The Aural Quarrel: Album Review 1: Broken Bells

The Album: Broken Bells

The Artist: Broken Bells

The A.Q. Rating: 8 out of 10

When I first caught wind that former Shins frontman James Mercer was in the studio working on a collaboration project, I admit I was more then a little worried.

In today's pop music world, collaborations typically bring to mind the countless hip hop and r&b tracks that have enough "feat. artist y, feat. artist x, feat artist z and the artist c band" to force my Ipod screen to scroll through artist information longer than the actual song takes to play. These guest artists typically do very little to constitute a collaboration - perhaps a vocalize here, an exclamation there, or maybe even taking two solo verses - but nothing that shows a collaborative effort to make something new out of two aspects.

Even alleged collaborations in other genres are guilty of this - take perhaps one of them most infamous cross-genre collaborations of all time, Run-DMC and Aerosmith's "Walk This Way". Granted, the song cross-pollinated audiences that wanted nothing to do with each other, and provided not only a great tune but also some needed critical change, but was it really that groundbreaking for the artists involved? No offence to Run-DMC, but rapping the lyrics to an already known rock hit with the addition of some scratching doesn't exactly constitute their best work. Nor does having a black hip hop group rap your lyrics to your own accompaniment speak well for the strengths or understanding of the collaborative genre on Aerosmith's part.

I feared that Mercer was simply selling himself short, dooming to become a "featured" artist.

Then I heard about the collaborating artist: Brian Burton. A.k.a., DJ Danger Mouse, of Grey Album fame.

I purchased a copy of Broken Bells the next morning.

On the surface, Broken Bells is much like watching World Cup football for the first time. Sure, you can see why people like it - and it's entertaining, but it isn't until you see the slow-mo replays of Ronaldo's quick, graceful, and purposeful foot changes and dribbling or the detailed physicality for possession that one can truly understand the fanaticism that surrounds the sport. At first listen, Broken Bells sounds wonderful - a short, 30 minute album of groovable pop with some cool effects. Good enough to play once in awhile, just as a break from the usual suspects on your playlists, but nothing groundbreaking.

But then you'll listen to it a second time. Then you'll realizing your grooving to a melancholy song about a stripper. Then you'll listen a little closer a third time. Perhaps a fourth. And then the identity of the album begins to leak out.

The biggest strength of the album is that it utilizes the strengths of both parties, Mercer and Burton, to an extent that not only highlights their strengths but combines them in a way that covers their defects. There are no superfluous effects used by Burton, with every added harmony, beat, and synth executing a specific purpose. The lyrics, although introspective (and certainly with a touch of advice to Mercer's former band mates), play upon enough universal themes (life choices, postmodern guilt, letting go, etc.) to empower the empathy of the listener.

Obviously, the album has some experimental qualities to it; do not expect to hear The Shins, nor expect to hear the Gorillaz. Burton and Mercer's experimentation with Broken Bells is out-of-box, but not out-of -mind. Perhaps the most blatant and radical experiment is the sudden discovery of Mercer's quite wonderful falsetto (think Jamiroquai, or more fittingly, Damon Albarn of the Gorillaz) in the fourth track of the album, "The Ghost Inside", and the hellish composition of the waltz in the album's fifth and weaker track, "Sailing to Nowhere".

Besides the positive consequences of the successful collaboration between the two indie stars, the album has a few glaring strengths from Burton's production. The album uses no samples, and combined with the lyrical themes presented as well as the unfortunate fact that there are several times when the lyrics are unintelligable, implies the old romantic ideal of "music for music's sake", or music itself over the ideals it can represent. Even upon the intial listening, Burton's sequencing of the tracks is also perfect, and truly cements the confidence of the album.

As far as familiarity, there are elements, but only elements, of both artist's former projects, most notably that of Burton's work with Gnarls Barkley on the grammy winning St. Elsewhere, and Mercer's work with the Shins on tracks like "Vaporize". There are hints to other artists, but nothing that would rationalize a specific allusion. Some of these elements include the Beach Boy's Pet Sounds can clearly be heard (especially with the opening track and single, "The High Road"), and there are elements of everything from Prince ("The Ghost Inside"), Beatles ("Vaporize"), and B-52s ("Mongrel's Heart").

Suffice it to say, the album shows what a true collaboration is, and characterizes both artists in a fashion that is both just and productive, while providing a new element for the listener. While I do not think this album is the best effort to define each artist, it certaintly was a daring, fun, and successful side project. So give it more than a listen, and in the words of Broken Bells themselves, "Don't run, don't rush/ just float" ("October").

Strengths:

- Great sequencing

- Nearly all tracks are independently strong

- Lyrics are well written and balanced

- No superfluous production

-Production is purposeful and impactful

- Experimentation is daring without becoming insulting or evasive

-Shows a true balance of the artists' strengths to produce something unique

Weaknesses:

- Replacement of original pre-release track with ballad "Citizen" questionable

- Album is short - roughly 30 minutes

- Lyrics are sometimes too difficult to hear in a way that interrupts the affect of the song