These four are too cute. And I don’t mean that in the they’re too cute way you might squeal if you saw this, but that this feels dishonest. That little dude second from the left, dressed in his Dad’s clothes? There’s a good chance he’s done commercial work in Britain before, selling digital cameras or potato “crisps” and “biscuits” and laundry detergent. (Expect a YouTube follow-up on that soon.) That said, this all starts at the top. James Mercer: stop being cute.
Broken Bells’ debut LP, The High Road, is streaming in its entirety at NPR at the moment. It’s bedtime music.
Lest we occasionally forget through overanalyzation, at its core, music should be fun. NO SNICKERING. If it isn’t, generally something has gone wrong. Either that or you just need some time away, new perspective, one of those old cliches. Well, it seems as though James Mercer and The Shins were somewhere between those two points after they topped the charts in 2007. Mercer even recently told NME things “had started to feel heavy.” The good news, Mercer seems to be having a lot of fun collaborating with Danger Mouse on their Broken Bells project, due out March 9. Mercer also seems optimistic about the next Shins record, assuring that it is actually happening (probably in 2011) in an interview with MTV. He even said the new record would be more up-tempo and “less melancholy” and “aggressive in a new wave way.” A happy, aggressive Shins? The guy already changed our lives once. Are we really ready for it to happen again?! (Via: SPIN)
If we were NYU film school grads, that headline would be an asshole thing to say. But we’re not! Just regular assholes! And director Sophie Muller should be jazzed to hear such a compliment: her clip for “The High Road,” the James Mercer/Danger Mouse collaboration’s first single, feels like it was modeled after a lot of the highway footage that bound Fargo and No Country For Old Men together. Just without the nun-tight dialogue and giant pools of blood.
Broken Bells is the Shins’ James Mercer and Danger Mouse. We “reported” on the unveiling of their first LP last week, now it’s time to fill you in on first single “The High Road.” You can download that baby from their website by coughing up your e-mail address. Is it worth it? Yes. You’ll also get to play around on their website, which is cursor sensitive and weirdly hypnotic.
On March 8, one of the more promising/cute/uncomfortable “indie” collaborations in recent memory will kersplaaat on a record store near you: the debut, self-titled album from Broken Bells, Danger Mouse and the Shins‘ James Mercer’s side project, will hit shelves that day. Other than string arrangements provided by composed Daniele Luppi, Mercer and Danger Mouse play all of the instruments on the record; Danger Mouse even helmed the boards while recording, serving as producer for the album. The duo’s first single, “The High Road,” will premiere on the band’s website on Monday, December 21. Mercer’s a stone cold killer when it comes to forging hooks and Danger Mouse knows his way around that block just as well. This might be awesome.
Featuring music from: The Radio Dept., Badly Drawn Boy, Love Raid, Broken Social Scene, Portugal. The Man, Neon Indian, The Constellations, Everything Everything, The Drums, Crystal Fighters, Setting Sun, My Gold Mask, Overnight Lows, Me + Z, Cloud Nothings, Static Jacks, The Answering Machine, Bear Ceuse, Emma Pollock, Ash, The Seabellies, Here We Go Magic, Trances Arc, The New Pornographers, and Dr. Dog
We’re not sure Fela Kuti’s epic story should be told in any other format besides the musical, and we don’t even like musicals! That said, it just so happens we’re giving away two tickets to see the show for zero dollars. All you need to do is leave us a haiku in the comments before [...]
