Arcade Fire's shock win for Album Of The Year at the Grammys for their record The Suburbs is one of the biggest surprises at the ceremony honouring the best of music in 2010.
To a lot of people including me, this is a huge shock given that the favourite to win Album Of The Year is Eminem's Recovery and that many people except for me have never heard of the band before. But to some people who were listening to good music especially me and who see this band gathering their awards will be speechless and wouldn't be surprised
For the people who are disappointed that Eminem did not win or Katy Perry didn't or Lady Gaga, the Grammys unlike a lot of awards are not based on the popularity of the music and it is based on the integrity of that artist. Arcade Fire has a lot of integrity for being a really talented band so that's not only surprising and shocking, but it's well deserved.
Arcade Fire winning that prestitious Grammy is a milestone for their genre which is indie music. The Canadian group had recorded two acclaimed records which includes Funeral and Neon Bible. They are not well known to most people because they are labelled independent and is not heard much from any radio stations involved. The Suburbs is their latest album from them which along with Kanye West's My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy I was totally addicted to for the past year because like MBDTF it's atmospheric, ambition and most importantly it's personal and of all the music I heard from the past 12 months, this is the 2nd best music I've listened for 2010.
Arcade Fire's win had made me predict that rock music will be resurrected into good form given how our music is dominated by autotuned music from the likes of hip-hop, RnB and teen pop and we haven't heard of a single rock song from the radio (Hey Soul Sister does not count).
Arcade Fire are amongst a few bands and artists bringing in a movement full of indie music with Vampire Weekend (a most prominent one), Phoenix, Regina Spektor, Beck, The Temper Trap, Grizzly Bear and The Black Keys. All of these bands play really brilliant music and may introduce the independent music to the mainstream as possible as it can. The reason why I said possible is because these kind of bands don't want to bring attention for their hits. They want attention for the music they make and to the fact that it's based on creation that they belong unlike many other artists played on commercial radio.
Indie music should be popular because they celebrate our everyday joy and angst that are based on art they play. It's supposed to be moving, be out of conventions of the music, and most of all it should be witty. This is why I listen to this kind of genre because it makes me feel like I'm myself and I feel happy.
Unfortunately our mainstream music sucks today. I don't want to hear the music we have today especially Eminem whom I used to like from The Marshall Mathers LP to The Eminem Show. But just when he's out of Recovery he becomes so whiny talking about his personal issues. That's why he was snubbed. Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and Ke$ha doesn't make any good music and what we are hearing from the radio is just pure commercialism.
To anyone who doesn't know who Arcade Fire is, they are a band from Montreal, Canada and they are a large band featuring a huge family consisting of seven members. It's not as huge as Slipknot but they are a fine band and if you listen to any songs from the album The Suburbs, you will really like them.
The Suburbs reminds me of the New Wave music from the 80s. They're full of synths but it's orchestral and that's what Arcade Fire is all about. Hipsters. You are forgiven. Your tastes in everything is pretty awesome. No wonder why there's hate on you. And Pitchfork. You should be happy. Because your favourite band had won a Grammy.
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