Any concept album worth its salt has at least one song that is broken into parts. Just ask Pink Floyd.
Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs has a couple of examples. The first is ‘Half Light,’ part one (or I) of which is today’s SOTD.
This is the most atmospheric track on the album so far, drowned in ambient synth-strings that sit higher in the mix than the vocals. And Win Butler takes a back seat for most of the song, letting his backing vocalists carry the tune.
I’m sure my one loyal reader — who is not a big fan of Arcade Fire — is groaning right now, but today begins week two of my song-by-song exploration of the band’s Grammy-winning album, The Suburbs.
Track six, ‘City With No Children,’ mines similar territory as the first five tracks (not surprisingly… this is a concept album, after all): nostalgia, regret, the soullessness of modern society.
Today’s random SOTD comes from Paul Simon’s wonderful 2011 album So Beautiful Or So What.
‘Questions For the Angels’ is the quietest and probably the least ambitious song on the album, and it’s a safe bet that it’s the first song to feature both Jay-Z and a crying zebra.
Actually, Kanye West probably got there first.
One of the things I love about Fountains of Wayne is their eclectic subject matter.
It seems 85% of songs I hear these days are about finding love or losing love. Worthy topics, no doubt, and topics that have resonated since a caveman wrote the first song and will resonate when we’re writing songs in space.
But I like character sketch songs just as much, the kind Ben Folds, Randy Newman and, yes, Fountains of Wayne write so well.
The most upbeat track musically (so far) on Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs is also the most depressing lyrically. This album is definitely darker than I expected.
‘Empty Room’ is brash and loud (a little too brash and too loud for my taste) but the mindset it depicts is one of utter loneliness. What a sad image… saying somebody’s name in an empty room.
Meet Me In Montauk 