By Jin Moon
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The Arcade Fire |
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Hailing from across the northern border in Montreal,
The Arcade Fire has exploded onto the indie rock
scene with their quirky blend of orchestral arrangements,
energized rock proclamations and epic choruses.
The sextet, which includes brothers Win and Will
Butler, Regine Chassagne, Richard Parry, Tim Kingsbury
and Sarah Neufeld, have surprised critics and
fans alike with a crazed live experience that
comes across like a performance art piece.
The band's debut album, Funeral, was
inspired by Win's admiration for artists like
The Pixies and Radiohead and his wife Regine's
penchant for more obscure medieval and classical
music. The collaboration modernizes what could
have been straightforward garage rock with more
theatrical avant-garde elements that marries drama
and music - everything from switching up instruments,
vocalists and using anything and everything around
them as a musical instrument. The main instruments
used include pianos, guitars, accordions, flutes,
violins, cellos, drums... sometimes even steel
drums.
While overall the Arcade Fire's music is uplifting,
there is an inherent sadness to some of the songs.
While fan favorites like "Wake Up" begin with
overwhelmingly glorious choruses, the song then
slows down again as Win sings, "Something filled
up my heart with nothing. Someone told me not
to cry." The effect is evocative and hints at
the grave string of family deaths that occurred
during the recording of the album after the band
signed to Merge Records in May 2004. Regine's
grandmother Nancy, Win and Will's grandfather
Alvino Rey and Richard Parry's Aunt Betsy all
passed away. Thus, the album was appropriately
titled Funeral.
