Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

[char]

I really hate chillwave.


(Sorry, I just needed to say that.)

[WhereIsMyMind?]

Originally Posted by NHSuccessStory

With all the chill-wave, glo-fi, pseudo-techno junk going around right now, it seems like Arcade Fire has released a mainstream rock indie album, if you will.

Please tell me that these are not actual genres of music. I have no idea what they would sound like, but they just sound retarded.

[NHSuccessStory]

I made up "pseudo-techno" but the others are terms that have been floating around to describe various forms of music that's become popular in the indie community these past few years. I don't hate chillwave but most of it is repetitive.

[char]

It just takes good styles like lo-fi, shoegaze, and 80s electronic-pop (actually, that style pretty much sucks, although m83 made a decent album of it), removes everything I like about those styles, and leaves the shit.

Imagine lo-fi without the tense, anything-can-happen unpredictability. Or shoegaze without the interesting guitar textures. Throw a mediocre dance beat in, and that's chillwave.

[NHSuccessStory]

This album starts out with three knockout songs but then is peppered with good and mediocre throughout. I still need to listen to it more.

I like "Suburban War" but the guitar sounds like it was sampled from a Byrds b-side.

[BobbleheadCow]

Originally Posted by char

The only agenda Win Butler has placed in this album? I don't think he's a big fan of hipsters.

don't hipsters make up about 99.8% of their listening audience? is this like when lauryn hill said she didn't want white people listening to her music?

[char]

Yeah, pretty much. There's this hilarious review up on sputnikmusic.com where the writer basically cries the whole time, "Win Butler doesn't like me!"

[tgo933]

i like chillwave

and the synths on "sprawl II"? total chillwave move.

[char]

I'd call it more an MGMT move.

Plus, that song is exciting, which therefore makes it impossible to be chillwave.

[NHSuccessStory]

Originally Posted by char

Yeah, pretty much. There's this hilarious review up on sputnikmusic.com where the writer basically cries the whole time, "Win Butler doesn't like me!"

Just finished reading that review. It's hysterically, comically bitter. I guess I don't take the lyrics to mean Win Butler is targeting "Arcade Fire fans." He's targeting "extremely pretentious d-bag hipsters." There's some overlap there, sure. And it's not like EVERY song is about that, anyway.