As anyone who’s had the pleasure of visiting whoisarcadefire.tumblr.com could tell you, Arcade Fire’s Album of the Year win at the Grammy Awards on Sunday was as much a pleasant surprise to indie music fans as it was a shocking “Jethro Tull/Metallica”-esque injustice to many who had never heard of the great Montreal outfit. Not that I would’ve assumed folks like Dog the Bounty Hunter or Rosie O’Donnell were following the blogosphere close enough to have previously caught wind of Win Butler and friends (or see them share the stage with the likes of David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, et al.), but many hilariously believed being popular in the mainstream (which, hey, AF sort of are) is a prerequisite to claiming such a coveted trophy.
Anyway, I won’t bother analyzing this widespread reaction, as it’s more fun left as a joke and Okkervil River’s Will Sheff, who was nominated for writing liner notes to Roky Erickson’s True Love Cast Out All Evil, penned a diary for Billboard of his experience attending the award show that covers the subject brilliantly with his first-hand account, lulzy anecdotes (“[A] member of the metal band seated behind me remarked, “What are they called? The Suburbs? Not exactly my bag!”), and incisive criticism. Give it a read thataway (via The Daily Swarm).
P.S. You’ve heard Sheff’s excellent new tunes, “Mermaid” and “Wake & Be Fine”, right?