From bill@thehubs.net  Tue Sep 14 06:36:18 2004
From: bill@thehubs.net (Bill Hub)
Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2004 00:36:18 -0500
Subject: [Granite-and-tumble] The Arcade Fire
Message-ID: <20040914053650.7FC8F105D2@minerva.iaxs.net>

I was reading pitchfork's album reviews tonight and stumbled across some
alleged best new music.   David Moore, of pitchfork media, categorized The
Arcade Fire's Funeral as some of the best new music.    Being a fan of
pitchfork, I figured this was worth further investigation.    I quickly went
to insound to see if I could hear any of this new band.   Sure enough on
insound's best new music listing, they have none other than The Arcade Fire.
Insound went one step further to compare The Arcade Fire to Neutral Milk
Hotel.   So, now I am really intrigued.

Unfortunately, however, I was seriously disappointed.   The track they
offered was "Wake Up".   It was pretty good.   I listened to it three times
to make sure I was being fair.    However, it just did not grab me; and I
certainly did not hear Neutral Milk Hotel.    I did hear the same
manufactured sound of every NYC pseudo punk band.  I know I am the champion
of liking many bands in the same genre.    However, I would not classify
number 75 in the genre as the best new music.    So, I was ready to just
right them off as the new Walkman.  However, I figured I had to do at least
a little more perusing to see if there were other things on The Arcade Fire.


Man who knew Montreal does NYC would be so big; there were tons of sites
championing this best new music.   I found some site called Stereogum.com
championing TAF as best new music.   This site compared TAF to the Walkmen
(wow maybe I was not far off), and also Modest Mouse.   They also had a
track to listen to, "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)"   Again a fine enough
song; I would probably check them out live; but no way would these few
listens warrant album of the year.   Not sure which Modest Mouse album that
song would fit on, in my opinion it would not fit on any; but I digress.

As I thought about it more and surfed more, I noticed there were not any bad
reviews.   Every review was glowing, yet I still did not like it.   And, I
swear it was not because it was fan favorite.   I debated on adding my
thoughts on the consensual consistency of best new music (and reviews in
general), my personal bias against young musicians, and how my love of the
counter culture could be subtly affecting my music taste; but I thought
better of it.    Needless to say, I did not add it to the top of my wish
list.    However, if you are into NYC rock band scene and want to join the
other hipsters; maybe you should go check out The Arcade Fire.    However,
don't tell them I told you to.

In case you are interested to read what I am listening to, the albums in my
current rotation are:   Roman Candle by Elliott Smith, Eletricita by
Havergal, and Something Grand by Shrimp Boat.   Not all of them new, but I
promise they are still good.