In what is believed to be the first fatality ever attributed due to anxiety for an album leak, blogger Eugene Wilhelm of Seattle, Washington has passed away at the tender age of 24 years old. While medical professionals attribute Wilhelm’s death to several blocked arteries that stemmed the flow of blood to his heart, those close to Wilhelm claim that the real reason stems from his unchecked anticipation for the new release from the Montreal based-septet, The Arcade Fire.

According to Wilhelm’s closest friend, Erick Simpson, Wilhelm had been sleepless for several days leading up to his death.

“It was terrible. He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t eat. All he could do was sit in front of the computer with glazed eyes, constantly searching for the album on Soulseek and Oink. At one point he called me up ranting and raving. I think the first song, “Intervention” had just leaked. All he kept saying was ‘Erick…do you hear that organ…do you hear that organ….it sounds like God. It sounds like God.”

Wilhelm’s ex-girlfriend Nancy Farrar said that Wilhelm’s interest in the Arcade Fire had been one of the reasons for their break-up.

“All he could talk about was Arcade Fire this…Funeral that…Pitchfork this…but they all trade instruments that!! He even named his blog “In the Blogseat” after one of the songs on their debut. I was like ‘look they’re a good band and all, but they didn’t exactly invent bread,” Farrar said solemnly. “But he wouldn’t stop. He told me that Win Butler was better than any kind of bread ever made. Even raisin bread. I thought that that was a bit much. I told him that if he liked Win Butler so much, he should just date him. To which he responded…”fine then…maybe I will.”

Win Butler: “I Didn’t Do It.”

Win Butler, the lead singer of the Arcade Fire expressed sadness over Wilhelm’s death, but made it clear that neither he nor the rest of the band should bear any responsibility for it.

“Look, I’m sad that the kid died, but honestly, we’re just a band. We make music. We’ve only released like 15 songs ever. I’m pleased that people listen to our music, but perhaps people should focus on things more important, like curing polio.” When Butler was informed that polio has already been cured, he added. “Or curing cancer. It doesn’t matter. We’re just a band.”

But others feel differently. In particularly, Wilhelm’s grieving mother, Cindy Wilhelm declared that to her son, the Arcade Fire were more than “just a band.”

“If you could only have seen the look in my son’s eyes when he ran upstairs from the basement and started screaming “look mom, ‘Black Mirror’ leaked.” I haven’t seen him that happy since before he got dumped by that bitch Nancy Farrar,” Cindy Wilhelm. “His heart seemed fine then. Really, I didn’t think anything of it until this week when a live performance of new material leaked. He screamed for about an hour with excitement and then he went strangely silent.”

Wilhelm’s body wasn’t discovered until 6 p.m. that evening, when his mom found his cold body, still slumped over his computer, with his fingers still right-clicked on his mouse. Attempts to revive the fallen blogger were futile.

Wiping a tear from his eyes, Simpson mourned the loss of his fallen friend.

“What saddens me the most about it is that Eugene never even got to hear the album. I honestly think if he could’ve heard it, he would’ve died a happy man. But now? Nothing. His life was all for naught. He truly loved this band. He was even planning to name his first son Win Butler Wilhem. This is tragic, I just wish we could’ve staged an intervention of some sort to try to save him.”

When reminded that “Intervention” was the first song leaked from the new album, Neon Bible. Simpson shrugged and grinned slightly.

“I guess that’s what they call irony. Perhaps when Eugene first heard the song it truly was a sign from God. I mean….it is a really good song. ”

God declined to comment for this story.

Download:
MP3: The Arcade Fire-”Intervention”

The Passion of the Weiss takes no responsibility for any heart attacks that may ensue.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 at 12:25 am and is filed under The Fakest News in Town, Are You From the Lester Bangs School of Thought?, Best Of. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.