If It's Too Loud...

Arcade Fire is a very well-established act at this point, but I was getting concerned that there was perhaps too much happening with their sound at this point. They're an ambitious act always trying to one-up their previous, and I haven't really enjoyed their more recent output. The more time I spent with Everything Now , though, the more I enjoyed it. There are moments that feel a little over the top, like with "Infinite Content," but this is an album with a bit of a message, and one that might not be apparent unless you're a band that's seen success post-Napster but also pre-streaming. It's no Funeral , but nothing is. Instead, it's an album with a lot of interesting pieces that creates one of the more compelling listens of the year. Songs of Note: "Signs of Life," "Good God Damn," "Put Your Money on Me."

I spent most of my Sunday at a wrestling show instead of working on a new music post, so this has to be abbreviated. That’s a shame, too, for some reasons to note. Anyway: Album of the Week : Arcade Fire - Everything Now : Album of the week, album of the quarter, and probably my frontrunner for album of the year if it holds up as well as the first listen did. Maybe their best effort even if it won’t be iconic the way their first album is or so universally praised like Neon Bible . If you’re avoiding this for any reason at all, don’t. Great Listens This Week : Little Silver - Somewhere You Found My Name : Features members of Hem in some form, this is a really brilliant listen and one that throws some folksy curveballs. Mr. Lif and Akrobatik- Resolution : Absolutely the rap album of the moment for me. Katie Von Schleicher - Shitty Hits : Tongue-in-cheek title, but this is much better than it lets on. Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds From Another Planet : Technically ...

So sue me, I decided to go to bed early on the last off-day for the World Series instead of share this week's new releases early. Like it matters, you're only listening to one of the new things this week anyway... Arcade Fire - Reflektor : The last Radiohead album I really truly enjoyed was Amnesiac , although Hail to the Thief had its moments. A year after Hail to the Thief , Arcade Fire released Funeral , which was one of those indie albums that really served as a launchpad for a new indie movement and pushed the artsy Arcade Fire to unexpected heights. Reflektor is the fourth album from the band, and it feels really Big and Important, which is all well and good, but it's kind of interesting that the band has kind of taken the "somewhat accessible artsy indie sensibility" torch away from Radiohead in the last decade. Each of their albums feels a lot more grandiose than the last, and Reflektor , technically a double album in a world where that means very ...