November 21, 2010
Spike Jonze has directed the just-released video for the title-track off of Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs”. It’s a really polished and beautiful film that is sure to remind viewers who grew up in the suburbs of their childhood. Well at least some of the video does – I certainly have clearer memories of endless bike riding than I do of paramilitary night raids…
Hint: switch to 720P and full-screen to experience the HD version of the video and better audio quality
September 4, 2010
So, this is apparently my 100th post here on Mister Manager’s Marvelous Music Mblog. Yeah, I know. I’m as surprised as you are.
To celebrate this momentous occasion, I’m going to post a video by my favourite band, of my favourite song, at one of my favourite concerts.
P.S. I’m well aware that I’ve posted a multitude of Arcade Fire videos lately, but it’s my postiversary, so I can do what I want.
P.P.S. For those who still haven’t seen the awesome uber-cool interactive-y video for “We Used To Wait”, check it out here.
August 22, 2010
Arcade Fire recently released a video for Suburbs’ single “Ready to Start” featuring live black and white footage of the band. For those who haven’t been to an Arcade Fire show, the vid is a pretty good capture of what goes on and what the band feels like live – for those who have been, expect a flood of memories from your last show. You’ve got the intense crowd participation, an impossibly high number of musicians playing a wide variety of instruments, some “Wake Up”-esque drum beating, and even some implied guitar smashing from Win.
While the video may not generate heaps of buzz for originality (like the super weird new Yeasayer video for “Madder Red“), it remains a faithful representation of the band and manages to come off as distinctly Arcade Fire.
August 10, 2010
As some of you may have noticed, it’s been a while since there has been a post here at Mister Managers’ Marvelous Music Mblog. The reason for this is that I have been otherwise occupied attending the wonderful Lollapalooza festival this past weekend. Overall, the festival was amazingly well run, took place at an amazing venue (Grant Park in downtown Chicago), and had great weather throughout. Over the course of three days, I managed to catch 15 acts, with the following highlights:
Chromeo
I found myself at Chromeo’s Friday evening set partially because of convenience (I had just seen Hot Chip at an adjacent stage), and partially due to a friend’s recommendation. Beyond seeing half of an opening set of theirs about 3 years ago, I didn’t know any of their material, but found myself dancing, whooping, and hollering along with the rest of the crowd for their entire set. The self-proclaimed “only successful Arab/Jewish collaboration since the beginning of time” sure know how to please an audience and give everyone a fun time. I think the recipe is something like 2 parts infectious beats, 1 part audience participation, a dash of absurdly synthy auto-tuned vocals, and for dessert, an unbelievably fun cover of Dire Straits’ “Money For Nothing” (“I Want My Chro-me-ooo”). Needless to say, I’m just one of the new fans that Chromeo inevitably has after Friday’s great set.
[mp3] Chromeo – Fancy Footwork
Metric
Emily Haines and company had a huge crowd present for their Saturday evening set, and used it to their full advantage, with both the audience and the band feeding off of each other’s energy. The crowd was a bit of a mix of newer fans and the Canadian faithful, but the band managed to play to both groups in turn, with exhilarating performances of “Help I’m Alive” early on in the set and “Gold Guns Girls” later on for newer fans, and some special treats for long-time fans like “Dead Disco” and an intimate acoustic version of “Combat Baby” to close off the set. The latter was particularly enthralling and intimate. Well, as intimate as you can get when playing to a crowd of 40,000…
[mp3] Metric – Dead Disco
Green Day
Chalk up another surprise Lollapalooza highlight. I originally wasn’t even planning on going to this show due to conflicts with Cut Copy and Phoenix in the Saturday headlining spot, but my inner adolescent from 10-15 years ago won out and boy, am I glad that it did. Green Day’s marathon 150 minute set was just pure rock-n-roll – it was blissfully obvious that when it comes to riling up audiences, Green Day has learned a thing or two in the last 16 years. From an over/under count of ~200 on saying the word “Chicago”, to bringing fans up on stage for stage diving and Longview singing, to gratuitous pyrotechnics, to classic rock medleys, to the double-encore, it was all there. The combination of an extra long set and relatively short songs allowed Billy Joe and friends to power through an amazing 30 songs, leaving no favourite left unplayed. At the end of the night, it was clear to all who attended that this was no “mail-it-in” performance that so often occurs when older legacy bands headline a big festival show. Despite having nothing to prove, Green Day decided to go out and prove something anyways.
Picture of fan stage-diving:
Image from You Ain’t No Picasso
Arcade Fire
Prior to their Lollapalooza show, I had already seen Arcade Fire on three separate occasions, so suffice it to say, I already had sky-high expectations that this would be my festival highlight. Staking out a good spot in front of the stage required standing around from 4PM onwards without any bathroom or food breaks and missing the sets of Frightened Rabbit and The National, but in the end it was all worth it. The crowd, and in particular the fans who staked out spots near the stage, were fantastic, and the material from the just-released album “The Suburbs” sounded great live. Of particular note was the thundering “Rococo” and the dark, danceable, disco-esque “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” which featured a powerful vocal performance from Regine. Other highlights were 50,000 hands waving in the air during “Crown of Love”, and Win’s spoken intro hoping that the crowd had saved some energy before shouting out the count into the “Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)”/”Rebellion (Lies)” one-two punch. Speaking of Win, despite having a seemingly distant and aloof persona, he appeared to be genuinely touched at one point in the show when he spoke of how intimidating it is to go out in front of a massive crowd with brand new material, but also how amazing it was to have a crowd sing along to every song, new and old. All in all, it was truly a memorable night, and a fitting coming out party for the new album.
[mp3] Arcade Fire – Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
And some early footage of the show…
May 26, 2010
As a follow-up to my previous post indicating that samples of the new Arcade Fire singles were being offered on their website, news comes today via… well, basically everywhere, that the singles were played in their entirety on the radio earlier today and someone has been kind enough to rip them and provide them to grateful listeners around the world. First thoughts are that it’s a bit dancier, a bit edgier, and a bit more lo-fi (although this might just be the radio rip), but that it’s definitely got the Arcade Fire “je ne sais quoi”.
Enjoy the singles, available for download from One Thirty BPM.
Update: New album will be called “The Suburbs” and is due to be released August 2nd
May 21, 2010
Okay, first of all, one caveat: they have released only samples of their new singles (i.e. not full songs, just 30 seconds or so). However, given that caveat, I like what I’m hearing, although it’s clearly a bit too early to tell.
Extra points for the cool vinyl design and the ability to manually play the samples via “spinning” the record (I suppose you could also attempt to scratch as well, but my guess is it won’t be that effective).
Samples are on Arcade Fire’s site here – make sure you flip the disc over when the first one is done.
March 20, 2010
When I started this blog, a friend of mine made the suggestion (tongue in cheek?) that I could suggest beer and music pairings, to capitalize on my love and particular tastes for both. In the spirit of poking fun at myself, I’ve decided to actually try to do this, although unfortunately I cannot provide beer samples via the internet (if someone wants to work on the technology behind this, I will consider investing). As far as I know, I’m breaking new ground here – I have never before seen this done. Here goes nothing…
Unibroue Éphémère Apple / Coeur de Pirate
I think these two go together pretty well – first of all, they both have French names and are brewed/born in Quebec. The Éphémère Apple has an aroma of sweet apples, but isn’t overpowering – Coeur de Pirate’s music is similarly sweet, light, and melodic. Both should be enjoyed on a patio or cafe on a warm summer day with the sun shining, and maybe with some people on bicyclettes carrying baguettes home from market in the background. And maybe throw some mimes in there for good measure.
[mp3] Coeur de Pirate – Comme des Enfants
First of all, these are both from Brooklyn. They both have a bit of an edge – Matt & Kim from their power pop sound and slightly harsh vocals (I swear Matt could pass as being Scottish), and Brooklyn Lager from it’s malts and hoppiness (more prevalent than in most other lagers). Both have also been known to be a major causal factor in the creation of spontaneous dance parties – combine the two and the floor may buckle…
[mp3] Matt & Kim – Lessons Learned
Rochefort Trappistes 10 / Arcade Fire
Unlike my previous pairings, these are not from the same place – Rochefort Trappistes is a Belgian trappist beer, while Arcade Fire is from Montreal. However, stylistically they are very similar. Both can be dark and very complex. Taking a first sip of Rochefort Trappistes 10 is a whirlwind of tastes and aromas, with an initial spiciness leading to a subtler bouquet of fruits – mango/pear/apples/strawberry are present. New flavours and aromas present themselves well after drinking. Listening to Arcade Fire can be similarly complex, with layers and layers of instruments creating a dynamic listening experience that can dramatically change from one second to the next. Both are religious experiences.
[mp3] Arcade Fire – My Body Is A Cage
P.S. This is way harder than I expected…
March 18, 2010
It just dawned on me, right this second, that May 2010 is going to be effing awesome. I mean, May is usually pretty great, what with the weather starting to get nice, squirrels and other small creatures running amok, trees and plants in full bloom, all that nonsense. But this is not a climatology blog. It is not a zoology blog. It is not a natureology(?) blog. It is a music blog. And the reason that May 2010 is going to be awesome is that never before have there been so many potentially amazing albums being released in such a short period of time. It’s enough to make me want to load all of them up on my iPod, superglue headphones to my ears, and live in auditory hedonism, completely oblivious to anything around me.
Potentially amazing albums of note:
New Pornographers – Together
(May 4)
“Their fifth full-length is produced by the band and Phil Palazzolo, and recorded in Vancouver, Brooklyn, Woodstock, and Catskill, NY. The album is comprised of 9 A.C. Newman songs and 3 Dan Bejar numbers, and features the full eight-person lineup of Carl, Dan, John Collins, Neko Case, Kurt Dahle, Kathryn Calder, Todd Fancey and Blaine Thurier. Additional musicians include Annie Clark (St. Vincent), Zach Condon (Beirut), Will Sheff (Okkervil River), and the Dap-Kings Horns, among other talents.”
Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
(May 4)
“The first song from Broken Social Scene’s forthcoming new album, Forgiveness Rock Record, entitled “World Sick,” is now available for download via the band’s website brokensocialscene.ca. Forgiveness Rock Record will be released May 4th, 2010, and was co-produced by the band and Tortoise’s John McEntire at Soma Studios in Chicago, with additional recording at Giant Studio and The Schvitz Studio in Toronto.”
The National – High Violet
(May 11)
“High Violet is the Brooklyn quintet’s first full-length release since 2007’s acclaimed long-player Boxer and all eleven tracks were recorded in the band’s own studio in Brooklyn with further recording and mixing at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut with Peter Katis.”
LCD Soundsystem – TBA
(May 17)
“The long-anticipated third LCD Soundsystem album, which still doesn’t have a title, has been announced by DFA and Parlophone for a May 17 release date. The album is nine tracks long, and either “Drunk Girls” or “Change” will be the first single.”
Arcade Fire – TBA
(May ? – unconfirmed)
“The album, which according to Billboard sources is currently on track for a May release, will be Arcade Fire’s first set of new material since 2007’s “Neon Bible.” The band have not performed publicly since Jan. 21, when the group played at the Obama Campaign Staff Ball at the DC Armory following the presidential inauguration.”
March 3, 2010
Juno nominations announced today. I try really hard not to be too negative, but when Nickelback is nominated for a fan choice award and Susan Boyle is nominated for International Album of the Year…
Some (personal) highlights:
M: Manager. We-we just say, uh...
GM: I know, but you...
M: Doesn’t matter who.
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