{"id":39582,"date":"2005-12-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-12-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/funeral-2\/"},"modified":"2005-12-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2005-12-23T00:00:00","slug":"funeral-2","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/funeral-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Funeral"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Montreal’s The Arcade Fire suffered through the loss
\nof two grandparents and an aunt while recording their debut album,
\nFuneral<\/i>. In all, the band dedicated the album to the memory
\nof nine people. Yet with a roster of 15 and its founders a husband
\nand wife couple (Win Butler and Regine Chassagne), The Arcade Fire
\nare able to balance epic arrangements with lyrics that are as
\nintimate as a family album.<\/p>\n

Circumstances thrust The Arcade Fire onto the music
\nscene. Critics latched onto the fact the band recorded
\nFuneral<\/i> in the midst of intense loss as well as their
\nobscure choices of instruments (turn up those harps, violas,
\nxylophones and recorders!). Less than two years after the band
\nformed (and a little more than six months since Funeral<\/i> was
\nreleased), the band landed on the cover of Time<\/i> magazine
\n(the Canadian edition) — an amazing feat for a debut album. But
\ncircumstances hardly explain the wallop that Funeral<\/i>
\nprovides.<\/p>\n

Even without the antiquated-looking album cover and
\nthe old-fashioned liner notes (which looks like a funeral program),
\nFuneral<\/i> sounds like an album that could have been recorded
\nin the early ’40s. The stabbing violin crashes of “Neighborhood #2
\n(Laika)” sound like a product of World War II-era experimental
\njazz. Other instrumentation, such as accordions and Richard Reed
\nPerry’s work with the Rickenbacker, create a musty feel to the
\nalbum, akin to sneaking into an attic that hasn’t been touched for
\nyears.<\/p>\n

Of course, there is very much about Funeral<\/i>
\nthat is in the “now.” “Wake Up” fully utilizes all of the band’s
\ntalents, but without a hint of clutter. “Neighborhood #3 (Power
\nOut)” flat-out rocks with a guitar riff that sounds like a car
\nspeeding on the interstate during a massive snowstorm. And
\n“Rebellion (Lies)” is the one of the best “get up off your ass and
\ntake a stand for something” songs in years.<\/p>\n

Bridging the gap between old instrumentation and new,
\ndisjointed song structures are some very personable and affecting
\nlyrics. If you despise the emo movement or immediately write off
\nskinny, wiry-haired guitarists as ‘indie,’ you will most likely put
\nup a few walls when you’re giving Funeral<\/i> a spin. If you are
\nnot a fan of this type of music, you will probably not enjoy the
\nliterary imagery that floods Funeral<\/i>. Digging through hills
\nof snow to get to loved ones. Covering and burying love, secrets
\nand suppressed feelings are spread out like ashes thrown from an
\nurn. You’re either going to succumb to this heartfelt sentiment or
\nbe a cynic and dismiss Win Butler’s off-key yelps.<\/p>\n

However, I defy anyone to get at least partially
\nswept up in the building drama the waltzy “Crown of Love.” The song
\nbuilds slowly, with smooth, controlled strings circling Butler’s
\nmournful chorus of “If you still want me, please forgive me.”
\nHowever, the song takes a quick, stomping turn and works up a
\nfrenzy. Suddenly, the organs enter with a fever of a church pump
\norgan and Butler’s barely-contained voice unleashes the final line
\n“You gotta be the one, you gotta be the way \/ your name is the only
\nword that I can say!” — well\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 you’re either Butler or
\nyou’re against him at that moment of emotional nakedness.<\/p>\n

The Arcade Fire will have a difficult time following
\nup Funera<\/i>l. You certainly don’t want the band to experience
\nany more loss for Funeral II<\/i>. The album constantly reveals
\nitself upon each new listen, but any music released by them after
\nthis album runs the risk of them trying to duplicate the success of
\nFuneral. That’s the problem with creating a debut album as amazing
\nas Funeral<\/i> — the album now casts a large shadow for the
\nband, much what In The Aeroplane Over the Sea<\/i> did for
\nlabelmates Neutral Milk Hotel. Still, most bands would kill to have
\nthat sort of challenge to overcome.<\/p>\n

<\/review><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":28184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7667],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-39582","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-arcade-fire","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39582"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}