In the Spotlight: Arcade Fire

 Posted by at 3:30 pm  4 Responses »
Nov 272013
 

In the Spotlight showcases a cross-section of an artist’s cover work. View past installments, then post suggestions for future picks in the comments!

Arcade Fire has a new album out. Reception: a trifle mixed, shall we say. But don’t let that stop you from engaging in a little cover love.

Their songs can be sweeping, epic, with almost a cinematic quality about them. Indeed, “Wake Up” was heavily featured in the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are (which was arguably the best thing about that film). We thought we’d invent some movie and television synopses to go with the covers below, both widely featured on the internets and by some newer unknown artists. Coming soon to a delusional theater in your mind…
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Bobtown Folks Around with Arcade Fire Cover

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Jan 102012
 

Last winter, New York folk act Bobtown kicked off their “Bobtown Covers Project” with a take on Blue Öyster Cult’s classic “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper.” After a long break, they’ve revived the four-part project with a cover of Arcade Fire‘s “My Body Is a Cage.” Their version is the latest in a series of covers of “My Body Is a Cage,” including Peter Gabriel’s standout eerie rendition from two years ago. Continue reading »

Bobtown Folks Up “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper”

 Posted by at 3:00 pm  3 Responses »
Jan 242011
 

Whether you think it’s about suicide or “eternal love” (as songwriter Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser asserts), there’s no denying that Blue Öyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper” is unnervingly haunting. The latest cover of the song to hit YouTube, by the folk-Americana outfit Bobtown, plays beautifully with the song’s Gothic sensibilities. We asked Bobtown’s Katherine Etzel about the choice. She tells us:

When we first got together, coincidentally, many of our songs were about death. Not a planned theme, but apparently, something we needed to get out of our systems… After noticing and discussing it one day at rehearsal a year or so ago, one of us jokingly launched into a verse of “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” and we realized it actually lent itself nicely to the sort of vocal-heavy arrangements we lean towards. So we built our version of the song around that spontaneous moment.

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