Archive for the ‘The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire’ Category

11 ‘Wasted Hours’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire

  • country style ac gtr playing
  • the beat
  • acoustic gtr and synth bass, drums
  • vox and bvs ‘la, la-la’
  • pause intro to chorus
  • chorus without drums and bass
  • song fades out

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. country style ac gtr playing
  2. pause into chorus

10 ‘Month of May’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire

  • fastest, noisiest rocker on the album
  • noise intro – ‘1234’ vox count in
  • distorted elc gtr, one chord intro
  • drums, bass in from start too, vox enters
  • lyric: ‘two thousand nine, two thousand ten, want to make a record of how i felt then’
  • about three quarters in, organ does semitone (flattened) tonic, changing key

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. ‘1234’ vox count in – when track is clearly not an ensemble of players
  2. about three quarters in, organ does semitone, flattened tonic

09 ‘Suburban War’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire

  • picked elc gtr intro, verbed – Beatle-esque sound
  • drums (toms), bass enter, ac gtr, distant solo elc gtr
  • vox enter, bvs in chorus
  • lyric: ‘And my old friends, I can remember when
    You cut your hair
    We never saw you again
    Now the cities we live in
    Could be distant stars
    And I search for you
    In every passing car’
  • big middle: full drums, elc gtr, piano thumping
  • big finish: new beat, tom based – faster?

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. picked elc gtr intro, verbed – Beatle-esque sound
  2. pause then big finish: new beat, tom based – faster?

08 ‘Half Light II (No Celebration)’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire

  • hi string sustain from previous track
  • synth bass pulse, kik, rattling maracca, string melody
  • vox enters, all drop out except bass and kik
  • big gtr chords
  • breakdown:
  • great synth pulse/delay

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. companion or sequel to previous track
  2. great synth pulse/delay

07 ‘Half Light I’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire

  • fades in
  • strumming elc gtr, strings, synth bass, ac gtr, kik/tom, triangle?
  • 1st verse: fem vox
  • 2nd verse: male vox (fem vox double)
  • cello/string section finale, doubled with indistinct vox
  • high string sustains into next track

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. cello/string section finale, doubled with indistinct vox
    state melody first, then add vox but keep low in mix, lyrics unintelligible
  2. accent with highest possible notes eg. triangle
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