Day after day I checked my mailbox after class, and day after day I was disappointed. But alas, this past week finally brought great joy to my world, as my Miroir Noir special edition DVD finally arrived in the mail. It’s been a few months since the first announcements for this documentary, which features Arcade Fire and everything surrounding the release of Neon Bible in 2007, surfaced and I couldn’t try and count how many times I had watched the trailer. And when Pitchfork streamed it for a week I managed to only watch about 5 minutes, as to not ruin the arrival of my leather bound accordion styled DVD case.
So hype abound and anticipation boiling over, I watched Miroir Noir from start to finish and immediately followed it with the special features disc. I couldn’t get enough Neon Bible. Which is interesting to note because that album really put me off for about a year before I finally started enjoying it.
The way the Documentary is shot is amazing, first off. I’ve seen various live DVDs and documentaries by now, and I enjoy most of them merely for the fact that they offer a different view about said band without really doing anything too crazy or original. But the fascination I now have with Miroir Noir stems from the fact that it mixes behind the scenes bits with well shot and breathtaking live tracks. Most interestingly though, it integrates one of the best fan involved projects ever: the Neon Bible telephone hotline. Playing various clips from fans (and one guy they apparently lost and who would have been “the greatest fan ever”) overtop of some abstractly shot yet perfectly placed scenes makes the documentary sometimes feel more like a movie than a straight live compilation.
There’s one scene in particular, where Regine is just running down the beach as the camera follows. It’s incredibly shaky and half-hard to make out who it is at first, but then to see the members of Arcade Fire like Regine with their guard down and their smiles wide is an engrossing feeling (almost like when the percussion parts collide in “My Body is a Cage”). Another thing that astonished me was the way Win Butler was portrayed through all of it. I sort of always took him for a complete asshole, a man who seemed closed off and very bitter yet powerful. But in Miroir Noir there’s a scene of him and another band member just dancing around while he lip syncs and smiles; it’s revealing, and it’s something that a lot of other documentaries never really touch on: the human side of things.
Seeing the glee in Regine’s eyes and voice when she finally gets to record “No Cars Go” with a full orchestra is beautiful. The examples
go on and on, and sometimes out-do the brilliant filming done during the live shows. Close up, perfect audio, and great crowd clips all coupled with a few times when the camera work is so great you forget about the music itself make the DVD a worthy purchase for any and all Arcade Fire fans.
I own the special edition, which features some great clips if you can afford the $25 price point instead of $15. A couple of SNL clips, including the hard to find parts when their sound gets cut out and they perform in the crowd. An extensive and awesome BBC session (worth the ten dollars alone) and then some other late night takes as well. Coupled with the better packaging and you’re looking at a great collector’s item if you’re a big fan of their work.
As far as documentaries go… 9.5/10
Directed by: Vincent Morisset
Shot by: Vincent Moon
(sorry for the lack of photos because of this). Even as the openers, their technical death metal commanded the attention of the already fully packed venue and their skills especially shined on some of the heaviest tracks from their newest Cosmogenesis. French-Canadian hardcore/tech-death mainstays in Neuraxis followed suit with an incredibly tight set, despite the fact that their bassist was still held back in Canada due to a visa dispute. The band were probably pretty excited to be opening for Corpse either way, and just turned the distortion a bit higher to compensate for the lack of low-end. Personally, I was most impressed with the opening set from the young technical death metal band The Faceless on Friday; having spent the last half of a year on the road opening for some of the best death metal bands in the world, the band seems to be operating on another plateau of confidence these days and it shows. Their set was perfect, and I’ve got nothing else to say besides that. Cannibal Corpse came out on stage to the kind of maniacal, rabid crowd that only the most extreme cult bands can be proud to call their own. This is a band is still referenced as one of the most overtly violent and sexual bands in history; they pioneered a style that a million death metal bands have tried to emulate, and their set that night was as vulgar, vicious, and violent as they could make possible. During their performance, Corpse proved their still on top of theirgame and had the crowd going crazy for songs from all eras, from Tomb of the Mutilated and Butchered at Birth on to the newest Evisceration Plague. It was an impressive performance that had the crowd and band band feeding off each other in a celebration of the sickest side of metal .
(Cannibal Corpse)
(Cannibal Corpse)
(Cannibal Corpse)
(Cannibal Corpse)
(Cannibal Corpse)
(The Faceless)
(The Faceless)
(The Faceless)
(The Faceless)
(Neuraxis)
(Neuraxis)
(Neuraxis)
Here is another quality track from your boy Elzhi. This one is produced by none other than the great Black Milk. Elzhi spits a vicious flow over this one (just like any track) and Black Milk provides a perfect back drop. This track is apparently off of his upcoming project The Feed. Make sure you look out for anything that this guy has coming out (you know we will keep you posted) because he’s on his way to becoming one of the greats.
Here is a new one from the Thorton Brothers entitled “Kind of a Big Deal”. It is produced by DJ Kahlil and features none other than Kanye West. Despite my bias towards Kanye, I would have to say that he spits the best verse on this track. The beat that DJ Khalil puts down is ridiculous, and this track serves as a great opening to Til’ the Casket Drops.
I figured I would start off my posts today with a track that is worth hearing on 4/20. This track comes to us from the fine people over at 
is exactly what any long time fan of Jens has come to expect. Lyrics like “I’m not gonna cry no tears” and “Don’t you ever regret that kiss” are still made someone hopeful and happy with the upbeat and eclectic music. The song begins and ends with a choir of people singing “Swept away” and the chorus line “Happiness will be my revenge” (maybe that’s the Sweptaways?). It all combines for a fun tune, something that is heartfelt and honest like anything Jens pours his heart into, and yet makes you want to tap your toe and grab your significant other for a round of kisses. It’s all sort of cheesy, but I think that’s what I’ve come to love about Jens is that no matter how serious the words might be, there is always happiness abound. Enjoy!
For the next four weeks all you rabid Gorillaz fans (me included) can stream their new documentary Bananaz via the site Babelgum. It’ll be nice to see the band in actual live setting and not with their cartoon personas plastered all over the screen, so I’ve got high hopes. The theatrical release is set for sometime in June and the DVD copies if you so choose to 
MIND INVERSION 