Tag Archives: Arcade Fire

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Congrats to Arcade Fire and Merge Records

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Arcade Fire - The SuburbsAnother great sales week for independent music. Merge is one of the coolest record labels out there, so it’s great to see them with the best selling album in the country. I’ve still only listened to The Suburbs one time through, and I skipped their set at Lollapalooza on Sunday, but I’m still proud of the band.

It’s no secret that Amazon was selling the MP3 album for $3.99 all week, and 62% of its sales were digital. Not sure how many of those 97,000 downloads were via Amazon vs. iTunes (who sold it for $9.99), but regardless of how that shakes out, the bottom line is that 156,000 people bought The Suburbs last week. I actually hope the $3.99 deal becomes a trend. That seems like a fair price for a lossy download. Billboard 200:

1. Arcade Fire – “The Suburbs” – 156,000 (debut)

2. Eminem – “Recovery” – 152,000 (down 4%)

3. Avenged Sevenfold – “Nightmare” – 45,000 (down 72%)

4. Bun B – “Trill O.G.” – 41,000 (debut)

5. Rick Ross – “Teflon Don” – 39,000 (down 37%)

6. Lady Gaga – “The Remix” – 39,000 (debut)

7. Justin Bieber – “My World 2.0” – 37,000 (down 2%)

8. Drake – “Thank Me Later” – 31,000 (down 9%)

9. Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now” – 29,000 (up 4%)

10. Buckcherry – “All Night Long” – 28,000 (debut)

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Wayne Coyne vs. Arcade Fire

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Wayne CoyneIn his ongoing quest to call out every asshole in the music industry, Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne tears into Arcade Fire for Rolling Stone:

“Whenever I’ve been around them, I’ve found that they not only treated their crew like shit, they treated the audience like shit. They treated everybody in their vicinity like shit. I thought, ‘Who do they think they are?’ I don’t know why people put up with it. I wouldn’t put up with it. I don’t care if it’s Arcade Fire or Brian Eno. If either of them walked into a room and treated people like shit I’d be like, ‘Fuck you, get outta here.’ […] They have good tunes, but they’re pricks, so fuck ’em. Who does Arcade Fire think they are? I’ve been around groups. I’ve been around the Edge from U2 and he’s the fucking sweetest guy ever. I was around Justin Timberlake when he was young and he was just a normal, nice, kind person. Anyone can be polite and kind and people who have the privilege and money and attention should understand that. If they don’t, then fuck ’em.”

For those who think he never says anything positive about anybody, notice his compliments toward the Edge and Justin Timberlake! Tell it like it is, Wayne.

Previously: Flaming Lips vs. NIN, STP, Beck

MP3: The Arcade Fire – “Black Mirror”

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Glorious Noise Interview with Rock-afire Explosion creator, Aaron Fechter

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Rock-afire Explosion creator, Aaron FechterA few weeks ago we covered the Rock-afire Explosion documentary that’s currently in post-production. If you don’t recall, there is a whole community of people who grew up with fond memories Showbiz Pizza Place, and now there are people who have bought the old animatronic robots from the house “band” and they’re reprogramming them to play new songs.

This whole idea seemed awesomely crazy to us at Glorious Noise—exactly the kind of obsessive fandom that we celebrate—so we tracked down the guy who’s responsible for the whole phenomenon. Aaron Fechter created the Rock-afire Explosion with his team of assistants in 1980. This is the same guy who invented Wack-a-Mole in 1976. That’s right: dude’s responsible for half of your favorite arcade memories.

Recently, Fechter sold the few sets of robots he had left in crates to fans who “promised they would love and cherish them forever.” And now, you can bid on which songs will be choreographed. Recent winners have included Against Me‘s “Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart” and Usher‘s “Love In This Club.” They just completed their version of the Arcade Fire‘s “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels).” Check it out after the jump.

We caught up with Fechter via email to discuss how this all came together.

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Arcade Fire Respond to Sasha Frere-Jones

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Perhaps they are a bit sensitive, those kids from the North who have stormed the alt.nation with their bombast and severe haircuts, but I like them. Win Will Butler, singer for member of the Arcade Fire, responds to an article from the New Yorker (and discussed at some length here) in which he takes offense at the writer’s insistence that his band does not display any influence from black artists. True to his band’s dramatic flair, Butler insists he in fact STEALS from “black people’s music from all over the globe.”

And he proves it by posting an mp3 with, what are to him, decidedly “black” sounding elements from the Arcade Fire’s catalog.

MP3: Arcade Fire Response to Sasha Frere-Jones

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Plugged-In Takes on Neon Bible

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The last time we checked in on Plugged-In, fundamentalist James Dobson’s guide to secular pop culture was warning its readers about the dangers of the Shins. This time, they’re taking on Arcade Fire:

With an ELO, rock-opera vibe and a few Springsteen-esque vocals, Arcade Fire relies heavily on poetic, often biblical imagery that’s wide open to interpretation. While not deeply objectionable, Neon Bible won’t change the world for the better either, mainly because its critical rants throw the baby out with the bath water.

Hard to argue with that!

MP3: Arcade Fire – “Black Mirror”

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Still (Occasionally) Having Fun with Forkast

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Anybody else notice that Forkast has recently become skimpier with the mp3s? They’ve been pointing to a lot more imeem streams than mp3 downloads.

Maybe that’s fine. I rarely keep free mp3s from the web; I play them once or twice, and if I really like it I’ll either buy or download the album. Unless it’s something that I know I’m only going to like the single, like “Crazy” or “Ring the Alarm” or “Young Folks.” So maybe streaming is okay as long as we’re always on the internet (which we are).

Anyway, some recent good stuff from Forkast after the jump…

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Arcade Fire – Neon Bible

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Arcade Fire - Neon BibleArcade Fire – Neon Bible (Merge)

Arcade Fire has crafted an intellectual, creative, and almost entirely boring second album.

When I hear Funeral, I hear an album born out of necessity. I hear a group so haunted by the spectre of death that the only way to escape its demons is to hide in the sanctity of music. I hear the cold realities of life, set to song, and frantic, paranoid energy.

With Neon Bible, I hear conflict. Not in the music itself, but in the direction. Maybe unsurprisingly, the group sounds unsure where to take the most anticipated indie album of the decade. The result is incohesive and occasionally awkward — most notably in the transition from “Intervention,” the most Funereal track on the album, and “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations,” a sterile, digital song that’s far removed from any semblance of emotion. Likewise, the inclusion of a re-recorded “No Cars Go,” one of the group’s most popular songs, is perplexing. Though it’s hard to deny the song benefits from the greater production and faster tempo, the song’s notoriety immediately separates it from the rest of the album, further damaging Bible‘s concept of a whole.

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