EPISODE · Jan 5, 2018 · 23 MIN

Who the Hell is Arcade Fire? Part 2

from Ongoing History of New Music · host Curiouscast

Let’s just say it: Arcade Fire is weird…just about everything they’ve done in their career has been not only unconventional but against the rules… They rarely give interviews…they won’t license their music…they’d rather spend weeks working with the people of Haiti than lounging by a swimming pool somewhere…they won’t even stay on the stage when they perform… Yet whatever they’ve done has worked…junos, Grammy’s, Brits, The Polaris Music Prize…members have had their work nominated for an academy award…humanitarian awards… Critics have fallen all over them for years…they’ve made all the important magazine covers…big name stars all the way up to Chris Martin and U2 and David Bowie have lavished praise on them…and they’re one of the few new rock bands to emerge in the 21st century that is capable of selling out an arena… Okay, so they haven’t sold a gazillion records, but who has these days?...still, they’ve moved several million, which is very respectable…and all those records were made for a small indie label, not a major… Oh—get this: a chunk of the money they’ve big made—a million-dollar chunk—was donated to a Haitian relief organization… There are no reports of legal issues, tabloid scandals, drunken antics, drug use or any kind of anti-social behavior—unless you count it when singer Win Butler gets into foul trouble when he’s playing in a celebrity basketball game… All of this is very good…but in the context of rock’n’roll, it’s very weird… [off mic] how am I supposed to come up with all kinds of juicy bits when there’s nothing at all salacious about these people?...do my best?...what’s that’s supposed to mean?...thanks a lot… All right…let’s see what I can do…this is who the hell is Arcade Fire, part 2… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices