Broken Bells Bliss

This post is going to be a quick praise of the Broken Bells album of the same name. For those of you who don’t know Broken Bells is the combination of wonder producer DJ Danger Mouse and Shins lead singer and guitarist James Mercer. It’s a great combination of Danger Mouse’s insane ability to make anything better and Mercer’s subtle and melodic voice. Mercer has one of these voices that I could listen to all day. The Portland based musician has a hint of a European (mostly English I think) accent, most likely due to the years he spent in Germany and England as a child while his father was in the air force.

What I love about this album is that it is unique but also clean at the same time. While I love the Yeasayer album, and I have been a fan of MGMT for a while now, sometimes their attempts at experimentation can leave some of their songs convoluted. Maybe there are too many instruments in Brooklyn, or they are all trying to outdo each other in the noise department. (I want to stress the Yeasayer’s “Odd Blood” may turn out to be one of my favorite purchases of the year, which shows how much I am enjoying Broken Bells). It’s slow building, and heavy on bass lines, but will surprise you with strings and keys, lightening up at just the right point. I also think it has a god mix of songs that could be big hits and songs that retain Mercer’s indie street cred. “The High Road” is already out as the first single (I think, it was a free download), and I predict that “The Ghost Inside” will be the second single. Also for all you DJs out there, I think “The Ghost Inside” would mix nicely with La Roux’s “Bulletproof”.

Two last side notes, “The High Road” also is a great lyrical song, and might make a countdown soon for songs to listen to when trying to control your temper or disappoint in others. I’ve been working on this countdown for the past two weeks. It is not something I just want to throw together because for me music is something I can use to control my moods, and that is an important form of self control for me. I also can’t figure out exactly how to describe them, because they are not really “anger songs” more “anger management songs”.

Other side note, I bought the new album at Starbucks. All three of my faithful readers will remember that I am a big fan of holding an actually album and it’s accompanying art in my hands. I find it very interesting that in an era where record stores are dying the corporate juggernaut Starbucks might be filling some of the void. It’s a bit of the same mentality of major record labels acquiring indie labels right and left. To tell you the truth I don’t hate it.