“Holy Shit” - that was the tweet from Pitchfork immediately following the announcement that Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” had won Album of the Year, the Grammys’ top award, last night. Lead singer Win Butler’s response was similar, asking perplexedly, almost under his breath, “what the hell?” But there the band stood, right at center stage accepting the biggest award of the night looking slightly shell shocked as the rest of us attempted to catch our breath as well. After a brief thank you speech, the band rebounded and took to the stage once again to perform the now prescient “Ready To Start.” As Win sang the lyrics “If the business men drink my blood, like the kids in art school said they would, then I guess I’ll just begin again,” the “holy shit” of what had just happened really began to sink in. Let’s face it, no real music fan has taken the Grammy Awards seriously for years, maybe not ever. My girlfriend and I watched it last night solely for shits and giggles. We watched it for sport, like the kind of sport that involves children ripping wings off of flies, a sport made easier by the advent of social media. We particularly enjoyed reading D Listed’s Michael K as he mocked nearly every performer and moment of the garish event. Occasionally we would add our own barbs of disdain on Facebook and Twitter. I focused on the walking STD that is John Mayer, the absurdity that is Gwyneth Paltrow, and Katy Perry’s doe eyes, among her other spectacular assets. I also started the night off calling the Grammys a “cultural holocaust,” which elicited nothing but general agreement and disdain for the event on my Facebook wall. Nothing good was supposed to happen last night. It was supposed to be a joke, a slap in the face to all music fans around the world as top honors were handed out to the processed cheese of the music industry. Real artists either went home empty handed, or, more than likely, were not even nominated. The one genuine highlight was that Arcade Fire was going to perform a song. Yeah, they were nominated for the top award of the night, but no one expected them to win. It was a shock enough that they were even recognized with a nomination. It’s not like the Grammys have a finger on the pulse of anything beyond the most vacuous of musical phenomena. They are historically tone-deaf, or rather just deaf. Which is a shame, because, like it or not, it is the top music award in the nation, and as such it should actually be concerned with what is the best, not what is the most popular.
It goes without saying that what is most popular 99.9% of the time is typically the most soulless garbage imaginable. To take a typical example from last night, let’s pick on Marshall Mathers, who apparently had the best selling album of 2010 (yeah, let that fact sink in for a minute). Yet, not even Eminem’s ridiculous anger (real or feigned, it was ridiculous) could mask that his big “comeback” song was nothing more than manufactured white-boy angst put together on an industry approved assembly line, complete with high-profile guest spots and glossy production that was a million miles away from whatever authenticity he once had back on the streets of Detroit. It was a shell of authenticity, it was exactly what the Grammys usually gobble up and reward.
That didn’t happen last night though. What happened was that the Grammys actually awarded authenticity, and not the fabrication of it. Say what you will about Arcade Fire, but they are anything but insincere. This was hardly lost on the audience when for a second the air was sucked out of the room as everyone realized that who should have won actually won, which was about the most shocking thing that could ever happen at the Grammys. Or, maybe the shock was because a bunch of pampered industry insiders were completely mind-fucked that one of their own wasn’t up there accepting the award. Either way, the right thing happened. Kanye West, who was in top form last night on Twitter, said it best when he tweeted "#Arcade fire!!!!!!!!!! There is hope!!! I feel like we all won when something like this happens! FUCKING AWESOME!" He was right, we did all win, or at least those of us who have poured our hearts and souls into independent music and culture.
Indie rock has been plugging along in earnest going on four decades now. Over the years an entire indie/DIY culture has grown out of it, a culture that I have oriented myself toward for at least 25 years. Never once has our culture, and the tribe that has amassed within it, sought mainstream approval or acceptance. Being indie necessitated standing outside of the mainstream. Certainly some independent artists have gone mainstream to seek that approval; we have a name for that, it's called “selling out.” It happens, no big deal, and certainly some previously independent artists who have gone mainstream have garnered awards as a result of "selling out." What happened last night though was not an example of an indie band selling out to get mainstream acceptance, quite to the contrary; it was the mainstream awarding an indie band for staying indie. Not just any indie band either, but THE indie band.
If there has been a single flagship band for indie rock over the past decade, it has been Arcade Fire. Their initial notice came by word of mouth on blogs and message boards. Their albums were first stocked on the shelves of independent music sellers, not Best Buy or Target, and it was Pitchfork, not Rolling Stone, that helped make them the success that they are. Their debut album “Funeral” defined a generation. Their follow up “Neon Bible” was a lone voice of insight and sanity in the midst of one of America’s darkest decades. “The Suburbs” was a bitter reflection on aging, individually and collectively, told from a specific vantage point, i.e. a narrator steeped in independent culture. Oh yeah, it also dealt with other cheery subjects like the encroachment of technology into our lives which threatens to destroy our very humanity, the stuff that Grammy voters love to think about. In many ways the fact that Arcade Fire won last night, on their own terms, was a victory not just for them, but for the independent ethos and culture as a whole.
This is not to say that mainstream American, or even the mainstream music industry, have suddenly accepted indie culture. Nor is it to say that somehow this marks a seismic shift in the music industry or society at large. Certainly the win left many in mainstream America scratching their heads wondering “who the fuck is Arcade Fire?" In the end it may amount to little on a mass cultural scale, but last night and today it feels pretty damn wonderful to see the home team win. It’s great to know that indie stalwart Merge Records is celebrating this victory. It’s also great to know that the members of Arcade Fire, who have been true to their vision from the beginning, and have never compromised the integrity of that vision, came out on top among some of the biggest names in show business. Last night was a victory for personal authenticity and independent culture, which is the last thing I thought I would ever write in the wake of the Grammy Awards. Congratulations Arcade Fire, and congratulations to the independent spirit and culture that made “The Suburbs” possible.
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