Arcade Fire

One of the most celebrated new bands of 2004, the Arcade Fire came out of Montreal's vibrant music scene with a melancholic, cinematic sound equally redolent of '80s heroes like the Cure and Echo & the Bunnymen and latter-day orchestral-rockers Mercury Rev. Frontman Win Butler, grandson of famed steel guitarist/bandleader Alvino Rey, filled the band's acclaimed debut with sad songs full of yearning sentiments and memorable melodies, fleshed out with widescreen arrangements that feature everything from violin to glockenspiel.

• rock