Canadian Album Hall of Fame (as voted by YOU) : Arcade Fire's Funeral

Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004)

Merge Records

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Really, who didn't see this coming? From the bright piano tinkling of the opening seconds of "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)," to the triumphant swell and fade of strings in the final seconds of "In the Backseat," Funeral maintains its artistic tension and delights with orchestral beauty. Win Butler and Régine Chassagne's voices, at times urgent and discomforting, complement the ambitious instrumentalists in theatricality. Not a singles album by any stretch of the imagination-- although it did produce five (Neighborhood #1, #2, #3, Rebellion (Lies) and Haiti), Funeral grabs a hold of you for the duration of its 48 minutes and paints a musical landscape that lingers long after its last notes. And boy, does it grow on you over time.

There's little doubt as to why Funeral remains one of the most highly regarded, most critically acclaimed and best-selling indie (over half a million sold) records in not just Canada, but the world. It garnered near-perfect rankings and scores with international music critics, landing on more "best of" lists than could be counted with all your fingers and toes. It was nominated for the Grammy for Best Alternative Rock Album and Arcade Fire won Songwriters Of The Year at the Junos for three of Funeral's singles. Despite its name, the album injected a shudder of life in the Canadian independent music scene. This album also helped launch the formidable careers of successful Canadian independent artists Final Fantasy and Bell Orchestre. So although the album was inspired by deaths, many regard Funeral as a milestone in the coming of age of Canadian independent music.

Big name fans of Arcade Fire include David Bowie, U2, US President Barack Obama and director Spike Jonze, who reportedly said that he listened to Funeral while writing the screenplay for his adaptation of the popular children's book Where the Wild Things Are. 

Current Arcade Fire line-up: Win Butler, Régine Chassagne, Richard Reed Parry, William Butler, Tim Kingsbury, Sarah Neufeld, Jeremy Gara.


Track listing:
1. "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" – 4:48
2. "Neighborhood #2 (Laïka)" – 3:31
3. "Une année sans lumière" – 3:40
4. "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" – 5:12
5. "Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)" – 4:49
6. "Crown of Love" – 4:42
7. "Wake Up" – 5:35
8. "Haïti" – 4:07
9. "Rebellion (Lies)" – 5:10
10. "In the Backseat" – 6:20

Arcade Fire website, Twitter, Myspace.
More of Arcade Fire on NxEW.

Bell Orchestre: Live From Montreal (digital release)

Via Arts & Crafts comes word that Bell Orchestre has released Bell Orchestre: Live From Montreal which features live renditions of songs from As Seen Through Windows and older songs performed in front of a hometown crowd. It includes

As Seen Through Windows
Throw It On a Fire
Dark Lights
Icicles/Bicycles
Les Lumieres Pt. 2
Noviembre
The Gaze

As far as I know it is available only through iTunes - you can order it here.

"Noviembre" - Bell Orchestre (Boston, 2005)

Patrick Watson Cleans Up at GAMIQ Awards

Patrick Watson has cleaned up at the GAMIQ Awards, Quebecs Awards for Independent Music. Watson won five awards in all including Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Show of the Year and International Career of the Year. Also taking awards were Coeur de pirate for Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Beast for Electro Artist of the year, Bell Orchestre for Experimental Album of the Year, and Malajube for Indie Rock Album of the Year. The full list goes:

Artist of the Year presented by Artisti

Patrick Watson
(The award comes with a $1,000 grant)

Songwriter of the Year presented by the SOCAN

Patrick Watson

(The award comes with a $1,000 grant)

International Career of the Year presented by the MIMI

Patrick Watson

Show of the Year

Patrick Watson

Breakthrough Artist of the Year presented by enMusique.ca

Coeur de pirate

Singer-songwriter Album of the Year

Tu m’intimides – Mara Tremblay

Electro Album of the Year

Beast – Beast

Experimental Album of the Year

As Seen Through Windows – Bell Orchestre

Folk/Country Album of the Year

Dans la nature jusqu’au cou – Avec pas d’casque

Hip-Hop Album of the Year

Comme à la télévision – Omnikrom

Indie Pop Album of the Year

Wooden Arms – Patrick Watson

Indie Rock Album of the Year presented by CISM

Labyrinthes – Malajube

Metal/Hardcore Album of the Year

Musique barbare – Mononc’ Serge & Anonymus

Punk Album of the Year

The Brains – The Brains

Rock'n'Roll Album of the Year

Cassette II – Band de Garage

World Album of the Year

La mécanique – Kodiak

DVD of the Year

Presque sold out – Vulgaires Machins

Tribute Award

Jean-Robert Bisaillon

Bell Orchestre - New Remix EP

Bell Orchestre has a new Remix EP out today Who Designs Nature's How with contributions from:

Water / Light / Shifts (Tim Hecker Remix)
The Stars In His Head / Bernard 33 - Dark Lights (Colin Stetson Remix)
Icicles / Bicycles (Kid Koala Remix)
Quintet (Hôtel-de-Ville Remix)
As Seen Through Windows (Mad Professor Remix)
Stripes (Susumu Yokota vs Hôtel-de-Ville Remix)
Airlines / Landlines (Deadly Stare Remix)

You can order the EP through Gallery AC or iTunes.

Belle Orchestre - Stripes

Bell Orchestre Video : Stripes

Sadly not much news on the Bell Orcheste front - their next scheduled Canadian dates are at the Winnipeg Folk Festival July 10-11 but, in the meantime they have dropped this stunning video Directed by Cassandra C. Jones:

Bell Orchestre - Stripes

Bell Orchestre @ First Baptist Church

On April 18th, the Montreal band Bell Orchestre played at Ottawa's First Baptist Church.
It was a lovely show.
They were promoting their new album As Seen Through Windows.
Here are the photos:


It was almost as close to attending to something Arcade Fire-ish.

Bell Orchestre N.E. American Tour Starts Soon

Great American music blog Brooklyn Vegan has been touting Bell Orchestre lately, more evidence of Canadian music spreading abroad. The six member band cites influences as varied as Lee “Scratch” Perry, Arvo Pärt, The Penguin Café Orchestra, and Talk Talk, but crafts a decidedly unique pastiche of sounds on their instrumental tracks - sometimes pastoral, sometimes raucous, always unique and cerebral.

The band scored huge on its sophomore release on Canadian Indie mega-label Arts & Crafts: As Seen Through Windows features John McEntire (Tortoise, the Sea and Cake) recording the disc. Here's how the band describes the result on their own website:

"The result is at once fierce and beautiful, delicate and dirty. McEntire’s
extensive studio knowledge and attention to craft provided Bell Orchestre with a
kind of bridge, spanning the diversity of their sound to create a richly layered
and sonically expansive recording; a recording that closely mirrors Bell
Orchestre’s very process of making music. Opening with the distressed sound of
muted and distorted horns, strings and drums—an almost monstrous sound, the
album effortlessly shifts into an elaborate and soaring movement, sometimes
edging close to fragility, sometimes on the verge of exploding, but never once
faltering nor threatening to lose its way."

Sounds amazing to me....

The band heads out on the road the first week of April, hitting mostly Quebec, eastern Ontario and Toronto, and culminating with what I am sure will be one of THE must-see sets at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. What's really cool is that Bell Orchestre has secured a few churches to perform in (notably in Kingston and Ottawa), and that ought to be one fantastic experience.

Here are the dates - don't miss it if you can:

4 Apr 2009 21:00 Sydenham Street United Church w/ Colin Stetson Kingston, Ontario
16 Apr 2009 20:00 Theatre Granada w/ Colin Stetson & Julie Doiron Sherbrooke, Quebec
17 Apr 2009 19:30 Theatre Petit Champlain w/ Colin Stetson & Little Scream Quebec, Quebec

18 Apr 2009 20:30 First Baptist Church w/ Colin Stetson & Little Scream Ottawa, Ontario
19 Apr 2009 22:50 La Tulipe w/ Colin Stetson & Little Scream Montreal, Quebec
23 Apr 2009 23:00 Starlight Social Club w/ Colin Stetson Waterloo, Ontario
24 Apr 2009 20:00 Courthouse w/ Colin Stetson Toronto, Ontario
25 Apr 2009 20:00 Casbah Hamilton Hamilton, Ontario
30 Apr 2009 18:30 Le Poisson Rouge New York, New York
1 May 2009 21:00 Somerville Theater w/ Colin Stetson & The Havels Somerville, Massachusetts
10 Jul 2009 20:00 Winnipeg Folk Festival Winnipeg, Manitoba
11 Jul 2009 20:00 Winnipeg Folk Festival Winnipeg, Manitoba

And here's Bell Orchestre performing at the Hillside Inside Festival in Guelph earlier this year: