Alternatives to Arcade Fire on Spotify

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UPDATE: ARCADE FIRE ARE NOW ON SPOTIFY!

Some bands don’t want you listen to their music on streaming services like Spotify. Canadian art-rock band Arcade Fire is one of them. You’ll find both Funeral and Neon Bible listed, but unless you use Spotify in Belgium or Germany you’re out of luck. I loved Neon Bible and played it a lot when it came out. It was actually on Spotify UK for a little while, before Arcade Fire’s record label decided to pull it. Since then I’ve been listening to various other bands with a similar vibe to Arcade Fire: here are some of my favorites.

 

 

The National

Despite their albums being spread across several different record labels, most of The National‘s releases are on Spotify, including last year’s breakout album High Violet. Fans of Arcade Fire are bound to know The National, but if not they’re definitely your first port of call on Spotify.

 

Tindersticks

Tindersticks have been around for a while. With nine albums on Spotify, there’s plenty to choose from. My favorite is 1997’s Curtains. Actually that’s one of my favorite albums from any band and I was lucky enough to see then live when they were out promoting it. I was deep into orchestral pop at the time and this album features some of the My Life Story Orchestra, in particular Lucy Wilkins (whose violin-playing is totally mesmerizing, but that’s another story!)

 

Interpol

Perhaps a bit too Joy Division for some Arcade Fire fans, Interpol are nevertheless well wirth checking out if you’ve not heard them. Their most-recent (self-titled) album wasn’t quite up to snuff, but 2007’s Our Love To Admire is absolutely superb. It’s brooding and moody, dramatic and magnificent: I rated it in my Top 10 albums of 2007.

 

 

The Decemberists

American indie-folk band The Decemberists have four albums on Spotify. Their magnum-opus is surely The Hazards Of Love: a rock opera about a woman who falls in love with a shape-shifter. Again, it’s the strings that sucked me in but ultimately this is 21st-century folk music of the finest calibre.

 

The Strokes

Ten years into their career and New York’s The Strokes are now selling by the bucketload and walking away with trophies at The Brits, The Meteors and the NME Awards. I have to admit I’ve not really heard much of their work so can’t really recommend which of their four albums on Spotify is the best one to start with. Please let me know in the comments if you can recommend one!

 

 

Arcade Fire fans looking for even more similar music on Spotify should also check out: