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Montreal-based Arcade Fire
(vocalist and guitarist Win Butler, keyboardists Regine Chassagne and Richard Parry, bassist Tim Kingsbury and drummer Howard Bilerman)
crafted the magniloquent pop ballads of Funeral (Merge, 2004), such as
the emotional crescendo and dense arrangements of Neighborhood #1 - Tunnels
(watery sounds mixed withh loud repetitive guitar riffs and neoclassical plaintive piano figures),
but they also displayed a flair for disorienting melodic constructs.
Witness how they fuse folk music and new wave in Neighborhood #2 - Laika, juxtaposing an accordion and a violin against repetitive Sonic Youth-ian guitars and neurotic Talking Heads-ian vocals over a march-like rhythm,
or how Rebellion - Lies builds up into a driving pop song out of a simple, insistent boogie pattern at the piano (almost a fusion of U2's solemn cadence
and the Cars' disco beat),
or how a hard-rocking guitar, a neoclassical cello and bombastic drumming coexist on the soaring blues of Wake Up (and how the latter mutates into an effervescent piano-driven gospel celebration).
Even more effective was the chaotic and propulsive psychodrama of
Neighborhood #3 - Power Out, a formidable enactment of high drama
peppered with dissonances and cello lines (achieving a sense of grandeur and
tragedy that evokes U2).
At the other end of the spectrum, they penned the gentle, mournful, martial chamber pop of Neighborhood #4 - 7 Kettles,
the romantic chanson of Un Anne Sans Lumiere (featuring a simple melody
and simple arrangement),
and the distorted Caribbean-voodoo dance of Haiti (sung by Chassagne
in a childish nursery-rhyme tone against ).
They even concoct a waltz-like dance-pop ditty, Crown Of Love, that
could have made salivate both Burt Bacharach and David Bowie,
and close the album with The Backseat, a childish lullaby for whispering contralto (soaring into a dreamy and operatic litany), strings and piano that slowly turns into a solemn lied with all the instruments banging together and the strings floating around.
The album used a grand total of fifteen musicians, including two cellists,
four violinists, one harpist, a viola player, and various people playing
xylophones, accordion, percussions and synthesizer.
Arcade Fire contributed Cold Wind (2005) to a movie soundtrack.
Richard Reed Parry and violinist Sarah Neufeld
of Arcade Fire play in Canadian quintet Bell Orchestre, whose
Recording A Tape The Colour Of The Sky (Rough Trade, 2005)
is a rather conventional recording of instrumental post-rock
scored for chamber rock ensemble of strings, horns,
keyboards, bass, drums and guitar.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Stefano Pertile)
(Translation by/ Tradotto
da xxx
stefanopertile@libero.it) Gli Arcade Fire di Montreal (cantante
e chitarrista Win
Butler, tastieristi Regine Chassagne e Richard Parry, bassista Tim
Kingsbury e batterista Howard Bilerman) hanno dato forma alle
magniloquenti ballate pop di Funeral (Merge, 2004), come il
crescendo emotivo ed i densi arrangiamenti di Neighborhood #1 -
Tunnels, ma hanno anche dimostrato fiuto per disorientanti
costrutti melodici.
Neighborhood #2 - Laika testimonia come essi fondano musica
folk e new wave, giustapponendo una fisarmonica ed un violino accanto
a ripetitive chitarre alla Sonic Youth e nevrotici vocals
Talking Heads-iani, Rebellion - Lies costruisce una
sferzante canzone pop a partire da un semplice ed insistente piano
boogie, in Wake Up una chitarra hard-rock, un
violoncello neoclassico, ed una ritmica pomposa coesistono con un
blues vertiginoso (quest'ultimo muta poi in una celebrazione gospel
guidata dal piano). Anche più di effetto è lo psicodramma caotico e
propulsivo Neighborhood #3 - Power Out, un formidabile
dramma vivacizzato con dissonanze e linee di violoncello. Dall'altro
estremo dello spettro compongono il gentile, dolente, e marziale pop
da camera di Neighborhood #4 - 7 Kettles, e la distorta danza
voodoo-Caraibica di Haiti (cantata dalla
Chassagne). Preparano anche una canzoncina dance-pop-valzer, Crown
Of Love, che potrebbe far salivare sia Burt Bacharach che
David Bowie, e chiudono l'album con The Backseat, una
filastrocca per bambini per contralto, corde e piano che lentamente si
trasforma in una solenne canzone con tutti gli strumenti che rumoreggiano
assieme e le corde che girano intorno. L'album impiega un totale di
quindici musicisti, inclusi due violoncellisti, quattro violinisti, un
arpista, un suonatore di viola, e vari elementi che suonano xilofoni,
fisarmonica, percussioni e sintetizzatore.
Con Cold Wind (2005) gli Arcade Fire hanno contribuito ad
una colonna sonora.
Richard Reed Parry e Sarah Neufeld degli Arcade Fire suonano
nel quintetto Canadese Bell Orchestre, il cui Recording A Tape The
Colour Of The Sky (Rough Trade, 2005) e` convenzionale post-rock
strumentale.
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Rather than trying to reinvent their sound or progressing towards something new,
for their sophomore album Arcade Fire simply delivered what is, de facto,
Funeral part II. Neon Bible (Merge, 2007) boasts the same
mastery of arrangement and the same intriguing combination of instrumental
talent and songwriting class.
Many of the songs are overflowing with references to the classics:
Black Mirror, with tragic overtones a` la David Bowie underpinned by pounding rhythm a` la Velvet Underground and by spiraling strings;
Keep the Car Running, a Brian Eno-esque litany over syncopated Balkan beat;
Black Wave/Bad Vibrations, half dance-rock a` la B52's for shrill female vocals and frantic new-wave rhythm and half dark-punk for gloomy guitar and gothic choir.
A remake of their No Cars Go (originally on their debut EP) for a
denser mix of trumpet, accordion and pipe organ, show how original their take
on the new wave used to be.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, The Well And The Lighthouse is another pounding litany but much more derivative of the dark and glam originals.
Interestingly, the emotional peaks of the album are achieved by two songs that share the same influences:
Intervention, a solemn Bob Dylan-esque rigmarole propelled by Bach-ian pipe organ into an emphatic, quasi-symphonic Bruce Springsteen-esque crescendo;
and Antichrist Television Blues, a blend of Bruce Springsteen's The River and Bob Dylan's Desire.
Another peak, though, is uniquely theirs:
the funereal blues (and perhaps existential manifesto) My Body Is A Cage,
whose crescendo of macabre church organ lines manages to be
equal part grandeur and sadness.
Elsewhere, the group can also strike a simpler kind of chord:
Neon Bible, a whispered lullaby for cello and percussion (Donovan-style),
the atmospheric elegy Windowsill (Springsteen-style),
etc.
However, there is no question that these are more than mere diversions
compared with the intensity of the more complex songs.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Stefano Pertile).
Piuttosto che cercare di reinventare il loro suono o progredire verso qualcosa di nuovo, per il loro secondo album gli Arcade Fire di fatto consegnano Funeral parte II. Neon Bible (Merge, 2007) vanta la stessa maestria negli arrangiamenti e la stessa intrigante combinazione di talento strumentale e di classe nella scrittura dei pezzi. Molti brani sono traboccanti di riferimenti ai classici: Black Mirror, con le tragiche armoniche alla David Bowie puntellato dal ritmo tambureggiante alla Velvet Underground e da corde spiraleggianti; Keep the Car Running, una litania Brian Eno-esca su un ritmo sincopato dei Balcani; Black Wave/Bad Vibrations, metà dance-rock alla B52's per acuta voce femminile e dal frenetico ritmo new-wave e metà dark-punk per una chitarra cupa e coro gotico. Un rifacimento della loro No Cars Go (originariamente sul loro EP di debutto) per un più denso mix di tromba, fisarmonica ed organo a canne, mostra quanto fosse originale la loro new wave. All'estremità opposta dello spettro, The Well And The Lighthouse è un'altra litania martellante sebbene più derivata dagli originali dark e glam.E' interessante come i picchi emozionali dell'album si raggiungano con due brani che condividono le stesse influenze: Intervention, una solenne filastrocca Bob Dylan-iana spinta da un organo a canne Bach-iano in un enfatico e quasi-sinfonico crescendo Bruce Springsteen-iano; e Antichrist Television Blues, una miscela del Bruce Springsteen di The River e del Bob Dylan di Desire. Un ulteriore picco, tuttavia, è propriamente loro: il blues funereo (e forse manifesto esistenziale) My Body Is A Cage, il cui crescendo di macabre linee di organo da chiesa riesce ad evocare in parti uguali maestosità e tristezza. Altrove il gruppo tocca delle corde più semplici: Neon Bible, una ninnananna sussurata per violoncello e percussioni (in stile Donovan), l'atmosferica elegia Windowsill (in stile Springsteen-style), etc. Comunque non c'è dubbio sul fatto che queste siano dei meri diversivi se confrontate con l'intensità delle canzoni più complesse.
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Bell Orchestre's second album,
As Seen Through Windows (Arts & Crafts, 2009),
refined their concept of neoclassical post-rock. The best piece, however,
Bucephalus Bouncing Ball, is a cover of a 1997 Aphex Twin song,
and the other two lengthy suites, Elephants and
Air Lines/Land Lines, take too long to get to the point.
The concept album Suburbs (2010) is a humble fresco of ordinary life
in the city. Not coincidentally, there are frequent echoes of the masters
of the genre, starting with the marching and soulful The Suburbs
and with the hard-rocking and bouncy Ready to Start (a` la
Cheap Trick),
both delivered in a mood that artfully blends joy and melancholy.
The singer's soft crooning sails over steady and simple rhythms, barely
disturbed by the instrumental arrangements, yielding
atmospheric ballads in a tone that becomes progressively more poignant and
hypnotic via Modern Man and Rococo (with its grandiose minimalist
crescendo leading to a pow-wow dance of sorts).
The frantic Empty Room shifts gear, propelling the album into an almost
cosmic dimension while celebrating loneliness. Something similar takes place
a few songs later, with the explosive rockabilly of Month of May.
Half Light comes in two parts: the first one (a dialogue between
both singers) is a gentle lullaby that goes nowhere while the second one,
propelled by a pounding techno beat, sounds like a religious psalm.
The Kinks-ian leitmotiv returns in Deep Blue, while
We Used To Wait returns to the suspenseful tone.
But the real shock comes at the end with the two-part Sprawl,
each part being the exact opposite of the other:
Flatland is a slow and dense orchestral aria worthy of a Broadway
musical, while Mountains Beyond is an Abba-style disco ditty.
The message (as embodied in the music) therefore becomes cryptic as the
theme moves away from the city.
The melodies rarely soar. There are no significant refrains/choruses, just a
relatively plain colloquial chanting.
Suburbs turned Arcade Fire into stars.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Ferdinando Vella)
Il secondo album dei Bell Orchestre, As Seen Through Windows (Arts & Crafts, 2009), perfeziona il loro concetto di post-rock neoclassico. In ogni caso il miglior brano, Bucephalus Bouncing Ball, è la cover di una canzone di Aphex Twin del 1997, e le altre due lunghe suite, Elephant e Air Lines/Land Lines, ci mettono troppo per arrivare al punto. Il concept album Suburbs (2010) è un umile affresco di vita quotidiana in città. Non a caso, troviamo spesso echi dei maestri del genere, a partire da The Suburbs, marcia colma di sentimento, e con la vivace Ready to Start dalle sonorità hard-rock, entrambe inserite in un contesto che mescola abilmente gioia e malinconia. Il tenero cantilenare del cantante si districa agevolmente tra ritmi semplici e equilibrati, disturbato appena dai pezzi strumentali, tiepide ballate d'atmosfera con un timbro che diventa sempre più intenso ed ipnotico attraverso Modern Man e Rococo (grazie ad un ambizioso crescendo di sapore minimalista che dà origine ad una sorta di danza pow-wow). La frenetica Empty Room cambia marcia, portando l'album in una dimensione al contempo cosmica e celebrativa della solitudine. Troviamo qualcosa di simile qualche canzone dopo, con l'esplosivo rockabilly di Month of May. Half Light si divide in due parti: la prima (un dialogo tra i due cantanti) è una delicata ninna nanna fine a sé stessa, mentre la seconda, sospinta da un martellante ritmo techno, richiama un salmo religioso. Il leitmotiv "kinks-iano" ritorna in Deep Blue, mentre We Used To Wait rievoca il tono ansioso. Ma il vero shock arriva alla fine con Sprawl, in due parti, opposte tra loro: Flatland è un'aria lenta e fitta di elementi orchestrali, degna di un musical di Broadway, mentre Mountains Beyond Mountains è una canzonetta da discoteca sotto il segno degli Abba. Il messaggio (per quanto incarnato nella musica) diventa dunque criptico via via che il tema si sposta dalla città. Le melodie spiccano raramente il volo. Non ci sono ritornelli significativi, ma una cantilena colloquiale, relativamente spontanea. (Tradotto da Ferdinando Vella)
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The double-disc
Reflektor (Merge, 2013) was
basically a collaboration with disco-revivalist
James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem.
The album ends up being a tribute of sorts to the late 1970s and early 1980s.
A few seconds into Reflektor one is ready to hear Blondie and, later in the same song, one is ready to see John Travolta dance at music by the Bee Gees.
The rocking reggae Flashbulb Eyes could have been a (minor) track on
the Clash's Sandinista.
Many of the polyrhythmic arrangements could be lifted from the
Talking Heads' Remain in Light,
and the few jarring guitar parts echo
gritty new-wave acts like Television.
The disco-punk party continues in the light boogie Joan of Arc, whereas
It's Never Over pays tribute to Prince-ly funk-soul.
One is almost relieved when the
bouncy finger-snapping singalong You Already Know comes along,
a simple ditty halfway between Motown-soul and glam-rock.
Some of the other songs are truly embarrassing.
This is an album that sounded cheesy even in the year when it came out.
The band's decline was confirmed by their fifth album
Everything Now (2017).
Two songs sound like tributes to Abba's Dancing Queen:
Everything Now (the better one) and
Put Your Money on Me.
Two songs are obsessed with tribal impetus:
Signs of Life, which weds the rhythmic progression of Fleetwood Mac's Tusk and its horn fanfare with rap singing, and
Chemistry, which grafts the guitar riff of Joan Jett's I Love Rock And Roll onto a joyful Jamaican ska fanfare, sounds like its natural continuation.
Two tracks are amateurish attempts at electronic punk-rock:
Creature Comfort, which weds frantic New Order-esque synth-pop (Geoff Barrow of Portishead on synths) with a Pointer Sisters-like choir,
and the reggae-inflected Peter Pan.
Most the album is even worse, from
Regine Chassagne's ridiculous ballad Electric Blue to the
ridiculous punk-rock of Infinite Content.
Arcade Fire's WE (2022), titled after
Evgeny Zamyatin's dystopian novel "We" (1924) ,
contains
obnoxious dance-pop ballads like Age of Anxiety I & II and a
derivative David Bowie-esque power-ballad, End of The Empire I-III, for guitar and mellotron.
Some energy surfaces in The Lightning II, a mediocre boogie with a mediocre refrain attempting to sound anthemic, and in the
super-mediocre house-music of Unconditional II.
One can appreciate the apocalyptic gloom, but the music,
if possible, is even worse than Everything Now.
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