Arcade Fire - WE

If you've heard "The Lightning I-II," you've heard the only excitement WE has to offer.

Arcade Fire - Everything Now

Everything Now finds Arcade Fire making a bolder and tighter move in a dance music direction than on Reflektor, but unfortunately it's even more of a mixed bag.

Arcade Fire - Reflektor

I've been on the fence about many albums this year, but this is one of the few where I'm torn. For every great moment on the new Arcade Fire record, there's one that falls incredibly short of whatever stylistic mark the band was shooting for. Rather than deliver another cohesive set of songs, Reflektor embarks upon a stylistic hodgepodge full of hits and misses.

Arcade Fire - "Afterlife"

Given Reflektor's Orpheus and Eurydice-evoking cover art and track titles, it is fitting that Arcade Fire has appropriated footage from Marcel Camus' classic 1959 feature Black Orpheus for the lyric video of new single, "Afterlife." The band's take on dance music is no less compelling here than it was on the title track - they really know how to build on a groove, and thankfully, their lyrics have remained potent, evident right from the opening line, "Afterlife. Oh my god, what an awful word." Watch it above and enjoy!

Reflektor is due out October 28.

Arcade Fire - "Reflektor"

Canadian indie rock heavyweights Arcade Fire return with a new, disco-infused single from their forthcoming LP, Reflektor.

Mr. Little Jeans Covers Arcade Fire

Mr. Little Jeans covers the title track from Arcade Fire's latest LP, the Suburbs, and does a helluva job!

The track is reimagined from beginning to end with heavy, dark synthesizers and vocals that actually feel tired and worn from fighting the suburban war in the lyrics. Enjoy!

So we've got some new Arcade Fire songs...

Arcade Fire - Culture War by MergeRecords Arcade Fire - Speaking in Tongues (feat. David Byrne) by MergeRecords

Shortly after the release of the Suburbs, which was LOVED, Merge is gearing up to put out a deluxe version of the album.

I know this practice isn't unorthodox, but I still belong to a camp that believes deluxe versions of albums are better released when we've had 10 or 20 years to decide whether a piece of music is truly amazing and worth revisiting. Will we actually want to listen to the Suburbs when we're living in the suburbs, having kids, and cutting our lawns with 3-speed mowers? Will revisiting such an album make us feel bad?

If keeping your copy of the Suburbs around makes you feel bad about your lifestyle choices in the future, don't let go of it. Keep the album in a cool, dry place so that future generations may enjoy it and start the revolution we were too lazy to.

Well, as a result of this deluxe reissue, we've got two new Arcade Fire tracks to munch on. One of them even features David Byrne, though his presence isn't apparent until the end of the track--and even then it's not that clear.

Of the two songs, I actually prefer "Culture War." I wish it made the album's final cut, but it does share some similarities with other tracks on the LP. I could see redundancy making it fail to make the final print.

Stream the tracks above, and dig on the deluxe cover below:

Remix Wednesday!

1. Arcade Fire- We Used to Wait (Covered by the Drums)

2. Pollyn- Other Side (Remixed by Nosaj Thing)

3. The xx- Stars (Remixed by LAZRtag)

4. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros- Janglin (Remixed by RAC)

5. Pop Clash Productions- A Chilli -