Strangely Ambivalent: Catching Up with Arcade Fire

Another band that folks might find it amazing I did not have any music by (until my quest to catch up with the oughts started) is Arcade Fire, who managed to snag two spots on Paste’s Best of the Decade list (and the band’s first full length album Funeral showed up on a lot of lists). Actually, I first started thinking I should get Funeral when it kept being raised in comparison to Hospice by The Antlers—which I guess right off suggests this isn’t quite what you would describe as happy music. In fact, this post was in danger of not happening until we got some cool, grey weather as Arcade Fire is no spring and summer band in my book.

That said, Funeral, which is the album I started with, doesn’t plow as deeply into the pain of loss as Hospice does and in many ways Arcade Fire seems more focused on healing, escape and catharsis. This is, of course, aided by the fact that there music has a driving sound that give you a sense of propelling forward—although their slower, quieter contemplative pieces on Funeral might be my favorite. The album captured my attention enough that I went ahead and also picked up Neon Bible, the band’s second album.

But here is the catch. After listening to both albums a lot over the last few months, I am surprisingly ambivalent about Arcade Fire.

For starters I do keep listening to them—first a lot, and now off and on. And I am generally engaged with both albums all the way through, although Neon Bible definitely has a couple clunkers on it for me and doesn’t hold up to Funeral overall. The songs are intricately put together with varying and interesting instrumentation, often layering instruments (particularly anything with strings) and melodies. They certainly don’t suffer from redundancy in style and sound, but they do hold together as all of a larger piece and ultimately they are full-blown rock tunes that at their core have a consistent pulsing to them. The lyrics have depth, sometimes looking inwardly in a soul-searching way and at other times looking outwardly in a social commentary way.

But perhaps it is just as College Roomy once said about why he didn’t connect with the Decemberists: “A bit too ornate” -- or perhaps too orchestrated, too cerebral, too well thought-out. Either that or perhaps a bit too much teen-like angst on Funeral and a bit too-much smart grad-school commentary on Neon Bible. Whatever it is, I am just not fully identifying with them.

And just as further evidence, I was listening to the albums again while writing this and feeling that perhaps I was being unfair as I heard songs I really liked and I was trying to figure out which ones to share here. But then it struck me that I could also pick out a few songs that would be evidence of the tracks I am less than moved by—and there you have it.

At the end of the day though, this blog is about sharing music I like, so here are three tunes I think exemplify the best of these album--although I am giving you the second album track first just because I like this order and hey, it’s my blog!

Keep the Car Running
Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)
Rebellion (Lies)

If you like these, here is their store where you can pick up these and other Arcade Fire. Now the question is whether or not to buy their upcoming release?

Catching Up: The Shins / Broken Bells

I always chuckle when I get asked how I can keep up with all that music. I chuckle because I know that the reality is that I don’t , can’t and that there are a whole lot of folks who listen to and know a whole bunch more about music than me (actually most of my closest friends all fall in that category). As evidence of that, back when all the best of the decade lists were coming out, I noted how much of Paste’s Best of the Decade List I didn’t have/know and what I might pursue based on that (and got some collective on-line eye rolls from a few of said friends).

So I am going to try to pull off a few quick posts on bands that I have been listening to in an effort to begin catching up with the music of the oughts. No in-depth reviews, just some quick thoughts and then (the real point of these posts) questions about where to go next with each band as in the missing essentials posts I had once initiated at The Room and then didn’t follow thorough on.

First up, is The Shins (see—I am so not on top of things). From Paste’s list came Chutes to Narrow released way back in 2003 which unfortunately for me means that it was around for seven years before I heard it. This is an absolutely great pop album that has so much going on both musically and lyrically. As Pitchfork noted in their review:

Not simply an excellent album, Chutes Too Narrow is also a powerful testament to pop music's capacity for depth, beauty and expressiveness.

For me, the key thing is that you could strip this album down and the songs would make for a great acoustic guitar, singer-songwriter album (most evidenced in their slow songs like “Pink Bullets”) , but then you add in all kinds of wonderful rock-pop production and you get an album with range of sound that is infectious.

So the question was which direction to head in pursuing more James Mercer and Shins music. The obvious answer was probably to go back to their debut album, but it just so happened that there was all this talk about the new Mercer/Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) project, Broken Bells, and it sounded interesting--so that ended up where I went next.

It is a perfectly fine album and there are some songs on it that I quite like, but overall it was a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps I really was just seeking a Shins album or something a bit more cutting edge. The songs here benefit from very talented folks both musically and in terms of production, but I doubt you will see this album on anyone’s best of a decade list. As Pop Matters notes:

Broken Bells may not supersede either Mercer’s or Burton’s respective main gigs, but as a side project that felt implausible to hit as markedly as it has in the first place, it’s a minor victory for both parties involved.

So I believe the next stop for me--and there will be one--will be to step back to the Shins’ debut album Oh, Inverted World!

Agree/disagree?

And while you contemplate that, here are a couple from Chutes (from the rockin to the mellow) and the opening track from Broken Bells which in many ways is the highlight.

So Says I (Buy Chutes to Narrow)
Pink Bullets

The High Road (Buy Broken Bells)

Organizational/Musical/Technical Advice Requested

Alright y’all. I need some advice. I could research the inter-webs or perhaps even go to a store and talk to some knowledgeable sales person (assuming I could find one), but really, it is so much easier just to put it all out there for your feedback. Here is the conundrum.

800 plus CDs and a desire for more.

Owning that many isn’t the issue (c'mon, I'm old) nor is my desire to have more (I am also comfortable with denial). Storing them? Now, that is the problem.

Until yesterday they were in two college-aged CD racks, in piles in front of said racks (which were overflowing), in piles on top of random players around the house—in short, it was a mess. Neats, who seemed to think I am concerned about consistency, repeatedly reminded me that when the boys have toys they have not played with in months or even years, I argue they should be passed on and perhaps I might abide by the same rule? Uh-huh. So after much debate, we decided to get these cool CD towers to place on the back wall of our newly refinished family room (pictures soon after one or more detail is taken care of).

Now Neats wasn’t all that keen on having the CD’s exposed as, well, that aren’t all that aesthetic (to her), but she found a way to give it her touch as you can see. The real issue—yes, I am back to the issue—is that this is surely only a temporary fix—eventually those cubbies are going to get filled up, the random knick-knacks will get the boot until we are out of room and then what? More towers? A whole different solution? When will it stop?

So all of this has me thinking about technology—I know, you have been thinking this for a few sentences now. Should I finally make the move to all digital music? Will I notice the subtle degradation of quality by only listening to compressed files? What about the loss of opening the package, checking out the liner notes, etc.? And more to the point, if I do go this route, what is the right piece or pieces of equipment?

What I would like is one nice piece of technology that plays CD’s, but also let’s me rip them into iTunes (or wherever), sync various iPods (or whatever), connects to the Internet, has more memory than God, and is nicely compatible with the new Bose system. OK, I hear someone saying, um, that’s a computer. Well, yeah, but I don’t really need a whole computer for that, just parts of one--and I don't want a computer in the component mix.

I know there are a variety of options out there—Apple TV, smart DVD players, etc.—or I could just buy a mega-external hard drive just for music, sync the iPods, and then play those through the Bose (and play the CD’s, if necessary, in the DVD player), but somehow I am feeling like there might be other/better options out there. Or I could just stick with 1990's old school and keep buying CD's and filling up that wall.

So anyone who knows, has theories, or has developed their own system for managing the music, please do tell.