Arcade Fire - Funeral

Funeral is one of those rare discs that really shouldn't be experienced outside of its entirety. It's not a concept album in that each song plays into the next and has a grand arcing storyline encompassing the entire thing, but every song contains a sort of forelorn sweetness to it that, without the context of each and every song, the entire meaning is lost. It'd be like reading a chapter from a book that works as its own vignette but really does nothing for character development. So what the hell does that mean? Basically it means that this album has a theme, and with a title like Funeral, it's not an intensely happy one. Fortunately, even though the band members experienced personal strife through the loss of loved ones, the album remains upbeat and completely enjoyable. The stories of lovers meeting in an underground tunnel ("Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)"), a mischevious brother ("Neighborhood #2 (Laika)"), or a city with no power ("Neighborhood #3 (Power)") are executed with indie rock perfection - from the driving drums, the subtle xylophone, the layered vocals, to the droning keyboards, or sing-song chorus...it's all there. Funeral somehow manages to capture the feeling of distraction someone longs for when a disaster occurs. The stories of hopeful love, the frustration with lies, or the longing for quiet in the back seat of a car aren't necessarily all feelings everyone has experienced, but the arcing theme is there. My best bets are on this record showing up on many Best Of lists once 2004 wraps up. [www.arcadefire.com]