David Byrne on Arcade Fire
Tuesday, February 20th, 2007Something about David Byrne pushing to the front of a recent Arcade Fire show struck me as funny:
Up in the VIP balcony the sound did indeed suck, so I wormed my way to within a few yards of the stage, in front of one of the PA speakers, and it was wonderful. The new songs are grand, personal, apocalyptic and totally heartfelt. Just to see and hear a band that is so obviously playing from the heart and not making career moves was incredibly moving — but of course the songs and arrangements are good, too. Yes, I could hear little bits of Talking Heads in their earlier material and shows — which was flattering — but now I think most of their influences are pretty invisible. They’ve become what they are.
I can’t speak for the sound in the VIP balcony, but he’s completely right about the songs from Neon Bible. Byrne, being much smarter about these things than I, easily identified what is so great about the new songs: they’re masterfully composed, tightly wound, and, truly, totally heartfelt.
I’m not going to make much of an effort to say more than Byrne did above, but I’ve listened to this album about twenty times already and I can’t recommend it highly enough. If you’ve got a turntable and decent speakers I think 180g vinyl will really showcase the density and delicacy of the sound, more than it might for other rock albums. Go get this.
February 20th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
what about how theyre too cool to play at gabe’s (and it isnt because it doesnt exist anymore) because they can’t get enough people in the venue? i was not impressed a couple of years ago.
tv on the radio? holler!
February 20th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
This album is the shit! For those of us not lucky enough to live in NYC, NPR recorded the last night at Judson: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7273765
Also, SNL this Saturday. Finally, a reason to watch SNL. “Not much chance for survival in the Neon Bible”
February 22nd, 2007 at 9:20 am
Wow, thanks for that link Derrick! I wish I had gotten tickets for those shows.
As for SNL, I beg to differ. Rainn Wilson is reason enough to watch, Acrade Fire is just icing.
February 25th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
I listened to this band yesterday while cooking. I thought they sucked.
I then watched them on SNL. They were the funniest part of the program, not to my surprise.
I don’t mean to rain on anyone’s arcade, but clearly you can do better.