Arcade Fire is in my top 5 favorite bands, and their song “Neon Bible” is my most listened-to itunes song. The band makes chaos sound ridiculously good in a way I believe only geniuses can. Initially roped in by 7 kettles (neighborhood #4) off Funeral, I kept listening because of the band’s incorporation of obscure noises and house-hold sounds, classic instruments and odd ones (the kind I’ve only seen played wrongly in elementary school music classes). Strategic builds and the involvement of the string family gives each song a unique, epic quality. Lyrics range from nonsensical to lofty to full narratives through song, giving each track its own importance and original place, consistently providing albums that don’t just blur together with everything sounding the same.
I believe The Beatles with the song “Hello, Goodbye” were the first modern band (classical masterpieces did it all the time) to veer off into an entirely new melody at the end of a track, almost as if starting a new song. With about a minute left, they break down and fade the melody, and then build it back up into something with a different beat, in a different key, and a different structure while obviously remaining the same song. The Arcade Fire “Hello-Goodbye” some of their songs just as seamlessly, like no-one since The Beatles.
Listen to: Unn Annee Sans Lumiere, Wake up (Off Funeral), and Neon Bible, Keep the Car Running (Off Neon Bible)
http://www.arcadefire.com/
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