Any info on the work in progress? Can we expect a release date anytime soon?

They're supposedly working on the album now, but there won't be a release until 2007.

That's what Richard told some fans a couple weeks ago after a Belle Orchestre gig.

they JUST started working on actual songs 2 weeks ago, other members are busy w/ their side projects, etc.

will definitely be 2007

Are they still recording in some church they bought?

Yeah.

any chance of them going in the same direction as the Liars and making a sweet-ass drone album?

Hopefully not. It'll be interesting to see what they do with a larger budget, though.

no

I wonder if the new one will be as grossly overated as their last.

you know me so well.



yeah probably not, but it would be really awesome if they pulled a complete direction change. i just don't think that they could mine the same musical territory as Funeral for another album and make anything other than a pleasant follow-up.

I'm wondering the same thing. I'm going to find this on the bird and give it another shot, can't remember if I ever actually sat down with it, on headphones, but I remember hearing it in the car a few times. Newbies take note: you don't ALWAYS have to attach a y'all send the thing request when talking about an album, sometimes you can do your own legwork. It'll almost be more fulfilling this way.

WTF just happened? Did someone put a code in to change the letters Y--S--I to "y'all send the thing??" I didn't write that, brilliant!

Christ.. let's hope not.

no shit.

i got to hear 2 new songs they were working on at soundcheck back in September, they sounded fucking amazing. even more lush/orchestrated than Funeral. i've got faith in 'em.

That makes me happy, thanks solace.

mark my words: something about the new album is going to be better than anything they've done before.

i don't know what that thing is, but this band is hellbent on growing and staying true to themselves.

yeah, they have the potential to make a good album. Maybe if they tone down the melodrama a little.

i doubt that, the melodrama is what made them such a hit, why would they back off the one thing they had going for them? (not that i want an even more melodramatic album than Funeral, just saying that is what makes them slightly different than most bands)

agreed. and, actually, if you connect with them (as i do), you don't think of them as melodramatic.

anyway, the emotion is supported by fantastic, well-structured melodies.

Yeah, I fully expect the follow-up to deliver.

who is this arcade fire you speak of?

Who is this Arcade Fire we speak of? Seriously? Check them out, son. I'd y'all send the thing the album right now just in case this wasn't a joke, but I'm on quite a limited schedule at the moment...Remind me. Or I'll remind myself. Yes, that will work...As for the follow-up, I'm agreeing (or at least HOPING) that their new album will be something the likes of which we have never seen before. Funeral was, perhaps, a bit overrated, but that's partially because people shit their pants when they hear something new and different that's anything above crappy.

i was just kiddin chief...i know em and quite like em.

good, good, you had me a mite scared for a minute.

I don't really think anyone overrated it besides pitchfork and maybe a few followers, bloggers and what not. I wasn't much of a fan and then I gave it a real private listen and though I don't want to hear it everyday, Funeral is an extremly well done disc and a top 3 for 2004 most likely. (for me)

How about NME (#2), Mojo (#2) and Uncut (#1)?

Totally under-rated record. Should have been #1 across the board for all time.

It's about being a kid and then dying and stuff.

I tend to think that lyrically, the next record will be less "melodramatic" if you want to use that term. You just can't write songs all the time about friends dying & childhood nostalgia and not let it drain you a little bit. Well, maybe some people can, but I think a record like that is a product of the circumstances and the timing of it. They had people close to them die and all that, so those feelings are gonna come through in some way. But the stuff on the earlier EP isn't that far removed from the Funeral stuff, so I don't expect them to lose that "melodrama" entirely. I'm not saying the next record will be shiny, happy people, but I think the lyrics will take a bit of a more life-affirming turn.

The Streets- A Grand Don't Come For Free
The Walkmen- Bows and Arrows
Madvillain- Madvilliainy
Mark Lanegan Band- Bubblegum

All of these are much better

hahaha
sounds like they are on a collision course with artistic integrity

It's 2005 in the UK.

- Z- My Morning Jacket
- I'm Wide Awake It's Morning- Bright Eyes
- The Woods- Sleater-Kinney
- Before The Poison- Marianne Faithfull

All of these are much better

as much as i love those first 3 records, def prefer Funeral...

there will be a live DVD (shot at the GAMH in San Francisco) out in the next few months that should tide us over for a while.

Is this the one that got sort of announced a looooong time ago?

hot... fifty minutes of people hitting each other on helmets with drum sticks.
score!

I still stand by my statement that they were not overhyped no matter how much garath, with his over abundance of internet time, likes to disagree. thats 4 publications and only 2 are number one spots...and you honestly think people said "check out this band Uncut raved about"? nope, they said pitchfork and you know it, you just love to make pointless arguments.

I dunno dude, Funeral is my favorite album of the decade so far and I don't neccessarily disagree with anyone who views them as being overhyped. Certainly most of the people saying that are mostly referring to pitchfork, but the critics were gushing all over the place about that album. Personally I think all of it was justified, but anyone saying it wasn't has a lot to back their argument up.

I'm not saying it doesn't deserve it, and I mentioned a few follwers after pitchfork gave it an amazing raiting. I love the record and I think it deserves loads of praise but I was saying I think pitchfork in a way kinda loved it so much that it was "their" record, almost overhyped themselves in the process. I think it is a completly deserving album but mainly overhyped, in my opinion, by the fork. (9.7, #1 on the best of 2004 and then combined 2000-2004 was like #35 or something, behind many of the albums it trounced)

I dont know...

this is actually true. Funeral is severely underrated, and I'm not kidding.

i agree with dano, my UKK brother, Funeral is the best album of the decade.





totally ridiculous, my Who-loving brother. none of them come anywhere close to touching Funeral.

Agree here. On this board, maybe not, and spending time here has probably skewed a few peoples views on how this band has been rated, but most places don't give this album the time of day. I still only here songs off of it on college radio only.

yeah, that's exactly my point. thanks for clarifying. i'm a bit drunk right now. you're my back-up.

i'd say The Woods desroys Funeral. they others dont come close.

yeah, you're right: The Woods destroys Funeral...


...in a fantasy world, where average records are king.

They're on a collision course with wackiness!

Funeral peaked at #33 in the UK in January after 3 times just falling short of the top 40 (coincinding with 4 top 40 singles). It certainly didn;t do this on the back of a Pitchfork review. It's easily one of the top 10 favouribly reviewed records of the dedade.

Cokemachineglow.com (Canada) - The 60 Best Albums of 2000-2004 (2005) No Order
Pitchfork (USA) - The 100 Best Albums of 2000-2004 (2005) 45
Stylus (USA) - The 50 Best Albums of 2000-2004 (2005) 11
Metacritic (Metascore 0-100, Weighted Average of Reviews from USA and UK) 89
Amazon.com (USA) - Albums of the Year 35
Cokemachineglow.com (Canada) - Albums of the Year 4
College Music Journal (USA) - Albums of the Year 2
Eye Weekly Canadian Critics Poll - Albums of the Year 2
Eye Weekly Writers (Canada) - Albums of the Year 2
Filter (USA) - Albums of the Year 1
Free Williamsburg (USA) - Albums of the Year 3
Glide (USA) - Albums of the Year No Order
LA Times (USA) - Albums of the Year 6
Left Off the Dial (USA) - Albums of the Year 2
LostAtSea (USA) - Albums of the Year 1
Pitchfork (USA) - Albums of the Year 1
PopMatters (USA) - Albums of the Year 2
Prefix (USA) - Albums of the Year 5
Rolling Stone (USA) - Albums of the Year 5
Stylus (USA) - Albums of the Year 10
Tiny Mix Tapes (USA) - Albums of the Year 1
Village Voice (USA) - Albums of the Year 6
Washington City Paper (USA) - Albums of the Year 6
woxy.com (USA) - Albums of the Year 5
Americana-UK (UK) - Albums of the Year 28
BOOMKAT (UK) - Albums of the Year 9
Drowned in Sound (UK) - Albums of the Year 1
Mojo (UK) - Albums of the Year 2
New Musical Express (UK) - Albums of the Year 2
No Ripcord (UK) - Albums of the Year 1
Observer (UK) - Albums of the Year 10
Planet Sound (UK) - Albums of the Year 8
Playlouder (UK) - Albums of the Year 1
Q (UK) - Albums of the Year 8
Rough Trade (UK) - Albums of the Year 17
Uncut (UK) - Albums of the Year 1
Wanadoo (UK) - Albums of the Year No Order
Wire (UK) - Albums of the Year No Order
Word (UK) - Albums of the Year No Order
Aftenposten (Norway) - Albums of the Year 2
Dagsavisen (Norway) - Albums of the Year 2
Gaffa (Denmark) - Albums of the Year 1
Helsingin Sanomat (Finland) - Albums of the Year No Order
Musikbyrån (Sweden) - Albums of the Year 10
Nöjesguiden (Sweden) - Albums of the Year 6
HUMO (Belgium) - Albums of the Year 3
OOR (Netherlands) - Albums of the Year 13
Eins Live (Germany) - Albums of the Year 3
Intro (Germany) - Albums of the Year 6
Laut (Germany) - Albums of the Year 31
Musik Express/Sounds (Germany) - Albums of the Year 9
Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten Kritik - Best of lists from each Quarter No Order
Spex (Germany) - Albums of the Year 1
Visions (Germany) - Albums of the Year 9
Welt am Sonntag (Germany) - Albums of the Year No Order
Zundfunk (Germany) - Albums of the Year 7
Les Inrockuptibles (France) - Albums of the Year 1
Popnews (France) - Albums of the Year 4
GO-MAG (Spain) - Albums of the Year 1
Mondo Sonoro (Spain) - Albums of the Year 1
Rock de Lux (Spain) - Albums of the Year 8
Rockzone (Spain) - Albums of the Year 13
Rolling Stone (Spain) - Albums of the Year 1
Mucchio Selvaggio (Italy) - Albums of the Year No Order
Rumore (Italy) - Albums of the Year 9
XL (Italy) - Albums of the Year 5
Monitor (Croatia) - Albums of the Year 14
Screenagers (Poland) - Albums of the Year 1
All Music Guide (USA) - Album of the Year No Order

You can argue that Pitchfork's review was the first one or whatever but if you really think a 9.7 review from them alone is responsible for half a million sales in Canada, c.200,000 in the US and the UK. All in all, one 9.5+ review on Pitchfork does not mean you sell close to a million records worldwide.

Section of Acc. Music's Most Acclaimed albums ever.

109 Pavement- Slanted and Enchanted
110 Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
111 Stevie Wonder - Talking Book
112 Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
113 Jeff Buckley - Grace
114 The Arcade Fire - Funeral
115 Neil Young - Harvest
116 Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley
117 Tricky - Maxinquaye
118 AC/DC - Back in Black
119 Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
120 P J Harvey - To Bring You My Love

I also don't see spending a lot of time on the Internet allowed me to know it's postions on NME, Uncut and Mojo's EOYs.

I can't quote end of year lists from a billon weblogs, but I'm pretty sure both Kanye albums, both Streets albums, Kid A, Arctic Monkeys, Marshall Mathers, at least one Outkast album and a bunch of shitty U2 albums have been more favourably reviewed in the past six years.

Find me a U2 album that has won 14 Album of The Year nods and I'll agree. I'd say that only Is This It, Illnois, Elephant and Franz Ferdinand have better reviews and ratings and Speakerboxx/The Love Below, The Marshall Mathers LP, and The College Dropout aren't that far behind. Aside from the more prominent US reviews, Late Registration is not even close to the acclaim Arcade Fire have garnished worldwide. Come the end of the year we might be able to add The Arctic Monkeys to the list. Bar Pitchfork no large publication put Kid A at #1 and it had a lot of middling reviews in Europe on release.

I'll do that right after you find me an Arcade Fire album that's won a billion grammies. The internet and indie-focused mags aren't the only places records get acclaimed - but if we are talking zines, then Rolling Stone gave Kanye album of the year, Pitchfork pegged it at number two, and Stylus had it what, six or seven? Add that on top of all the awards Late Registration won outside magazine pages, and it's quite clearly more acclaimed than Funeral.


So did Pinkerton - obviously the consensus can change over time. Besides, you could always swap it for Dizzee Rascal or something.

Who cares about Grammies? Just because Kanye as brand got his face everywhere in America in 2005 doesn't mean his album was released to universal acclaim worldwide. You mention #1 spots on R Stone (Spin and VV also) and #2 at Pitchfork, #6 at Stylus and what else? Illnois was #9, #8, #3 and #10 on those publications but can also boast 4 top tens in major UK publications, Kanye can't. Excluding R. Stone Arular did just as well on those publications as Kanye and a plethora of #1's across Europe (not as well as received in the UK which also rates I Am A Bird Now above Kanye too)

I'll take off the less well known publications and say find me 7 albums from this decade that have a better Metacritic score then 89 a All Music Guide score of 4 or higher and is the top ten of most of the following publications EOY lists; Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Village Voice, Mojo, New Musical Express, Observer, Q, Uncut, Aftenposten, Les Inrockuptibles and Rolling Stone (Spain). (only one of which can be considered an indie webzine and it's the most important.)

A lot more people than those who care about Pitchfork media.

Like I said, there's more to acclaim than mp3 blogs and webzines, and if you polled the general public and artists on what's more recognisable acclaim, winning a grammy or making top twenty on the Pop Matters end of year chart, they'd pick the former. It's not just about the metacritic average score an album recieves, or the sheer amount of sources praising it - it's to do with the sources said praise comes from, and when it comes from the grammies, it's a hundred times more recognisable than any magazine.

Number 1 isn't the be-all, though. It did well in the EOY lists:

The Wire: #3
Uncut: #3
Mojo: #3
Melody Maker: #5
NME: #11

That looks to me like a good result if ever there was one. Uncut and Wire (and arguably Mojo) at that point were pretty much the only magazines worth bothering with. Q listed their albums alphabetically anyway and Melody Maker was on crack, and even after a terribly-written review and low score, it still made their top 5. Uncut devoted an entire essay to Kid A shortly after its release.