Maybe it was because one of America's musical capitols was represented in the game, but there just seemed to be more music in this Super Bowl. There was the perfunctory opening anthems and halftime show, songs in ads - The Who even managed to be the halftime show act and sneak into an ad. Whatever the reason, there was plenty of music throughout and we couldn't be happier about it. The record-breaking television audience that tuned in to Super Bowl XLIV were treated to a surprisingly indie soundtrack, featuring Arcade Fire [...]
Indie, so hört man munkeln, sei der neue Mainstream. Peter Gabriel untermauert diese These, indem er Arcade Fire und Bon Iver covert. Kann das gut gehen? Peter Gabriel schenkt uns pünktlich zu seinem 60. Geburtstag ein aussergewöhnliches Coveralbum. Die Songauswahl von "Scratch My Back" (VÖ 12.2.) ist ebenso überraschend wie die Instrumentierung. Nach Gitarre, Bass und [...]
Saw this trailer over the weekend and was genuinely surprised to find out that this documentary about the very private songwriter - or most dubiously known as "the most miserable man in rock" - has been in the works for nearly ten years. Directed by Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara, the film seems to primarily focus on the period of Merritt's time between the releases of 69 Love Songs (1999) and Distortion (2008). From the many horror stories I've heard/read in regards to most interviews with The Magnetic Fields [...]

Arcade Fire - A Change is Gonna Come {Sam Cooke, live} This song, in all its incarnations, is beautiful and peaceful and angry all at once. It comes over you like a hot summer's night, lit only by a crescent moon, warm and close and insistent. I know this is an old cover, but I rediscovered the original recently, and it feels good to listen to, like a different understanding of the same experience.

In the past month there have been some really great covers emerge. Phoenix doing Bob Dylan is as good as anything on Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, Jay Reatard's death brought an old cover out back to prominence, Major Lazer have added a whole new depth to a Beyonce track and lo fi indie rockers Little Girls have a stunning take on a new Beach House track. Enjoy these and please feel free to link to your favorite covers in the comments. Major Lazer - HALO (Beyonce Cover) Solange Knowles - Stillness [...]
On Scratch My Back , his first album in 8 years, Peter Gabriel aims to shed light on outstanding songs from both rock warhorses (Paul Simon, David Bowie, Neil Young) and from an alternative lineup that reads like a college radio programmer's wet dream (Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Magnetic Fields).
Last nite, I watched the Super Bowl, because I am currently working in a mainstream office environment, and I secretly feel insecure when every1 else is talking abt a mainstream event, yet I don't have a progressive opinion to 'share' that goes over every12 heads. The Super Bowl seems like a more fulfilling viewing event than awards shows like the Oscars or Grammys or the BCS championship because you have 2 forces/teams 'battling' to be the champion, instead of just voter opinions and computer algorithms. Did u have a 'Super Bowl party' with chips, dips, meats, brewskies, [...]
Even though the Super Bowl halftime show has been consumed with legacy acts the last few years, 2010's broadcast did give ample airtime to music written after 1985. Granted, it was in ads - but since you have to drop a couple million to get on the air, it's still meaningful. Then again, maybe it just means the down economy affords large corporations less money for licensing fees. Either way, one of the few humorous commercials involved Tracy Morgan getting punched by Stevie Wonder - while Grizzly Bear 's [...]
It was hard not to notice the prominence of indie bands featured in this year's Super Bowl commercials. We had heard that NFL licensed Wake Up from Arcade Fire and that all proceeds would go to help Partners in Health in their Haitian relief efforts. But we were surprised to find Arcade Fire's song used as the NFL anthem, with several versions playing throughout the game. Then to hear Grizzly Bear [...]
The hit band Grizzly Bear's hit song "Two Weeks" features a piano jingle that was 'perfectly crafted' to be utilized in a powerful marketing campaign. Volkswagen purchased the rights to this hit song, trying to inspire mainstream middle america to buy Jettas instead of Toyotas and Hondas. Tracy Morgan also makes this video 'more bloggable.' He seems to be giving a ride to popular blind piano man Stevie Wonder. Is the Jetta now known as 'The Grizzly Bear Mobile'? Did Grizzly Bear 'sell out' or [...]

Peter Gabriel's relevance in the indie (or should I say "ternative" ) music scene has been present for some time now, especially with his style being replicated and name being dropped in quite a few Vampire Weekend songs and albums. But never has his presence been more felt than this past week, when his covers of Bon Iver's "Flume" and Arcade Fire's "My Body Is A Cage" were premiered on Stereogum . "Flume" finds Gabriel scratching the acoustic guitar and falsetto of Bon Iver, and instead belting the lyrics out in his own way- a little [...]

So for those of us who live from Virginia to New England (and i some of the midwest as well), as you know...we're allegedly supposed to get slammed with 16-243 of snow start tomorrow. This is for you: The Blizzard of 2010 Mix Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space holy fuck - They're Going To Take My Thumbs [...]
Never has an album title been more misleading than that of the third full-length in just three years from the Welsh band Los Campesinos! Even though lead singer Gareth Campesinos! may claim that Romance Is Boring , he then goes on, at staggering length and detail, about romance, and he makes it sound like the most exciting thing on earth.
I was right in my prediction for who'd be playing in the Super Bowl (partially at least, since the Saints were my backup if the Cowboys didn't make it past the Vikings), and it's looking like we'll have a pretty entertaining game on Sunday between the Indianapolis and New Orleans. I think I'm going to ride the Colts off into the sunset, but it'll more than likely be a tight game. I've noticed something else strange about the festivities this year. I've been hearing a flurry of news about indie bands (like Arcade Fire and [...]

It seems as though the song "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire has been everywhere in recent months. OK, perhaps not everywhere, but it was used in the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are , so it simply feels like we've heard it everywhere. Now, football fans will get an earful of this epic, arena-friendly song, which has been licensed to the Super Bowl to be played sometime during the telecast. Together with NFL and Partners in Health, the band has worked out a deal: the proceeds from the licensing will go directly to helping [...]
In another piece of nifty fundraising, The Arcade Fire have licensed Wake Up to the NFL . The NFL will get to use the song during the Superbowl; the resultant cash will go to help Haiti. Not quite sure that yer average Sports Fan is really going to enjoy bellowing about how we grow up but our hearts get torn up. Perhaps the idea is to encourage sales of Budweiser by encouraging Americans to drown their sorrows.

The effort for Haiti relief has certainly prompted some unique collaborations (Weezy and Barbara Streisand, anyone?), but the Arcade Fire have gone to a new level of crossover by licensing their hit "Wake Up" to the NFL for use during the Super Bowl's television airing and future NFL broadcasts. Every time the song is played, proceeds will go directly to Partners in Health's Stand With Haiti relief program. Now that I think about it, "Wake Up" is a pretty nice soundtrack to the slow-mo victory jog, isn't it? Given the amount of people who will tune [...]
In an effort to help the cause for Haiti, Canadian indie behemoths Arcade Fire have agreed to license out "Wake Up", arguably one of their most popular songs to date, to the NFL, specifically for this Super Bowl weekend. The decision is 100% for charity, and is in conjunction with Partners in Health, the NFL, Merge Records and Bank Robber Music. For those worried about the band's credibility, have no fear, as all proceeds from the song's airing on the live Super Bowl broadcast and subsequent airings on the NFL Network will go directly to Partners [...]
Filed under: News , Television Just one day after the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti caused an unimaginable amount of destruction and death, Montreal's Arcade Fire posted a message to their website imploring fans to help by donating money to Partners in Health . That charitable organization had clinics already in place in the areas surrounding hard-hit capital city Port-au-Prince where the medical infrastructure was nonexistent following the quake. The post by the band on their website began with, "Friends, Haiti needs your help in her darkest [...]
Peter Gabriel has an orchestral-assisted covers album called Scratch My Back due next week where he does his own versions of the likes of The Arcade Fire, David Bowie, Paul Simon, Magnetic Fields, Neil Young, Radiohead and Talking Heads. You can hear his cover of Bon Iver's 'Flume' right here and download it below: Tracklisting: Heroes (David Bowie) The Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon) Mirrorball (Elbow) Flume (Bon [...]