10 REASONS TO DIG ARCADE FIRE COVERS
Posted on November 11th, 2008 by ekko
1. Naive Melody-Arcade Fire (Talking Heads cover). Canada’s The Arcade Fire are the reason I got into blogging. When I first heard “Funeral” I thought was so new, so different, so vastly separate from anything I was listening to at the time that I thought people had to know about this record. Then I realized it really wasn’t so different, once I heard this cover. All AF did was take The Talking Heads’ sense of paranoia and love of all things human, and bring it into the far more complicated, far scarier 21st Century.
2. Crown of Love-This is Ivy League. Nothing Arcade Fire does is small. They make arena songs–big, soaring, important things. But this cover flips that on its head.
3. Maps-Arcade Fire (Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover). One of my all-time favorite cover songs ever. I wish someone would blend it with the original version, and with Ted Leo’s version that also has that Kelly Clarkson song mashed in.
4. All the Umbrellas in London-Arcade Fire (Magnetic Fields cover). Not great quality, unfortunately.
5. A Change is Gonna Come-Arcade Fire (Sam Cooke cover). Also not great quality, but this is such a sweet song for them to cover. It’s perfect for Winn’s soul cracking voice.
6. No Cars Go-Final Fantasy. One of the earliest AF singles, redone and remixed for their Neon Bible album. This cover is so minimalist. So sad.
7. Hump My Tunnel-Arcade Fire vs. The Black Eyed Peas. I’m including this to show that even the most chilling, powerful songs can be made to sound like shit by adding Fergie.
8. Born on a Train-Arcade Fire (Magnetic Fields cover). An amazing cover that is as good as the original, in its own way.
9. Ocean of Noise-Calexico. Lots of you have probably heard this cover before. But it’s worth restating.
10. Intervention/I’m So Bored With The USA-Arcade Fire (Clash cover). It’s hard for me to stop at 10, but if I’m gonna limit myself, this is the perfect spot to do it. Arcade Fire have declined offers from major labels, preferring to keep complete control. Joe and Mick accepted an offer from a major and spent the rest of their careers fighting for control, but if there had been the kind of distribution systems for indie artists that are around today, that might have been different. Today, Mick is a self-distributing musician, with his band Carbon/Silicon having released almost 30 songs on free internet EPs.
Comment By: Mike
November 11th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Ben Folds did a cover of ‘Maps’?
Comment By: Ian
November 11th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
3. Maps-Arcade Fire (Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover). One of my all-time favorite cover songs ever. I wish someone would blend it with the original version, and with Ben Folds’ version that also has that Avril Lavigne song mashed in.
That is actually a Ted Leo cover, not a Ben Folds cover
Comment By: Fongolia
November 11th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
I know not of this Ben Folds cover of Maps. As a huge Folds fanatic, I suspect you may be mistaken… but then again I could be completely wrong.
Comment By: ekko
November 12th, 2008 at 4:36 am
That’s what I meant. I was writing too fast and too late at night. Thanks.
Comment By: CD
November 12th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
i would have had to put Operation Bumblebee’s cover of “Neon Bible” on this list. Never has acapella been packed w/ such fresh indie goodness, i tell you what.
Comment By: andrew
August 14th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Arcade Fire is innovative, sweet, sad, melancholic, a great experience for the soul. That said, I think they’d be perfect to do a cover of “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic zeros, The song is wonderful and I think arcade would just do a wonderful job with it. Cheers
Comment By: Logan Geidner
September 4th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
I’ve subscribed to your rss can look out for additional posts of yours. Definitely anticipating more info on the same subject. Thanks for this informative blog!