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Critics adore the Arcade Fire, but don’t hold that against them. Their album Funeral, one of the most exhilarating debuts in decades, was a genre-bending collage of rock, orchestral pop, mournful trance, and moody experimentation. But the husband and wife team of Win Butler and Regine Chassagne didn’t set out to be critical darlings—they just wanted to rock the world from their own slightly skewed perspective. They succeeded—no other band sounds remotely like Arcade Fire.
The String Quartet Tribute to Arcade Fire is an instrumental voyage through the band’s dreamy and startling landscapes. Violin leads the way, turning the band’s plaintive, searching vocals into soaring melodies. Viola and cello go dark, but not too dark, as they give classical voice to Arcade Fire’s sadder songs. But it’s joy—the grab-the-sky, tell-the-world kind of joy—that wins out in the thrilling cadences of indie radio hits like “Power Out” and “Wake Up.” The String Quartet Tribute to Arcade Fire is smile-inducing, spirit-lifting music.
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