Their 2009 debut album saw them compared to Fleet Foxes, who they claimed not to have even heard when they were making it.
On Google+
On Twitter
Top writers
Places
Politics
E-break Time
Critics name the year's best albums – but are they right?
Sunday 26 December 2010
As we publish HMV's Poll of Polls on 2010's critically acclaimed music, Kunal Dutta notes the gap between the pundits and the punters
Arcade Fire, 02 Arena, London
Friday 03 December 2010
I have seen Arcade Fire in a small church and in a packed Hackney Empire. Now they are bounding onstage at the O2 Arena as if born to the role. Their ascent has been rapid and has been all the more surprising given the peculiarity of their music, a bewildering panoply of strings and things. Significantly, they do not seem out of place here. As an octet, they are not dwarfed by a stage this size. The same applies to their sound.
First Night: Arcade Fire, O2 ARena, London
Thursday 02 December 2010
Fire burns bright as band of many talents step up to the big stage
This one's for all the ladies in the house
Friday 24 September 2010
Maroon 5 are huge but credibility eludes them. Gillian Orr asks Adam Levine, their frontman, if all the trite songs and videos about women might be to blame
Caught in the Net: Green goes straight into Compton
Friday 03 September 2010
Cross the Proms' two most popular fixtures – the Last Night of the Proms and the Doctor Who Prom – and you might just end up with the event that's taking over the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday afternoon. It's a recreation of the programme you would have heard had you attended the Last Night of the Proms 100 years ago, in 1910.
Caught in the net: A pleasure to treasure
Friday 06 August 2010
Last year's collaboration with Scarlett Johansson was probably more aesthetically pleasing, but music fans will likely be more excited by Pete Yorn's latest hook-up with Frank Black, aka Black Francis.
Album: Arcade Fire, The Suburbs (Mercury/Sonovox)
Sunday 01 August 2010
Loss, hope and clarity: it's the new sound of 'The Suburbs'
Album: Arcade Fire, The Suburbs (Sonovox)
Friday 30 July 2010
If the dominant mood of their debut Funeral was one of celebration, and that of Neon Bible one of anxiety, then the prevailing tone of The Suburbs is of a more reflective, nostalgic bent – as if rumination upon the past might indeed offer a valid refuge from the uncertainties and worries of the present.
Spontaneous combustion: The return of Arcade Fire
Friday 23 July 2010
Arcade Fire's first album catapulted the unconventional Canadian outfit into the rock stratosphere, drawing eulogies from Springsteen, Bowie, Byrne and more. Six years later, their third album is awaited with bated breath. Andy Gill sets the scene for the release of the year
Arcade Fire, Hackney Empire, London<br/>Dr John, Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Sunday 11 July 2010
While the crazy Canucks just wanna have fun, the good doctor brings New Orleans to London
-
1
Gay couple beaten in park urge MPs to moderate language on gay marriage
-
2
Swedes set up 'ultimate Viking movie'
-
3
After woman sells virginity for $780,000, here are the results of our prostitution survey
-
4
China agrees to impose carbon targets by 2016
-
5
Far-right French historian, 78-year-old Dominique Venner, commits suicide in Notre Dame in protest against gay marriage
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
Visit York
Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
