We Do Have a Strategy
U.S. Bombards Iraq with Arcade Fire Hype
‘Operation Relentless Overkill’ Pounds Insurgents
. . . But even as American cargo planes blanketed insurgent positions with reprints of Arcade Fire puff pieces from The New Yorker and The New York Times, Iraqi insurgents fiercely fought off the waves of relentless indie band hype.
Hassan El-Medfaii, a leading insurgent in the southern city of Basra, said that despite the relentless carpet-bombing of gushing Arcade Fire reviews, he was resisting attempts to compel him to buy the over-praised new CD.
“I know the Americans’ game, and I won’t fall for it,†Mr. El-Medfaii said. “They tried this a couple of years ago with The Strokes.â€
More in the original. For the record (heh heh – he said “record”) on my one listen the new CD sounded . . . nice.
Comment by Uncle Kvetch —
March 9, 2007 @ 12:13 pm
And I here I was thinking I was the only Insufferable Music Snob in the English-speaking world who wasn’t salivating over this release. I felt so special…and now you guys have to go ruin it.
“Nice”…yeah, that’s how I’d put it. A nice band with some good tunes. The deafening chorus of hosannahs really kind of escapes me, though.
Comment by brucedene —
March 9, 2007 @ 6:23 pm
Careful of the blowback! The British troops are especially susceptible.
Comment by Jim Henley —
March 9, 2007 @ 9:45 pm
Bruce, what do you think of AF? They don’t grab me the way other things the Kidz have gotten me to try do. I love the Decemberists. I even think “Crane Wife” is the best Jethro Tull album since the 70s. I went through a major New Pornos obsession. I think I’m a sucker for distinctive singers mixed up where you can hear them. I’m on a Ben Folds kick now, frex.
Comment by Tim Hall —
March 10, 2007 @ 3:02 pm
I saw AF on TV (BBC’s “Later with Jools Holland”) around the time of their first album, and couldn’t see what the fuss was about then. But 99% of Indie doesn’t do anything for me.
I find that avoiding anything overhyped like the plague is a strategy that’s worked for me; I know my own tastes in music are 180 degrees from that of all the hip pundits.
If you want something that combines all the good bits of 70s rock with a bit of a contemporaty edge, you could do a lot worse that Mostly Autumn’s excellent new one, Heart Full of Sky. Not sure if it’s out in the US yet, though.
Comment by brucedene —
March 12, 2007 @ 11:17 am
Your ranking is dead-on. I’ve seen the Decemberists a couple times, and they can’t capture live the theater that’s in those songs, but they’re still good songs. Maybe what they need is a giant codpiece and more balloons.
There was a song from the first AF record that I liked, but damned if I can remember what it was now.
Band math: New Pornos (-1) + Ben Folds / Decemberists = Rilo Kiley.