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Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Lift Those Heavy Eyelids

I should hate this record.

I should abhor it with every fiber of my being.

I'll run down the list:

A collective, lead by a husband and wife.
Who are very serious.
Who are French-Canadian.**
Who took their band name from a Radiohead (ugh) song.***
Who play post-punk disco (there is nothing more over on god's green earth. Except maybe Ugg boots.)
Who have an accordion.
Who are on Merge Records.
Who just got an "ALBUM OF THE YEAR!" 9.7/10 review on Pitchfork*, and a 5/5 on tinymixtapes.

If there is anything more execrably indie-gross than that, I don't
know what it is. This should be the EPITOME of
all-that-is-vile-and-annoying-about-music-today. It should be passé crap to be fawned over by New Yorkers with asymmetrical haircuts and forgotten ten minutes later.

But this album is... I don't know, I can't put it into words. This is a blow-the-top-of-your-head-off record. This is a keeper, this is a best of, this is a turn-it-all-the-way-up-and-shudder-in-ecstasy kind of record. This is mighty.

It makes all those other indie shits with big guitars and swishy disco drums and matching outfits look like utter posers. Not that they didn't look that way anyway.

Oh, I forgot. The name. It's Funeral and it's by The Arcade Fire. And you should go get it today. Because I said so.

*In a review containing the sentence "We consume the affected martyrdom of our purported idols and spit it back in mocking defiance." no less!
**Or maybe they aren't.
***Or maybe they didn't, and I imagined this bit entirely. Oh nevermind me.

Posted at 04:25 PM

Comments

001. Jay

They're also the second-most charming group of people I've ever met (the first being the band International Orange for somewhere like Baltimore). Just after they signed with Merge, they came into my coffee shop with a friend of mine and were so nice I gave them free espresso.

Posted at 11:46PM on Thursday, September 16, 2004

002. BF Big Brother

hey, i LIVE in mocking defiance!

Posted at 11:47AM on Friday, September 17, 2004

003. sam

amen, brother, to all of the above.

Posted at 04:13PM on Friday, September 17, 2004

004. optimus

i just found your blog by googling "affected martyrdom of our purported idols" after having a chuckle over it on my own blog. anyways, i like your blog. good reads.

some errata though: the arcade fire are not french-canadian, nor do i think they are post-punk disco. that's !!! or the rapture, not the arcade fire.

Posted at 12:53PM on Saturday, September 18, 2004

005. me

Well, they're based in Montreal and they sometimes sing in French. So perhaps you'll forgive me that error.

As for the post-punk disco thing, I don't think they really sound like that either. But so many of the pre-release reviews mentioned them in the same breath as that whole genre of bands; my bullet-points are mostly meant to be about the pre-conceived notions of the band that the press have built up.

But thanks for the comment! I like your blog, too.

Posted at 01:22PM on Saturday, September 18, 2004

006. me

Oh, and Jay, I know those International Orange guys, too. They play at the club sometimes. Or used to, more frequently, when they lived in New York. They're super nice.

Posted at 01:24PM on Saturday, September 18, 2004

007. gargantua

what radiohead song?

Posted at 10:44PM on Sunday, September 19, 2004

008. Jay

Yeah, I'm the coffee bitch from hell ("Why use cups when you can THROW THE DAMN ESPRESSO AT THEM!") so rare is the person who gets it fo' free.

Posted at 12:16PM on Monday, September 20, 2004

009. Damo

Blog please. Love, Damo.