Arctic Arcade Architecture

I've just discovered three awesome bands that play super fun and funny indie tunes! And, they all line up back to back in alphabetical order in my itunes! Perfectly odd!

1. Arcade Fire
2. Architecture in Helsinki
3. Arctic Monkeys


Arcade Fire is a about seven people out of Montreal playing about a billion instruments to produce some upbeaty, punked-up, deep Cure-style stuff... part Gotan Project, part Magnetic Fields, part David Bowie...er... or some other artists. Hey, I'm not a musician or much of a music critic so that's how it's going be here on this blog. They won a 2006 Juno for best songwriters of the year! The Arcade Fire Website diverts you to the Fan Site and a super quirky, interactive Band Site with small blogs from each of the band members. You can check out some videos and tunes from their 2004 album 'Funeral' on the Merge Records website. I especially love Rebellion (lies) and a song called Haiti that you can listen to on BBC music. I first heard their music on Radio Paradise, a listener supported online music station I sometimes enjoy.

Architecture in Helsinki is an Aussie band and it seems that I just missed them playing in Vancouver. They played at the Plaza Club on May 26, 2006. Their website kicks ass!! It's very cartoony and as you might know, I love cartoons! You can listen to snippets of their music by simply visiting ArchitectureinHelsinki.com. 'Maybe you can owe me' is a great song! The Georgia Straight describes them as an "indie-oriented octet with a Beach Boys fixation....a madcap exploration of bubble-gum melodies set to prog-rock arrangements... made on a multitude of instruments using a variety of vocal styles." I think they are perfectly silly!

Finally, Arctic Monkeys are also super cool! Their song, 'When the sun goes down" hit #4 on CBC's National Playlist in April, 2006. I think they are from the UK. You can watch some videos of theirs on the Domino Records website. Some online reviewers don't seem to like their instant success and pop sensation qualities, but I really like many of their tunes. They are hard and fun and catchy. Jian Ghomeshi likes them and so do I!


PHOTO: Some sort of smart car parked in downtown London. A sign on the dash reads "Excempt from Parking Fees"!