DELTRON 3030 RECOMMENDED: Broken Bells – Broken Bells
- “What Are you Listening to?”
- “The Shins”
-”You know them?”
-”No”
-”You gotta hear this one song. It’ll change your life. I swear”
A bit of a stretch, Natalie Portman. What do you expect from a helmet wearing spazoid who falls for the king of all turd burgers, Zach Braff. That single exchange vaulted The Shins, a fine band, into a stratosphere that far exceeded their talents. Yes I loved “New Slang” and the rest of the Oh Inverted World album, but they were (are) hardly life changing. You know who was(is) life changing? Danger Mouse. Hear me out for a second. If it wasn’t for Danger Mouse’s 2004 The Grey Album we might not be enjoying such things today like Girl Talk, Mike Relm, and The Beatles Never Broke Up. Need more? Just last week multiple people sent me the genius Beatles/Wu Tang “Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers.” It is a fun mix-up that follows the Danger Mouse format and structure to a T. He re-invented the mash up into a sonic art form. Not wanting to be pigeonholed after that initial success w/ the Gray Album, Danger Mouse moved on to “legitimate” production of acts like the Gorillaz, Sparklehorse,and the Black Keys while also working with MF Doom on DangerDoom and with Cee Lo on Gnarls Barkley. All rousing successes. Danger Mouse’s new project w/ Natalie Portman’s favorite troubadour, James Mercer, would appear to be following the stellar track history of his past projects. Broken Bells tracks are full of beautiful synth pop spaciness mixed with the steady vocal stylings of Mercer. It is an interesting blend. At points when you feel like you’ve just been duped into listening to another Shins album (not necessarily a bad thing) a flowing organ or synth will come in to shake you out of your Shingles. Enough Shins bashing. I should really apologize to Mercer. I’ve unfairly punished his band for my hatred of Zack Braff. Did you know that he won a Grammy for more or less (read: more) making a mix CD?! I should have a stockpile of grammys by now..or at the very least a beautiful and quirky epileptic girlfriend.
Highlights: “The High Road,” “Vaporize,” “The Ghost Inside,” “Mongrel Heart”