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a few years ago i started an experiment.
how could i listen to more new music?
getting old(er) and (un)cooler by the week, i found myself listening to more of what i already knew, experimenting less.
so i started a "music book klub" - in 36 weeks we enjoyed 36 albums - taking turns recommending while also collectively rating (and reviewing).
things got busy. new jobs. new cities. spotify. marriage. kids. it fizzled out.
i'm getting the band back together. i'm inviting a few new people along the way. who's with me?
=
so, i'll go first (#bigsurprise).
a few years ago James Mercer (the Shins) and Brian Joseph Burton (Danger Mouse) got together and made a great debut album. excited, i gave it a try, but in my lameness, wasn't impressed. my pal Jieun recommended it again (in this very klub), i gave it a few more listens, and it got stuck in my head. forever. which isn't a bad thing.
in my craving for more Broken Bells, i impatiently asked Jeff Bezos when the next album would drop. to my surprise, the sequel came out last week. appropriate because, well, you know.
i bought it immediately. an easy 4.5 out of 5
enjoy.
raman
PS: #lifeupdate ...in the last 4 years, i quit my corporate job (for another one), traveled, got married, moved apartments, traveled, didn't move abroad, quit my other corporate job, joined a startup, and slept in the desert. no kids yet.
Alright, I'm in. I hope I can keep up!
ReplyDeleteI'm in :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm in
ReplyDeleteI'm in too
ReplyDelete(Spoiler alert) No kids that you know of yet.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, I'm in! A good number of my current album regulars came from this very group, so I'm excited to hear what people offer up this time around (and dreading my turn - since my kids were born I've descended the well worn paternal path of cool-stagnation; why, this very morning I even played my children Chris De Burgh...sigh).
ReplyDeleteI'm getting out of the music lull myself. So, it took a couple of listens to get into the album. I give it 4/5. my favs : After the Disco, Hold On for Life, The Changing Lights, Control, No Matter What You're Told.
ReplyDeleteI'll Do my very best.. Thanks for broken bells
ReplyDeleteI'll Do my very best.. Thanks for broken bells
ReplyDeleteEh.. I'm not sure what it was, but it wasn't bad, but I'm not thrilled. A 3 for me.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was really solid background music. Perfect for ignoring while actually doing something useful.
DeleteI had to listen to there debut album a few times, too, so I did give this one a few spins. The first album tracks were pretty slimmed down with only a few layers, and it took me a while to appreciate the simplicity. This was in a similar style, but never grew on me.
ReplyDeleteThe hook on "Hold on for Life" was lovely; It felt Brothers Gibb. "The Changing Lights" had the best build, though in general I felt like the songs were rushed into. My favorite song was "Medicine" because I'm a sucker for call-response. I gave it a 4.
On the first play I was unimpressed, but the second spin had me humming along and, at times, even bopping my head. I have to say though, the synthesizer intro to the first track, Perfect World, was fantastic. It plunged me straight back to the 80's and the Vangelus-esque glory of Ladyhawke (actually not Vangelus) and The NeverEnding Story (also not Vangelus, but you get the idea).
ReplyDeleteFor me, the second track really set the tone for the album. It sounded like a poor man's Daft Punk that had been dubbed to cassette and was being played at full volume on phone speakers. It continued from there to the pleasant mediocrity of dinner party background music where. Every now and then someone might pause in the conversation to ask 'Is this the new Vangelus" before moving on and forgetting they'd ever heard it in the first place.
I give it a two and a half.
I've listened to this album three times now and it still isn't grabbing me. I don't mind it, I don't find it obnoxious and some tracks I quite like (Leave it Alone, especially). As Rohan also said, I'd be happy to have it on in the background during dinner but for me it's not right for more focussed listening (e.g. driving in the car).
ReplyDeleteI give it 3.
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ReplyDeleteI really like Broken Bells and had no idea there was a new album coming out. They will be playing at Governor's ball in NYC this summer for those who would be interested. I really enjoy how they sound although I do agree with most of the comments here that this is mood music and I will never spend a second trying to get the meaning of their songs. I don't see anything wrong with that though.
ReplyDeleteI'm giving it a 4, I'll be listening to a lot more of it.
2.5. i'm a very, very mean judge.
ReplyDeleteI like how Broken Bells tried to make this a thematic album with references to disco and 80's music throughout. I enjoyed listening to a number of the songs, but the overall package was not consistently great. My favorite tracks included After the Disco, Control and No Matter What You're Told. I give this 3 stars.
ReplyDelete