~ARCADE FIRE .. REFLEKTOR .. SIMON CERIGO
DEDICATED TO: SIMON CERIGO, our music reviewer supremo, and big art buddy ..
who sadly left us, meaning earthly life in bio form .. this past Jan 2013.
SIMON was a big fan of ARCADE FIRE, and wrote up a definitive review for us, that posted on MAY 7 of 2007.
as you can see from the essay, Simon held a lot of oral history in his big, round, often .. partied-out, but way friendly .. head.
ARCADE FIRE is a Montreal based-band, and me and Simon both grew up on those long Montreal winter-time streets, too.
read: ARCADE FIRE – by SIMON CERIGO . . . including, images of the original graphics
ARCADE FIRE is making ‘waves’ . . this weekend, it’s a nautical weekend.
what can I tell you, Manhattan is an island !! and so is .. Montreal !!
because they are playing ‘underground’ under a barley disguised ‘nom de band’ – the REFLEKTORS, at a Bushwick, Brooklyn underground arts venue – 299 Meserole St, which only opened last November 2012. apparently tickets went on sale this past Wed to fans, who had pre-ordered the new album, but opened up to the general public yesterday. Formal attire or costume .. mandatory.
some background from yesterday’s WALL STREET JOURNAL . .
“Three years ago, the ARCADE FIRE, the Grammy-winning Canadian Indie rock band, released their album ‘The Suburbs’ with much fanfare, playing to a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden.
This weekend, they are taking a different approach. The band is planning to introduce New Yorkers to their new double album, ‘Reflektor’, with a pair of lightly publicized concerts, played under a false name, in a former sheet-metal and plastics factory in an industrial pocket of Brooklyn with enough room for just 3,000 people . . .”
see: The Arcade Fire, Far From the Maddening Crowd, WALL STREET JOURNAL
note: re-paste the link in your browser, if necessary.
see: 299 MESEROLE ST, BUSHWICK
check it out: ARCADE FIRE, ‘RFLEKTOR’ . . the first song, on their new album . . is posted to YouTube
interestingly, esp for ‘small’ social media sites, like this one . .
the WALL STREET JOURNAL goes on to state:
“The Arcade Fire has taken a calculated, low-key guerrilla marketing approach to promoting ‘Reflektor’ and the band’s coming world tour. Interviews with the band have been extremely limited and despite a few positive early reviews, the album – one of the most anticipated of the year – hasn’t yet leaked on the Internet.”
SIMON would have swooned over the music and driven us all crazy playing it endlessly – at top volume.
but, he also would have been crazy – for the video, and so am I.
mostly what’s so great, are the BIG IDEAS !! but also that the production is so low-key, and as Simon would have stressed: authentic.
but what really freaked me out, was the poignant subject line.
they are transporting a coffin, the dead . . to the country, and we are doing just that, this weekend !!
we are taking a road trip . . to Vermont, and finally letting go of the ghost, Simon’s ashes . . into a rushing . . autumn fast turning winter – rural stream. in fact, as we found out, Simon’s last wish, as told to each one of us – at different times.
rural, inland water . . plays a big part in this video, and so does .. dancing !!
and I guess, celebrating the dead.
so, this is a nice send-off, or what.
“just a reflector ..
we all have things to hide,
see you on the other side.”
“we’re so connected ..
but are we even friends ?
see you on the other side.”
if you knew Simon, this will be a familiar pose . . he did dance like this, with his hands in the air.
our ‘REFLEKTOR’ . . sets off on .. his next journey.
Simon would have liked the metaphor of the mirrored man, the ‘reflektor’ !! – for the artist, the musician, the soul man, the time traveler, in all of us.
he esp prided himself, not just .. on being a natural born ‘mirror man’, but on being able .. to pinpoint a ‘mirror man’, for the rest of us.
Jack Goldstein, ca 1986 . . . anybody ?
P.S.
I did, incredibly . . cross paths with Hash Halper’s brother, astrologer OMKAR LEWIS last night, who actually told me: “WATCH OUT FOR VOICES WITH NO .. BODIES” !!!
hey, you know what they say: no man is . . an island.
SIMON and KATE, at the last band concert . . .
SIMON and THEO . . note the rubber admittance .. wrist bands.