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?

The Way a Speech Should Be Delivered

I swore that tonight I would get a post up about Arcade Fire I was working on (a rainy day had me back at it) and ultimately, I will. But today I watched this speech by Cecil Roberts, President of the United Mineworkers of America. He was addressing the New York State United Teachers, which happens to be the state affiliate of the union I work for--that would be the American Federation of Teachers for any rare, random stranger who ends up on this blog. Now I don't blog a lot about work stuff here--perhaps I should--but this speech deserves a listen.

What is amazing about this speech to me is Roberts' ability to take the recent mine tragedies and treat them with amazing respect, making the miners' stories and lives as personal as you can and bringing them straight to you in everyday terms so you understand who these men were. But he does more than that. He takes on the sadness of the experience and turns it into an impassioned called to action but without the misusing the memories of the miners or their families.

I could go into all the rhetorical reasons this speech moved me, but ultimately I just wanted to add to the possibility that others would see this speech as I wish more people in this country got to hear this narrative, delivered this way. So here you go--and please, watch both parts and then pass it on.

New Releases Sprouting Like Weeds

April showers might bring May flowers, but apparently they also bring plenty of new music releases as they are coming fast and furious this Spring and Summer. Here are some of the discs I am either looking forward to or they are making me consider exploring a band I am yet to know. I give them to you in order of their release as I know them.

• First up we have Together, the new album from power pop band The New Pornographers due out May 4, 2010. It is streaming over at NPR and worth a listen. This is yet another band I keep reading about and hearing, but don't have in my collection. Thinking I am going to start with Twin Cinema first, but basically all of their albums have really solid reviews.
• Follow that with the new, very much anticipated album High Violet from The National which is streaming over at the NY Times until tomorrow along with a great article on this Brooklyn band. I have been digging this stream, but am going to drop back and pick up The Boxer first. The album will be released May 11, 2010.
• Sliding into June, we have the second album from Samantha Crain, whose first album was well worth noting. The new album, You (Understood) is due out June 8, 2010, and has a little bonus for me (more below).
• Moving into July we have Mark Kozelek releasing Admiral Fell Promises, the fourth album for Sun Kil Moon. I loved the last two from Sun Kil Moon, so will be anxious to hear this one.
• Then of course we have an album I am probably looking forward to too much (thereby putting too much pressure on it)--Dead Malls and Nightfalls by Frontier Ruckus which is out July 20, 2010 according to their MySpacey page--dudes, really, get the new website up (and should I worry about the missing woman in that picture whose harmonies are so much apart of the first album?).
• And finally, somewhere during this summer (it seems) José Gonzáles is going to release a new album with his band Junip. I have really enjoyed his solo work and look forward to hearing his music with a few more musicians around him.

So there is much to look forward to on the music front, although I am about to make some backward looking purchases first. Until then, though enjoy the new Samantha Crain video that features, wait for it, Frontier Ruckus. Ah, love when that happens.

On Aging

Here are a few signs I have noticed lately that suggest there is a distinct possibility that I just might be getting older.

• I send emails home to Neats during the day as a way to remember to talk about something that night (after all it is hours away).
• A single glass of red wine has the power to make getting up in the morning to exercise a near impossibility.
• There is an adjustment period for the newspaper type to come into focus at night (but all good the next morning, so no worries).
• When we get home from baseball practice at night after a day at work, I am more ready for bed than the boys.
• Whereas I used to have students that were from another (younger) generation, I now have co-workers that are.
• Neats and I have started to have those conversations about when something happened in the past, but can't quite remember (while the children look on with shear amazement that we cannot get it straight).

And, of course, there is the whole fact that I am making this list which is the surest sign that I am no longer at the age at which I don't even think about it.

Happy Birthday to The Artist

Who today turns the corner into the world of double-digits!

I love you dear Blue.

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)

Friday Haiku

First smell of cut grass
Boys--yelling, running—baseball
It is his turn now