SOUNDTRACK: BROKEN BELLS-Broken Bells (2010).
When I first played this disc I was really disappointed by it. I’ve grown to expect crazy magic from Danger Mouse, and I assumed that this collaboration with James Mercer of The Shins would be crazy awesome. But it seemed very mellow to me. Mellow in a way that just kind of sat there. So I put it aside for a while.
Then I listened to it again a little later and I found that I really liked it this time. In fact, it rapidly grew into one of my favorite releases of 2010.
The disc is a wonderfully paced mixture of acoustic guitars, interesting keyboard sounds and, often, downright bizarre electronic choices (subtle, yet bizarre). The weird sounds that open the disc, a kind of backwards keyboard, are disorienting but also very catchy. And the song itself is instantly familiar. It’s followed by “Vaporize” a simple acoustic number that bursts out with some great organ and (very) distorted drums. It also features a fascinating horn solo!
“Your Head is on Fire” settles things down a bit with a mellow track which, after some cool introduction, sounds like a pretty typical sounding Shins track (ie, very nice indeed–and more on this in a moment).
“The Ghost Inside” feels like a ubiquitous single. I’m not sure if it is or if it’s just so catchy (with dancey bits and hand claps and a great falsetto) that it should be everywhere. “Sailing to Nowhere” reminds me, I think, of Air. And the great weird drums/cymbals that punctuate each verse are weird and cool.
One of the best songs is “Mongrel Heart” it opens with a western-inspired sound, but quickly shifts to a quiet verse. The bridge picks up the electronics to add a sinister air (and all of this is accompanied by nice backing vocals, too). But it’s the mid section of the song that’s really a surprise: it suddenly breaks into a Western movie soundtrack (ala Morricone) with a lone trumpet playing a melancholy solo. And this surprise is, paradoxically, somewhat typical of the disc: lots of songs have quirky surprises in them, which is pretty cool.
Having said all this, there are a few tracks where it feels like the two aren’t so much collaborating as just playing with each other. And that may have been my initial disappointment. I was expecting a great work from a combined powerhouse, and I think what we get is two artists writing great stuff while seemingly respecting each other too much to step on each others toes.
There is another Broken Bells disc in the works. And I have to assume that they’ll feel more comfortable with each other and simply knock our socks off next time. But in the meantime we have this really wonderful disc to enjoy.
[READ: October 21, 2010] The Broom of the System
It dawned on me sometime last summer that I had never read DFW’s first novel. I bought it not long after reading Infinite Jest and then for some reason, never read it. And by around this time I had a not very convincing reason for not reading it. DFW seemed to dismiss his “earlier work” as not very good. I now assume that he’s referring to his pre-Broom writings, but I was a little nervous that maybe this book was just not very good.
Well I need not have worried.
It’s hard not to talk about this book in the context of his other books, but I’m going to try. Broom is set in the (then) future of 1990. But the past of the book is not the same past that we inhabited. While the world that we know is not radically different, there is one huge difference in the United States: the Great Ohio Desert. The scene in which the desert comes about (in 1972) is one of the many outstanding set pieces of the book, so I’ll refrain from revealing the details of it. Suffice it to say that the desert is important for many reasons in the book, and its origin is fascinating and rather funny. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: DANGER MOUSE AND SPARKLEHORSE present: Dark Night of the Soul (2010).
Seems like most things that Danger Mouse touches involve lawsuits. I’m not entirely sure why this disc had such a hard time seeing the light of day. But it is due for a proper release in July. Although by now, surely everyone has obtained a copy of the music, so why would anyone give EMI any money for the disc (since they hid it away in the first place).
SOUNDTRACK: The Believer June 2005 Music Issue CD (2005). 
The second annual Believer CD ups the ante from the first by featuring all previously unreleased songs. And, just to put more of a twist on things, the artists were asked to do covers of songs that they have been listening to lately. There was only one song that I knew the original of (The Constantines’ track), so I can’t say a thing about how well the covers were covered.
SOUNDTRACK: THE SHINS-Wincing the Night Away (2007).
The best example of a crassly commercial attempt to sell music comes in the movie High Fidelity when John Cusack states “I will now sell 3 copies of the Beta Band’s 3EPs.” Because the tone is right, and he’s in a store, and he’s obsessed about music, it all works. And, because the song is great, you really want him to sell those records. Now, I’ve no idea A) if the Beta Band paid to have this done or B) if Cusack or someone else just really likes the Beta Band or C) if the movie had any impact on sales, but it’s still a great moment in movie/music synchrony. In Garden State, the movie, Natalie Portman says The Shins will change your life. 
