The Arcade Fire, Funeral

The Arcade Fire, Funeral - All of the songs; rhythm; lyrics are good and complex. Amazing album.

The Arcade Fire, Funeral - I'm sat listening to this in the office and it's making me want to jump up and down and sing along (except I don't know the words yet). What a brilliant album! It's like a poppier version of Bright Eyes, or a rockier version of the Shins, with the occasional female French vocal. This album made so many top 100 album lists in the U.S. last year so it's fantastic that it's finally gotten a UK release so everyone can hear it.

I'm not certain I've properly described the sound because it takes in such a range of styles - the Bjork/Kate Bush-esque female vocals on the softer tracks, the folky, indier stuff, the jangly guitar bits, the nice piano sounds and some more experimental moments as well. This album is going to be one of the best you'll hear this year so go buy it and try and classify it for yourself!

The Arcade Fire, Funeral - After gaining tons of hype, Arcade Fire's Funeral stand as the greatest hyped bands/albums in recent years. The band introduces various instruments throughtout the 10 - track span of Funeral which adds greatly to the songs. Another great feature is the vocals of Win Butlers, they emit a very emotional but pleasant vibe. The lyrics are great and don't amount to the pretentions of other indie bands. These 3 great features gather in the highlight of the Funeral, "Wake Up". Regine Chassagne , Win's wife and fellow band member, lends some Bjork-esque vocals to the mix on the tracks "Haiti" and "In The Backseat". All in all Funeral is personally the greatest music release of 2004, it's hard to ask for much more.