For some bands, getting recognition for making great music isn’t enough. Arcade Fire fits that description very nicely.
In August of 2010, they released their third studio album called The Suburbs. Win Butler – lead vocalist for Arcade Fire’s – said that the album was not a love letter to the suburbs but rather a “letter from [them].” The album debuted at No. 1 in charts around the world including the UK Album Chart and the U.S.Billboard 200 chart. So it’s no surprise that the album won multiple awards including Best International Album at the 2011 BRIT Awards, the 2011 Polaris Music Prize for best Canadian album and the 2011 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
About a year later, they rereleased The Suburbs which included two brand new tracks called “Culture War” and “Speaking in Tongues” – the latter of which featured David Byrne. That news in itself isn’t very exciting. But where they got fancy was how they recorded it. A.F. pressed each completed track of the album to a 12″ lacquer and recorded it back for the digital master of the album. Because of this little trick, the CD/digital versions of the album sound exactly as if they were being played from a turntable.
See? Making great music just wasn’t enough.
On top of the overwhelmingly praised sound that they produced for the album, they made a GREAT music video for the 15th track of the album called “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains).”
Oh and they’re not done yet! Then they made an interactive music video for the song! If you don’t understand how they did it, go here.
Arcade Fire is one of those bands that strive for their art, not the accolades that may come as a result. And that may be the reason their accolades are beginning to stack up. If you ever have the chance to see Arcade Fire live on tour, you’re in for an experience, to say the least!