Journal of Popular Music Studies, Volume 27, Issue 1, Pages 48–68Reflections of the Cosmopolitan City: Mapping Arcade Fire’s Reflektor and its Intermedia Promotional Campaign1 Brian Fauteux University of Wisconsin, Madison Music is the cultural form best able both to cross borders—sounds carry across fences and walls and oceans, across classes, races, and nations—and to define places: in clubs, scenes, and raves, listening on headphones, radio, and in the concert hall, we are only where the music takes us (Frith 276). On 1 August 2013, a mysterious Instagram account initiated the ambitious multimedia, multiplatform promotional campaign for Arcade Fire’s new single and album of the same name: Reflektor. As the campaign unfolded it grew to include a Saturday Night Live (SNL) performance, a number of YouTube teaser trailers, Twitter posts, a late-night NBC special that followed the SNL appearance called Here Comes the Night Time, and a low-quality album stream leaked intentionally by the band (see Wheeler). The promotional campaign reflects an increasingly mobile and interconnected listening and viewing experience of popular culture, in which excess and ubiquity are keys to success. But the campaign is much more than a succession of digital sounds and images. Early in the Reflektor campaign, a series of Instagram photos hinted at the significance of “9 PM 9/9.” The date and time in question not only marked the release of the video for the album’s first single, “Reflektor,” but more significantly, a “secret” show by the band, billed not as Arcade Fire but instead as an unknown band, The Reflektors. Before this The Reflektors played a series of less-publicized shows in Montreal. These live performances anchored the campaign as it unfolded and intensified, highlighting the persistent significance and centrality of local sites of production and exhibition in popular music-making and promotion. Montreal and New York City were the first two locations for The Reflektors shows and both cities are noteworthy sites of production and C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Reflections of the Cosmopolitan City 49 performance for Arcade Fire. This article explores how these cities occupy a strong presence throughout the campaign, signaling cosmopolitanism, and the carnivalesque. Sounds of the cosmopolitan city are linked to Arcade Fire’s increasing accolades and career trajectory. With Reflektor, Arcade Fire draws similarities to other popular rock bands that have turned to a more global sound as their careers progressed (Remain in Light by Talking Heads, for instance). The cosmopolitan city also parallels recent shifts in the music industries that afford artists a variety of methods for producing and distributing music, such as using social media platforms to release music or connect with fans. It is a site characterized by pluralism and fluid boundaries, themes shared in common with Carnival, a public celebration that typically occurs before Lent in numerous places across the world. The carnival theme recurs throughout the Reflektor campaign and signifies both the inversion of hierarchies—in this case the barriers between performer and audience member and the masking of Arcade Fire by The Reflektors—and complicated issues of cultural appropriation. The sounds of the cosmopolitan city and the carnival serve as key esthetic markers for the band’s style on Reflektor and embody the complex relationship between the local and universal. Digital circulation often evokes ideas of universality and ubiquity, but a noticeable attention to place is just as important a mark of the digital age. The Intermedia Promotional Campaign Reflektor, a double LP with a running time of 85:10 (including a hidden track), is Arcade Fire’s most ambitious release thus far. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 140,000 copies in its first week, continuing the success and accolades generated by the band’s Grammy award-winning The Suburbs (2011), which also debuted at number one. Although the band released Reflektor with long-time label Merge Records, Universal Music Group distributes the album. Previous albums have distribution deals with Alternative Distribution Alliance, Warner Music’s indie distribution arm. Another noted “change in the world of Arcade Fire” is a partnership with Capitol Records for radio promotion (Caulfield). In response to these business decisions, Chris Molanphy of Pitchfork exclaims, “Major distribution? Radio promotion?! These are uncharted waters for Arcade Fire, and virtually any band on Merge. The band is having its cred and eating it too” (Molanphy). By remaining with Merge and establishing partnerships with majors, Reflektor represents an “in-between” album, symbolizing tensions, transformations, and fluidity in Stereogum writer Miles Bowe commented that. Transition becomes a significant theme that runs throughout reviews of the album. having photographed Joy Division.50 Brian Fauteux not just a musical and technological moment that is anything but certain. Of course. and film direction. and beautiful. which first aired following the band’s Saturday Night Live performance on 28 September 2013. so weird.” directed by Anton Corbijn. claiming that listeners will “notice that the big-band dynamic is still there. a band experimenting with and integrating new influences to its sound and style is nothing new. or images of carnivals set to audio clips from the new album. Here Comes the Night Time (directed by Roman Coppola). NBC television special. Upon the release of the video. Before the album’s release. It embodies cultures high and low. industries and media new and old. music video. “Here’s Why”). but also its surrounding political economy. sax and congas. a writer for the Montreal-based CultMTL. One of the more novel components of the campaign is the latenight. Corbijn is a big name in the fields of photography. and that is just the point. Early in the campaign a short video posted to thereflektors. and spaces both local and global. The whole thing is so big. complete with violin. These same Reflektor logos were found on sidewalks and walls in select cities. Performance footage takes viewers onstage with the band members.com depicted a person’s hand writing out the letters of “Reflektor” in an encircled diamond shape set to a discordant. His presence certainly hints at the campaign’s high aspirations. who . “despite being a little jaded from the tornado of hype that’s gone on today. atmospheric soundscape. but some of their new material is fitted with slower tempos and languid grooves . . but discourses of transition and variety become connected to the band’s business relationships as well as their music.2 The special is primarily comprised of the live performances from the band’s series of secret shows in Montreal. Also building anticipation was the music video for “Reflektor. in which masked and costumed attendees dance along to the new music. so overwhelmingly stylish. Control. The Reflektor promotional campaign can be difficult to map. . directed Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box” video as well as the 2007 Ian Curtis biopic. not to mention it’s all shot in that stark black and white that made Corbijn iconic” (Bowe). and to the mood” (Carpenter. But variety brings new dynamics to the mix. hints at this theme of transition. the campaign occupied a number of social media outlets using Instagram posts and Twitter updates to connect fans with short videos consisting of recent concert footage. or specific to Arcade Fire. you may find it pretty damn incredible. Lorraine Carpenter. The extensive parameters of the campaign suggest that it is no longer enough to simply promote music through the channels offered to and preferred by big industry players (such as Arcade Fire’s star-studded NBC special and the SNL performance). and Michael Cera. a short film that showcases the coming together of various media forms and cultural moments (Kanye West’s Runaway is another notable example from 2011). one that Arcade Fire was a part of with Scenes From the Suburbs. and the Grammy Award-winning Arcade Fire. as new music is previewed (specifically the songs “Here Comes the Night Time. The campaign makes room for the conflation of an unknown band. such as word of mouth or relying on a great review from an independent music blog rich in cultural capital. the campaign reflects being in the midst of a messy yet exciting moment when new promotional practices are being tested against big industry methods for circulating music. Concert footage is intercut with short humorous skits and reveals a community television esthetic as it “accidently” airs brief clips from a sitcom “starring” comedian and actor Aziz Ansari. he explains that the music video’s resiliency through its transformation from the once-dominant MTV music video format to the . nor to only draw upon avenues in line with more independent means for circulating and promoting music (philosophically and practically). The camera also moves into and weaves through the tightly packed crowd. The low quality. while also aligning the band with the star power and cultural credibility of Hollywood actors and successful musicians.Reflections of the Cosmopolitan City 51 are wearing face paint and matching suits and dresses. For example. A series of innovative promotional campaigns for major album releases have both preceded and followed Reflektor.” “We Exist. Concurrently. DIY esthetic of the special is contrasted by the involvement of high-profile celebrities such as Bono.” and a heightened sense of connectivity within which the campaign functions. James Franco. The Reflektors. Colin Tait’s discussion of Fight for Your Right Revisited. the perceived importance of “hipness. That same year. the special offers a preview of music to come. These campaigns point to new promotional practices of the contemporary music industries that extend beyond Arcade Fire. Ben Stiller. One’s ability to discover that The Reflektors are indeed Arcade Fire is a key characteristic of the promotional campaign. signifying a culture of instant news. which at times executes partially choreographed dance routines. a half-hour short film directed by Spike Jonze. the Beastie Boys released Fight for Your Right Revisited. in 2011 a short-film-as-musicvideo trend was especially predominant. Instead.” and “Normal Person”). In R. 52 Brian Fauteux online. internet video “has actually created an even stronger form of media. .” The short film embodies “the new convergent logic of viral videos and contemporary advertising” (Tait). Seth Rogen.” a point that is indicative of a cultural and technological moment that lends itself well to a multiplatform. 2013 was dubbed “The Year of the Album-Release Stunt” by Rolling Stone magazine. Jay Z’s Magna Carta . multimedia promotional campaign that matches music with film and musicians with actors. In fact. The album was available before its release date as a free download for Samsung Galaxy subscribers. He adds that “the film is the sum total of all of these references as well as a hub which points outward to many more. “Get Lucky. Beyonc´e ended 2013 by releasing her fifth studio album overnight (via a video posted to Instagram) and without any warning or promotion. Promotional campaigns of this magnitude have partnered major bands and pop stars with big business and tested innovative technological methods for promoting and distributing music. Australia (Marchese). Anticipation increased following the launch of the album’s first single.” according to Tait. The album was released exclusively by iTunes and each song includes its own music video. and Will Ferrell. paratextual and hypertextual difficult to discern. an innovative promotional stunt in itself. Arcade Fire was profiled by the magazine alongside Daft Punk and Jay Z as artists who used inventive or unusual promotional tactics for their album releases. extratextual. California (Marchese).” and continued until the album’s premier in Wee Waa. A second trailer was shown at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio. What remains central to these innovative campaigns. which is symbolic of the ways in which it bridges music video forms of the past and present. Daft Punk began promoting Random Access Memories by distributing unlabeled posters “showing stark images of the robots’ heads” and by airing a 15 second teaser trailer on Saturday Night Live. . however. A handful of prominent artists attempted innovative promotional campaigns for their new albums in 2013. Similarly to Here Comes the Night Time. Holy Grail was announced to basketball fans in a Samsung-sponsored television advertisement during June’s NBA finals. The film’s myriad components make “the lines between original. the Beastie Boys film features major celebrities such as Elijah Wood. Coachella and Wee Waa are integral to Daft Punk’s campaign and a significant part of Jay Z’s contemporary star power has to do with his . celebrities who play either young or old versions of the band. ushering in a renaissance of works where music artists have embraced virality and consolidated their power as producers and directors of these short works. is the prominence of place. namely Montreal and New York. relations between the local and global. as evidenced by The Reflektors’ secret shows. displacement. one that intervenes in analyses that bind political and cultural relations between people and society to nation states and to the ideologies of nationalism and patriotism. involve plural nationalities. Striving to push beyond the banality of Foucault’s “heterotopic excursion” (Harvey 538) and Kant’s cosmopolitanism. Key themes of cosmopolitanism include plurality. thus. and affiliations that constrain ordinary nationbound lives” (Robbins 1) and. Central to Arcade Fire’s Reflektor and its surrounding campaign is the cosmopolitan city. cosmopolitanism helps us to think about the ways in which popular music making and promotion function in the digital age. Identities. Locations persist within the multimedia and multiplatform musical universe. Cosmopolitanism calls into question modernist nationalisms and their tendency to connect cultures and identities to specific places. The cosmopolitan city. and the Houston suburbs on The Suburbs (2011). commitments. which “plagued the inception of national ideology with racial prejudgment” (Mignolo 736). This tendency has been critiqued as a “retrograde ideology” in a world deterritorialized by migration. more contemporary applications align cosmopolitanism with dialectic processes and pluralities. and capital flows (Pollock et al. universality. More importantly. The concept claims “detachment from the bonds. The cosmopolitan city can be traced to cosmopolitanism the concept. 579). is the new location in a series of Arcade Fire albums that foreground place—a Montreal borough on Funeral (2004). and social and cultural . But the campaign also prominently emphasizes local sites of production and exhibition in popular music making. two significant sites of production and performance. primarily Montreal and New York. the campaign incorporates cosmopolitan cities with rich and diverse cultural and musical histories. challenging the dominance of patriotic identity in modern nation states (Beck 76).Reflections of the Cosmopolitan City 53 involvement in the Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. mediatization. Reflektor and the Cosmopolitan City Arcade Fire’s Reflektor campaign overwhelms all channels of communication and ensures a presence on the multiplicity of platforms through which today’s music fan interacts with music on a daily basis. both in-person and online. heard and seen in both the campaign and the band’s current sound and style. a rural Qu´ebec church-turned-studio on Neon Bible (2007). local and otherwise. We experience popular music along similar lines as the 24 hour cosmopolitan city. suggesting that the term implies more than “some heady abstraction floating in the banalizing academic ink pool alongside ‘globalization’ or ‘identity’” (7). a sound indicative of cosmopolitanism. connected in and throughout the local. and the past. Allor argues for “foregrounding the necessity of linking the analysis of the practices of cultural consumption to the location of sites of cultural activity in particular vectors of the local and the global and of the sedimented past and the becoming of cultural agents” (46). music industries today enable a kind of freewheeling liberty that Arcade Fire demonstrates through the Reflektor campaign. as a listener is never able to express pleasure or distaste for a piece of music as divorced from an accumulation of songs heard. Musical taste results from the . controlled top-down by those who owned the chain of production. and cultural experiences had. There exists an intriguing parallel between a transition from nationalism to cosmopolitanism(s) and recent shifts in the music industries. particularly in the age of globalized capital. Much more than an amalgamation of tastes and ethnicities. contemporary music industries suffer from class difficulties and cultural inequalities. cosmopolitanism reflects the various cultural practices and experiences that take place at different space-times. the global. Ghana (2012) illustrates the embodied. Feld’s more recent book on jazz cosmopolitanism in Accra. and complicated nature of cosmopolitanism. as with cosmopolitanism. cultural products. accounts for both the progressive connections and problematic tensions that are implicated in conflations of the global and the local. Writing on world music. uneven. which nicely connects cosmopolitanism to the cosmopolitan city. lived. Formerly. Reflektor. of value judgments made. Steven Feld (2000) highlights this very tension of musical globalization as “experienced and narrated as equally celebratory and contentious because everyone can hear equally omnipresent signs of augmented and diminished musical diversity” (146).54 Brian Fauteux experiences between people. one with a daily cycle encompassing “different moments which involve different peoples and different practices” (Allor 48–49). music also involves all of these elements. This argument is a central thrust of Martin Allor’s exploration of Montreal’s Boulevard Saint-Laurent (commonly referred to as “The Main”). the present. Impressively. An emphasis on the need for “different conceptualizations of a cultural future less beholden to the story of a single ‘national’ culture” encapsulates the nature of The Main as a 24 hour street. Yet. and modes and methods of production. an album that evokes the cosmopolitan city. A review of the 9 September “not-sosecret show” at Salsath`eque (a salsa club. “All About”). that is. but because such judgments are taken to tell us something about the person making them” (Frith 4). the cosmopolitan city challenges us to think and rethink the limits of culture. The teaser promotes the television special and the prerecorded material from the inperson live performance entices the viewer. just as they are fundamental to the diversity and plurality of the cosmopolitan city. technology. as opposed to one of the many smaller indie rock venues for which Montreal is known. Like the cosmopolitan city. Through music and film. Here Comes the Night Time (the cosmopolitan city doesn’t sleep). as well as for a number of teaser videos for select songs. each doubling as a significant site of production for Arcade Fire. Salsath`eque is a significant site that travels through the campaign and the venue’s significance to communicating the cosmopolitan city is made evident by the fact that Arcade Fire played a salsa club. the album. and the performing and practicing of an instrument. their subjectivity can’t be denied either—not. is the site of the first shows by The Reflektors in early September 2013. the site for which the debates and discourses outlined above unfold. in the quality of objects). . one’s musical orientation is much more than a representative sample of tastes or of musical and cultural preferences. The cosmopolitan city looms large in popular imaginary. Montreal. The Salsath`eque shows are the basis of the aforementioned late-night NBC special. Written in neon blue. Montreal and New York are especially central. Simon Frith argues that “if value judgments in popular culture make their own claims to objectivity (to being rooted. the concerts we attend. one teaser posted to the Vice YouTube channel includes crowd footage from a Salsath`eque show with one individual costumed as a skeleton in the forefront. the band’s home. not a rock venue) describes the performance as “the (local) climax of an elaborate viral marketing campaign for their new single ‘Reflektor’” (Carpenter. and the television special itself. the songs we hear. Popular culture is constituted along the lines by which people traverse and experience the city.Reflections of the Cosmopolitan City 55 accumulation of affective experiences and memories. While other cities can be located in the Reflektor campaign. politics. by banal reference to people having their own (essentially irrational) likes and dislikes. and the self. Subjectivities and experiences from different times and places are paramount to understanding a listener’s relationship with popular music. however. For example. “Arcade Fire in Here Comes the Night Time” flashes over the course of the 15 second video. frequent collaborator Owen Pallett. “Here’s Why”). like. Both the SNL performance and the late night special call attention to this expanded sound. According to a Rolling Stone interview with lead singer Win Butler. Lousiana.” Band member Richard Reed Parry explains that there are “a bunch of Haitian percussionists that play on this record. many missionaries are not actively working with Haitians but are rather there to “paint houses” and teach people about God. In her review of the album. Carpenter notes the Haitian influences that have been added to the band’s look and sound.56 Brian Fauteux Following the 9 September secret show at Salsath`eque in Montreal. She notes that in and around the band’s recording sessions—which took place in studios and spaces in Jamaica. Butler explains that he feels as though the work of the missionaries is misguided because of the deep knowledge and belief that many Haitians already have in God (Doyle). among other Haiti-related activities (see Chassagne). The sounds of the diasporas are the sounds of the cosmopolitan city. and seen the. particularly a critique of the ineffectiveness of religious missionaries. which are significant for locating the cosmopolitan city in Reflektor and its campaign. as the stage is especially crowded (even for an Arcade Fire show) with former core member Sarah Neufeld.” Countries become connected through song. and New York—“various members travelled to Carnival in Trinidad and visited Haiti. Montreal. 80-person steel orchestras. and added percussionists Diol Edmond and Tiwill Duprate.” The band started recording the album in Jamaica “and had taken trips to Haiti and some of us had been over to Carnival in Trinidad. Carpenter expresses that “strains of dub and rara and Afrobeat are used sparingly but definitely help set a tone for the record” (Carpenter. and just absorbing some . whose parents emigrated from Haiti. This frustration comes across on “Here Comes the Night Time” when Butler sings: “The missionaries. Regine’s parents’ home country. The band and the city of Montreal are both connected to Haiti. Montreal’s Haitian community is the largest in Canada and Arcade Fire multi-instrumentalist and singer R´egine Chassagne. has advocated the country’s need for aid following the 2010 earthquake. Carpenter claims that it is no surprise that Arcade Fire has embarked on this esthetic turn given the band’s “long relationship with Haiti” (Carpenter “All About”). a thousand times. The struggles of modern day Haiti are heard on Reflektor’s “Here Comes the Night Time” (a song that begins with voices and music sourced from Haiti’s annual Carnival and features a percussion-heavy breakdown). a horn section featuring Colin Stetson. a place that Arcade Fire has aligned with via musical tributes. they tell us we’ll be left behind/we’ve been left behind a thousand times. Diversity and variety. “If we had to say who our favorite contemporary band was. Arcade Fire cites Murphy’s far-reaching and diverse musical taste as a key reason for working with the producer. The band’s love for LCD Soundsystem’s music is another. is the location of two back-to-back secret Reflektors shows that. Parry mentions Murphy’s “super-diverse. On the issue of cultural appropriation. Through these comments the band both admits to and distances itself from the suggestion of cultural appropriation. The Graceland connection points to a perceived tradition of rock bands going somewhere as their careers progress (Beatles. But we’re not trying to make Graceland” (Carpenter. On the one hand. New York. noting that this progression is not always about “going primitive. Wilson suggests that the trouble with Arcade Fire’s Haitian influences is that they are applied “too gingerly.” but rather more about a push towards a stylistic change. and U2). it was the best show” (Carpenter. both key components of the cosmopolitan city. and extremely excitable taste in music” and adds that it was great to have someone whose “specialty is dance music” on board for the new dance songs on Reflektor. Parry’s comments work to convince readers and listeners that the band’s expanded sound is a result of “authentic” cultural experiences (Wilson also claims that Arcade Fire have a weakness for idealizing authenticity). that would probably be it.” The assumption is that “they’re too smart and tasteful to appropriate too blatantly” (Wilson). Carl Wilson discusses this trajectory in his Reflektor review for Slate. wide. Having those Haitian musicians come and lend a different percussionistic feel really changes things up.Reflections of the Cosmopolitan City 57 Caribbean things. he is careful to distance the album from Paul Simon’s Graceland (1986). Parry explains. an album that stands out in popular music history as being central to debates about cultural exchange and cultural imperialism (Tangari). “Here’s Why”). On the other. “Here’s Why”). carried the campaign into satellite radio through heavy promotion by independent music channel Sirius XMU (also based in New York City). amongst other things. a process that is emblematic of evoking the cosmopolitan city through music. Parry’s comments emphasize the accumulation of Caribbean sounds and styles in the recording of Reflektor. specifically Brooklyn. When we saw them on the Sound of Silver tour. Reflektor sounds like New York. the ultimate cosmopolitan city and the site of massively significant moments and movements in popular music . Commenting on LCD Soundsystem. are clearly present in the production choices behind the album. Rolling Stones. Talking Heads. Reflektor was also recorded partially at DFA Studio in New York City (the quintessential American cosmopolitan city) with James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem). One short clip. the shows continued the hype and momentum up to the album’s release date of 29 October 2013.58 Brian Fauteux history. Arcade Fire’s cultural accolades and accomplishments (The Suburbs won the Polaris. then. Examples include proto-punk in the mid 1960s to mid 1970s and the subsequent new wave scene of New York’s CBGB. it also evokes paths through and between different space-times and locations. connected. Artists who are cited in reviews as standout influences on Reflektor evoke a New York as heard through the coming together of sounds and styles both distant and local at key moments in the city’s musical history. titled “The Reflektors. The clip continues to cut between the encircleddiamond Reflektor logo and daytime shots of costumed and elaborately . But recall. However. Both cultural and material capital are required for navigating and traversing the global and weaving it through the local and this is a privilege attainable through a successful career. to evoke the cosmopolitan city through sound? Part of a cosmopolitan sound is the fact that genres in contemporary popular music are increasingly fluid. a parallel that The Atlantic Wire critic Zach Schonfeld feels has been made ad nauseam (Schonfeld). the Juno. the cosmopolitan city is much more than a m´elange of tastes and cultures. to New York City. which was then followed by a European leg of the promotional tour. What does it mean. These subsequent shows are not as integral to the campaign itself because they were not used as source material for additional promotional material. and the Grammy for best album) are instrumental in this transition from the suburbs to the cultural and musical diversity produced by the cosmopolitan city. Trips to Haiti and visits to carnivals become visual components of the campaign and of the sound and style of Reflektor.” includes images from Carnival in Jacmel. in this case. Diversity and variety are again present in reviews and discussions of Reflektor. It begins with nighttime footage in the streets and a close-up of a Haitian license plate on a scooter. Following the Montreal and Brooklyn shows The Reflektors continued the series of secret shows in other cities including Los Angeles and Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood. commenting on “the increasing prevalence of genre-less taste today” says that “the joy of making music in 2013 is you’re allowed to like Sex Pistols and ABBA and that’s fine” (Pelly). with funds from the performances donated to Partners in Health and the neighborhood’s cultural center. in particular. David Bowie’s backing vocals on the single “Reflektor” are applicable here. as are the Talking Heads comparisons. Reviews highlight the sounds of disco and the famous Studio 54 of a late 1970s New York City. Win Butler describes the band’s new sound as a “mash up of Studio 54 and Haitian voodoo” (Pelly). Win Butler. according to Butler’s account. having musical experiences like that” (Doyle). Butler’s account becomes more descriptive when mentioning Carnival in Jacmel. Pitchfork.” a term that Pierre Bourdieu used to outline systems of cultural distinction and symbolic exchange. and an affective pleasure in experiencing and navigating through cultural difference” (35). aesthetic.” he says. and there was a voodoo drummer playing. and broader mythology.”). and technological boundaries of Reflektor as an album and a campaign are representative of the band’s increased cultural capital. and detached” (Modell). and he had been dancing for like. Reflektor marks an esthetic and conceptual turn that expands the band’s sound. It really kind of makes you feel like a hack being in a rock band. an esthetic savoir faire. Writing for The A. Jacmel’s Carnival. including the reviews of the album and its songs and interviews with band members. Narratives of travel and experience carry throughout the Reflektor campaign. An “intellectual skill” and a refined esthetic palate are components of “cultural capital. . “I was learning from what I saw and applying it to my own life. It is an . its departures—stand out: It feels dull. Club. Cultural capital is the reflection of one’s capacity to navigate and critique cultural experiences. cultural. Cosmopolitanism. style. “I’m not trying to tell other people’s stories.V. lyrically. adding. a music blog that functions as a predominant cultural gatekeeper for new music. granted Reflektor a rating of 9. an issue that will be expanded on below. Josh Modell says that “At first only its faults—and more importantly.Reflections of the Cosmopolitan City 59 masked carnival-goers. We’re just trying to allow an experience to change you” (Doyle). avoided claims of selling out. represents a space of transcendence and experience. Reflektor also garnered Arcade Fire more negative reviews than its past full-length releases. Win Butler discusses the influence that visiting Haiti had on the album’s sound and lyrics in a Rolling Stone interview. 4 hours with kids and teenagers and they started to get the spirit . Negative reviews are perhaps indicative of overexposure caused by the extensiveness and intensity of the promotional campaign. the band has. however. indulgent. . including what appear to be a devil or a demon and an individual with snakes for hair (“The Reflektors.com. refers to “an intellectual skill. recalling his time “on a beach at three in the morning. According to the online review aggregator Metacritic. for the most part. overlong.2 out of 10 and the prestigious “Best New Music” label (a label Arcade Fire has received for each of its four full-length albums) (Zoladz). according to Jennie Germann Molz. In addition to winning major awards and partnering with major labels. The fluid geographic. ” a theme connected with “the joy of change and reincarnation. In addition to the masked audiences at the secret shows. the violation of natural boundaries. Excess connects Reflektor’s promotional campaign to the cosmopolitan city and it is explicit through the recurring theme of the carnival. because its idea embraces all people” (7–8). the masking of Arcade Fire by The Reflektors represents the inversion of the cultural capital accredited to the band. with gay relativity and with the merry negation of uniformity and similarity . tweets. [You] just kind of feel like a more whole person. metamorphoses. The mask is related to transition. citing the Carnival in Jacmel. they live in it. and sex and death not being completely unrelated. and blog posts. Of significance is the fact that this inversion came at a time when the Beatles most effectively severed the line between “high . reader comments. the cosmopolitan city. and everyone participates. The campaign saturates a wide range of media outlets just as the city’s carnival overwhelms the senses. A similar carnivalesque move was executed by the Beatles for the 1967 album Sgt. “the most complex theme of folk culture. a move that is symbolic of the band’s increased cultural capital. Win Butler. on which the band members replaced themselves “with the imaginary group of the title” (Kohl 85). The Cosmopolitan City and the Carnival A consequence of the cosmopolitan city’s pluralism is excess. concertgoers were required to be costumed and masked. In person at the secret shows. Bakhtin pointed to the importance of the mask. Reflektor communicates a place of places. to mockery and familiar nicknames” (40). . but also one that keeps Arcade Fire rooted in place. . choosing instead to mount a promotional campaign as a new and unheard-of act. “Carnival is not a spectacle seen by the people. I guess” (Doyle). intermedia campaign is a modern carnival steeped in excess with humor and hyperbole unfolding in reviews. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” He points to “feeling less of a break between the spirit and the body. A multiplatform. Bakhtin’s notion of the carnivalesque stems from his thoughts on the medieval carnival. one that suggests the destruction of the distinction between actors and spectators. says that the act of wearing a mask and dancing in a crowd leads to what he feels to be a “whole inversion of society. The carnival symbolizes both the inversion of social hierarchies as well as the transnational circulation of sounds and styles.60 Brian Fauteux effective and evocative turn because it expands the band’s sonic boundaries. two-way process that includes counter-flows from the periphery-to-center. the carnival highlights the ways in which globalization is a complex. As an agent of inversion. The mask becomes a means by which to prevent popularity from overshadowing credibility. particularly when origins are incorrectly mapped onto the agents with more cultural clout. suffering from racial and sexual stigma.” there are instances where carnivals reflect “institutionalized social hierarchies. The 1959 film. The cosmopolitan city and the carnival enable the inversion of cultural distinctions and. Higgins explains that he was originally unsure of what the campaign’s accompanying imagery meant. the pleasures of dance and movement. plays alongside the early leak of Reflektor. the coming together of musical sounds and styles across time and space. but discovered that the “designs were inspired by Haitian veve graffiti. and ethnically pluralistic. who points to the potential for audiences to not understand the source and origin of the Haitian sounds and styles in the Reflektor campaign as problematic. and the blurring of cultural and musical boundaries. Confusion about cultural influences can be problematic. But as carnivals become more “commercialized.Reflections of the Cosmopolitan City 61 art and popular entertainment” and garnered “serious critical appraisal and praise” (Kohl 87). Positioning the carnival within a contemporary popular musical album must not only acknowledge the productive aspects of celebrating the inversion of social hierarchies. He states that “Almost every major city in North America and Britain has a Caribbean style carnival that is in large part modeled after the one found in Trinidad” (Nurse 661). used in syncretistic Vodoun . Keith Nurse details the far-reaching influence the Trinidad carnival has had on carnivals in other cities across the globe (663). heightened surveillance” (Nurse 671. but also complicated issues of cultural appropriation and the industrial and economic impetus behind the production of culture. A number of well-founded concerns about cultural appropriation and misrepresentation followed in the wake of the album’s release. 676). which takes place during Brazil’s Carnival. thus. A cosmopolitan sound seems to stem not only from the accumulation of cultural capital but also an increase in popularity and prominence. Carnivals of the Americas demonstrate the potential to “embody rituals of social protest that critique and parody the process of enforced hybridization and transculturation embedded in colonial and neocolonial society” (Nurse 667). Higgins has a point. internationalized.com post that incorrectly assumes that Arcade Fire created Marcel Camus’ Black Orpheus (Higgins). One example he offers is a certain Mashable. Such concerns are raised in an Atlantic piece by Hayden Higgins. esotericism. Higgins also contradicts the central thrust of his argument. Well before Reflektor’s release. and such suspicion is often warranted. However. Nurse explains that “the globalization of . was a bit of swing. It is also problematic to predict how an audience might engage with music. Commenting on a live performance from Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible tour. There are numerous ways through which cultural influences travel back and forth between artists. Haiti. “And what I really wanted to hear. Butler encouraged Frere-Jones to “not ignore the Latin element in rockand-roll history” and to not “forget that miscegenation need [not] be across color lines. and palpable bass frequencies—in other words.” He used the example of Joanna Newsom who “is stealing Old World folk-style music” and mixing it with American Folk. that of the audience’s inability to grasp the complexities of cultural and musical influences. What is perhaps most applicable from Nurse’s analysis of the Trinidad carnival is that it offers an interesting parallel between the place of the carnival in global popular culture and the place of the cosmopolitan city in Arcade Fire’s Reflektor. and no doubt of the relations between Arcade Fire.” and that this is done to grab attention and profit. He added that “It’s difficult to talk about the racial pedigree of American pop music without being accused of reductionism. some empty space. “That’s All”). the creator and the critic locate different influences and use different words and terms to make sense of the ways in which different artists and genres acknowledge and understand their influences. their influences. In this case. and Montreal. essentialism. by engaging with a process of discovering the cultural origin of these sounds and styles through his article. Arcade Fire was used as an example by Sasha Frere-Jones in a New Yorker piece from October 2007 on the disappearance of African-American influences in indie rock music.” Higgins argues that when such images are presented out of context. especially when one assumes simplicity. and their fans. attributes of African-American popular music” (Frere-Jones. Frere-Jones wrote. These complexities and their associated problems and tensions are also the complexities inherent to the cosmopolitan city.62 Brian Fauteux practices to summon the Loa (angels or spirits. “which is partly white and partly black and partly mysterious. they connote “something else: mystery. messengers to the deity). after a stretch of raucous sing-alongs. “A Paler”).” This exchange illustrates that mapping musical and cultural influences is not totalizing or objective. or worse.” Arcade Fire’s Will Butler (Win’s brother) responded to Frere-Jones’ article and attached an MP3 that included parts of the band’s songs that “steal quite blatantly from black people’s music from all over the globe” (Frere-Jones. exoticness. as are the cosmopolitan cities chosen for the first two secret shows by The Reflektors—the shows that anchor the multimedia. and the prevalence of critique and contrarianism over passion and action. In the case of Reflektor. All that is “concrete” is destroyed in the reflective and passionless age. performance. sounds of the carnival and the connections and complexities between Montreal and Haiti are instrumental in the album’s sound and style.” and the people write and talk anonymously (Kierkegaard 65. Trinidad’s carnival is based upon the localization of global influences and the exportation of carnival to overseas diasporic communities represents the globalization of the local (Nurse 682). Kierkegaard’s critique of the age of reflection can appropriately extend into the digital age. multiplatform promotional campaign. or for piety. Therefore. Similar relationships between the global and the local are present in the ways in which sounds and styles. 76). The public becomes “on the look-out for distraction.” the reflective age “is the age of advertisement and publicity. anonymity. Win Butler cites The Present Age as a source of inspiration for Reflektor. because “the sense of association in society is no longer strong enough to give life to concrete realties” (60). In contrast to a revolutionary age. The reflective age is one of envy and it “has lost all feeling for the values of eros. both global and local and both past and present. “an age of action. for enthusiasm and sincerity in politics and religion. come together in the production. and performance in the digital age.” in part. and illustrate the prominence of place in popular music production. the spread of gossip. and domesticity in everyday life” (Kierkegaard 39).” a cultural moment determined by the press and the notion of a public. He says that it sounds as though Kierkegaard is “talking about .” desirous for “something to gossip about. and promotion of the album. a critique of what he called “the reflective age. void of passion and action. Reflection Kierkegaard’s The Present Age (1846) offers a reflection on reflection.Reflections of the Cosmopolitan City 63 Trinidad carnival needs to be viewed as a dual process: the first relates to the localization of global influences and the second involves the globalization of local impulses” (682). admiration.’ consisting of unreal individuals who never are and never can be united in an actual situation or organization. Kierkegaard positioned the press as being able to create “that abstraction ‘the public. Nothing ever happens but there is immediate publicity everywhere” (Kierkegaard 35). with the online expansive flow of expressions of envy. ‘Dude. and you kind of read it and you’re like. Furthermore. if someone went to try and get the gold. the god of the sun. everyone would cheer them on and be like. and the ease in which one can comment on another’s work versus the time and effort it takes to be a creator. Camus’ Black Orpheus significantly accompanied the album’s leak. Butler continues. As well. The carnivalesque is also present through a consideration of the bacchanal and the Apollonian and Dionysian dichotomy. you have no idea how insane it’s gonna get’” (Doyle). In Greek mythology. Dionysus or Bacchus. torn apart by Dionysus’ maenads. ecstasy.” So it would kind of paralyze you to even act basically. Apollo. And as a compelling . the god of wine. Like.64 Brian Fauteux modern times. the myth of Orpheus recurs throughout the Reflektor campaign and it reiterates Butler’s thoughts on Kierkegaard and the reflective age. but what is perhaps more significant is that Orpheus is killed by the mythic agents of the carnivalesque. Butler emphasizes the desire to move beyond the paralysis of the reflective age and instead to make something in the world. There are songs on the album titled “Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)” and “It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus)” on which the married couple of Win and Regine communicate the mythic couple of Orpheus and Eurydice. He’s talking about the press and alienation. “What an idiot! I can’t believe you’re going out on the ice to try and risk something. This dichotomy accounts for the ways in which a desire to create and contribute is eventually met with value judgments and critiques that are increasingly plentiful and uncontrollable in the digital age. (Doyle) By applying the reflective age to the digital age. “Go for it! Yeah you can do it!” And in a reflective age. symbolizes chaos. and it just kind of resonated with me—wanting to try and make something in the world instead of just talking about things. Many reviews of the album point to the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as it pertains to the theme of reflection (see Pareles). if someone tried to walk out on the thin ice. the carnival once again comes alive through anonymous (masked) critique and judgment. represents human individuality and celebrates creativity through logic and reason. and emotion. everyone would criticize them and say. in a passionate age. if there was a piece of gold out on thin ice. Auguste Rodin’s sculpture of Orpheus and Eurydice comprises the album’s cover. He basically compares the reflective age to a passionate age. madness. The Cosmopolitan Vision. Bloomington: Indiana UP. 1 on Billboard 200. Online. “Here’s Why Arcade Fire Matter More than Ever. “Arcade Fire–‘Reflektor’ Video. Available at http://cultMontreal.youtube. Available at http://cultMontreal. 25. Caulfield. 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