Wig Bubbles

The media love anniversaries.

That will become all too clear in a few days, as we approach the 50th anniversary of the death of JFK. Meanwhile, America is gearing up for celebrations early next year of the 50th anniversary of Beatlemania in North America. Of course, Canadians know Beatlemania actually arrived on this continent in late 1963, weeks before Americans got the urge to hold the group’s collective hand — but that’s our little secret. Meanwhile, the year has seen events and celebrations to mark 50 years since the March on Washington, 40 years since Billie Jean King walloped Bobby Riggs, 100 years of Stravinsky’s seminal Rite of Spring and of course the 200th anniversary of the War of 1813. Continue reading →

Shortly before 2:30 p.m. yesterday I received the following news release, courtesy of our friends at Life or Death PR in Brooklyn: Continue reading →

Payback.

Universal Music and Arcade Fire have spent months building anticipation. A single, dense with intriguing words and music, left us wanting more. Surprise performances and interviews on all the right talk shows made the band impossible to dodge. Hype like we haven’t seen since Chinese Democracy — and you know how well that turned out — was fully engaged. (OK, let’s say hype not seen since last year’s Bowie album, which for 24 hours was hailed as the most important recording ever released by anyone ever. That, of course, was before fans and critics had given it a proper listen. Subsequently, all agreed it should never be mentioned again.)

We’ve now had Reflektor in our hands for over 24 hours. And it’s still being talked about. That’s a long time in today’s media world. Ramped-up hype? Check. Copies of the album in every shop window and saturating every hip radio station? Check. Backlash fueled by critics with a chip on their collective shoulder? You know it. All is well with the grand plan to make this Arcade Fire’s supreme moment.

But for one thing. Continue reading →