Battle of the Bells

It was the year of the Bells. March gave us Broken Bells, the highly anticipated collaboration between Danger Mouse and Portland’s own James Mercer. The self-titled album exploded out of the gates with the wildly popular and constantly-radio-played single The High Road. This track comes replete with DM’s signature bloops and bleeps, a deeply satisfying tempo change and a hook more infectious than your annual Christmas cold sore. The rest of the album offers more of the same and I find myself returning to it on regular occasion. However, I must admit
that Danger Mouse fatigue is setting in. Actually it’s past setting in; that happened after The Black Keys’ Magic Potion was released. It’s become a low-grade fever at this point and will have likely progressed to a full systemic illness by the time his recently-announced plans to produce the next U2 album come to fruition. It’s pretty much become a rule for me at this point that as soon as any musician becomes associated with Bono and company they immediately cease to be cool or relevant (see Kings of Leon). That being said, I reserve the right to eat my own words as I recently learned of a forthcoming album inspired by Ennio Morricone with guest vocals by Jack White (more on that soon). Furthermore, The Grey Album alone earns him some supply of lifetime credibility in my book.

July saw the release of School of Seven Bells’ sophomore effort, Disconnect From Desire. This band doesn’t have the sound I typically go for, but they’re kind of the sentimental favorite. I was introduced to them by chance at a Thanksgiving night show two years ago when they opened for M83. My wife, sister-in-law and I ended up at the Doug Fir that rainy Portland

holiday night for lack of anything better to do and ended up seeing a great show. The sisters Schoen took a particular shine to the band comprised of the sisters Deheza and Ben Curtis of the Secret Machines. They’re typically pigeonholed in the “shoegaze” genre, but they’re much more than that in my opinion. The centerpiece of the band is the strong vocal harmonies created by the identical twin singers. Their second release builds on their first, the excellent Alpinisms. The vocal arpeggios are back and the 80’s synths are in full force. While Disconnect probably doesn’t quite reach the heights of Alpinisms, it is well-constructed with standout tracks like Windstorm and Babelonia. Expect more awesomeness from SVIIB in years to come.

Situated right between the above albums with a June release was Sleigh Bells’ debut album, Treats. I’ll just cut right to the chase and say that this one claimed the spot on my list. Early on I was calling it a guilty pleasure as I felt it was a bit gimmicky and didn’t break any new ground. These days I’ve shed the guilt and embraced the raw power that is Sleigh Bells. Bottom line: this band is all catchy hooks and all big fat beats. A June release was perfect for this album because it’s one of those ones you turn up really loud and play over and over again and it inevitably becomes a soundtrack for summer. Premium tracks are Run the Heart with an absolutely punishing bass line and the concluding Treats which features an epic guitar riff that would make even the CDMC’s resident metal head stand up and take notice. I had the pleasure of seeing this band open for The Black Keys a couple of weeks ago and let me tell you, that bass is indeed punishing. These guys are in close contention with the lady singer who claimed ninth best album on this list for new artist of the year. Stay tuned as her identity will be revealed tomorrow.