The Big Arcade Fire Surprise: What On Earth Could It Be?

Lost in all the In Rainbows hoopla earlier this week was the fact that the Arcade Fire–who, you may remember, put out the most important album of 2007 first–would be unleashing a huge surprise via the Web site BeonlineB this Saturday. Speculation over what the site, the name of which is derived from an anagram for Neon Bible, would be launching has run rampant over the past few days, with most of the guesses using the words “remix,” “b-sides,” “remixes,” or “James Murphy.” But what if the ever-innovative Canadians are going for something completely … different? Something with a little bit of le Web 2.0 flair?

Think about it. Sure, “BeonlineB” suggests that the project would involve b-sides or remixes or some other cast-off type of thing that will conveniently remind writers readying their end-of-year lists that, oh yeah, Neon Bible came out waayyyy back in the beginning of this year, but doesn’t “BeonlineB” also suggest to you some sort of … command? Like, “be online and stay online … through our all-new, Arcade Fire-themed social network?” Right? And you can post blogs about the Arcade Fire and play Scrabble using only Arcade Fire song titles and bite your friends while being dressed up as Win Butler Zombies and compare the members of the Arcade Fire on judgments like “best dressed” and “best public speaker” and “more likely to do a favor for me” and …

OK, OK, it’s probably a remix album. But admit it: Some of you out there got a little pang of excitement when you thought about the prospect of meeting a bunch of new AF-loving pals, especially from the comfort of your own computer.

BeonlineB [Official site]