If you were one of the many Arcade Fire fans not lucky enough to grab tickets to one of the band's Massey Hall shows on May 15 and 16, we can but offer two paltry consolation prizes.
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Torontoist enjoyed Stuart Berman's interview in this week's eye, pitting Max McCabe-Lokos (the Deadly Snakes) and Bry Webb (the Constantines).We're not taking sides in this little "tiff" but we'll gladly go and watch either band this weekend at the Horseshoe. But enough of the friendliness of Canada's indie scene, we think that underneath all this collegiality and 'pat-on-the back' we're all in this together joviality there's some real rage.
In what appeared to be a blind stab at modern fashion, some dude came to last night's Arcade Fire show in a full business suit. From the looks of it, this young man had misinterpreted the tie and blazer w/ jeans trend for all out formal attire. After a few head shakes, Torontoist was quick to remember that he once wore his jeans backwards in grade 6, mimicking his favourite popular musicians at the time. Wait a second. Could it be that this well-intentioned 17-year-old had taken the Arcade Fire's on-stage "funeral wear" and converted it into some new fashion trend? Is this band really wielding that kind of influence? If last night's adoring fans are any indication, the answer is 'yes.'
You’ve heard it here before. You’ve read it in the New York Times and Spin magazine and countless other publications. Montreal is where it’s at and the Arcade Fire is THE Canadian band. Why even bother to offer an adjective, there’s just too many too choose from. The critically-and-David Bowie-acclaimed Arcade Fire is “Canada’s most intriguing rock band,” as declared by this week’s Time Magazine’s Canadian Edition, on newsstands now.
While most of the world has moved on to M.I.A., Torontoist hasn't forgot about that lone handclap in "Rebellions (Lies)" or the Win Butler-as-the-next-Springsteen notion of 2004. But before adding another blog post to the most blogged about band in history, TorIst does throw down a few new tracks for the week...
Quite a kafuffle was made of the "Montreal scene" this past Sunday in the New York Times, so much so that media everywhere are clamoring to keep up with the revelation. But to those in the know, both the Times article and a similar Spin article are somewhat suspect. When Times writer David Carr describes The Dears as goth-pop, fails to identify Nicholas Diamond of the Unicorns or places commas in between the 'yeahs' in the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, he is either doing word-of-mouth research or just carelessly name-dropping. Carr also misses the point on the Stills - stating that Montrealers hate the Stills when really everyone hates the Stills. The real danger of the New York Times piece, however, is that Sunday readers like my father may be tempted to actually listen to Les Georges Leningrad. No, but the REAL danger is that whatever musical "scene" or community in Montreal may be ruined by trend-sniffing industry louts who read said articles and look for the next "thing."
There were few surprises in the Torontoist Single of the Year list, and there are even fewer surprises in our album list. The record of the year spot, even before its release date of Sept. 14, is on lock down with those post-baroque screamo Montrealers, The Arcade Fire. Surprises abound in other lists, but here at Torontoist, we are strictly meat and potatoes, best of the best. Peace on Earth, ba-rump-abump-abump-bump.

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