BROKEN BELLS
It has been a little over two years since indie-pop, folk rockers, The Shins, have graced a stage with their presence. But lately, the stars must have aligned somewhere, because the band has been testing out new material at various smaller venues along the west coast.
Not everyone is familiar with The Shins humble beginnings as Flake Music, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Equally as unknown, is that it was Modest Mouse that saw the massive potential of the group early on and took them under their wing on a national tour. Then came Zach Braff and his romantic journey into the heart of New Jersey, with Garden State. Two tracks off of The Shins first LP, Oh, Inverted World - "New Slang" and "Caring is Creepy" - release in 2001, were featured as pinnacle moments in the film. With the help of this plug, The Shins reached international acclaim and success. Their third album, Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop, 2007) sold 118,000 copies its first week - a record high for the relatively small label. After supporting this junior record for nearly two years and hundreds of shows later, the group took a hiatus in which frontman/songwriter, James Mercer, collaborated with Danger Mouse (Brian Burton), and formed the indie, dance-pop duo, Broken Bells.
Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL
- Tues 11/30 - Sidewalk Chalk, B.B.U., B.X.C., Rita J, Kandyce Hogan - 8PM
- Wed 12/1 - Chad Stokes of State Radio, Mat Embree of Rx Bandits, Lauren Coleman of Pebaluna - 7PM
- Thurs 12/2 - Freelance Whales, Miniature Tigers - 9PM
- Fri 12/3 - Dean Wareham & Britta Phillips, Play Galaxie 500, Cheval Sombre - 10PM
- Sat 12/4 - Dean Wareham & Britta Phillips, Play Galaxie 500, Cheval Sombre - 10PM
- Sun 12/5 - The Skatalites, Daphne Willis, Go Long Mule, Mike Mangione & The Union, The O'My's, Jamie Lono, Environmental Encroachment - 6PM
- Mon 12/6 - B1G T1ME (Frank's Wild Years), Calvin Marty & The Sunken Ship, Alexander Webb - 8PM
Both bands will perform in few days at Irving Plaza.
Broken Bells is a duet with James Mercer from The Shins and Danger Mouse (from many projects such as Gnarls Barkley). Their website is pretty fun.
The Morning Benders is an indie band from Berkeley, California.
You still can find some tickets here.
Well Joonbuggers, it's that time again, Festie time! This time we are preparing for Austin City Limits. This is one of my favorite festivals of the year, not only because Austin is home, but also because it might be one of the most musically diverse. We are seeing some of our electronic, oldies, Texas country and pop favies this year. Here is what we were looking most forward to.
If you missed our ultimate preparation guide for a festival, please click here to get the scoop on how to get you and your group ready for a weekend of music.
Acrassicauda Only The Dead See The End Of The War
Alberta Cross Broken Side Of Time
Before Their Eyes Untouchable
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Beat The Devil's Tattoo
Broken Bells Broken Bells
Frightened Rabbit The Winter Of Mixed Drinks
Gorillaz Plastic Beach
jj jj n3
Liars Sisterworld
Monica Still Standing
The Morning Benders Big Echo
New Young Pony Club The Optimist
Numero Group Good God! Born Again Funk
Pavement Quarantine The Past: The Best Of Pavement
Josh Rouse El Turista
Standard Fare The Novelle Beat
The Steel Wheels Red Wing
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists The Brutalist Bricks
Titus Andronicus The Monitor
What was once a mere rumor on Joonbug’s Frequency blog (The Beauty of Broken Bells) has finally been given an official release date. The self-titled album by the duo of James Mercer of the Shins and Danger Mouse (a.k.a. Brian Burton), collectively known as Broken Bells, will be released on March 9, 2010, courtesy of Columbia records. As promised, both musicians have taken on the task of personally handling all the instrumentation associated with the album production, save for a full string orchestration on one of the selected tracks.
James Mercer has been doing plenty of house cleaning with his indie band, The Shins, by replacing the bassist and drummer for “aesthetic reasons,” but it is his upcoming collaboration with producer extraordinaire, Danger Mouse, that has the music industry on pins and needles. Danger Mouse, real name Brian Burton, first met Mercer backstage at Denmark’s Roskilde festival in 2004 and “wanted to do something with James, no matter what.” After years of numerous projects and separate album releases, the duo have finally come together to work on their newest venture, “Broken Bells,” which, as of yet, is only a proposed nom de plume despite a new website featuring the aforementioned band name.
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