In October of last year (2013) Arcade Fire released their fourth studio album “Reflektor” a two disc experiment that, like every other Arcade Fire album, is hard to describe. A major reason I love Arcade Fire is that they are always inventing new ways to create new music. When I say “Reflektor” is like every other Arcade Fire album in that it is hard to describe I mean that in a very thorough and complete way, The common characteristic of every Arcade Fire album thus far has been that each one was a brave new musically approach, and with that in mind “Reflektor” does not sound like any previous Arcade Fire album. Basically Arcade Fire is so unique they don’t even sound like Arcade Fire.
The Mirror Man |
But the real fun, at least for me, was the wild storm of interchangeable roles everyone in the band has. Win the leader of the group sings primary vocals, most of the time, plays lead guitar, and sometimes plays keyboard. Regina sings background vocals, sometimes lead vocals, plays the keyboard and drums, and the accordion at one point. William, Win’s younger brother, plays the keyboard and bass guitar as well as backing vocals. Sarah plays the violin, keyboards and backing vocals. Richard kept swapping between drums, bass and keyboards, and of course backing vocals. Tim was consistently on the bass, but not always. There were three other guys I am unable to figure out the names of and they too were all over the stage. It was an impressive sight, seeing the band members of Arcade Fire transition between songs from one discipline to another and made all the more impressive how multitalented all of them are. A true artistic musical experience, I am the richer for having witnessed it.
This is the “Reflektor” tour and it was expected we would primarily hear songs from that album, but naturally Arcade Fire performed some of their most popular tracks from previous albums like “Rebellion (Lies),” “No Cars Go,” and “Sprawl II,” you know these songs;
http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2011/03/february-2010-arcade-fire-rebellion.html
http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2011/03/january-2008-arcade-fire-no-cars-go.html
http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2011/03/february-2011-part-2-arcade-fire-sprawl.html
I love the first three Arcade Fire albums a lot, and if I had to rank the Arcade Fire discography I would place the newest one “Reflektor” last, but that does not mean that “Reflektor” is not a worthwhile album. As stated early it is yet another completely new adventure by Arcade Fire and a lot special moments have come from it.
David Bowie guest sang on their first single off of “Reflektor” the self titled track of the same name. This is also the music video where they broke out the giant papier-mâché heads, which have become fairly iconic.
Reflektor
We Exists
Mini Movie/Music Video
Scarlet Johansson's perfect face is not on the cover because she is only a voice in the moive. |
http://pitchfork.com/news/53018-spoke-jonze-says-arcade-fires-supersymmetry-was-originally-made-for-his-film-her/
It is not as though my initial interpretation in contradicted by this discovery, rather I feel it enriches my take away message of systems working in symmetry. The unorthodox love story in “Her” is about connecting with people and technological systems in emotional ways and that too could be thought of as “Supersymmerty.” A massive number of carefully crafted sounds coming together to form a great song, that’s “Supersymmerty.” Yeah I like it; it can be as deep as you want it to be.
I could muse on about Arcade Fire and “Supersymmerty” for a long while but I believe I have said enough. Your homework assignment is to listen to “Reflektor” and watch the movie “Her” and then think about things for a long time, because that is what I did, and I enjoyed it.
- King of Braves
Giant papier-mâché heads |
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