Who is Arcade Fire??!!?

Sick Boy

All about pride and egos
I guess I can sort of understand why someone might not have heard of The Arcade Fire given who the other nominees in the category were (Gaga, Katy Perry, Eminem), but it's pretty stupid that someone would be shocked at the fact they won when the Grammys are meant to be awarded based on musical achievement, not record sales. Really, if you are someone who takes the Grammys seriously (and I'm not), shouldn't the response be 'oh shit, I should check this band out!'?

But yeah, it is a pretty big testament to the state of the modern music industry that a band can be as big as The Arcade Fire and still pretty much be considered unknown. I guess people still conflate popularity and sales with achievement, which makes perfect sense as it has always been that way, only now it is becoming even less and less true.
 
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skull kid

Well-known member
i'm no arcade fire fan but after one page of that blog i started feeling sorry that the internet was ever invented. people are annoying and stupid and there's nothing worse than said people expressing their opinions in a "provocative" manner on twitter/facebook
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
I don't really know who Arcade Fire are either. I was supposed to go and see them at Glastonbury a few years ago, but while wading across a field battered on ketamine to get to the Pyramid Stage I suddenly heard the unmistakable voice of Skepta shouting 'Shut ya mout' somewhere to my left. I saw in a flash that him and JME were performing on a tiny stage for about 20 people and I managed to cover the 100 metres between me and that stage in approx 9.34 seconds. At this time I was quite obsessed with Boy Better Know. It was probably the greatest moment of my life.
 

CrowleyHead

Well-known member
The Grammys aren't going to win anybody's respect by just handing awards to whatever band critics love to suck off...

Amusingly though, the general reaction is that the VMAs are infinitely superior to the Grammys. Which is perfect... The Grammys should be some secret backroom thing that nobody cares about, while the VMAs hog the attention.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Reminds me of a few years back when Belle and Sebastian won the newcomer award at The Brits (I think it was) instead of people's favourites Steps. I seem to remember an outraged article in the Sun and a poll to reveal "Britain's Real Best New Band" as well as accusations of cheating (I think B & S had cunningly advised their fan club to vote and they did). Seems strange to me - if Abingdon Town beat Liverpool in the FA Cup then the world is cheering the plucky underdog but when a manufactured hit-making behemoth is defeated by some Scottish students the same people cry foul.
 

muser

Well-known member
probably because it makes people insecure, underdog mentality only really works if they know who the underdog is and that they are definitely a underdog.

Alltho saying that people like wild cards like Goran Ivanosovich (or however you spell it), but I guess you see the progression, if he just turned up to the final and won I imagine alot of people wouldnt like it.
 
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IdleRich

IdleRich
Well, if you've never heard of them they are probably an underdog. I get what you say about progression though.
 

connect_icut

Well-known member
My favourite things about the whole fiasco are:

1. People who get the band name and album title mixed up.

2. People who've never seen an indie rocker before ("They need a bath!)

3. People who think the Arcade Fire "cheated" to get their Grammy - presumably with huge bribes paid out from Merge Records' limitless resources.

4. The salutary reminder of how tiny many people's musical horizons are and how incredibly limited my own cultural horizons are - stuff I think is embarrassingly mainstream is bafflingly obscure to most Slim Shady fans.

For what its worth, I don't enjoy the band's music at all but I kind of appreciate the light they've unwittingly shone on today's pop music culture.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
"For what its worth, I don't enjoy the band's music at all but I kind of appreciate the light they've unwittingly shone on today's pop music culture."
Agreed - aren't some of those comments jokes though? I mean, it seems as if people have kinda started carrying on the meme for a laugh. Surely people don't really think like this:

Shut the fuck up about Arcade Fire. I had never even heard of them before tonight so they must suck.
That seems more like a pisstake of the other comments to me.
 

MatthewH

makes strange noises.
I'd just like to add, as one of the token few (or perhaps only one) on this board living where the Arcade Fire come from, that the last few days it's like someone dropped an atomic bomb of smug over this town.
 

Leo

Well-known member
...stuff I think is embarrassingly mainstream is bafflingly obscure to most Slim Shady fans.

ha...was thinking this the other day re: dubstep. in reality, pretty much no one in the states has a clue about it. ok, not *no one*, but you know what i mean...
 

Sick Boy

All about pride and egos
I'd just like to add, as one of the token few (or perhaps only one) on this board living where the Arcade Fire come from, that the last few days it's like someone dropped an atomic bomb of smug over this town.

Isn't that a weekly event in Montreal? ;)
 

connect_icut

Well-known member
Agreed - aren't some of those comments jokes though? I mean, it seems as if people have kinda started carrying on the meme for a laugh. Surely people don't really think like this:
That seems more like a pisstake of the other comments to me.

I definitely think the meme has taken on a life of its own and people have started posting stuff just to get on that Tumblr but I think that particular quote is probably for real. The majority of people still seem to equate "good" with "popular" with "popular" with "visible in the mainstream media".

And srsly, could Montreal get any more smug! The Grammy should have gone to the New Pornographers! :p;)
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
In today's Evening Standard there was a wry piece about outraged Justin Bieber fans venting their poorly-spelled ire over their idol's failure to win the Grammy he was nominated for. The piece described him as an "inexplicable battery-operated five-year-old beat puppet", which I really liked.
 

MatthewH

makes strange noises.
And srsly, could Montreal get any more smug! The Grammy should have gone to the New Pornographers! :p;)

Oh them's fightin words! :)

The New Pornos are quite good, I'll give you that, but the latest album wasn't their best. Twin Cinema or Mass Romantic were probably better than anything AF have done, but Suburbs beats Together.

Truth be told, I'm actually from the East Coast, which means I'm just waiting for Sloan to get good again.
 

Leo

Well-known member
Truth be told, I'm actually from the East Coast, which means I'm just waiting for Sloan to get good again.

sloan are (or were, anyway) fucking great, some of the best pop/rock songwriting of the day. can't tell you how many hours i spent listening to "between the bridges", "navy blues", one chord", etc. in my earlier years.
 

connect_icut

Well-known member
I heard a new Sloan song recently on Buck 65's radio show. It was unbelievably bad.

What is the deal with that show anyway? He has great taste in music but all he plays is shitty Canadian content and MOR folk rock.
 

crackerjack

Well-known member
I definitely think the meme has taken on a life of its own and people have started posting stuff just to get on that Tumblr but I think that particular quote is probably for real. The majority of people still seem to equate "good" with "popular" with "popular" with "visible in the mainstream media".

And srsly, could Montreal get any more smug! The Grammy should have gone to the New Pornographers! :p;)

Must be nice for the World of Indie to be attracting so much pop ire. Better than being ignored the whole time.
 

Leo

Well-known member
hey, good on merge. they'll sell more copies of that record than their entire catalog combined!
 
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