joel's Arcade Fire blog

Over and out.

2010-05-29T16:25:00.014+02:00

Hello fellow earthlings!

Wanted to let you all know the blog will go on indefinite hiatus as of today for a lot of reasons. I could go on quite a bit here about why I've come to this decision, but I don't want to take up any more time of your weekend than I already am. I'll still continue with ArcadeFireTube over at YouTube and we'll see about the what kind of action there will be on my twitter. Haven't made my mind up about the twittering as of right now. Probably very sporadic action.

It's been 3 really fun years. I've got to know a lot of people out there from far and not so far away who shares my admiration for this band and who I'll continue to keep in touch with. All of you, regardless of course if it's the first time you've made your way to this place or if you've been a reader from day 1, can still find me on my e-mail/on YouTube/on Twitter - links also in the sidebar. I encourage you to drop a line if you feel like it. So lovely people, a big thank you for being so very amazing over the years.

Can't wait to get my hands on The Suburbs come August. It sounds very different to anything they've done before based on the new songs and I like this kind of different.

Have a terrific summer and I'll see you rockers up the front at an Arcade Fire show near you.

... oh and Emelie, dance yourself dizzy to Haiti this summer again!

Joely Blogovitch
xx

Album announcement day recap

2010-05-28T02:50:00.005+02:00

I wish I wasn't so busy with other stuff. I don't really have time to write too much on here so I'm just going to throw up some things that's happened during the day.

First up is an interview with Will Butler. Talks about the new album and his connection with suburban life.

Earlier in the day Win and Will was on NPR talking about the new album and officially premiering the 2 new songs to the Americans. They among other things revealed there will be a lot more of Régine on the new album which I'm extremely pleased to hear. Really missed her on Neon Bible. Check out the full 30 min interview here. Then Win spoke a bit to Zane Lowe but that interview was pretty forgettable.

What overshadowed everything though was of course the actual album announcement. Love the album art. Think it could look absolutely gorgeous on the vinyls. Goes without saying probably but I pre-ordered the "6) Double 12” Vinyl + premium digital + Limited Edition Screen Printed Poster (Designed by Wes Winship from Burlesque of North America)" package.

Oh and have you guys played enough yet with The Suburbs lyrics? Yeah? Me too.

Order the Arcade Fire 12" single from Merge

2010-05-27T16:34:00.002+02:00

Yep, US folks (only!) can now order Arcade Fire's The Suburbs/Month of May 12" single from the Merge Store. One copy per customer.

Merge Records Store: Arcade Fire - The Suburbs/Month of May

Update
All their 12" vinyl copies have now been sold. Only available as digital downloads.

Listen to (full-length songs now) the single below.
A. The Suburbs
AA. Month of May

Arcade Fire presents The Suburbs - the new album!

2010-05-27T12:24:00.014+02:00

I'm in no state of mind to write anything elaborate now, I'll try later. I'm shaking of joy! But here you go. This is all you need to really know. Pre-order the new album and have faith in music again.

PRE-ORDER THE SUBURBS >

The available pre-order options and details.

Available the 2nd of August in the UK & the 3rd in the US and Canada

1) Premium digital in 320 kbps MP3, FLAC or Apple Lossless. Delivered via email $7.99

2) CD + premium digital, $12.99

3) Double 12″ vinyl + premium digital (gatefold, 180 g) $24.99

4) Two tracks for instant digital download – “The Suburbs” & “Month of May” (transferred from the acetate master) $1.99

5) CD + Premium digital + Limited Edition Screen Printed Poster (Designed by Wes Winship from Burlesque of North America) $32.99

6) Double 12” Vinyl + premium digital + Limited Edition Screen Printed Poster (Designed by Wes Winship from Burlesque of North America) $44.99

* All pre-orders receive an instant download of both songs Month of May and The Suburbs.

ArcadeFire.com/The-Suburbs

It doesn't get much better than this! My heart is rushing. Thank you, thank you, thank you Arcade Fire!

MADNESS - JOY - THE SUBURBS - MONTH OF MAY

2010-05-26T21:29:00.020+02:00

Just madness. Madness and sheer joy.

The new single is out there!

Update #1
I feel hugging someone for a really long period of time. Arcade Fire are back! This sounds almost too amazing for my own good. If that's possible. The lyrics to The Suburbs are just incredible. Got me from the 1st listen. Month of May is just such a great, great rock song.

It's nice to be reminded why you hold them in the highest esteem. Just saying.

The Suburbs
*youtube stream removed*

Month of May
*youtube stream removed*

Update #2
Lyrics Edit: The lyrics to The Suburbs has now been confirmed. Should be 100% accurate. Month of May still very much unconfirmed.

The Suburbs

In the suburbs I, I learned to drive
And you told me we'd never survive
Grab your mother's keys we're leaving

You always seemed so sure
That one day we'd be fighting
In a suburban war
Your part of town against mine
I saw you standing on the opposite shore
But by the time the first bombs fell
We were already bored
We were already, already bored

Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling again

The kids want to be so hard
But in my dreams we're still screaming
And running through the yard
When all the walls that they built in the 70's finally fall,
And all of the houses they built in the 70's finally fall--
Meant nothing at all?
Meant nothing at all,
It meant nothing

Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling
And into the night

So can you understand
Why I want a daughter while I'm still young?
I want to hold her hand,
And show her some beauty,
Before all this damage is done
But if it's too much to ask
If it's too much to ask
Then send me a son

Under the overpass
In the parking lot we're still waiting
It's already past
So move your feet from hot pavement
And into the grass
'Cause it's already past
It's already, already past

Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling
sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling again
I'm moving past the feeling
I'm moving past the feeling

In my dreams we're still screaming
We're still screaming
We're still screaming
------------------------------------------------------
Month of May

1! 2! 3! 4!

gonna make a record in the month of May
in the month of May
in the month of May
gonna make a record in the month of May
when the violent wind blows the wires away

month of May, it's a violent thing
in the city their hearts start to sing
well, some people singing sounds like screaming
used to doubt it but now I believe it

month of May, everybody sing love
in the city, watch it from above
and just when I knew what I wanted to say
the violent wind blew the wires away

we were shocked in the suburbs

now the kids are all standing with their arms folded tight
the kids are all standing with their arms folded tight
now, some things are pure and some things are right
but the kids are still standing with their arms folded tight
I said some things are pure and some things are right
but the kids are still with their arms folded tight

so young! so young!
so much pain for someone so young, well
I know it's heavy, I know it ain't light
but how you gonna lift it with your arms folded tight?

............. in the middle of the town
that's why I'm still driving around
and around and around and around and around
and around and around and around and around
(and around and around and around and around...)

2009! 2010!

wanna make a record how I felt then
when I stood outside in the month of May
and watched the violent wind blow the wires away

if I died in the month of May
let the wind take my body away, then
wish I may, I wish I might
............ me down there with my arms folded tight

start again in the month of May
start again in the month of May
come on and blow the wires away
come on and blow the wires away

start again in the month of May
start again in the month of May
come on and blow the wires away
come on and blow the wires away

start again in the month of May
start again in the month of May
come on and blow the wires away
come on and blow the wires, the wires away

Solo show: Arcade Fire coming to Toronto Island

2010-05-25T19:17:00.026+02:00

Update #3
Show officially announced! Presale for this show is happening right now. Show and ticket details:

Collective Concerts Presents
Arcade Fire
Date: Sat 14th Aug 2010
Doors: 16:00 EST
Venue: Olympic Island
Location: Toronto Island Park, Toronto, M5J 2E5, Canada
Age: ALL AGES
About: Please note that all tickets include a CAD1.00 donation for Partners in Health

General Admission Includes Ferry + Charitable Donation
CAD54.50 (+ CAD6.30 Booking Fee)

Update #2
The post has been updated with what should be the correct info. Eye Weekly broke the news.

Update #1
~~A screen grab before the show was taken down from Ticketmaster.~~

Great news Toronto people. Arcade Fire are coming to Toronto Centre Island (Olympic Island) on August 14. General sale tickets are $47.50 (not including the facility fee, a charity fee plus the $6.50 return-ferry fee) and go on sale this Friday, May 28 at 12:00PM EDT over at Ticketmaster.

Super limited edition of Arcade Fire's new single

2010-05-22T15:37:00.010+02:00

Rough Trade has put up some eye-catching info about the new Arcade Fire single "The Suburbs/Month of May". It's apparently an extremely limited edition. Maybe Merge won't be selling it?

ARCADE FIRE
the suburbs / month of may

Release Date: Pre-Release (Expected on 31/05/2010)

available on the 31st of may but you cannot order this via mail order (if you order - you will not recieve it) - this can only be bought in either the west or east london shop in person. hand stamped white label 12" in a white card sleeve and super limited. it features two brand new tracks from the arcade fire and the first taster for the forthcoming album.

Rough Trade: Arcade Fire - The Suburbs/Month of May

In related news, some Amazon stores and a few US indie record stores and have started listing the single but no mention of a limited edition on either of those places thus far.

Oh and if there was any doubt, Sarah is still in the band.

Interactive previews of The Suburbs/Month of May!!

2010-05-20T22:00:00.024+02:00

It's here! Interactive previews of Arcade Fire's new 12" single "The Suburbs/Month of May". PUNK IS ALIVE! Insanely promising. I'm so extremely happy. Spin, spin, spin it!

A. The Suburbs
AA. Month of May

ArcadeFire.com/vinyl

1, 2, 3, 4!
Gonna make a record in the month of May
In the month of May
In the month of May
Gonna make a record in the month of May
when the violent wind first fires away!

Month of May, holy shit! Absolute bliss.

New Arcade Fire album at the end of July? 38 songs?

2010-05-20T17:22:00.012+02:00

Let's start though with a tweet from Australian tv/radio station Triple J's music director Richard Kingsmill.

Arcade Fire's new song is called "Suburbs". We should get it week after next. It will be a 12" vinyl only release believe it or not!

Very much doubt Richard Kingsmill would make up about something like that. Looking forward to that Suburbs single like a mad man.

Quickly moving on to a really interesting article Triple J published a bit later on after that above Kingsmill tweet. I'm just gonna copy/paste it so you can digest it in its entirety.

Arcade Fire prep new album

Details have been trickling out about Arcade Fire's ridiculously anticipated third album. The follow-up to Neon Bible doesn't yet have a title, but the band have set the end of July as a tentative release date.

triple j will get hold of a new song from the Canadian band around June 1. It'll reportedly be called "Suburbs" and will initially be released exclusively on 12" vinyl.

The band worked in the studio with long-time producer Nick Launay, and according to sources close to the band, they've got plenty of material to work with - they reportedly recorded and mixed around 38 songs for the album.

Triple J: Arcade Fire prep new album

So there you have it all people. Inhale-exhale! Inhale-exhale! If it's true the new album is indeed consisting of 38 songs I might just implode or something. Triple album? Could be that those 38 songs are just the number of songs they're choosing from though.

It's good as well to hear Nick Launay is still producing. Have a nice day everybody!

A huge thank you!

2010-05-20T16:49:00.004+02:00

I wanted to say thank you to each and everyone of you for the to be honest overwhelming amount of support I've received over the last couple of days. Quite touched actually. You guys should see my inbox!

Let's try this again.
x joel

Solo show! Arcade Fire at the Senaatintori (update #4)

2010-05-17T11:12:00.023+02:00

Happy day, Finland! Arcade Fire are coming to your fine capital Helsinki on June 28th for a show at the Senaatintori (Senate Square). Tickets on general sale next Monday, May 24th. This is the first time Arcade Fire are playing in Finland so could be something very special just for that reason alone.

The stage will be facing the Cathedral so the crowd can also stand in the cathedral stairs. As I'm writing this it hasn't yet been announced on Arcade Fire.com but I reckon it very soon will be with a presale link to go along with that. For now you will have to make do with the Finnish promotor's announcement etc.

Update
Presale happening right now! Get your tickets before they go on general sale next Monday.

Update #2
Tickets will now go on general sale next Thursday (May 27th) instead of this coming Monday (May 24th) due to Finnish politicians questioning how appropriate it is to lend the Senaatintori to events like this one. Ridiculous. Anyway, you guys know tickets are on presale here anyway so you guys are all good.

This is how the organizers had at least originally planned on using the square and Cathedral stairs for the show. 4,500 tickets available.

Show and ticket info

Uutiset article

Google Street View

Update #3
Statement from Live Nation about the general sale date.

Live Nation News
Arcade Fire onsale-date postponed!
Friday 21 May 2010

The new on-sale date for Arcade Fire's show will be announced Wednesday, may 26th.

The concert promoters Live Nation Finland and Eastway will have to await a decision from the City Of Helsinki’s board. The rental of the northern part of the Senate Square for concert use is still pending on the decision of the board.

Arcade Fire concert’s ticket on sale was planned to start on Monday 24th May but the board will not meet until Tuesday. The new ticket on sale date will be announced on Wednesday 26th May.

Update #4
Tickets for this show will go on general sale tomorrow, May 27th, at 9:00 local time.

Arcade Fire post encouraging postcard

2010-05-16T04:30:00.012+02:00

Howdy yall - Just finishing up pressing our new 12". Should be in stores in the next
couple weeks. God willing. Good luck with finals. See you this summer! AF

So yeah, the new Arcade Fire 12" vinyl single/EP is still on despite everything. It might not be out on June 1st though but soon. Check out the new post over at Arcade Fire.com if you like.

New Arcade Fire single! Suburbs/Month of May

2010-05-15T10:25:00.024+02:00

WHAM! JAFB EXCLUSIVE! Hahaha, I can't do crap like that with a straight face. Anyway, great news.

A reader on this blog (Thanks Erik-Dardan Ymeraga!) found the new Arcade Fire single over at Amazon. The vinyl single appears to be called Suburbs/Month of May and is stated to be released on June 1, 2010. That's only two weeks away! Either Suburbs is the A side and Month of May is the B side or the leading single is actually named "Suburbs/Month of May". No artwork is available just yet. June 1st can't come soon enough.

Amazon: Suburbs/Month of May

Update
A band rep. says the amazon listing is incorrect and will be taken down. Still, it has to mean something you'd think.

Update #2
And yes, there's indeed a new single coming out soon.

Update #3
Amazon cancelling preorders for Suburbs/Month of May citing it's "unavailable and we don't know when we'll get it in the near future". As a consequence the links in the post above are now dead.

Arcade Fire presents "The Suburbs"

2010-05-13T01:30:00.015+02:00

Developments over at Arcade Fire.com.

Could be the title of the new album, could be a new song, could be the title of the short film they've been working on with Spike Jonze. But something is definitely called "The Suburbs" and Arcade Fire are presenting it. First they had a banner up there that said "Arcade Fire presents 'The Suburbs'". Now it only says "Arcade Fire presents", but if you check out the source code you'll still find this post's title in the header.

E-X-C-I-T-I-N-G.

Stay tuned. This post will be updated with more news as/if it happens.

Update
"The Suburbs" has now been removed from the source code as well.

Update #2
Previously been reported the working title for the Spike Jonze and Arcade Fire short film was "Scenes from the Suburb". However, I'm now hearing people in the know claiming the official name of the shooting down in Austin, TX was "The Suburbs". So I'm starting to lean more and more towards The Suburbs is referring to that. I think it's too close after the shooting finished to expect the full thing right now, but a trailer or something like it might perhaps be in line. I really hope the new website launches soon.

Solo show! Arcade Fire at Tempodrom

2010-05-10T11:43:00.015+02:00

A new solo show has been announced, the second one following the outdoor show at Dalhalla in Sweden. Arcade Fire have found another great venue, Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany where they'll play a bit later in the summer on August 31st. Tickets are on presale now! Grab your tickets while there are some left. This is a venue which fits about 3,500 people so tickets are bound to sell out quickly when word gets out.

Tickets: Arcade Fire.com

Venue: Tempodrom

Update
Tickets on sale now both via Arcade Fire.com and MCT. €1 from all tickets sold goes to Partners in Health.

Arcade Fire bullets

2010-05-08T19:29:00.009+02:00

Arcade Fire certainly look like they're in the last phases of finishing up the new album after John Russell tweeted they had been mixing their material before they themselves started in that studio.
The whispers of a September release date are growing stronger.
Here's a mp3 recording of Arcade Fire at Glastonbury 2007 from my dvd of that same gig.
Coldplay Attempt Hostile Takeover of The Arcade Fire. "Bono [meaning Bono]", just one of many highlights. I laughed quite a bit at this witty piece. A lot of it has to with the fact the headline is (almost) true.
It makes me very happy to hear from people all over Europe who are flying in for Arcade Fire's first announced solo show at Dalhalla in Sweden. I know of people from Ireland, England, Italy, Denmark, Germany, France and Finland who are coming over just for this gig. To anyone making the trip over; feel free to drop me a line. Good fun reading about it. Hope the weekend is treating you all well.

Update
Adding Holland to the list. Has to be some Norwegians who'll cross the boarder, right?

Update #2
The Americans want in on the fun as well. Cool!

Every time you close your NAKED EYEs

2010-05-05T13:20:00.010+02:00

For shame Kelly Clarkson! The exact same chord progressions as Rebellion (Lies).

Update
The youtube video above that someone put up has unsurprisingly been taken down now. You can however still listen to it over at Idolator.

Info about Arcade Fire tickets to Dalhalla

2010-04-30T16:47:00.004+02:00

The tickets for this went on general sale this morning and there are now only a very limited number of tickets left to the centre lower and middle sections. So to anyone who is looking to go to this I'd recommend getting your ticket asap so you don't end up on the sides or at the back.

It doesn't really matter where in the lower sections you are. It's just important because sometimes there are security checking you actually have a ticket to the lower sections. Otherwise you won't be allowed to go down there to dance and jump around.

And for those interested; everyone who bought tickets from Arcade Fire.com (CrowdSurge) will get a ticket to the lower sections from what I've gathered. The very first ended up in "Section C Lower" (1) and when that section was full they started filling up "Section B Lower" (2).

This is awesome because it means it will pretty much only be people in the lower sections who truly love and adore Arcade Fire. Bring it on!!

Arcade Fire at Dalhalla!! (my year is made)

2010-04-28T13:38:00.028+02:00

The first solo show announced! Tickets are on sale NOW. Buy them over at ArcadeFire.com. I've got mine!

There are moments in this life you'll remember for quite some time. This morning I had one of those. I had to re-read what was on my screen like 5-6 times before I could grasp it. Arcade Fire is coming to Sweden on June 30th and are playing at the spectacular Dalhalla venue in the middle of nowhere. Well, Rättvik is pretty close. I always wanted to go see a show there and now finally it's happening. I'm breaking it in by seeing the band which I love the most, could be a lot worse...

I could go on and on about how happy I am right now but that would really fast get boring. Instead, check out the amazing photos of Dalhalla below. See you there folks!

Update #1
Luger, the promotor, has released an official announcement.

Update #2
You don't need to wait until Friday 30th April as the Dalhalla website says to get your tickets. There's a presale going on right NOW over at ArcadeFire.com

Update #3
Magnus: How do you think the gig at Dalhalla will be, considering it's seated?
Joel: At the front sections and up against the rail pretty much no one will be sitting down. Everyone will go crazy. Me and my friends included. We will be jumping, singing along, dancing and looking giddy the entire show. I urge everyone to do the same and join us. Let's make this as fun as it possibly can be. I know for a fact Arcade Fire wants everyone to sing along and clap and really connect with them on stage and not just sit there. Let's go!! :)

Update #4
People between 6-19 years old or students with Mecenat cards can NOT get free tickets from Dalhalla's website tomorrow when the tickets go on general sale to the public at 10:00 CET (10am CET). It was a mistake by the venue organizers which has now been corrected on their website. Those tickets will apparently cost just as much as the other tickets.

Update #5
Tickets now on general sale from either ArcadeFire.com or Dalhalla.se

Sweden? YES! Way Out West? No.

2010-04-27T20:49:00.004+02:00

There's been lots of speculation whether or not Arcade Fire will play Way Out West in Gothenburg, Sweden following the confirmation from Arcade Fire's manager Scott Rodger the band is coming to Sweden and that an announcement should be made sometime early this week. Well, tomorrow Way Out West are announcing the latest batch of bands and Arcade Fire are NOT among them.

This is so awesome I don't know what to do with myself because this should mean Arcade Fire are going to do a proper outdoor show (not a festival show) somewhere in Sweden. Stockholm has been ruled out.

Lately they have been looking at outdoor parks, city squares and fields in other countries where about 2-3,000 people could rock out. Would imagine something like that would be the case here too.

Bring on the announcement! Will probably happen when the new website is relaunched.

Arcade Fire dot com soon to be relaunched

2010-04-27T18:09:00.010+02:00

Looks like some last minute testing is under-way before they unleash the beast. Scott Rodger last week mentioned the website was soon to be revealed. Stay tuned.

Arcade Fire.com

*Update #1*
The log-in post is gone now.

*Update #2: April 28th, 01:00 CET*
Further updates. Nothing major though. CrowdSurge seems to be the company dealing with all ticket sales now. Not just for I-Day Festival in Italy.

Arcade Fire confirmed for Festival d'ete de Quebec 2010

2010-04-27T17:58:00.002+02:00

Arcade Fire are now confirmed to play Festival d'ete de Quebec (Québec City's Summer Festival) on July 12th. More details after the jump.

Festival d'ete de Quebec: Arcade Fire

Update: Scenes from the Suburb wrap party

2010-04-26T00:15:00.008+02:00

ATX Event Systems just tweeted this.

RT @atxeventsystems: 4/25/10: The Arcade Fire @ Austin Film Studios. 10:30pm. http://bit.ly/9orVNx

I'm not sure what it means really. I don't know if it's open to the public. But if you're down in Austin, TX it might be well worth checking out.

This post will be updated as/if more info is made available.

*Update*
The event is a wrap party for the short film Arcade Fire and Spike Jonze have been working on. The party is a private event. Sorry folks.

Spike Jonze & Arcade Fire - Scenes from the Suburb

2010-04-24T02:04:00.001+02:00

Told you guys a few days ago the short film's working title is likely "Scenes from the Suburb". Today I was told a production assistant said to look for the film in mid-August (thanks Lacey!). Would make perfect sense with how I see Arcade Fire go about releasing their new album.

Yesterday I found the casting call for the short film Spike Jonze and the band are collaborating on. It includes some pretty interesting facts like how long the shooting down in Austin will continue for and characters needed for the short film. Most eye-catching is probably that Jonze is looking for people with a "suburban look". Draw your own conclusions.

Paid Extras Casting Call For Spike Jonze Short Film in Austin, Texas

Posted By: Chris Weidner Category: Austin, Casting/Crew Calls

Paid Extras Casting Call For Spike Jonze Short Film in Austin, Texas.

Studio/Independent/Student: Studio
Project Type: Short Film
Location: Austin, Texas
Schedule: April 20 – April 26, 2010

Director: Spike Jonze

Character Breakdowns:
Extras Needed:

* MILITARY: Men and women (over 18) with a military background or who look convincingly military. Any ethnicity. All body types considered. Especially need bigger/tougher looking men.
* MOTHER: Age 40-60. Need frail/thin. Small.
* TRUCKERS: Truck Drivers or those with a trucker look. Bigger guys. Facial hair okay. Age 25-55.
* BUSINESSMEN: Corporate business types. Confident, capable. Age 40-55.
* TOWNSPEOPLE: All ages and ethnicities. Especially looking for those with a middle class or suburban look.

Day rate for all roles is $58/8, except for Mother, who is $100/12

Paid/Non-Paid: Paid
Meals/Transportation Provided: Meal, Beverages

CONTACT:
If you are interested in working with us, please email your NAME, BEST CONTACT PHONE NUMBER, and a RECENT PHOTOGRAPH to SarahCasting@gmail.com

Please tell us which category above you think you’re right for (MILITARY, TOWNSPERSON, etc) and put that IN THE SUBJECT LINE of your email. Please also tell us which days between APR 20 and APR 26 you are available.

Paid Extras Casting Call For Spike Jonze Short Film in Austin, Texas

Album of the Year (thus far)

2010-04-23T17:30:00.007+02:00

The National's new album High Violet is sensational. Album of the year so far by a landslide. I think this record will eclipse both Alligator and Boxer for me with more listens. Richard Reed Parry's heavy involvement is very noticable which of course is a very good thing. Read more about his contribution in this post. Can't wait until I get my deep deep dark purple vinyl copy. Bliss.

Stream High Violet in its entirety.

Thank you muchly, The National!

Friday bulletins

2010-04-23T13:44:00.009+02:00

Today from 8:30am EST (local times around the planet) the new album High Violet from The National will be streaming over at New York Times "in its intended level of quality". I can't tell you all how strongly I suggest you all give this a listen, or twenty-six! Richard Reed Parry has contributed heavily to the record. The album will come out on May 11th on 4AD.
Arcade Fire's Richard Reed Parry and The National's Aaron Dessner working on the debut album from Little Scream. Read more about it in this article.
Rumour has it that Arcade Fire will play two nights at Webster Hall, New York in June.
Arcade Fire are currently looking for outdoor places to play with capacity for approx. 2-3,000 people.
Check out some great photos from last night's The Luyas show. Arcade Fire's violinist Sarah Neufeld is playing with them on tour right now. Looks like a very special and wonderful gig.

Arcade Fire coming to Sweden!!

2010-04-22T17:14:00.004+02:00

Arcade Fire's awesome manager Scott Rodger has confirmed the band is coming to Sweden. An announcement should be made early next week as to where and when. A Stockholm date is however ruled out.

I'd say the festival Way Out West in Gothenburg is a good bet.

*Edit*
Just to clarify: I'm only guessing Way Out West could be where they'll play based on their schedule and a few other things, but there are numerous other possibilities. Not even sure it's a festival date.

Arcade Fire show(s) in Dublin & other tidbits

2010-04-22T15:55:00.004+02:00

Scott Rodger last night confirmed Arcade Fire are coming to Dublin, Ireland this year. Could be those dates at the O2 Jim Carroll hinted at earlier.
The new official website will soon be launched.
Shows will be announced weekly on ArcadeFire.com
Arcade Fire will come to Spain later in the year.
There will be some more UK shows announced, but not many.
A date in Finland this time around may well be on the cards.
There's a presale for Ottawa Bluesfest here. Promo code: place
Presale also for Arcade Fire at I-Day Festival in Bologna, Italy. No code needed.

The Rodgman delivers excitement!

2010-04-21T19:20:00.002+02:00

Arcade Fire's manager Scott Rodger just tweeted this.

Arcade Fire live dates will be announced weekly. Best to check in with http://www.arcadefire.com for details. New site launching soon.

Are we excited?
That's what I thought.

ArcadeFire.com update

2010-04-21T15:48:00.006+02:00

Arcade Fire's official website has been updated with all confirmed festival shows to date.

SHOWS

Hove Festival, Arendal, NORWAY, Friday July 2nd
http://www.hovefestival.com/

Rock Werchter, Werchter, BELGIUM, Sunday 4th July
http://www.rockwerchter.be

Oxegen, Dublin, IRELAND, Friday 9th July
http://www.oxegen.ie

Ottawa Bluesfest, Ottawa, CANADA, Tuesday 13th July
http://www.ottawabluesfest.ca

Osheaga Festival, Montreal, CANADA, Saturday 31st July
http://www.osheaga.com

Lollapalooza, Chicago, USA, Sunday 8th August
http://www.lollapalooza.com

Leeds Festival, Leeds, UK, Friday 27th August
http://www.leedsfestival.com

Reading Festival, Reading, UK, Saturday 28th August
http://www.readingfestival.com

Rock En Seine, Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, FRANCE, Sunday 29th August
http://www.rockenseine.com

I-DAY Festival, Bologna, Italy, Thursday Sep 2nd 2010
Pre-sale link: http://crowdsurge.com/arcadefire

ArcadeFire.com

Would this mark the end of the festival shows announcements? Guess we'll soon find out.

Confirmed: Arcade Fire headline Ottawa Bluesfest 2010

2010-04-21T14:35:00.003+02:00

The lineup for the Ottawa Bluesfest was released this morning and unsurprisingly Arcade Fire are among the headliners. The band will play on the mbna stage on July 13.

Ottawa Bluesfest 2010

Scenes from the Suburb

2010-04-20T19:35:00.002+02:00

The title, or at least working title, on the short film Spike Jonze and Arcade Fire are collaborating on could quite possibly be "Scenes from the Suburb", which would make sense for a lot of reasons. This postcard being one of them. The suburban theme/direction on the new album seems a certain at this point.

Spike Jonze makes things better

2010-04-20T12:52:00.005+02:00

Director: Spike Jonze. Insane music video, but oh so awesome!

Confirmed: Arcade Fire headline I-Day Festival 2010

2010-04-19T14:31:00.003+02:00

Official confirmation came through this morning, Arcade Fire will headline I-Day Festival on September 2nd. The festival is held in Arena Parco Nord in Bologna, Italy. More info after the jump.

I-Day Festival: Arcade Fire

Presale: Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire coming to Italy

2010-04-18T14:45:00.004+02:00

The Italian booking agency Indipendiente have on their twitter and facebook announced Arcade Fire are coming to Italy. The city and date will soon be announced. My Italian is non-existent, but it could be the band will play in Bologna on September 2nd.

From what I gather though that specific date/city is far from a certain at this point.

*Edit*
Was just informed it's very very likely that Arcade Fire are indeed playing in Bologna, Italy on September 2nd.

Special shows on the horizon

2010-04-17T15:29:00.000+02:00

The man who's always in the know, Arcade Fire's manager Scott Rodger, yesterday let us know some smaller, special shows will soon be announced. Best news all week.

Continue to stand with Haiti

2010-04-15T23:21:00.006+02:00

Arcade Fire: Help Haiti Build Back Better After the Earthquake — Support Partners In Health

http://act.pih.org/buildbackvid

As a nation recovers from January's devastating earthquake, Arcade Fire and Partners In Health ask you to Stand With Haiti to rebuild the schools, hospitals, and homes of the Haitian people. Supported by a program of ongoing disaster relief and sustainable development, the people of Haiti won't just build back, but Build Back Better from this tragedy.

On January 12, 2010, Partners In Health was on the ground in Haiti. PIH was able to provide relief and save lives thanks to nearly 25 years' experience working and collaborating with the Haitian government and community. Partners In Health will continue to be there, long after others have left, working for the future of Haiti.

Support PIH: http://act.pih.org/buildbackvid

Please consider making a donation.

The Luyas with Sarah Neufeld

2010-04-15T20:13:00.006+02:00

Quite a few eyebrows were raised when Arcade Fire's violinist Sarah Neufeld wasn't on that postcard. Had she quit the band? Well, I've since not heard anything about her quitting and I bet she was just busy laughing and playing shows with The Luyas. Their debut album is out sometime later this year and now there's a song you can check out. Taken of course from that debut.

~~[MP3] The Luyas - Tiny Head (via Pitchfork)~~

Stream the new LCD Soundsystem album

2010-04-14T16:14:00.012+02:00

LCD Soundsystem's new album This Is Happening is released on the 17th next month. However, you can now stream it in its entirety from their website.

When 'Dance Yrself Clean' really gets going it's quite overwhelming. Can't wait to see them live!

I'm Here by Spike Jonze

2010-04-10T13:13:00.012+02:00

Following the exciting news yesterday Spike Jonze is working with Arcade Fire on a short film I just wanted to make everyone aware of Jonze's wonderful short film "I'm Here" he made available for free not long ago. Trailer:

I'm Here - A Love Story In An Absolut World

Look mom, I'm on Pitchfork!

2010-04-10T01:47:00.017+02:00

Pleasantly surprised. Thanks to everyone who got in touch in different ways and pointed out this to me.

Have a terrific weekend all of you!

Confirmed: Arcade Fire working with Spike Jonze!

2010-04-09T19:55:00.006+02:00

Bliss! Absolute bliss! One of my favourite film directors, Spike Jonze, and Arcade Fire are indeed collaborating on a short film down in Austin, TX. A spokesperson for Spike Jonze today confirmed the ever intensifying speculation by telling MTV News the following.

Spike will be in Austin shooting a short film which is a collaboration with Arcade Fire.

The spokesperson however declined to comment any further on the project. /Film earlier today reported the story revolves around a concept of "friends growing apart" and that Spike Jonze has been casting mostly late teen actors for the project.

MTV News: Arcade Fire, Spike Jonze Collaborating On Film, Rep Confirms

Round 2: Spike Jonze working with Arcade Fire after all...

2010-04-09T16:27:00.017+02:00

So says /Film anyway, despite Arcade Fire's publicist denying it yesterday. They claim on their twitter to have gotten confirmation on this from "the highest possible sources". This is what they are saying in full.

Today I learned that Spike Jonze (Where The Wild Things Are, Being John Malkovich) was casting a secret film project in Austin Texas. Apparently Spike has been casting mostly late teen actors for the project, which is supposedly a story which involves “friends growing apart.”

The only bits of information I’ve been able to uncover from official sources is that the project is another short film. It seems like Spike isn’t off his short film kick just yet (if you haven’t already, check out his robot love story I’m Here and We Were Once a Fairytale starring Kanye West). I also learned that the film is a collaboration with the band Arcade Fire. You might recall that Spike used Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up,” from their 2004 album Funeral, in the trailer for Where The Wild Things Are. No word on the length or what the official title might be. Thanks to /Film reader Sam for the tip.

/Film: Exclusive: Spike Jonze Collaborating with Arcade Fire on New Film

The Playlist also backs up /Film's exclusive saying:

Update: Hmm....we've double checked and /Film's report according to sources up the food chain, appears to be on the money. We're waiting to hear back from our own source before we change our headline, but it appears the line in bold below in our original story is the culprit here. If so we gotta say it's really lame when publicists deny things to those they perceive to be low hanging fruit.

It would make sense that the band are readying promotional videos and material for their forthcoming album, particularly as their summer run of festival dates are looming but we will have to wait and see if the publicist's denial is merely to keep fans at bay until official word comes down the proper channels (most likely), or if its just a dream collaboration that's too good to be true.

The Playlist

Usually both of these sites are correct with their info. So, there you have it. Make up your own minds about it. I know what I believe is true. Stick around for more updates as I get them.

Final update: Spike Jonze working with Arcade Fire

2010-04-08T03:15:00.033+02:00

According to filmmaker John Estrada Arcade Fire are right now down in Austin, TX shooting videos with world famous director Spike Jonze. This makes me so massively excited I'm not sure what to do with myself. Aaaah. I can't tell you all how bad I want this to be the case.

I want to stress that all this has not been confirmed.

*Update #1*
John Estrada has now protected his tweets. He didn't really say anything more though of importance than what I've already told you guys above.

*Update #2*
The guys over at Consequence of Sound have gotten word from Arcade Fire's publicist saying the rumours are untrue. Sad face.

*Final update: 9th April*
It's now of course been confirmed Arcade Fire are indeed collaborating with Spike Jonze.

Maxence Cyrin - No Cars Go

2010-04-07T03:54:00.009+02:00

French pianist Maxence Cyrin has recorded a piano cover of one of Arcade Fire's most beloved songs, No Cars Go. You can find it on his latest album Novö Piano, which you can get here. Or just buy this cover.

Quite beautiful.

US shows coming up!

2010-04-06T11:11:00.000+02:00

Arcade Fire's manager Scott Rodger just revealed following the Lollapalooza announcement more US dates are coming up. I'd imagine these upcoming dates are proper venue shows. Lucky Americans!!

Twitter: Scott Rodger

Confirmed: Arcade Fire to headline Lollapalooza 2010

2010-04-06T11:02:00.005+02:00

It's been a done deal for a very long time. We've all just waited to get the official confirmation. This morning the headlining rumours and educated guesses became facts. Arcade Fire will headline Lollapalooza 2010 in Chicago, IL on Sunday 8th August. The date confirmed by their manager, Scott Rodger.

The other headliners are as I told you guys last week; Soundgarden, Green Day, Lady Gaga, The Strokes and Phoenix. Show me your teeth!

Lollapalooza 2010: Lineup

Lollapalooza: Arcade Fire

Will Butler's postcard to NME

2010-04-04T15:11:00.007+02:00

To get some background to what this is all about read this post from a few days back. The first German-ish bit here at the beginning is the description of the postcard. The reason I'm saying "German-ish" is because it's really not correct German. Anyway, here's the full transcript of the postcard Will wrote to NME.

(Oberzt) Memberzen Arcade Fir mit Hausen.
Carolinicher Institut, Weldplatz

Dear NME,
Greetings from the Commonwealth. We are still hard at work on our new album. We can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel, though it is sometimes hard to tell exactly how far off that light is. If you know what I'm sayin'.

We're feeling confident enough at least, to commit to a major festival or two. We're really looking forward to playing the new songs live. It's been a while.

Playing songs to an audience less familiar with them is a specific challenge that I think this band enjoys. It's like an inventor emerging from his basement after a year's work to show off all his new gadgets, and trying to convince people that these new fangled things will actually improve their lives. Something like that. See you soon, I'm sure.

deine,
Will Butler

I should also point out that the "exclusive artwork" was, just as I suspected and told you guys, that silhouette picture. And as you've just read there's no mention what so ever of Arcade Fire premiering the songs at Reading and Leeds festivals. They will ofcourse not do a whole bunch of festivals prior to those festivals where they'll only play old songs. It's just NME trying to hype their own festival.

Festival rumours

2010-04-01T20:13:00.009+02:00

The new and strong rumour that's been flying around this week is that Arcade Fire will play Ejekt Festival (July 13-14) in Athens, Greece. Another band also on the lineup is supposedly LCD Soundsystem, a band Arcade Fire are close friends with. Stay tuned.

In other news it's now more or less confirmed Arcade Fire will headline Lollapalooza in Chicago, IL after festival organisers put up the lineup with blanks for us to fill in. At the top of the bill, right next to Lady Gaga (haha!), we ofcourse find Arcade Fire. The top line where the headliners are would read as this: Soundgarden, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, The Strokes and Phoenix. Official announcement on April 6.

Confirmed: Arcade Fire to headline Rock en Seine 2010

2010-03-30T13:59:00.004+02:00

Another very badly kept secret was just made official by the organisers. Arcade Fire will headline Rock en Seine festival in France on August 29. Although the date is yet to be confirmed it's a simple matter of looking at the other dates which have been confirmed so far. August 29 is the only date still not occupied that weekend.

Rock en Seine

Rock en Seine: Arcade Fire

Anyone remember this from the last time they played there in 2007?

Incredible.

NME to reveal new artwork

2010-03-29T23:45:00.009+02:00

Apparently Will has sent NME a postcard (haha!) telling them about the future plans for Arcade Fire. A letter you can read in its entirety in this week's NME magazine, in newsstands from March 31. However, the most exciting thing about it all is Will also aparaently sent them new artwork. Weather it's the album artwork or not remains to be seen, but some kind of artwork will be published in the new edition of the mag. Will also wrote they were "still hard at work" on the new album and "We're really looking forward to playing the new songs live", adding that he currently feels "like an inventor emerging from his basement after a year's work".

NME: Arcade Fire to 'premiere new album' headlining Reading And Leeds Festivals

Can't wait to see what that artwork looks like. Whatever kind of artwork it is. Oh and I feel like I should explain something here. In all likelihood the whole 'premiere new album' thing is just usual NME crappy journalism. What they're trying to say in their own hyperbolic way is that Arcade Fire will play new songs during the Reading and Leeds festivals.

*Edit*
Actually, I think I can fairly safely say the picture/postcard I just added above is the "exclusive artwork" for Arcade Fire's new album NME will reveal in their magazine this week. Another attempt to sell more mags from NME. But it was good this happened, now you all understand just how NME does things. They hyperbole everything they can get their hands on. I learned this the hard way a few years back...

Confirmed: Arcade Fire to headline Reading & Leeds festivals

2010-03-29T20:25:00.004+02:00

The official announcement was just made and the worst kept secret this year is out. Arcade Fire will headline Reading festival on August 28 and its sister festival in Leeds on August 27.

Leeds Festival: Line-up

Reading Festival: Line-up

Richard sings(!) on the new The National album

2010-03-29T02:59:00.002+02:00

You heard me people. Richard Reed Parry from Arcade Fire contributed heavily to the new The National album High Violet, out May 11 on 4AD. The Quietus got to chat with The National's Aaron Dessner and this is what he had to say about it.

"Richie Reed Parry from Arcade Fire is all over the record, I think he’s on six or seven songs. He played guitar and stand-up bass on ‘Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks’, and the big thing he did was that he heard me working on the music for ‘Conversation 16’, and he said, “I have an idea!” So he went in and sang – his father is a choir director so he knows multi-part singing – he sang this seven-part vocal, it’s all him layered. That’s beautiful. He’s this very lovely, unassuming person – when you see someone’s musicality inserted into the room, you’re like, “woah!” And that was great – he was just staying at my house, it wasn’t like we planned to work on it like that.

The Quietus: The National Reveal High Violet Collaborators

I mean, I was super excited about High Violet before. But now... Wow! The National are easily the band I like the most after that Montreal band and the new single Bloodbuzz Ohio is nothing short of sensational.

Bloodbuzz Ohio (official mp3)

2010-03-24T20:04:00.009+01:00

I'm on a bloodbuzz.

Yes, I am.

~~[MP3] The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio (official mp3 via HighViolet.com, 192 kbps)~~

God, I am.

2 new Broken Social Scene songs!

2010-03-23T18:16:00.004+01:00

Stream the new BSS tracks, "Forced To Love" and "All To All", below. The first taster from the new album was ofcourse "World Sick" and while these newer ones don't perhaps sound as great as that fantastic piece of music they're certainly good songs.

Arcade Fire won't be at Glastonbury 2010

2010-03-23T16:22:00.001+01:00

Arcade Fire's manager, Scott Rodger, just confirmed the band will NOT be at this year's Glastonbury festival in England.

It was earlier strongly rumoured that's where Arcade Fire would kick off their upcoming tour, but that rumour has now as you can see been squashed to pieces.

Macy Gray covers "Wake Up"

2010-03-22T18:44:00.001+01:00

Macy Gray covered Arcade Fire's anthem "Wake Up" during her performance at Perez Hilton's SXSW show a couple of days ago.

Verdict: Totally different vibe from what I guess we're all used to. Not saying it's bad for it, but I'm perhaps not convinced it's all that great either. Decent cover.

Confirmed: Arcade Fire to headline Osheaga 2010

2010-03-22T12:51:00.030+01:00

The line-up for Osheaga festival in Montreal, Canada was just announced and Arcade Fire are as expected topping the bill. The band will rock Osheaga on Saturday July 31.

Osheaga 2010
Osheaga: Arcade Fire

Canadian festivals, ohoy!

2010-03-19T11:23:00.006+01:00

Waking up this morning to great news from the Montreal paper Le Devoir. They claim Arcade Fire will headline Osheaga festival (July 28 - August 1) in Canada. But they're not done bring us good news just yet. They are also saying the band will play during the Quebec City Summer Festival (July 8 - 18).

Le Devoir: Arcade Fire à Osheaga (in French)

Really glad to see Arcade Fire being linked with some Canadian shows now. I remember Jeremy feeling bad about not playing enough shows during the Neon Bible tour on home soil.

*Edit*
I hear the line-up for Osheaga will officially be announced next Monday (March 22).

The news is...

2010-03-18T12:13:00.003+01:00

...that there is no news. Let's go burn some bridges. And maybe even break some hearts.

then I'll dig a tunnel from my window to yours

2010-03-14T21:56:00.006+01:00

Sometimes it just hits you exceptionally hard what a masterpiece this song is. By many regarded as the song of the last decade. I'm one of those people.

High Violet & Terrible Love

2010-03-11T08:15:00.017+01:00

Really like the album cover! The National also played "Terrible Love" last night, from the new album, on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Very promising!

High Violet is out May 11 on 4AD.

Arcade Fire highly likely to headline Lollapalooza

2010-03-11T00:45:00.001+01:00

Arcade Fire are very very likely to headline Lollapalooza in Chicago. So says both Greg Kot from The Chicago Tribune and now also Time Out Chicago. To add to that one of the bands claimed to headline, The Strokes, just self-confirmed - they are indeed headlining.

The official announcement should be made any day now, they say. Keep checking back.

Arcade Fire confirmed for Rock Werchter 2010

2010-03-09T14:34:00.001+01:00

Arcade Fire will play the Main Stage at Rock Werchter festival in Belgium on Sunday, July 4. The organisers just confirmed it. This is fun fun fun!

Rock Werchter: Arcade Fire

Confirmed: Arcade Fire to headline The Hove Festival

2010-03-09T12:40:00.005+01:00

News came in this morning Arcade Fire are confirmed to headline The Hove Festival in Norway on July 2. This is the second date announced of course following yesterday's Oxegen confirmation.

Hovefestivalen: Arcade Fire

I've just heard they will play Latitude festival in England, but no official word on that just yet. Stay tuned!

*Edit*
Turned out that the Latitude rumour was false. Arcade Fire will not be at Latitude this year.

Confirmed: Arcade Fire to headline Oxegen 2010

2010-03-08T11:53:00.017+01:00

Here we go! The first show of the upcoming tour this summer was just announced. Arcade Fire will headline Oxegen Festival in Ireland, July 9 to 11. It's said they'll top the bill on the first night, July 9, but that is yet to be confirmed.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, March 12, at 8am (GMT).

facebook.com/Oxegen

My reaction to this was naturally a big 'Wooooaaaaahhh!!'. Mainly because the date is a lot earlier than expected. I know most Irish festival goers were hoping they'd play Electric Picnic instead though. The chances of that happening now seem very very slim at best.

*Edit*
Arcade Fire will indeed headline Oxegen on the Friday night, July 9.

*Edit 2*
Irish Times' Jim Carroll says the Oxegen deal includes a few shows at the O2 in Dublin later on.

Take Away Show - Special Edition

2010-03-07T23:23:00.010+01:00

Vincent Moon has put up Arcade Fire's almost legendary Take Away Show from back in 2007. Slightly different edited and now also in HD. Watch it here in HD or below in very high quality.

High Violet

2010-03-05T12:58:00.012+01:00

The National's new album is called "High Violet" and is out May 11. I've had some reliable info come my way this is a contender for album of the year. All this makes me unnervingly happy.

HighViolet.com

Official: Arcade Fire to announce festival dates

2010-03-04T13:43:00.002+01:00

Arcade Fire's manager Scott Rodger just let us know, via his twitter, the following.

RT @scottrodger: Arcade Fire about to announce some UK and international festival dates. the fun shows will be announced on the day

YES YES YES!! It's happening people!

Arcade Fire NOT covering Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers"

2010-03-02T21:46:00.001+01:00

"UPDATE: According to Arcade Fire's publicist, The New York Times incorrectly reported that the band is covering "Games Without Frontiers". The band is not covering that song. It is unclear if they are covering another Peter Gabriel song or not participating in the project at all."

Pitchfork: Arcade Fire NOT Covering Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers"

Arcade Fire covering Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers"

2010-03-02T12:05:00.017+01:00

New York Times has an article up this morning about Peter Gabriel's song swap project where he first did a cover of Arcade Fire's "My Body Is A Cage" on his new album Scratch My Back. Now the turn has come for Arcade Fire to cover one of Mr. Gabriel's songs. And according that NY Times article Arcade Fire has been working on "Games Without Frontiers". I can't really say I'm all that familiar with the song so I've embedded it below as much for my own interest as anything else.

~~New York Times: Peter Gabriel Says, ‘I’ll Sing Yours, You Sing Mine’~~

~~First impression is that the song sounds like one which Arcade Fire could really make their own. So that's good.~~

"UPDATE: According to Arcade Fire's publicist, The New York Times incorrectly reported that the band is covering "Games Without Frontiers". The band is not covering that song. It is unclear if they are covering another Peter Gabriel song or not participating in the project at all."

Pitchfork: Arcade Fire NOT Covering Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers"

Arcade Fire headlining Reading & Leeds festivals?

2010-03-01T20:53:00.004+01:00

Today eFestivals went on record saying they "fully expect" Arcade Fire to headline Reading & Leeds festivals. eFestivals are usually very reliable and the timing of the festival looks good in respect to what Billions have said about their touring plans.

Word reaches the eFestivals basement that at Reading and Leeds festivals this year you'll get to see....

Arcade Fire - returning after a few years, this time we understand that they're set to headline.

Blink 182 - after a few years away, these guys are back and we understand that this year they'll be taking one of the top slots.

And finally, the act we're least sure of but believe are the third headliner are My Chemical Romance.

As we always say with information like this, these acts are not officially confirmed, and there's the possibility that the information we've given above is wrong. We are however confident that the information we've received is good and that we fully expect to see at least two of the above (Blink 192 & Arcade Fire) confirmed as headliners later this month.

Reading Festival takes place on the bank holiday weekend, from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th August at Little Johns Farm, Richfield Avenue, Reading, Berkshire, with the sister event, Leeds Festival, taking place the same wekend at Bramham Park, Leeds, West Yorkshire.

http://www.efestivals.co.uk/news/10/100301f.shtml

So, while I'd pay to not have to see the other two headliners it might just be worth enduring those bands for Arcade Fire alone, especially if you live in the area.

Jonathan Demme's Arcade Fire documentary that never was

2010-02-26T15:12:00.004+01:00

In an interview with The Boston Phoenix the very talented director Jonathan Demme revealed he would have been in Haiti right now shooting a 'music driven' documentary with Arcade Fire, if the horrible earthquake hadn't happened.

I was heading for Haiti last Friday with the band Arcade Fire. We were going to do a music driven, kind of music documentary, against a backdrop of carnival in Jacmel - the great, now devastated, south coast Haitian city. We had our final conference call the morning of the day the quake struck. We were gonna go down anyway until we realized we can't really get there. My personal feeling was, those who go down two months or three months from now, with a specific mission in mind, will be valuable in their own way, as the people that are going now. So I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go within the next six months, but I haven't been yet.

Interview with Coolidge Award Winner Jonathan Demme

Really doubt something will come out of this now. Sounds like it could have been something truly amazing.

Argh.

New Broken Social Scene song!!!

2010-02-19T15:50:00.028+01:00

Oh yes! The first taster from Broken Social Scene's new album Forgiveness Rock Record, out May 4th, is called "World Sick". Absolutely love it. Never knew I was this into forgiveness rock!

BrokenSocialScene.ca

Arcade Fire to headline Lollapalooza?

2010-02-17T14:26:00.007+01:00

A man with supposedly very good insight at how the Lollapalooza booking process is progressing, Chicago Tribune's music critic Greg Kot, last night posted the following on his blog.

Lollapalooza 2010 headliners near confirmation: Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, Strokes, Soundgarden, Green Day
The Lollapalooza rumor mill has been buzzing for weeks, and five of the six headliners are nearing confirmation for the Aug. 6-8 festival in Grant Park, according to music-industry sources with knowledge of the negotiations: Lady Gaga, a reunited Soundgarden, Green Day, Arcade Fire and the Strokes.

Gaga, Soundgarden and Green Day were named Tuesday by the Daily Swarm, a music Web site that cited “multiple industry sources” in its report.

The Tribune has learned from its own sources that negotiations are progressing with Arcade Fire and the Strokes. The Lollapalooza lineup also will include several coveted rising bands, including Yeasayer, the xx, and Dirty Projectors, as well as veteran dance-oriented acts Cut Copy and Hot Chip, sources have confirmed.

A representative for Texas-based Lollapalooza promoters C3 Presents would not comment on any of the reports.
Lollapalooza 2010 headliners near confirmation

Hard to say how likely this is to be true. But the man apparently often is very well informed on these things and has been reliable in the past. The timing of the festival (6-8th August) is certainly within the time frame Billions set out earlier this year for them to start the tour. My main doubt about it at this point is I've always imagined them starting the tour with a whole bunch of shows of their own before doing any festival dates. Ah well, we'll see if anything comes out of this. The official confirmation of the headliners isn't expected to happen until sometime in April.

Fun fact, in contrast to all the rumour talk above; Lady Gaga played Lollapalooza in 2007. I bet a few more will see her this time around if she indeed makes her way back there this year. ha!

Musicvideos worthy of your time

2010-02-12T16:09:00.005+01:00

Jónsi - Go Do

Gorgeous video and a great song. High hopes for the upcoming album.

Massive Attack - Splitting the Atom

Sickening! Favourite musicvideo of the year so far.

Zzz Zzzz Zzzzzz

2010-02-12T15:00:00.001+01:00

Yeah, another week of basically no news what so ever. Instead it's a "joel-remembers-the-good-old-days-when-Arcade-Fire-was-touring-Friday".

A Win is a Win is a win.

Energy!

Atmosphere!

NFL Super Bowl montage scored to Wake Up

2010-02-08T04:41:00.019+01:00

NFL - Best Fans on the Planet

Tastefully done I think. Arcade Fire shouldn't feel bad at all about licensing Wake Up to NFL so Partners In Health can continue their fantastic work on Haiti. As you know, they're giving all proceeds from the use of Wake Up during Super Bowl 44 to Partner In Health's Haiti relief efforts. A couple of more montages was also used, will put up links to those when I find them.

*Edit*
The other two montages: "NFL seasons of change" and "Peyton Manning draft".

University of Guelph Lipdub - Rebellion (Lies) by Arcade Fire

2010-02-06T14:31:00.005+01:00

Remember that I Gotta Feeling video? These Guelph students do. Try not to smile when watching this! I know I atleast had a big grin on my face.

Wake Up during Super Bowl XLIV

2010-02-03T21:24:00.019+01:00

As I've mentioned on here before Arcade Fire decided a while ago to take licensing request for their music for a limited period of time to raise money for Partners In Health and their work on Haiti. Well, look at what was just published over at Merge Records, Arcade Fire's record label.

Arcade Fire license “Wake Up” to NFL;
100% of proceeds to benefit Partners in Health
February 3, 2010 – 6:59 pm

Arcade Fire, Partners in Health, the NFL, Merge Records and Bank Robber Music have collectively agreed upon a unique 100% for charity Super Bowl licensing of “Wake Up” from Arcade Fire’s 2004 album Funeral. All proceeds from the use of the song on the live Superbowl broadcast and subsequent airings on the NFL Network will go directly to Partners In Health’s Stand With Haiti relief efforts.

For further information on Partners In Health’s efforts regarding the Haiti crisis, go to StandwithHaiti.org or visit ArcadeFire.com.

So if you didn't already plan on watching Super Bowl XLIV this Sunday, you better watch now. You know you want to!

As good opportunity as any to post this yet again.

Joanna is my February drug

2010-02-01T12:47:00.033+01:00

Joanna Newsom has a new album, 3 discs(!), named 'Have One On Me' coming out on the 23rd of this month. The lovely song '81 below is the first taster off the new record and if most tracks are of this quality I'll be most pleased.

Pre-order: Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me

*Edit*
Here's another new song called 'Good Intentions Paving Company'. Good fun!

Luke Yocum update

2010-01-29T15:18:00.006+01:00

I've just received word from Arcade Fire's management that my previous post about Luke Yocum doing Arcade Fire's new album art is "completely false". I'm sorry if anyone feels misled, I was just passing on the info Luke Yocum himself put out on his twitter and facebook.

Don't think Luke Yocum and I will be having a cup of tea together anytime soon...

Stream the new The Knife album!

2010-01-28T17:52:00.011+01:00

Tomorrow, In A Year

Now that you've been mindblown, go and download the album over at theknife.net.

Oh happy day!

Un! Deux! Trois! Dis: Miroir Noir - Black Mirror!

2010-01-27T15:33:00.010+01:00

Tracy Maurice, who made this music video for Arcade Fire, put it up on Vimeo the other week here. The song has been stuck in my head ever since. Really like the creepy video also.The awesome interactive version can ofcourse still be found over at rorriMkcalB.com

Arcade Fire Haiti Benefit Posters

2010-01-27T14:52:00.006+01:00

Came across this last night. Nice gesture from Arcade Fire.

ARCADE FIRE HAITI BENEFIT

Some of you may know about Arcade Fire’s long relationship with the country of Haiti. The group’s co-founder Régine Chassagne’s family emigrated from Haiti before she was born in Canada and her Haitian heritage shines through in songs such as “Haiti” and in the group’s ongoing efforts to support non-profit organizations working in Haiti.

We dug through our archives and were able to dig up some extra copies from the original run of Arcade Fire Spring 2007. We will be selling twenty (20) complete sets of the four posters this Thursday at 2pm. All proceeds will be donated to Partners in Health, Arcade Fire’s preferred charity organization.

The prints will be sold in complete sets of four.
We are unable to offer matching numbers.

$120 + $10 shipping US / $20 international at Burlesque Design
If you would like to make a direct donation to Partners in Health, you can do that right here.

Scratch My Back bonus disc

2010-01-27T14:28:00.010+01:00

Peter Gabriel will release a Special Edition of his Scratch My Back album that comes with a bonus disc. On it is an alternate version of My Body Is A Cage. Full tracklisting for the bonus disc as follows:

1. 'The Book of Love' (Remix)
2. 'My Body is a Cage' (Oxford London Temple Version)
3. 'Waterloo Sunset' (Oxford London Temple Version)
4. 'Heroes' (Wildbeest Mix)

Might be worth checking out if you like the album version he did.

It's also been confirmed that each month during 2010 a 'double A-side' will be released from the project on the iTunes Store. One song taken from Peter Gabriel's covers and the other a song from one of the artists covering a Peter Gabriel song (you remember this is a song swap project, right? I'll cover you, you'll cover me - that sort of thing). First out is Gabriel's cover of The Magnetic Fields 'The Book of Love', the flip side will be Stephin Merritt's (The Magnetic Fields) cover of 'Not One of Us'. I wonder which Peter Gabriel song Arcade Fire will cover.

Peter Gabriel - My Body Is A Cage

2010-01-22T13:35:00.006+01:00

I have to say the song sounded to me much more promising from that preview. I can't find a way into this version. Maybe in time I will. Anyway, you can also stream it over at Stereogum and read a bit about what Peter Gabriel thinks about Arcade Fire and some other bits and pieces surrounding the Scratch My Back album.

Peter Gabriel covers Arcade Fire (Stereogum Premiere)

Heartland

2010-01-21T14:03:00.028+01:00

Owen Pallett's latest album is by far his most consistently amazing recording to date. There's not an average song on Heartland. It's pretty much all I'm listening to - along with Joanna Newsom's The Milk-Eyed Mender. If any album will be better than Heartland this year it has to be something truly remarkable *cough*Arcade Fire*cough*. At the minute I'm particularly awestruck on "Lewis Takes Off His Shirt" and "Keep The Dog Quiet", but ask me again in a few and I'll surely name two other songs. Can't recommend Heartland enough. So with that said, listen to the entire album belooooow. I dare say you won't regret it.

Arcade Fire are taking licensing requests

2010-01-20T18:52:00.005+01:00

Bank Robber Music just announced the following via their twitter.

**Arcade Fire are taking licensing requests for the next 10 days with proceeds going to Haiti relief org., Partners In Health. Hit us up!**

This is the first time Arcade Fire have publicly stated they'll consider offers to use their music in movies, films, tv series etc etc. But as stated above, only for the next 10 days and only to help raise money to Partners In Health so they can continue their tremendous work in Haiti following last week's devastating earthquake.

Win in the latest issue of Rolling Stone

2010-01-20T14:20:00.004+01:00

Arcade Fire's Anthems for a New Generation: Win Butler Q&A

Régine talks to BBC News Hour

2010-01-18T16:41:00.003+01:00

Arcade Fire's ever-amazing Régine Chassagne talks to BBC News Hour about Haiti and the incredible work Partners In Health do in the extremely poor country.

[MP3] Régine Chassagne - talks about Haiti and Partners In Health

www.StandWithHaiti.org/Haiti

Somewhere in my heart, it's the end of the world

2010-01-17T03:54:00.007+01:00

Régine Chassagne writes in today's the Guardian about Haiti. I can't find the words to describe how disheartened I feel having just minutes ago read it so I'll let the article speak well and truly for itself.

I let out a cry, as if I'd heard everybody I loved had died
In a moving response to the earthquake, a Haitian singer demands that her homeland isn't once again abandoned by the west

Régine Chassagne
The Observer, Sunday 17 January 2010

Somewhere in my heart, it's the end of the world.

These days, nothing is funny. I am mourning people I know. People I don't know. People who are still trapped under rubble and won't be rescued in time. I can't help it.

Everybody I talk to says the same thing: time has stopped.

Simultaneously, time is at work. Sneakily passing through the cracks, taking the lives of survivors away, one by one.

Diaspora overloads the satellites. Calling families, friends of families, family friends. Did you know about George et Mireille? Have you heard about Alix, Michaelle etc, etc? But I know that my personal anguish is small compared to the overwhelming reality of what is going on down there.

When it happened I was at home in Montreal, safe and cosy, surfing the internet, half randomly, like millions of westerners. Breaking news: 7.0 earthquake hits Haiti near Port-au-Prince.

Such emotion came over me. My breath stopped. My heart sank and went straight into panic mode. I knew right away that the whole city is in no way built to resist this kind of assault and that this meant that thousands were under rubble. I saw it straight away.

I ran downstairs and turned on the television. It was true. Tears came rushing right to my eyes and I let out a cry, as if I had just heard that everybody I love had died. The reality, unfortunately, is much worse. Although everything around me is peaceful, I have been in an internal state of emergency for days. My house is quiet, but I forget to eat (food is tasteless). I forget to sleep. I'm on the phone, on email, non-stop. I'm nearly not moving, but my pulse is still fast. I forget who I talked to and who I told what. I leave the house without my bag, my keys. I cannot rest.

I grew up with parents who escaped during the brutal years of the Papa Doc regime. My grandfather was taken by the Tonton Macoutes and it was 10 years before my father finally learnt he had been killed. My mother and her sister returned home from the market to find their cousins and friends murdered. She found herself on her knees in front of the Dominican embassy begging for her life in broken Spanish. Growing up, I absorbed those stories, heard a new version every year; adults around the dinner table speaking in creole about poor Haiti.

When I was growing up, we never had the money to return. Even if we had, my mother never could go back. Until she died, she would have nightmares about people coming to "take her away". My mum passed away before she could meet my future husband, or see our band perform and start to have success, and though I have dreamed of her dancing to my music, I know she would have been very worried to hear that I was travelling to Haiti for the first time last year.

It is strange that I was introduced to my country by a white doctor from Florida called Paul Farmer who speaks perfect Creole and knows how to pronounce my name right. He is the co-founder of an organisation titled Partners in Health (Zanmi Lasante in Creole). There are several charity organisations that are doing good work in Haiti – Fonkoze is a great micro-lending organisation – but in terms of thorough medical care, follow-up and combining of parallel necessary services (education, sanitation, training, water, agriculture), there is none that I could recommend more than Partners in Health. It takes its work for the Haitian people very seriously and, indeed, most of the staff on the ground are Haitian. PIH has been serving the poorest of the poor for more than 20 years with a curriculum that really astounded me, given the limited resources available in the area.

Visiting its facilities, I was overwhelmed by, and impressed with, the high-level, top-quality services provided in areas where people own next to nothing and were never given the opportunity to learn how to sign their own name. I was delightfully shocked to see the radically positive impact it has had in the communities it serves. Of course, during my visit, I saw some clinics and hospitals that were at different stages than others, but through it all, I could clearly see that PIH staff are very resourceful and set the bar extremely high for themselves. I know that, right now, they are using their full capacities to save as many lives as possible.

So in these critical times where death comes every minute, I urge you to donate to Partners in Health (www.pih.org) and be as generous as you can. I know from having talked to some staff that they are on the ground right now, setting up and managing field hospitals as well as receiving the injured at their clinics in the surrounding areas.

I realise that by the time you read this it will be Sunday. The cries will have died out and few miracles will remain possible. But the suffering survivors should not be abandoned and should be treated with the best care countries like ours can offer.

Many Haitians expect to be let down. History shows they are right to feel that way. Haitians know that they have been wronged many, many times. What we are seeing on the news right now is more than a natural disaster. This earthquake has torn away the veil and revealed the crushing poverty that has been allowed by the west's centuries of disregard. That we must respond with a substantial emergency effort is beyond argument, but in the aftermath, Haiti must be rebuilt.

Ultimately, we need to treat Haiti with compassion and respect and make sure that the country gets back on its feet once and for all. Haiti's independence from France more than two centuries ago should be thought of as one of the most remarkable tales of freedom; instead, she was brought to her knees by the French and forced to pay a debt for the value of the lost colony (including the value of the slaves: the equivalent of $21bn by current calculations). We cannot overestimate the strength and resilience of the brave people living in this country whose ancestors had to buy their own bodies back.

The west has funded truly corrupt governments in the past.

Right now, in Haiti, there is a democratically elected government.

Impossibly weak, but standing.

This is the moment where we need to show our best support and solidarity.

Since Haiti shook and crumbled, I feel as if something has collapsed over my head, too. Miles away, somehow, I'm trapped in this nightmare. My heart is crushed. I've been thinking about nothing else.

Time has stopped – but time is of the essence.

So I've been sitting here at my computer, food in the fridge, hot water in the tap, a nice comfy bed waiting for me at some point… but…

Somewhere in my heart, it's the end of the world.

Régine Chassagne is a member of the rock band Arcade Fire

The Guardian | I let out a cry, as if I'd heard everybody I loved had died

No May release for the new Arcade Fire album

2010-01-16T04:49:00.008+01:00

That's the conclusion you obviously have to draw following what Billboard.com just published.

Arcade Fire, Title TBD (Merge)
Release Date: Second half of 2010

Merge confirms that an Arcade Fire album should be out in the second half of the year

Arcade Fire Album Preview | Billboard.com

Merge is of course Arcade Fire's record label so the info is bound to be accurate.

Get involved!

2010-01-15T04:44:00.003+01:00

Partners In Health just launched

www.StandWithHaiti.org

- please visit and learn how you can help their efforts in Haiti.

Plea for help from Win & Régine of Arcade Fire

2010-01-13T23:54:00.027+01:00

Win & Régine on behalf of Arcade Fire just put up this plea for help on the front page of ArcadeFire.com.

Friends,

Haiti needs your help in her darkest hour.

We just got off the phone with our friends at Partners in Health (Zanmi Lasanté).

Most of the medical infrastructure in Port-au-Prince is down.

Since Partners in Health’s clinics are in situated the surrounding areas and haven’t been damaged, they are mobilizing their resources towards the capital, setting-up field hospitals to treat the injured on the ground.

Also, Paul Farmer (the founder of PIH) is at the UN and has access to the best information on where to direct the money… so for the moment

if you want to help, we suggest sending funds to:

www.pih.org
+ http://www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti

Volunteer Request
If you work in the medical sector, or know someone who does:
Surgical/trauma experience only | Stand With Haiti | Partners In Health

Canadian residents with Roger and Fido cell phones can text HELP to 1291. 5 $ will be directed to Partners In Health’s Haiti emergency fund.

Please be generous as time is of the essence.

love,
Win and Regine

p.s.
these photos convey some of what is going on:
+ www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/01/earthquake_in_haiti.html

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Chers amis,

Haïti a besoin de vous. L’heure est grave.

Nous venons de parler au téléphone à nos amis de Partners In Health (Zanmi Lasanté).

La plupart des infrastructures médicales de Port-au-Prince sont non-opérationelles.
Comme les cliniques de Zanmi Lasanté sont situées dans les régions environnantes et qu’elles n’ont pas été endommagées, une partie du personnel a été mobilisé pour la mise en place d’un hopital de camp à Port-au-Prince.

D’autre part, ces mêmes cliniques ont commencé à recevoir les survivants blessés qui ont réussi à s’échapper de la capitale.

Partners In Health et leur branche haïtienne Zanmi Lasanté ont grandement besoin de vos dons immédiats en argent, ainsi que d’une grande quantité de matériel médical.

Paul Farmer (le fondateur de Partners In Health) travaille présentement avec l’ONU. Il a ainsi un accès crucial aux informations de première ligne en tout ce qui concerne la coordination des efforts sur le terrain.

Si vous voulez aider une organisation intègre et formidable qui se démène pour Haïti depuis plus de 20 ans, nous vous suggérons d’envoyer vos dons à:

www.pih.org
+ http://www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti

Si vous êtes du domaine médical, ou connaissez quelqu’un qui l’est:
How you can help: volunteer and donate supplies | Stand With Haiti | Partners In Health

Nous savons qu’ils sont tout particulièrement à la recherche de personnel médical francophone.

Les résidents canadiens abonnés à Rogers et Fido peuvent envoyer le message texte AIDE à 1291. 5 $ seront acheminés au fond d’urgence pour Haïti de Partners In Health.

Nous vous encourageons à être aussi généreux que vous le pouvez. À ce stade-ci, chaque minute compte.

Sincèrement,
Régine et Win

p.s. ces photos nous montrent une fraction de l’ampleur de la catastrophe
+ www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/01/earthquake_in_haiti.html

Haiti is in pain

2010-01-13T16:22:00.009+01:00

The Boston Globe | The Big Picture | Earthquake in Haiti

Heartbreaking pictures and equally heartbreaking reports flooding in all the time. Haiti is in pain, help Partners In Health help them. Donate what you can.

Haiti needs your help!

2010-01-13T04:21:00.003+01:00

Please consider making a donation to support Partners In Health in their efforts to help the needing following the horrible 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti earlier this evening.

Major earthquake hits Haiti

A major earthquake centered just 10 miles from Port-au-Prince has devastated sections of the city and knocked out telephone communications throughout the country. Reached via email, Partners In Health staff at our facilities in the Central Plateau report that they experienced a strong shock but no major damage or injuries. We are still attempting to establish contact with other PIH facilities and to locate several staff members who were traveling in and around Port-au-Prince.

The earthquake has destroyed much of the already fragile and overburdened infrastructure in the most densely populated part of the country. A massive and immediate international response is needed to provide food, water, shelter, and medical supplies for tens of thousands of people.

In an urgent email from Port-au-Prince, Louise Ivers, our clinical director in Haiti, appealed for assistance from her colleagues in the Central Plateau: "Port-au-Prince is devastated, lot of deaths. SOS. SOS... Temporary field hospital by us at UNDP needs supplies, pain meds, bandages. Please help us."

With our hospitals and our highly trained medical staff in place in Haiti, Partners In Health is already mobilizing resources and preparing plans to bring medical assistance and supplies to areas that have been hardest hit. In Boston, our procurement and development teams are already fielding numerous offers of support and making arrangements to deliver resources as quickly as possible to the places where they are needed most.

You can help us respond to this emergency by making a contribution.

Sign up to recieve email updates about earthquake relief efforts.

Rule of Three by Brantley Gutierrez

2010-01-12T11:16:00.003+01:00

Cool Arcade Fire on stage footage in Rule of Three by Brantley Gutierrez who has has served as personal photographer to Arcade Fire quite frequently. The video below is his entry in Nikon's contest 'Your Day in 140 Seconds or Less'.

Nikon Festival: Rule of Three

Awwww!

2010-01-10T17:31:00.006+01:00

Quite possibly the most adorable thing I've ever seen!

Love how she goes all rockstar there at the end. Too cute. Oh and if anyone is wondering, it was this version of Rebellion (Lies) that she was watching on the TV while rocking out.

The Knife - An Audio Visual Experience

2010-01-07T17:53:00.007+01:00

Still high on The Knife's new track Colouring of Pigeons, mind-melting song! Anyone remember just how stunning these shows were a few years back?
0:50 Pass This On 5:45 The Captain 11:59 We Share Our Mother's Health 16:26 You Make Me Like Charity 20:46 Marble House 25:46 Forest Families 30:09 Kino 35:06 Heartbeats 39:28 Silent Shout 44:52 From Off To On