Montreal Indie Rockers "The Arcade Fire" & Trans-Canadian Hype

Remember that interview with the Arcade Fire back in February? I told you to keep an eye on this band! On March 4th, they played at the Canadian Independent Music Awards in Toronto and were well-received by the Canuck Indie Press. Alexisonfire, The Salads, Rick Threat, and D.O.A. also played at the very same awards gala, putting the Arcade Fire in good company.

Montreal is also beginning to smell the smoke and to reach for a haul. According to the Montreal Mirror, the AF have been nominated for two MIMI (Montreal Indie) Awards, which will be held on March 14th at the Spectrum; one is for "Rising Star" (they'll be up against The Unicorns, that phallus-obsessed, pink-clad group of Casio Freaks who haven't responded to my interview pitch and thereby earned themselves a spot on my Shit-list). The other award is the Denis Vanier award, for "Depth & delivery of a lyrical work", and the AF will face Buck 65 and also Sans Pression, a Montreal hip-hop collective.

You can be part of the Montreal Indie magic by pointing your mouse to the MIMI gala site and voting for your favourites. They ask for your email address to prevent cheaters and obsessive clickers but won't spam you, I promise.

I just finished voting but had to select "none of the above" for several categories due to my lack of knowledge and/or personal ignorance (ie. Guru award, choose between the following: Akufen, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Michel Faubert, René Lussier, Voivod). Hell, I heard of Godspeed and also Voivod but I must have been busy rolling when the other three guys appeared on the local scene.

Even if our favourite flames don't win any awards, at least they're getting some attention and this will help them to find a good distributor for their impending full length record. (the AF website mentions they have about 7 or 8 songs completed so far). We wish them all the best!

It's like 1812, only backwards. Canada is heading south, armed with musical instruments and a whole lotta rock'n'roll love. The Arcade Fire will be performing @ the Knitting Factory in NYC with the Wrens on March 26th. Then, on Saturday, April 10th, they'll be playing in Northampton, MA @ the Pearl Street Nightclub with The Unicorns.