Broken Bells
Encyclopedia
Broken Bells is an American alternative rock
band composed of artist-producer Brian Burton (better known as Danger Mouse
) and James Mercer
, the lead vocalist and guitarist for the indie rock
band The Shins
. Broken Bells compose and create as a duo, but are joined by a full band on tour. The live band included Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
sidemen Nate Walcott
and Nik Freitas
, and Jonathan Hischke and Dan Elkan, both ex-members of Hella
. Following the success of their first self-titled album, Broken Bells
, Mercer and Burton announced intentions to record a follow-up, and released a new EP, Meyrin Fields, on March 29, 2011.
, a Danish
music festival, in 2004 and finding they were fans of each other's work. It took four more years before the two started working together and by March 2008 Mercer and Burton began recording together in secret at Burton's Los Angeles
-based studio. The two describe their material as "melodic, but experimental, too."
Prior to the formation of Broken Bells, Mercer and Burton both worked together on the track "Insane Lullaby" on the album Dark Night of the Soul by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse
. Broken Bells have since performed the song several times, often as a tribute to the late Mark Linkous
, the Sparklehorse
frontman who died in early 2010.
On December 14 the band released their first email update, in which a binary-coded message stating 'The High Road is hard to find' was displayed, offering a link to the band's web page, now with a new color scheme, for 'further details'. On the morning of December 21, the band informed fans in an email of the release of their debut single "The High Road", which was made available as a free download on their official site. The self-titled debut album
was released in the U.S. and Canada on March 9, 2010. Another version of the album was released as well which is designed to be a music box that, when opened, plays a song called "The Overture", which is not on the album.
Mercer and Burton filmed a video of "Insane Lullaby" for NPR
.
On March 1, 2011, Broken Bells announced that they would be releasing an EP titled Meyrin Fields on March 29, 2011.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band composed of artist-producer Brian Burton (better known as Danger Mouse
Danger Mouse
Brian Joseph Burton , better known by his stage name Danger Mouse, is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He came to prominence in 2004 when he released The Grey Album, which combined vocal performances from Jay-Z's The Black Album with instrumentals from The Beatles' White Album.He...
) and James Mercer
James Mercer (musician)
James Russell Mercer is an American guitarist and Alternative rock musician. He is a founding member and lead singer-songwriter of the Grammy-nominated indie rock group The Shins. In 2009, Mercer and producer Danger Mouse formed the side project Broken Bells, for which they released a...
, the lead vocalist and guitarist for the indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band The Shins
The Shins
The Shins are an American indie rock band comprising singer, songwriter, and guitarist James Mercer, guitarist/bassist Dave Hernandez, Eric Johnson of Fruit Bats, drummer Joe Plummer and bassist Ron Lewis. Their sound draws on several musical genres, including pop, alternative rock, indie rock,...
. Broken Bells compose and create as a duo, but are joined by a full band on tour. The live band included Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band is the name taken by Conor Oberst and his backing band, which is composed of Nik Freitas , Taylor Hollingsworth , Macey Taylor , Nate Walcott and Jason Boesel .-History:...
sidemen Nate Walcott
Nate Walcott
Nate Walcott is a trumpet, flugelhorn and keyboard player who has appeared on several of Saddle Creek Records artists' albums. He is one of three permanent members of Bright Eyes, along with Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis, and has toured with Bright Eyes....
and Nik Freitas
Nik Freitas
Nik Freitas is a singer-songwriter from Visalia, California and currently residing in Los Angeles. Freitas began his career as a staff photographer for Thrasher Magazine where he traveled the world taking skate photos until turning his attention to music full-time in 2001...
, and Jonathan Hischke and Dan Elkan, both ex-members of Hella
Hella (band)
Hella is an American band from Sacramento, California. They play a technical blend of math rock, noise rock, and experimental rock. The primary members of the band are Spencer Seim on electric guitar and Zach Hill on drums...
. Following the success of their first self-titled album, Broken Bells
Broken Bells (album)
Broken Bells is the eponymous debut album from Broken Bells Broken Bells is the eponymous debut album from Broken Bells Broken Bells is the eponymous debut album from Broken Bells (James Mercer of indie rock band The Shins with producer and multi-instrumentalist Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse), and...
, Mercer and Burton announced intentions to record a follow-up, and released a new EP, Meyrin Fields, on March 29, 2011.
History
The project was first announced on September 29, 2009. The pair decided to work together after meeting at the Roskilde FestivalRoskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival is a festival held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the six biggest annual music festivals in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, and promoter Carl Fischer...
, a Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
music festival, in 2004 and finding they were fans of each other's work. It took four more years before the two started working together and by March 2008 Mercer and Burton began recording together in secret at Burton's Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
-based studio. The two describe their material as "melodic, but experimental, too."
Prior to the formation of Broken Bells, Mercer and Burton both worked together on the track "Insane Lullaby" on the album Dark Night of the Soul by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse
Sparklehorse
Sparklehorse was an American indie rock band led by the singer and multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous.-History:Sparklehorse's first album, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot featuring Bob Rupe of the Silos and Cracker, was a modest college radio success...
. Broken Bells have since performed the song several times, often as a tribute to the late Mark Linkous
Mark Linkous
Mark Linkous was an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as leader of Sparklehorse. He was also known for his collaborations with such notable artists as Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Daniel Johnston, Radiohead, Black Francis, Julian Casablancas, Nina Persson, Sean Terrington Wright, David...
, the Sparklehorse
Sparklehorse
Sparklehorse was an American indie rock band led by the singer and multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous.-History:Sparklehorse's first album, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot featuring Bob Rupe of the Silos and Cracker, was a modest college radio success...
frontman who died in early 2010.
On December 14 the band released their first email update, in which a binary-coded message stating 'The High Road is hard to find' was displayed, offering a link to the band's web page, now with a new color scheme, for 'further details'. On the morning of December 21, the band informed fans in an email of the release of their debut single "The High Road", which was made available as a free download on their official site. The self-titled debut album
Broken Bells (album)
Broken Bells is the eponymous debut album from Broken Bells Broken Bells is the eponymous debut album from Broken Bells Broken Bells is the eponymous debut album from Broken Bells (James Mercer of indie rock band The Shins with producer and multi-instrumentalist Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse), and...
was released in the U.S. and Canada on March 9, 2010. Another version of the album was released as well which is designed to be a music box that, when opened, plays a song called "The Overture", which is not on the album.
Mercer and Burton filmed a video of "Insane Lullaby" for NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
.
On March 1, 2011, Broken Bells announced that they would be releasing an EP titled Meyrin Fields on March 29, 2011.
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US Alt. Billboard charts The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine... |
US Rock Billboard charts The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine... |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
CAN Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
DNK Tracklisten Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl... |
SWE Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
||
| 2010 | Broken Bells Broken Bells (album) Broken Bells is the eponymous debut album from Broken Bells Broken Bells is the eponymous debut album from Broken Bells Broken Bells is the eponymous debut album from Broken Bells (James Mercer of indie rock band The Shins with producer and multi-instrumentalist Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse), and...
|
7 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 16 | 14 | 40 | 47 |
Extended plays
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2011 | Meyrin Fields
|
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Rock Rock Songs Rock Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the airplay of songs on alternative, mainstream rock and triple A radio stations. The first chart was published in the issue dated June 20, 2009. "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day was the first number-one song. The Rock Songs... |
US Alt. |
CAN Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
JPN Japan Hot 100 The Japan Hot 100 is a music singles chart in Japan. It is compiled by Billboard and Hanshin Contents Link ever since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at billboard-japan.com and every Thursday at billboard.com .... |
|||
| 2009 | "The High Road" | 15 | 10 | 75 | 60 | Broken Bells |
| 2010 | "The Ghost Inside" | 42 | 22 | — | — | |
| "October" | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011 | "Vaporize" | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart | ||||||
External links
- LAist - Broken Bells Live Debut at The Bootleg Theater - Review and Photos
- Broken Bells on NPR's World Cafe - 2010 Interview and live performance