Arcade Fire play 'Reflektor' tracks on BBC Radio 1

Arcade Fire have been making headlines with their strange shows, weird promotional material and costumed dress codes. At the end of the day, however, they back up all their eccentricity by being an excellent live band. And that was on display during their set at the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge.

Have a listen as Arcade Fire plays "Normal Person", "Reflektor" and "Afterlife" below:

The band also talks about James Murphy (who produced much of their album Reflektor), their evolution as a band and, of course, Haiti - a nation that the band has been obsessed with since Funeral.

The album Reflektor cribbed heavily from Haitian music and used many of the island nation's traditions in promos leading up to the albums release. Some critics are even accusing Arcade Fire of abusing Haitian culture as a means to gain more critical praise.

Reflektor itself-now released and at the top of the charts-and the rest of its marketing campaign went all-in on the Haitian tropes. During some promotional concerts the band donned Kanaval masks, coopting a symbol that holds multifaceted, complex meaning for Haitians during Carnival but that was reduced to flat shorthand for "party!" during a raucous SNL appearance. The music evokes similar stereotypes. In the song "Flashbulb Eyes," glimmering marimbas will, for many listeners, conjure a specific idealization of the Caribbean (where Haiti is located), while singer Win Butler wails about cameras stealing souls. The band's music used to feel interesting by virtue of its heart-on-sleeve confrontation with mortality; now, it borrows its edginess by leaning on preconceptions about a foreign region.

So with Reflektor, Arcade Fire has employed an old trick. Use seemingly "exotic" cultural elements, regardless of their original context, to grab attention; profit.

(via)

What do you think of Arcade Fire's BBC performance? Do you think they should taken to task for a culturally insensitive depiction of Haiti? Or are they merely trying to share a rich tradition that they happen to love with the rest of the world?

Sound off in the comments.