Our Best of 2013 albums lists by genre continue today with our staff picks for the 20 best of pop and rock music this year. We revealed albums 20-11 on Friday (December 6); today we're unveiling 10-1.
Click next to read through the albums one by one, or use the list below to skip ahead to your favourites.
Top 20 Pop & Rock Albums of 2013, 10-1:
To see more of our Year-End Top Tens, head over to our Best of 2013 section.
10. Braids
Flourish//Perish
(Flemish Eye)
Since Native Speaker, their Polaris-nominated debut, Braids have been through a significant musical evolution. The Calgarian ex-pats downsized to a three-piece, collaborated on an EP with UK techno/electronica producer Max Cooper and, this past Summer, released In Kind//Amends an EP whose electronic sound turned out to be a reliable sign of things to come.
Not only is Flourish//Perish heavier on the synths and composed in Ableton (the electronic producer's software du jour), but throughout the album you can hear the influence of classic Warp IDM-via-Radiohead. Shaking off the often heavy-handed Animal Collective influence that dominated Native Speaker, here, singer Raphaelle Standell-Preston instead channelled influences more suited to her natural voice such as Björk and Bat For Lashes.
Incorporating electronic influences into your sound may be de rigueur, but Braids have approached it from a unquestionably genuine angle — listen to the awesome vocal treatment on "Amends" for example, or the Plaid-like palette of "Juniper" — and it feels like they have found their sound. Flourish//Perish is an intimate and engrossing record, and one that integrates its newfound influences cohesively, as opposed to some artists who appear to have needlessly grafted it on to their sound like a third arm in the centre of their chest. (Vincent Pollard)
9. Mikal Cronin
MCII
(Merge)
Despite having released a rather good debut album back in 2011, Mikal Cronin has been better known as being Ty Segall's sidekick. This is the year that changed that.
Simply put, MCII is as close as anybody got to pop perfection in 2013. Its mix of fuzzed-out guitars, Beach Boy-esque harmonies and Phil Spector-like production is hard to resist, especially when delivered in glorious bite-sized portions, which it does ten times over.
It might only be his second solo album, but the fact that Cronin's spent a decade honing his skills with so many other acts speaks volumes, because everything here is so perfectly realized. The songs are hummable, packed with catchy hooks and never overstaying their welcome, plus the lyrics have just the right amount of melancholy and optimism. There's definitely a sense of maturity, but in the best possible way.
Admittedly, he's hardly reinvented the wheel here, but he has polished that wheel, making it run so smoothly that it's hard to find reason to complain. This is pop for the sake of making great music to share; there's a reason it still sounds so fresh seven months on, and there's every chance that will be true a year from now, too. Miss out at your peril. (Michael Edwards)
8. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Push the Sky Away
(Bad Seed Ltd.)
When Grinderman, Nick Cave's swaggering, sardonic rock project, split up on stage, Cave prophesied the band's eventual return "when we'll be even older and uglier." But on Push the Sky Away, his return to his Bad Seeds persona, Cave proves he still has some romance left to give before completely turning to the dark side.
Now approaching his 60s, Cave once again embraces jubilant, soaring choruses, sinister soundscapes and deep, poetic crooning. Push the Sky Away recalls his prettier, gentler songwriting, a sharp step away from his foray into brutish testosterone-addled blues punk. Meanwhile, Cave's right-hand man Warren Ellis once again fills in the instrumental ether in between the commanding vocals. Utilizing an array of atmospheric textures and seductively brooding loops, Ellis' work almost sounds as if it would be more at home on a film score than a rock album.
Songs such as "We Real Cool" take on a decidedly dramatic tone while Cave's oft-eerie vocals provide a jarring cinematic monologue. And while there is no shortage of reflective brooding — Cave has never shied away from stripping off a piece of his own soul for the amusement of his listeners — Push the Sky Away is nevertheless a satisfying record from a band with a near flawless track record. (Chris Morin)
7. Deerhunter
Monomania
(4AD)
Defined as "a pathological obsession with one idea or subject," monomania was the ideal word to title the sixth Deerhunter album. Frontman Bradford Cox has always exuded an obsessive personality, and what he clearly suffered from making Monomania was music-related; he reportedly tinkered with somewhere between 250 and 600 songs before trimming it down to a dozen.
Over the course of their six-year run that includes five full-lengths and two EPs, Deerhunter have refused to sound like just one band. To many, Monomania was Deerhunter's most fully-formed, fully-realized record yet. Eschewing the dreamier, shoegaze production and the avant-garde tangents, Cox and company attained a sound they fittingly described as "nocturnal garage." Channeling the likes of Bo Diddley and the Ramones, this savage and transformative rock'n'roll blitz came at an unlikely point in their career, as they were on the verge of disbanding after long-time bassist Josh Fauver departed.
Yet, led by Cox's enigmatically intimate words, Deerhunter charged through with a raw mix bolstered by the beatific and beastly "T.H.M.," the jaunty earworm of "Back to the Middle," the fucked up glam racket "Leather Jacket II" and the confrontational, punked-up title track. The intention may have been for Bradford Cox to illustrate his own monomania, but in the end, it was the listener who was experiencing it. (Cam Lindsay)
6. Majical Cloudz
Impersonator
(Arbutus)
Listening to the music of Majical Cloudz is meant to be a slightly uncomfortable experience, but one that leads to enlightenment. This debut album from the Montreal duo of Devon Welsh and Matthew Otto is a stunning display of minimalism, revealing raw emotions out in the open with very little instrumentation clouding its vision.
The very definition of a stripped-down record, Impersonator maximizes each member's strength to create something incredibly minimal, unflinchingly honest and not just vulnerable for the artist, but for the listeners as well.
Otto's sparse electronic arrangements construct airy pockets of keyboards, synth strings and click tracks for Welsh's heavy words to hammer in like an icebreaker. "The cheesiest songs all end with a smile," Welsh sings on highlight "Bugs Don't Buzz," before serving a heart-wrenching reality check: "This won't end with a smile, my love."
Welsh convinces us of his words with Majical Cloudz's most dramatic tool: his voice. His baritone pipes waver with each word while simultaneously standing tall as the selling point of Impersonator, warming us with its intimacy. It shakes us to our core, making the listener feel just as bare and exposed; it's a record that — assuming you can get over the ridiculous spelling of the band name, as many have commented — pays off every moment of discomfort in dividends, making it one of the year's best. (Melody Lau)
5. Iceage
You're Nothing
(Matador)
Iggy Pop has described Iceage as the only current punk band "that sounds really dangerous." On their sophomore album, You're Nothing, it isn't hard to figure out exactly where Iggy's coming from. What sets these sulking Danish punks apart from their contemporaries is their seamless ability to turn dark, negative energy into something entirely exhilarating.
On opener "Ecstasy," frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt shouts about the mundane continuity and pressures of everyday life. It's a bleak and nihilistic track, but beneath its apocalyptic thrash lies an undeniable penchant for melody and lyrical honesty. Rønnenfelt takes clear influence from existential works like Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus when he offers lyrics like "each day another rock upon my head" before resolving that "bliss is momentary anyhow, yet worth living for take me now."
Therein lies the "ecstasy" to which Iceage refers. Rarely does a band sound so emotionally destructive, yet so hopeful; so restrained, yet so loose. You're Nothing is a short album with short songs and, appropriately, at no point does it appear to drag on. Throughout its 12 songs and 28 minutes, You're Nothing is relentlessly desolate and gloomy, yet somehow unceasingly inspiring and passionate.
A lot has been made of the ages of these four Danes, and it will certainly be interesting to see if they can maintain such an impressive aura of youthful passion and anxiety as they continue to progress. In any case, Iceage will for now continue to lead an ever-blossoming Copenhagen punk scene that is one of today's most exciting. (Duncan Boyd)
4. Vampire Weekend
Modern Vampires of the City
(XL)
There was nothing wrong with Vampire Weekend's first two LPs, and they could've continued to coast by as the one "indie" band on every college kid's iPod. Rather than turn in the same record, however, Ezra Koenig and co. went for broke.
After allegedly scrapping a full recorded album and starting from scratch, the band took enormous risks with Modern Vampires of the City, and reaped enormous benefits. Regal harpsichords, childrens choirs, bizarre arrangements and spoken word parts are among the many bells and whistles here, and the result is pure magic. Singles like "Step" and "Ya Hey" are immaculately crafted strokes of genius, and they're surrounded by equally thoughtful, carefully executed works that demonstrate a band who know exactly what they're doing. Think confidence, not ego.
By pushing themselves far beyond anything they've done in the past while maintaining their identity as a band, Vampire Weekend brought some timeless pop sophistication to Urban Outfitters playlists. It's an album that can truly be enjoyed by anyone, from millennials to those annoying people who use the word "millennials." (Josiah Hughes)
3. My Bloody Valentine
m b v
(Independent)
In computer programming, recursion is the practice where a block of code contains a call back to itself, creating an effect similar to when two mirrors are placed facing each other. If there is no terminating condition in a recursive algorithm, the end result is a piece of software that spirals out of control, taking the entire computer down with it. In a similar vein, the anticipation mounting for the release of the follow-up to My Bloody Valentine's classic Loveless LP, which also threatened to become a self-perpetuating maelstrom, reached its terminus at 11:58 GMT on February 2, when m b v finally arrived courtesy of the band's own website.
Far more than a sequel to its predecessor, m b v is the logical next step for a band that was far ahead of its time back in 1991. Yes, the glide guitars are dominant and a dream-like atmosphere is present throughout, but deeper probing reveals an undeniable wisdom. Frontman Kevin Shields has woven two decades' worth of experience into the fabric of m b v, using breakbeats and uncanny organ pulses to stretch the boundaries of what My Bloody Valentine has represented for many people.
The payoff is vast: m b v is an immense document of unstilted creativity and the ecstatic exhalation the world has been waiting for. (Bryon Hayes)
2. Haim
Days Are Gone
(Polydor)
In many ways, Haim owned the second half of 2013. After building a buzz on this summer's European festival circuit, their debut, Days Are Gone, was a major label-backed dark horse that found traction on both radio and with critics. Their successful blend of pop-friendly hooks with the unlikely combination of classic rock riffs and modern R&B beats made Danielle, Este and Alana Haim a key pillar of indie-pop think pieces, not to mention the subject of genre debate of just where the trio fits into the musical landscape.
The children of musicians, they honed their chops in their parents' family band before Danielle and Este joined teen pop also-rans, Valli girls. It could have ended there, but it's clear that music, rather than a quest for celebrity, was driving the Haim sisters.
Days Are Gone features some of the most effervescent tunes of the year, musically complex yet immediately familiar, with songs of heartache set against a backdrop of playful rhythms and melodies. Even after the umpteenth spin, "The Wire" feels like musical stream of consciousness, despite the complex interplay between the sisters that drives the album.
With a North American headlining tour looming, audiences will finally get a chance to see the band's fierce live show. Are they a pop-minded rock band or a riff-heavy pop act? When they're this good, does it really matter? (Ian Gormely)
1. Arcade Fire
Reflektor
(Sonovox)
It's difficult to remember a time when Arcade Fire were this reviled, but it seems to have less to do with the record they released this year than a perception that their success has clouded their judgment. The promo push for Reflektor as an "event" and their various public appearances (on SNL, their own post-SNL special, The Colbert Report, various live streaming events, etc.) occasionally felt contrived and alienating (theatre camp make-up and costumes plus white-dude-dancing to 'groove' music will do that), spurring enough scorn that people took the supposed 'dress code' of their costly arena tour a little too seriously. Even the band's embargo on the record itself left critics knee-jerking, sussing out its virtues and faults quickly and perhaps without the required contemplation.
In the time since its release, and outside of external behavioural considerations, Reflektor stands up as a fine, ambitious record by a band with frayed grassroots plainly emulating the shape-shifting rock star moves of John Lennon, David Bowie, the Clash, Talking Heads and U2, among others. Audiences had their own perceptions of Arcade Fire established before this record — distinctive, yearning, soaring rock anthems about marginalization within reductive big picture discussions about death, spirituality, how normalcy enhances underground culture, and now, the Internet maybe? — plus they'd won every top music prize out there. So what was next? Like some of their aforementioned heroes, they did the thing where you embrace new sounds and cultures for 'inspiration.'
It's a tack that can be painful to observe — the musician that wants to incorporate far too many foreign musical signifiers into a sound they've become successful with, just to appear even more 'worldly' or 'inclusive.' And when Win Butler talks of the new record and having his musical life altered by witnessing carnival in Haiti, you might rightly wince before putting your copy of Reflektor back on the rack.
But the band is too adept to be overtaken completely by their influences. Under producer James Murphy's watch, Arcade Fire absorbed and filtered more ideas than on any of their previous records and indulged themselves in some instances, sure. It's a double LP with two vastly different sides in terms of mood (playful vs. brooding) and instrumentation (organic vs. synthetic) and that division is bound to lead to, well, divisiveness. Still, there's enough thought and spirit running through the material that Reflektor feels strong and compelling. It is bold by design but ultimately these are, with few exceptions, truly excellent songs. (Vish Khanna)
Click next to read through the albums one by one, or use the list below to skip ahead to your favourites.
Top 20 Pop & Rock Albums of 2013, 10-1:
- 1. Arcade Fire - Reflektor
- 2. Haim - Days Are Gone
- 3. My Bloody Valentine - m b v
- 4. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
- 5. Iceage - You're Nothing
- 6. Majical Cloudz - Impersonator
- 7. Deerhunter - Monomania
- 8. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away
- 9. Mikal Cronin - MCII
- 10. Braids - Flourish//Perish
To see more of our Year-End Top Tens, head over to our Best of 2013 section.
10. Braids
Flourish//Perish
(Flemish Eye)
Since Native Speaker, their Polaris-nominated debut, Braids have been through a significant musical evolution. The Calgarian ex-pats downsized to a three-piece, collaborated on an EP with UK techno/electronica producer Max Cooper and, this past Summer, released In Kind//Amends an EP whose electronic sound turned out to be a reliable sign of things to come.
Not only is Flourish//Perish heavier on the synths and composed in Ableton (the electronic producer's software du jour), but throughout the album you can hear the influence of classic Warp IDM-via-Radiohead. Shaking off the often heavy-handed Animal Collective influence that dominated Native Speaker, here, singer Raphaelle Standell-Preston instead channelled influences more suited to her natural voice such as Björk and Bat For Lashes.
Incorporating electronic influences into your sound may be de rigueur, but Braids have approached it from a unquestionably genuine angle — listen to the awesome vocal treatment on "Amends" for example, or the Plaid-like palette of "Juniper" — and it feels like they have found their sound. Flourish//Perish is an intimate and engrossing record, and one that integrates its newfound influences cohesively, as opposed to some artists who appear to have needlessly grafted it on to their sound like a third arm in the centre of their chest. (Vincent Pollard)
9. Mikal Cronin
MCII
(Merge)
Despite having released a rather good debut album back in 2011, Mikal Cronin has been better known as being Ty Segall's sidekick. This is the year that changed that.
Simply put, MCII is as close as anybody got to pop perfection in 2013. Its mix of fuzzed-out guitars, Beach Boy-esque harmonies and Phil Spector-like production is hard to resist, especially when delivered in glorious bite-sized portions, which it does ten times over.
It might only be his second solo album, but the fact that Cronin's spent a decade honing his skills with so many other acts speaks volumes, because everything here is so perfectly realized. The songs are hummable, packed with catchy hooks and never overstaying their welcome, plus the lyrics have just the right amount of melancholy and optimism. There's definitely a sense of maturity, but in the best possible way.
Admittedly, he's hardly reinvented the wheel here, but he has polished that wheel, making it run so smoothly that it's hard to find reason to complain. This is pop for the sake of making great music to share; there's a reason it still sounds so fresh seven months on, and there's every chance that will be true a year from now, too. Miss out at your peril. (Michael Edwards)
8. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Push the Sky Away
(Bad Seed Ltd.)
When Grinderman, Nick Cave's swaggering, sardonic rock project, split up on stage, Cave prophesied the band's eventual return "when we'll be even older and uglier." But on Push the Sky Away, his return to his Bad Seeds persona, Cave proves he still has some romance left to give before completely turning to the dark side.
Now approaching his 60s, Cave once again embraces jubilant, soaring choruses, sinister soundscapes and deep, poetic crooning. Push the Sky Away recalls his prettier, gentler songwriting, a sharp step away from his foray into brutish testosterone-addled blues punk. Meanwhile, Cave's right-hand man Warren Ellis once again fills in the instrumental ether in between the commanding vocals. Utilizing an array of atmospheric textures and seductively brooding loops, Ellis' work almost sounds as if it would be more at home on a film score than a rock album.
Songs such as "We Real Cool" take on a decidedly dramatic tone while Cave's oft-eerie vocals provide a jarring cinematic monologue. And while there is no shortage of reflective brooding — Cave has never shied away from stripping off a piece of his own soul for the amusement of his listeners — Push the Sky Away is nevertheless a satisfying record from a band with a near flawless track record. (Chris Morin)
7. Deerhunter
Monomania
(4AD)
Defined as "a pathological obsession with one idea or subject," monomania was the ideal word to title the sixth Deerhunter album. Frontman Bradford Cox has always exuded an obsessive personality, and what he clearly suffered from making Monomania was music-related; he reportedly tinkered with somewhere between 250 and 600 songs before trimming it down to a dozen.
Over the course of their six-year run that includes five full-lengths and two EPs, Deerhunter have refused to sound like just one band. To many, Monomania was Deerhunter's most fully-formed, fully-realized record yet. Eschewing the dreamier, shoegaze production and the avant-garde tangents, Cox and company attained a sound they fittingly described as "nocturnal garage." Channeling the likes of Bo Diddley and the Ramones, this savage and transformative rock'n'roll blitz came at an unlikely point in their career, as they were on the verge of disbanding after long-time bassist Josh Fauver departed.
Yet, led by Cox's enigmatically intimate words, Deerhunter charged through with a raw mix bolstered by the beatific and beastly "T.H.M.," the jaunty earworm of "Back to the Middle," the fucked up glam racket "Leather Jacket II" and the confrontational, punked-up title track. The intention may have been for Bradford Cox to illustrate his own monomania, but in the end, it was the listener who was experiencing it. (Cam Lindsay)
6. Majical Cloudz
Impersonator
(Arbutus)
Listening to the music of Majical Cloudz is meant to be a slightly uncomfortable experience, but one that leads to enlightenment. This debut album from the Montreal duo of Devon Welsh and Matthew Otto is a stunning display of minimalism, revealing raw emotions out in the open with very little instrumentation clouding its vision.
The very definition of a stripped-down record, Impersonator maximizes each member's strength to create something incredibly minimal, unflinchingly honest and not just vulnerable for the artist, but for the listeners as well.
Otto's sparse electronic arrangements construct airy pockets of keyboards, synth strings and click tracks for Welsh's heavy words to hammer in like an icebreaker. "The cheesiest songs all end with a smile," Welsh sings on highlight "Bugs Don't Buzz," before serving a heart-wrenching reality check: "This won't end with a smile, my love."
Welsh convinces us of his words with Majical Cloudz's most dramatic tool: his voice. His baritone pipes waver with each word while simultaneously standing tall as the selling point of Impersonator, warming us with its intimacy. It shakes us to our core, making the listener feel just as bare and exposed; it's a record that — assuming you can get over the ridiculous spelling of the band name, as many have commented — pays off every moment of discomfort in dividends, making it one of the year's best. (Melody Lau)
5. Iceage
You're Nothing
(Matador)
Iggy Pop has described Iceage as the only current punk band "that sounds really dangerous." On their sophomore album, You're Nothing, it isn't hard to figure out exactly where Iggy's coming from. What sets these sulking Danish punks apart from their contemporaries is their seamless ability to turn dark, negative energy into something entirely exhilarating.
On opener "Ecstasy," frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt shouts about the mundane continuity and pressures of everyday life. It's a bleak and nihilistic track, but beneath its apocalyptic thrash lies an undeniable penchant for melody and lyrical honesty. Rønnenfelt takes clear influence from existential works like Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus when he offers lyrics like "each day another rock upon my head" before resolving that "bliss is momentary anyhow, yet worth living for take me now."
Therein lies the "ecstasy" to which Iceage refers. Rarely does a band sound so emotionally destructive, yet so hopeful; so restrained, yet so loose. You're Nothing is a short album with short songs and, appropriately, at no point does it appear to drag on. Throughout its 12 songs and 28 minutes, You're Nothing is relentlessly desolate and gloomy, yet somehow unceasingly inspiring and passionate.
A lot has been made of the ages of these four Danes, and it will certainly be interesting to see if they can maintain such an impressive aura of youthful passion and anxiety as they continue to progress. In any case, Iceage will for now continue to lead an ever-blossoming Copenhagen punk scene that is one of today's most exciting. (Duncan Boyd)
4. Vampire Weekend
Modern Vampires of the City
(XL)
There was nothing wrong with Vampire Weekend's first two LPs, and they could've continued to coast by as the one "indie" band on every college kid's iPod. Rather than turn in the same record, however, Ezra Koenig and co. went for broke.
After allegedly scrapping a full recorded album and starting from scratch, the band took enormous risks with Modern Vampires of the City, and reaped enormous benefits. Regal harpsichords, childrens choirs, bizarre arrangements and spoken word parts are among the many bells and whistles here, and the result is pure magic. Singles like "Step" and "Ya Hey" are immaculately crafted strokes of genius, and they're surrounded by equally thoughtful, carefully executed works that demonstrate a band who know exactly what they're doing. Think confidence, not ego.
By pushing themselves far beyond anything they've done in the past while maintaining their identity as a band, Vampire Weekend brought some timeless pop sophistication to Urban Outfitters playlists. It's an album that can truly be enjoyed by anyone, from millennials to those annoying people who use the word "millennials." (Josiah Hughes)
3. My Bloody Valentine
m b v
(Independent)
In computer programming, recursion is the practice where a block of code contains a call back to itself, creating an effect similar to when two mirrors are placed facing each other. If there is no terminating condition in a recursive algorithm, the end result is a piece of software that spirals out of control, taking the entire computer down with it. In a similar vein, the anticipation mounting for the release of the follow-up to My Bloody Valentine's classic Loveless LP, which also threatened to become a self-perpetuating maelstrom, reached its terminus at 11:58 GMT on February 2, when m b v finally arrived courtesy of the band's own website.
Far more than a sequel to its predecessor, m b v is the logical next step for a band that was far ahead of its time back in 1991. Yes, the glide guitars are dominant and a dream-like atmosphere is present throughout, but deeper probing reveals an undeniable wisdom. Frontman Kevin Shields has woven two decades' worth of experience into the fabric of m b v, using breakbeats and uncanny organ pulses to stretch the boundaries of what My Bloody Valentine has represented for many people.
The payoff is vast: m b v is an immense document of unstilted creativity and the ecstatic exhalation the world has been waiting for. (Bryon Hayes)
2. Haim
Days Are Gone
(Polydor)
In many ways, Haim owned the second half of 2013. After building a buzz on this summer's European festival circuit, their debut, Days Are Gone, was a major label-backed dark horse that found traction on both radio and with critics. Their successful blend of pop-friendly hooks with the unlikely combination of classic rock riffs and modern R&B beats made Danielle, Este and Alana Haim a key pillar of indie-pop think pieces, not to mention the subject of genre debate of just where the trio fits into the musical landscape.
The children of musicians, they honed their chops in their parents' family band before Danielle and Este joined teen pop also-rans, Valli girls. It could have ended there, but it's clear that music, rather than a quest for celebrity, was driving the Haim sisters.
Days Are Gone features some of the most effervescent tunes of the year, musically complex yet immediately familiar, with songs of heartache set against a backdrop of playful rhythms and melodies. Even after the umpteenth spin, "The Wire" feels like musical stream of consciousness, despite the complex interplay between the sisters that drives the album.
With a North American headlining tour looming, audiences will finally get a chance to see the band's fierce live show. Are they a pop-minded rock band or a riff-heavy pop act? When they're this good, does it really matter? (Ian Gormely)
1. Arcade Fire
Reflektor
(Sonovox)
It's difficult to remember a time when Arcade Fire were this reviled, but it seems to have less to do with the record they released this year than a perception that their success has clouded their judgment. The promo push for Reflektor as an "event" and their various public appearances (on SNL, their own post-SNL special, The Colbert Report, various live streaming events, etc.) occasionally felt contrived and alienating (theatre camp make-up and costumes plus white-dude-dancing to 'groove' music will do that), spurring enough scorn that people took the supposed 'dress code' of their costly arena tour a little too seriously. Even the band's embargo on the record itself left critics knee-jerking, sussing out its virtues and faults quickly and perhaps without the required contemplation.
In the time since its release, and outside of external behavioural considerations, Reflektor stands up as a fine, ambitious record by a band with frayed grassroots plainly emulating the shape-shifting rock star moves of John Lennon, David Bowie, the Clash, Talking Heads and U2, among others. Audiences had their own perceptions of Arcade Fire established before this record — distinctive, yearning, soaring rock anthems about marginalization within reductive big picture discussions about death, spirituality, how normalcy enhances underground culture, and now, the Internet maybe? — plus they'd won every top music prize out there. So what was next? Like some of their aforementioned heroes, they did the thing where you embrace new sounds and cultures for 'inspiration.'
It's a tack that can be painful to observe — the musician that wants to incorporate far too many foreign musical signifiers into a sound they've become successful with, just to appear even more 'worldly' or 'inclusive.' And when Win Butler talks of the new record and having his musical life altered by witnessing carnival in Haiti, you might rightly wince before putting your copy of Reflektor back on the rack.
But the band is too adept to be overtaken completely by their influences. Under producer James Murphy's watch, Arcade Fire absorbed and filtered more ideas than on any of their previous records and indulged themselves in some instances, sure. It's a double LP with two vastly different sides in terms of mood (playful vs. brooding) and instrumentation (organic vs. synthetic) and that division is bound to lead to, well, divisiveness. Still, there's enough thought and spirit running through the material that Reflektor feels strong and compelling. It is bold by design but ultimately these are, with few exceptions, truly excellent songs. (Vish Khanna)