Arcade Fire - Reflektor

2013 has wound to a close and it's always the time of year to reflect on albums that have captured the imagination over the last 12 months.  I haven't been updating D 'n' D Sounds as much as I would have liked, so here are a couple of standout albums I hadn't reviewed that are up there with my favourites of the year.

Arcade Fire - Reflektor

followed by,

Arctic Monkeys - AM

As a band Arcade Fire have displayed consistency and creativity throughout their career.  They have constantly attempted to stretch themselves artistically, never content to rest on their laurels and have subsequently become harder to pin down over time.

The media created controversy over the bands recent request for fans to turn up at shows in formal or costumed attire.  It was an attempt to engage the audience rather than a dictatorial stance. There is nothing wrong with trying to forge a bond between band and audience by producing, as they said: "A light-hearted carnival atmosphere at their shows."

The only criticism levelled at the album has been its considerable length.  There is no doubt it's a substantial double album but some double albums are worth the time. 

It's no easy feat to make an album sound light and upbeat whilst questioning their own existence, death and the afterlife, but Arcade Fire have managed it.  Album title track, Reflektor is one example when Win ponders: "If this is heaven, I don't know what it's for." On Here Comes the Night, it is playful to begin with before every instrument is played harder and faster and vocals are layered on top as Win proclaims: "But if there's no music up in heaven, then what's it for/When i hear the beat the spirit's on me like a live-wire/A thousand horses running wild in a city on fire."  It is an album highlight, it is catchy, it's poetic and like many songs on Reflekor a great dance track.  

Penultimate track Afterlife is another triumph, with it's insistent beat, thought-provoking lyrics and trademark Arcade Fire harmonies delivered with an air of desperation: "Afterlife, I think I saw what happens next/It was just a glimpse of you looking through a window/Or a shallow sea/Could you see me?."
On the other side of the spectrum you have a track like Normal Person which begins like Queens of the Stone Age's - If I had a Tail - before turning into an out and out heavy rock song

Bringing James Murphy in to produce the album was a masterstrokes, and one which has paid off.  Murphy's influence can be heard throughout with LCD-style beats infiltrating almost every song.  There was a chance Murphy's distinctive style could overpower Arcade Fire's own artistic endeavours. But when you begin to think it sounds too much like an LCD Soundsystem album the band's unique melodies, ghostly harmonies from Regine Chassagne or Win Butler's unique vocal style (which is played with a lot more on this album) will remind you that only one band sound like this right now.

Arcade Fire are one of the only bands on the planet who can seamlessly mix reggae with punk rock and dance and make it attractive.  They remain unpredictable and exciting, and that is refreshing in this overly-manufactured pop age in which we dwell.

By Garrett Hargan

https://www.facebook.com/DarkandDirtySounds

Arctic Monkeys - AM

Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys have been hard to match in terms of sheer sheer consistency since releasing Whatever People Say I am... back in 2006 when they were fresh-faced Sheffield scamps determined to follow in the footsteps of U.S. bands they admired such as The Strokes.

From the beginning they stood out from other indie contenders vying to be the British version of The Strokes.  The main reason being, Alex Turner's insightful observations about city-life as a teen/twenty something.  Fights in taxi queues, girls drinking wkd, trying to 'pull a bird'...

As a band their lives have changed dramatically since then, they now reside in L.A., have model/movie star girlfriends and I presume they don't have to worry about taxi queue brawls.  Their music has also experienced substantial transition.  In many ways they have out-stayed bands like The Strokes and Kings of Leon.  Their journey has been one of interesting progression whilst The Strokes have become lost in an 80's, synth-induced time-warp and KOL well, they've just lost it in entirely.

Whereas the first two albums were punchy and straight to the point, perhaps a reflection of the predominant subject matter of problematic nights on the town and pretentious behaviour.  The Josh Homme produced - Humbug signalled a change of pace and direction which the band have embraced on successive albums. 

Newest album AM has seen them slow it down further and suck the audience in with riffs as thick and smooth as treacle.  There is more emphasis on song structure and each track is given space to breathe. 

This pared-back approach is probably in part down to their new rock 'n' roll lifestyles in the LA sunshine and all the benefits that brings.  He sings of lust 'I Wanna Be Yours', late night booty calls 'Why's You Only Call Me When your High' and isolation and longing on 'Do I Wanna Know'.

It is an album of maturity, not necessarily a turning point because I believe the point of no return was reached during the making of 'Humbug'.  Some fans of the first two albums couldn't buy it but for those of us who enjoyed it, the journey has been a rewarding one ever since.  

They are now a band without boundaries, lets just hope they don't take it too far and disappear up their own colon - something which has been known to happen.  If they stay grounded, remember their roots and Alex considers dropping the Butlin's Redcoat act in between songs they'll have nothing to hold them back.  At the moment the music is doing all the talking for them as they continue to evolve and if that remains the case they could become one of the most memorable bands of their generation.


By Garrett Hargan

https://www.facebook.com/DarkandDirtySounds