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The latest album in our best of the decade series is undoubtedly a masterpiece and the way it carved itself an alarmingly unique and powerful corner within music will surely make it one of the most talked about albums for years to come. After its release in 2004, the musical world has taken on a much more epic and grandiose look ever since.  The album is Funeral and the band is Arcade Fire and writing about it today is Mike Gourlay who works for Infected. Infected is a specialist and regional music press and promotions company who are currently looking after- among others- the likes of Interpol, Late of the Pier, Bat For Lashes, Babyshambles and Coldplay.

Anyway, here are Mike Gourlay’s lovely and enthusiastic thoughts on Funeral:


ARCADE FIRE – ‘FUNERAL’

OK it’s an obvious choice, you probably own and love it already and it’ll be overlooked by everyone for something less known (yawn) but here are ten reasons why ‘Funeral’ is without a shadow of a doubt the best album of the decade :

“Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”
“Neighborhood #2 (Laïka)”
“Une Année Sans Lumière”
“Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)”
“Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)”
“Crown of Love”
“Wake Up”
“Haïti”
“Rebellion (Lies)”
“In the Backseat”

Alas, whilst that should be enough, perhaps it’s cheating here.

So why is ‘Funeral’ so motherfricking great ? Why does it want to make you go out and run around the streets in a gang, cartwheelin’ freely, shouting at the top of your lungs and generally ne’erdoing well ?

Well mostly because it’s so wonderfully, wonderfully childlike. It’s the sound of pure idealism in a world that is bloody ugly and where cynicism rules, in a culture that celebrates the grey, the average and the lowest common denominator. It sticks out like a sore bloody thumb in other words thank goodness.

For me, at least, it towers over anything else written in the last ten years and has everything you want in pop (yep, pop) music – disaffected youth, alienation, belief, rebellion (lies), heartbreak, pain and bloody great chorus. I mean huge, bloody great choruses.

This is what music should be – articulate, intelligent, joyous, astonishing, mesmerising, beautiful and absolutely, categorically, otherworldly.

If you don’t own “Funeral’ put it on your list to Santa. It won’t let you down and chances are it’ll be one of the few you own that you can go back to time and again over the next ten, twenty, thirty years. It really is that good.

In fact ‘Funeral’ makes me blush very time I mention its name, it’s that damned good. I might be a little in love with it and that’s no bad thing, music should after all make you feel something. Has to surely ?

In fact feck all these adjectives and this inarticulacy and bollocks to finishing this article, I’m off to listen to it now.

Happy new year!