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    On Tuesday, Arcade Fire will release their anticipated second full-length album, Neon Bible, on CD and LP.
    Check the links below to order and listen to an advance track from the new album

    The album's release follows a year of astonishing success for an indie rock band that was little known just a couple of years ago. But after release of their debut album Funeral in 2005, the band quickly amassed a huge fan base and rocketed to heights many bands never come close to after playing for decades.

    You can get a sense of a rock group's success from many different angles.

    But when a group sells out nearly a dozen shows just minutes after the concert tickets go on sale, you can bet something bigger is happening.

    During the past two years, Arcade Fire have sprung to rock stardom, making them one of the hottest and most popular rock groups on the planet.

    Tell that to the band members. Until recently, the band members claim they were largely unaware of the full magnitude and reach of their success. On the Internet alone, there are hundreds of fan sites, articles, tabs, chords, lyrics, reviews, biographies, interviews and more.

    By now, they can't help but to know they are world famous, even being featured on Time magazine, usually a cover that is reserved for world figures and cultural icons.

    The buzz from critics and fans about just how fantastic their music is seems to not affect the guys and gals of Arcade Fire - they appear to be keeping it real - living the "indie rock" lifestyle, and at least suggesting they are not about to embrace the trappings of stardom. It's a refreshing sign at a time when so many bands that started indie have gone big-time and have never looked back.


    Members of Arcade Fire are not the kind of band that will brag about selling out an entire concert tour in just minutes. In fact, band members don't care about the high-flying, money-spending lifestyle of rock stars.

    They are just as happy playing for 50 people as they are for 5,000. Band members still drive old cars and wear second-hand clothes and they seem genuinely astonished that their debut album so quickly became of the most popular albums of the past year.

    The question is: How long can they keep it "real"?

    Hard-core indie fans (which are very difficult to define) have watched bands like The Starting Line, Fallout Boy, Bloc Party and The Killers go "Hollywood" by signing on with one of the five dominant record conglomerates (Sony, EMI, Capitol, Universal, Warner Brothers), taking the money and running with it.

    The cross-over from a small label to one of the Big Five seems to be what many indie rock fans, writers and critics is what really sets an authentic indie group apart from the rest who claim to be indie/alternative.

    The question is: Can a group go Big Five and remain true to the indie and alternative rock fan base, culture and to themselves or do they buckle to managers and record executives, compromising not just their soul, but their music and integrity for fame and money?

    That's part of what attracts many fans to Arcade Fire. They are original and make damn good music. They buck the industry trends whenever possible and lash out at any attempt to take creative control of their work.

    * Exclusive advanced release MP3 from Neon Bible, "
    Black Mirror"

    Get more stories on
    Arcade Fire and subscribe to the IRC feed to stay updated on AF and many other great indie and alternative bands.

    Check out the band's
    profile on Merge Records - The deluxe CD version includes a paperboard clamshell box containing a 32-page flip book designed by Tracy Maurice and the Long Play (LP) version is minted for double 180-gram audiophile quality, featuring three sides of music plus an etching on the fourth side.

    As an extra bonus, the LP also includes a coupon code for a free MP3 download of the entire album.



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      9:54 PM March 4, 2007    0 Comments    MP3 Policy  View Labels/Tags

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    bands to watch 2009
    2009 Bands To Watch


    Current and upcoming releases (US dates)

    12/7/09 Ólafur Arnalds - Dyad 1909
    1/12/10 Vampire Weekend - Contra
    1/19/10 Cold War Kids - Behave Yourself EP
    1/19/10 Spoon - Transference
    1/26/10 Beach House - Teen Dream
    1/26/10 Basia Bulat - Heart Of My Own
    2/1/10 Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring
    2/2/10 Midlake - The Courage of Others
    2/9/10 Yeasayer - Odd Blood
    2/23/10 Shout Out Louds - Work
    2/23/20 Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago
    3/2/10 Rogue Wave - Permalight
    3/2/10 The Whigs - In The Dark
    3/9/10 Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks
    3/9/10 Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks
    3/16/10 Drive-By Truckers - The Big To-Do
    3/16/10 The Whigs - In The Dark
    3/22/10 Jónsi - Go
    3/23/10 She & Him - Volume 2
    5/4/10 The New Pornographers - Together

    Best 2009 Indie Releases

    2009 best indie albums
    Favorite 2009 indie albums in no particular order; strongly recommend these for your music collection.

    Roman Candle - Oh Tall Tree In The Ear
    Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy
    Fanfarlo - Reservior
    Family of the Year - Songbook
    The Middle East - The Recordings of the Middle East
    Freelance Whales - Weathervanes
    Echo & The Bunnymen - The Fountain
    The Sun - Don't Let Your Baby Have All The Fun
    Kings of Convenience - Declaration of Dependence
    Foreign Born - Person To Person
    Real Estate - Real Estate
    Elephantom - Swim. Towards The Sun
    Wiretree - Luck
    Them Crooked Vultures - s/t debut
    Volcano Choir - Unmap
    Au Revoir Simone - Still Night,Still Light
    Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
    The Raveonettes - In and Out of Control
    Ramona Falls - Intuit
    Holiday Shores - Columbus'd The Whim
    Why? - Eskimo Snow
    Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
    Cage The Elephant - Cage The Elephant
    The Dead Weather - Horehound
    Portugal The Man - The Satantic Satanist
    Port O'Brien - Threadbare
    Broken Records - Until The Earth Begins To Part
    Headlights - Wildlife
    Bango or Freakout - Upside Down EP
    The Clean - Mister Pop
    Sin Fang Bous - Clangour
    Passion Pit - Manners
    The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
    Brazos - Phosphorescent Blues
    Spring Tigers - Spring Tigers EP
    Sea Wolf - White Water, White Bloom
    The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
    Bodies Of Work - Flyers
    The XX - XX
    The Black Hollies - Softly Towards The Light
    Sonic Youth - The Eternal Youth
    Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
    Modest Mouse - No One's First and You're Next
    Generationals - Con Law
    BLK JKS - After Robots
    White Denim - Fits/Exposion
    Rodrigo y Gabriella - 11:11
    Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk
    Atlas Sound - Logos
    The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You
    Califone - All of My Friends Are Funeral Singers
    Taken By Trees - East of Eden
    Chet - Chelsea Silver, Please Come
    Julian Casablancas - Phrazes for the Young
    Washed Out - Life of Leisure
    Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
    Deer Tick - Born On Flag Day
    The Clientele - Bonfires of Heath
    Iron & Wine - Around The Well
    Pete Doherty - Grace/Wastelands
    It Hugs Back - Inside Your Guitar
    Peter Bjorn and John - Living Thing
    Conor Oberst & The Mustic Valley Band - Outer South
    Paper Route - Absence
    Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
    Throw Me The Statue - Creaturesque
    The Dodos - Time To Die
    Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
    M. Ward - Hold Time
    Deastro - Moondagger
    The Decemberists - Hazards of Love
    Matt & Kim - Grand
    The Antlers - Hospice
    Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
    The Brakes - Touchdown
    Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
    Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
    Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
    Franz Ferdinand - Tonight
    Frightened Rabbit - Quietly Now
    We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls
    The Times New Viking - Born Again Revisited
    A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar
    Pet Lions - Soft Right
    Paramore - Brand New Eyes
    Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Beware
    Bishop Allen - Grrr
    Cage The Elephant - Cage The Elephant
    Birds of Avalon - Uncanny Valley
    Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
    Ben Kweller - Changing Horses
    The Acorn - Heron Act
    The Twilight Sad - Forget The Night Ahead
    AC Newman - Get Guilty
    Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
    Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen
    Beirut - March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland
    The Most Serene Republic - And The Ever Expanding Universe
    Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
    Woodpigeon - Treasury Library Canada
    Wye Oak - The Knot
    Vica Voce - Rose City
    Pomegranates - Everyone, Come Outside!
    Dananananaykroyd - Hey Everyone
    Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
    Akron/Family - Set Em Wild, Set Em Free
    Lemon Sun - Run With the Faithless
    Eels - Hombre Lobo
    Fruit Bats - The Ruminant Band
    Mellow Down Easy - Cosmisutra
    The Mary Onettes - Dare EP
    Odawas - The Blue Depths
    The Veils - Sun Gangs
    Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
    White Rabbits - It's Frightening
    Loney Dear - Dear John
    The Lonely Forest - We Sing The Body Electric
    The Uglysuit - self-titled debut
    Handsome Furs - Face Control
    Vampire Hands - Me & You Cherry Red/Cuz It's a Beach Funeral


    This list is updated regularly.


    Indie Record Labels

    this list is regularly updated