Been through the Arcade Fire album three or four times. "Sprawl II" sounds like chick from The Knife covering "Heart of Glass". Two or three decent tracks, pretty disappointing overall.

7/25/2010 7:22:38 PM

that new megafaun ep or whatever is niiiiiiiceeee

7/26/2010 7:25:02 PM

^

7/26/2010 7:56:59 PM

Ben, how do i get the new Megafaun?

7/26/2010 8:22:02 PM

Quote :

"that new megafaun ep or whatever is niiiiiiiceeee"

good to hear

7/26/2010 10:22:36 PM

I predict that the majority of hipsters will hate The Suburbs and start the process of disowning Arcade Fire (in a few years, maybe sooner, the hipster community will resort to their favorite "I like their earlier stuff much better" line; "I just feel like they're kind of going through the motions now"). And, honestly, I wonder how much it has to do with whether or not the record is actually good. For some reason, it seems like hipsters just can't stick with a band.

I also predict that The Suburbs will get rave reviews and be their most commercially successful record.

7/26/2010 10:37:25 PM

^ I think the hipsters already have/ are disowning Arcade Fire. I think this album is too emotionally resonant for hipsters who, these days, favor colder, more abstract music devoid of any connection with real human matters.

7/26/2010 11:39:38 PM

wait, what?

i fucking love this best coast record which is sad as shit

7/27/2010 4:07:08 AM

i'm not sure why it's necessary to comment on 'hipster' reactions before they happen.

do you love the album so much that you need to call out detractors preemptively?

and the 'hipsters' staying away from emotional music comment is laughable.

7/27/2010 4:16:32 AM

Just listened to The Suburbs. I like their earlier stuff much better. I just feel like they're kind of going through the motions now.

7/27/2010 6:06:01 AM

I've listened to The Suburbs probably around 10 times and I still think the majority of it is boring and forgettable. and yes, Funeral is their best record so if that means that "their earlier stuff is better," then i'm in that crowd.

Quote :

"i fucking love this best coast record which is sad as shit"

nothing makes me happy, not even TV or a bunch of weed

7/27/2010 7:19:26 AM

i wish my cat could talk

7/27/2010 7:49:11 AM

Quote :

"I think the hipsters already have/ are disowning Arcade Fire. I think this album is too emotionally resonant for hipsters who, these days, favor colder, more abstract music devoid of any connection with real human matters. "

What in the actual fuck are you talking about?

7/27/2010 8:54:56 AM

it took the 3rd listen....but the new AF is really, really good.

7/27/2010 9:40:41 AM

I had no idea my comment would be so controversial. It seems fairly obvious that the music that really tickle's the hipsters' pickles these days is more electronic, more abstract, colder. Examples that come to mind are Dirty Projectors, Caribou, Animal Collective (who I love). Certainly there are exceptions (e.g., Joanna Newsom, Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver). But if you really think about it, a lot of hipster chic music seems to get by on being weird and obtuse and having impenetrable lyrics.

I appreciate that the Arcade Fire seem to be wearing their hearts on their sleeves with this record and embracing very emotional themes rather than making an album that wins accolades by trying so hard to be strange and different.

Let the flaming begin...

7/27/2010 9:48:31 AM

"Bluish" is the most emotionally vacant song of all time. of all time.

7/27/2010 9:56:56 AM

dude if you think Animal Collective is abstract and cold we must be listening to different bands

7/27/2010 10:01:21 AM

Yeh, and Winter's Song, Banshee Beat, etc. are all really emotional songs. I couldn't agree more. But, in general, you can't deny that a lot of Animal Collective's appeal to a lot of people is that it's weirder and stranger than a lot of what's out there.

I never claimed to be speaking in absolutes, and I don't understand why my words are being interpreted as such.

7/27/2010 10:17:43 AM

It's like you're taking a stance of elitism. "I listen to music with connection to real human matters. Down with the stonefaced hipsters."

This is bizarre.

they aren't listening to some bleep bloop deadmau5 motherfucker. emotional worth whether it be via arcade fire or the xx or anco or dirty projectors is arbitrary and personal.

[Edited on July 27, 2010 at 10:39 AM. Reason : .]

7/27/2010 10:37:40 AM

7/27/2010 10:44:04 AM

Quote :

" I think this album is too emotionally resonant for hipsters who, these days, favor colder, more abstract music devoid of any connection with real human matters."

aside from the subject matter it refers to, i really like this sentence.

7/27/2010 11:42:10 AM

^ thanks!

7/27/2010 11:59:34 AM

I don't know about what the other guy said...Im just talking about noticing a trend where a lot of people will tend to dismiss a band that they previously loved the bigger or more successful the band gets. Feel like hipsters are just going through the motions and their earlier stuff was much better.

Anyway...Bweez was right when he said that I shouldn't react to a reaction that hasn't yet happened. But all I'm saying is you can say Funeral is better than The Suburbs, and that's probably true. But when a certain type of fanbase (I actually really hate the word "hipster") has dismissed so many other bands' third or fourth record, it tends to give yet another "not as good as their older stuff" reaction much less weight. Like the hipster that cried "bland," if that makes any sense.

But anyway...Bweez is right, I shouldn't say anything preemptively. I can just sense it going in that direction (again), and while I agree that this record isn't as good as Funeral, but at the same time, I don't see why the two need to be compared with each other, really. The Suburbs is, at the least, a very fine record and doesn't warrant any sort of dismissal of the band that may or may not take place. That's all. Just commenting on a trend I see/have seen that is frustrating to me.

[Edited on July 27, 2010 at 12:14 PM. Reason : .]

7/27/2010 12:03:24 PM

someone post that drawing of the hipster mating call where it says "their first album was better" or whatever

7/27/2010 12:50:06 PM

Quote :

"But, in general, you can't deny that a lot of Animal Collective's appeal to a lot of people is that it's weirder and stranger than a lot of what's out there."

You might perceive it that way, and no doubt there are some people who enjoy AC mostly for their strangeness, but I find it funny that you called them cold and abstract when they make some of the most organic and physically engaging music you can find.

7/27/2010 12:56:39 PM

can we get a list of all the bands made victim to the "not as good as their older stuff"?

7/27/2010 1:17:43 PM

Made victim?

god dammit.

How about made suspect.

such as Modest Mouse.

Smashing Pumpkins.

countless others.

7/27/2010 1:18:53 PM

my word choice had a twinge of irony.

i don't think anyone is actually "victimized."

i don't care about the critical or fan reaction to anything i like.

seriously. i even like m. night shyamalan.



[Edited on July 27, 2010 at 1:32 PM. Reason : ...]

7/27/2010 1:30:49 PM

7/27/2010 1:35:43 PM

wtf is this!? and is it just me or are they clones of one guy?

[Edited on July 27, 2010 at 3:05 PM. Reason : ]

7/27/2010 3:03:12 PM

^ this is the kind of shit i hope to see on the new episodes of beavis and butthead.

7/27/2010 3:24:02 PM

That CONFIDE video is horrible. I like their earlier stuff much better. I just feel like they're kind of going through the motions now.

7/27/2010 4:04:34 PM

^hahaha

7/27/2010 4:11:57 PM

[Edited on July 27, 2010 at 4:12 PM. Reason : .]

7/27/2010 4:12:27 PM

Ernie ftw!

7/27/2010 4:24:34 PM

i love crabcore sooooooo much

7/27/2010 4:43:48 PM

i can't wait to see them at the Warped Tour. it will be so heavy.

7/27/2010 4:59:41 PM

lol @ "crabcore". especially seeing people on TWW talk about it good stuff.

and to clarify: I absolutely hate that stuff. even if especially because we are on the same record label

[Edited on July 27, 2010 at 5:08 PM. Reason : ]

7/27/2010 5:00:45 PM

same label

lol

that's awesome

7/27/2010 5:22:14 PM

http://www.spin.com/articles/watch-superchunk-cover-cure

7/27/2010 5:22:28 PM

^^

I almost didn't say anything but I had to haha.

7/27/2010 5:27:12 PM

Attack Attack! is way better than Confide guys.

7/27/2010 6:45:23 PM

Well, in other news, VOD is back together and will have a new album out this year.

7/27/2010 7:09:06 PM

Quote :

"I also predict that The Suburbs will get rave reviews and be their most commercially successful record."

they better put the rave reviews and commercial success into a fantastic stage production so i feel justified driving home from the MPP show next weekend.

7/27/2010 7:34:26 PM

^ haha agree 120% on that point. i'm going to that show now, too.

7/27/2010 7:44:44 PM

the stage production for the Neon Bible tour was fucking awesome

7/27/2010 7:46:06 PM

What a goofy ass video. They look like a bunch of dorks.

I had to sell my Arcade Fire tickets, i forgot my brother was getting married this weekend back when i bought them. lol

7/27/2010 8:25:30 PM

Quote :

"I never claimed to be speaking in absolutes, and I don't understand why my words are being interpreted as such."

well i think i had more of a problem with putting Animal Collective, who often make dark sounding songs but ones which i can clearly tell the human aspect of, in the "cold and abstract" corner and Fleet Foxes, whose lyrics make very little sense to me as a whole and have admitted that the lyrics are what they care the least about, as the exception

but i digress, i don't think Arcade Fire will ever be as good as Funeral because it was a concept album (at least to me) with A TON of pain behind it, almost like a modern day Roger Waters

7/27/2010 8:46:06 PM

Quote :

"i don't think Arcade Fire will ever be as good as Funeral because it was a concept album (at least to me) with A TON of pain behind it, almost like a modern day Roger Waters"

oh lord...tons of great albums (even great concept albums) were made with out "A TON of pain" behind them.

7/27/2010 8:49:45 PM

is that what i said? or could it possibly be that i was insinuating that that particular time in the bandmembers lives led them to make a spectacular album and short of something similarly devastating/celebratory happening i don't see them making anything inspirational enough to make me like it

7/27/2010 9:08:46 PM