit though, now that i think about it. and i like the music on parts of funeral, just not the lyrics and vocals.

probably going to leak soon

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/reflektor-20130927

Can't wait for this

I still think their first album is immortal and perfect.

Dunno bout the rest. Good, but just not my thing.

huge fan of funeral. neon bible was ok. suburbs grew on me but not that much (despite loving the title track). so my excitement for the new one isn't very high. i know some people who hate them and i think its because of they hate the perceived fans rather than the band. i dunno. or maybe they look a bit dirty like some people they hate irl. or they hate how popular they are - most likely this last one.

haven't heard any previews yet, will wait, because hearing and loving the suburbs single before hearing and not loving the album didnt work last time

  On 9/27/2013 at 11:15 PM, jules said:

probably going to leak soon

 

 

haha sexual

  On 9/28/2013 at 12:48 AM, Jimmy McMessageboard said:

huge fan of funeral. neon bible was ok. suburbs grew on me but not that much (despite loving the title track). so my excitement for the new one isn't very high. i know some people who hate them and i think its because of they hate the perceived fans rather than the band. i dunno. or maybe they look a bit dirty like some people they hate irl. or they hate how popular they are - most likely this last one.

 

haven't heard any previews yet, will wait, because hearing and loving the suburbs single before hearing and not loving the album didnt work last time

while i don't hate them, i do dislike aspects of their music, and it has nothing to do with any of that. it's the pompous, earnest lyrics and shouted, hysterical communal vocals, like every song is the most important thing that's ever happened. i actually think funeral is their worst album. it spawned so many horrible copycat bands, shouting "whoa" after every verse, dressed like civil war reenactors. i kind of like the suburbs, even if it's really on the nose and essentially amounts to middle class white kids worrying about nothing. it's way less annoying than the other two albums. seems like this is moving away from what i dislike about them, so i might give it a listen. "reflektor" is kind of a goofy track though.

  On 9/28/2013 at 8:29 AM, zaphod said:

i actually think funeral is their worst album.

*The sound of air deflating*

*womp womp*

they were terrible on SNL. hadn't heard the single so it was just a mess to my ears. i see why people dislike them now

I remember thinking "sounds like a LCD Soundsystem track" and sure enough James Murphy produced it.

  On 9/28/2013 at 8:29 AM, zaphod said:

 

  On 9/28/2013 at 12:48 AM, Jimmy McMessageboard said:

huge fan of funeral. neon bible was ok. suburbs grew on me but not that much (despite loving the title track). so my excitement for the new one isn't very high. i know some people who hate them and i think its because of they hate the perceived fans rather than the band. i dunno. or maybe they look a bit dirty like some people they hate irl. or they hate how popular they are - most likely this last one.

 

haven't heard any previews yet, will wait, because hearing and loving the suburbs single before hearing and not loving the album didnt work last time

 

while i don't hate them, i do dislike aspects of their music, and it has nothing to do with any of that. it's the pompous, earnest lyrics and shouted, hysterical communal vocals, like every song is the most important thing that's ever happened. i actually think funeral is their worst album. it spawned so many horrible copycat bands, shouting "whoa" after every verse, dressed like civil war reenactors. i kind of like the suburbs, even if it's really on the nose and essentially amounts to middle class white kids worrying about nothing. it's way less annoying than the other two albums. seems like this is moving away from what i dislike about them, so i might give it a listen. "reflektor" is kind of a goofy track though.

 

I entered into a really long discussion about the Suburbs with some friends of mine, who either hated the Suburbs or were Arcade Fire fans who felt that it's acclaim was undeserved and that Funeral and Neon Bible were superior. We ended up realising that we had valid criticisms and praise for it, and the main criticism I could acknowledge was it's pompous and overwrought tone. It's my favorite album but a lot of that is invested in it really hitting hard emotionally and me unconsciously ignoring the more melodramatic lyrics. Maybe I interpreted it in a more interesting way than they intended: as a melancholy narrative of ghostly, abandoned neighborhoods and less as "1st world problems: a musical" which is the lazy criticism most assigned to it. Specifically it reminds me of my grandparents home, which has a lot of meaning to me and my family but at the end of the day is another post-war suburban home sold in an estate sale years ago, and sits in a neighborhood that's neither historic nor new. It's in Fort Worth, which like any bigger US city has a lot of very surreal pockets of town that just look and feel empty.

Also, admittedly it's a bit long-windish, if it was just the first 4 songs of the album + "we used to wait" it would be one of the greatest EPs ever released. Also, my wife finds Régine Chassagne absolutely unbearable and for years now we joke that she's actually a Deatheater from HP:

I really like The Suburbs, it's their peak as far as I'm concerned. When I first heard Funeral it was alright, but then it started grating on me really bad and I wanted to stab my ears. I pretty much fucking hate it. Didn't pay attention to Neon Bible as a result, only gave it one chance after enjoying The Suburbs.

All that said, I played this song once and wasn't that into it. Not sure I'll enjoy the more electronic direction, and the song felt overlong. Needless to say I'm not excited at all about it being a double album. As much as I like The Suburbs, even it feels a bit overlong sometimes. Double albums are almost never a good idea.

Still, I'm hoping I'll enjoy this.

  On 10/17/2013 at 4:38 AM, joshuatx said:

Also, my wife finds Régine Chassagne absolutely unbearable and for years now we joke that she's actually a Deatheater from HP:

 

i can't stand her either. she's like an incredibly earnest muppet.

  On 10/17/2013 at 5:04 AM, sidewinder said:

I really like The Suburbs, it's their peak as far as I'm concerned. When I first heard Funeral it was alright, but then it started grating on me really bad and I wanted to stab my ears. I pretty much fucking hate it. Didn't pay attention to Neon Bible as a result, only gave it one chance after enjoying The Suburbs.

 

All that said, I played this song once and wasn't that into it. Not sure I'll enjoy the more electronic direction, and the song felt overlong. Needless to say I'm not excited at all about it being a double album. As much as I like The Suburbs, even it feels a bit overlong sometimes. Double albums are almost never a good idea.

 

Still, I'm hoping I'll enjoy this.

Nice to see someone else didnt just hop on the backlash train. I also enjoyed the burbs.

Except I still think funeral has some great songs, and I personally think "Haiti" is their best moment.