Take A Bow Arcade Fire

[Clemo]

Yes,so nice to see yet more privately educated drivel make music "from the heart".

[Dave The Hedgehog]

If the music's good who cares where it comes from? And I say this as a working class lad from Birmingham, so if I can forgive people for being posh I'm sure can too.

[j-j-j-j-joe!]

I think what he's trying to say is - people who come from an under-privelaged background tend to have a firmer grasp of reality and are able to convey a much more believable form of 'soul' to your average person whereas, on the other hand, a privately educated individual that has their soul bought for them by mummy and daddy cannot convey the same sort of 'feeling' in their songs becaused they attended a significantly more expensive school than the free and often painful school of hard knocks. At least that's how I interpret it. It's actually something I agree with.

It's not about how talented they are, or their class; it's about how believable they are, and I just don't think somebody like Laura Marling - as talented as she is - will know anything about The Needle and The Damage Done because I can't imagine it's anything she's seen outside of maybe a Danny Boyle film.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

Don't get me wrong, I despise the private education system, but I think a lot of people have this pathetic idea that the less privileged you are, the better music you make. I agree with what you say, but he was insinuating that anyone from a different background is immediately redundant. It's the sort of thing I could imagine joe1990 saying.

[j-j-j-j-joe!]

Personally, I think the more privelaged you are, the more chance you have of making better sounding music; certainly more professional sounding.

Music, more than most occupations, requires a lot of time and [especially] money invested in it to make it work, and I think if you have - not a vast amount of money but enough to get a good head start in front of the rest of people, you stand more chance of gaining access to a lot more advanced resources; instruments, production studios, rehearsal space, contacts, etc. Then, because you have access to a much wider range of resources, you stand to make a sound that can be nothing but absolutely perfect - a guitar chord will, in a lot of ways, sound better coming out of a Gibson than it will an Epiphone, for instance, although I'll hasten to add that that's not always necessarily the case.

So what happens is your music reflects the environment you grew up in; Florence Welch wouldn't have harps in Dog Days Are Over if she was from Rhyl.

[Vacant0]

On a related note (to the Brits anyway rather than the thread content...) I've just cast my votes in the NME awards. I'd never really noticed before but christ, its worse than the Brits!

Well done Arcade Fire & Laura Marling anyway. Dave's critique on the Brit Awards is accurate but its still nice to see that pretty much all of the winners were actually deserving for once.

[mrtourette]

I think we all know that the Brits, the NME and Radio One suck but they're part of the system and if Arcade Fire want to immerse themselves in that system then I certainly don't begrudge them that. Great music is great music whether it's written in a bedroom and heard by five people or played in Hyde Park with a bunch of Radio One faves supporting and half the crowd only knowing three songs.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

I think we all know that the Brits, the NME and Radio One suck but they're part of the system and if Arcade Fire want to immerse themselves in that system then I certainly don't begrudge them that. Great music is great music whether it's written in a bedroom and heard by five people or played in Hyde Park with a bunch of Radio One faves supporting and half the crowd only knowing three songs.

[adustlandfairytale]

I am very happy that they won not 1 BUT 2 brit awards and they are getting the credit they DESERVE! Yes i can imagine there will be people who won't like them just because they are getting bigger. But is that not the point for a band? To be a huge band??

Well Done Arcade Fire, Sarah Neufeld if you want to celebrate you are welcome to my house

[j-j-j-j-joe!]

Arcade Fire are a band that give us some hope, and that's all we need when it comes to music now. No band on earth is doing what they do and I could wax a lyrical about just how important they are and how their music makes me feel but to put it quite bluntly they're the only popular band on earth at the minute that matter.

[mrtourette]

Arcade Fire are a band that give us some hope, and that's all we need when it comes to music now. No band on earth is doing what they do and I could wax a lyrical about just how important they are and how their music makes me feel but to put it quite bluntly they're the only popular band on earth at the minute that matter.

[j-j-j-j-joe!]

Not sure why you've quoted me there. You don't have to tell me how special they are, but if you think Arcade Fire are the kind of band to rally against the system and strike a vital blow for the opressed masses against the evil machines churning out ident-o-kit indie bands by refusing to play the game then you're barking up the wrong tree. Arcade Fire are a rare band who can play the game and rub shoulders with the undesirables while still maintaining their individuality and sense of wonderment, they've made the conscious deccsion to step up into the big leagues (whether it's on their own terms or because they're being used and abused) so fair play to them.

I don't care who wins the Brits but Arcade Fire clearly do and because of that I'm happy that they won. The more people that get to hear them the better.

Edited February 16, 2011 by j-j-j-j-joe!

[VCK]

Unfortunately the rest of the world feels differently:

http://whoisarcadefire.tumblr.com/

[metallimuse]

Don't get me wrong, I despise the private education system, but I think a lot of people have this pathetic idea that the less privileged you are, the better music you make. I agree with what you say, but he was insinuating that anyone from a different background is immediately redundant. It's the sort of thing I could imagine joe1990 saying.

[j-j-j-j-joe!]

Excuse me but no it wasn't.Now you are trying to taint what I said and misinterpret it.Please see Dave's explanation.

I have no problem with privately educated and well schooled individuals making smart,intelligent music but I feel individuals like Mumford can not convey folk music in a true sense.It seems so contrived and forced to me.It's not something the truely believe and feel,something they have flowing through them.

[Leyser]

Personally, I think this is proof that "Indie" as we know it isn't dead. That a band like Arcade Fire can receive huge critical acclaim, win awards and headline festivals whilst still remaining quite anonymous to the mainstream.

Let's just hope they don't "do a KOL" on us.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

but if you think Arcade Fire are the kind of band to rally against the system and strike a vital blow for the opressed masses against the evil machines churning out ident-o-kit indie bands by refusing to play the game then you're barking up the wrong tree.

[metallimuse]

That's utterly ridiculous. If they were singing songs about harsh upbringings eating coal off the cobbled streets of the Liverpool docks then fair enough, but look at a song like Dust Bowl Dance. Lyrically it's based on The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinback and has some brilliant lines. True they're not the best band in the world, but they do have some good songs.

The moment you talk about music 'flowing' through people you're on shaky ground.

[wilko8]

Unfortunately the rest of the world feels differently:

http://whoisarcadefire.tumblr.com/

[rexclark]

Great to see them doing so well, I think anyone who has seen them live would know they were destined for great things. I also think it shows that (mostly) the bookers for R&L get it right, they knew that Arcade fire would be getting bigger and took a chance and although it might have not been the best recieved booking ever it will certainly be talked about for years to come.

[VCK]

What is most admirable about Arcade Fire is their old fashioned Indie principles. How, like I mentioned, they have had modest chart success for the most part of their career but have been elevated into people's minds effectively through word of mouth.

That's how the pre-Britpop greats sealed their place in history - The Smiths, Joy Division, The Stone Roses, Pixies, Happy Mondays, Pavement, etc. By not selling out.

Edited February 18, 2011 by VCK

[JC-Mo'Fucka]

No, no, I think Arcade Fire are very much part of the system - American Express sponsored Madison Square Garden gigs? Not exactly sticking it to the evil corporate empire.

Arcade Fire are a rare band because they are both the best at what they do and the most popular, and I think - you have to be clinically stupid, and possess a heart made of the blackest stone not to appreciate their honesty and passion, and their relentless drive, their spirit and their creative ambition. They're not a band that break down the walls of politics or make any attempt to smash the system - because if you think about it, neither of those things are important anyway. What is important, and what Arcade Fire represent, are the basic values of humanity that we all share, and as pretentious as it sounds, at the end of the day those values are all we really have now when everything on planet earth is as well and truly f**ked as it seems to be. Now might be a time to get behind a band like them - might give some people an insight in what it's like to be awake.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

Dave, are they simply just really f**king good?

[thetime]

Personally I think people don't give Arcade Fire a go for the same reason a something like QI or Radio 4 is an acquired taste - because they don't dumb down or make any real deliberate attempt to emulate popular culture or, as you say, create a 'Sex on Fire'. If they did, they'd stand to alienate the most important people that listen to their music, and increase the risk of bringing in a fickle audience who'll just end up leaving them anyway, making the band irrelevant in the process.

Besides, a song like 'Wake Up' is a Sex on Fire in its own way anyway - it just appeals to the right sort of people and has the right sort of message and passion that the Kings of Leon song lacks, and so makes it considerably better.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

I remeber buying ok computer and didnt like it first couple of listens, but thought bugger this ive paid for this so going to give it a chance.