Arcade Fire – Funeral

          2004 – and the musical scene appeared pretty dire, nothing really exciting happening, existing artists treading ever more turgid water. Oh – and hip-hop – aaaaargh.  Then I read in Uncut about this album, and gave it a whirl.  They are an ‘indie’ Canadian band, with vocals (often sounding hysterical, or at least frantic) by Win Butler and a wide variety of instrumentation.  There was something about the sound that was different, hard to define – but they definitely had their own style.  In fact, the whole album is of a piece, very easy to listen to, as one track slips into the next.  Hard to say why I liked them so much; maybe novelty, as I never bothered to any any of their other records.  Still, always a welcome return when I re-listen.