Dynamic Duos

It's been a while since I've posted so this week we will have two Bands of the Week to make up for it. I chose these two bands because both are similar concepts but with different resulting sounds. So here's the formula: take one singer from a successful indie rock band and one music producer/DJ and see what happens. The two bands I am referring to are the Postal Service, made up of Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and Jimmy Tamborello (aka Dntel), and Broken Bells, made up of James Mercer of The Shins and Danger Mouse (who's real name is Brian Burton).The Postal Service was started mostly because of this song (which was recorded for the Dntel album Life is Full of Possibilities):

which, according to the Postal Service web site, was recorded in about one hour. Because "(This is) The Dream of Evan and Chan" was so easy to record Jimmy and Ben decided to record a full length album together. The way they recorded the album is Tamborello would lay down some electronic beats and sounds and then send a CD-R to Gibbard who would tweak it a little, maybe add some guitar, drums, and keybord, then lay down vocals and send the finished product back to Tamborello for his approval. Broken Bells came about because Mercer and Danger Mouse met at a Danish music festival and found that they were fans of each other's work, so they decided to work together.

As far as sound goes Postal Service and Broken Bells are pretty different. Postal Service has a very electronic feel. This is evident from "Such Great Heights" which starts with a series of electronic (for lack of a better word) beeps (which you probably have heard from the UPS commercials). Broken Bells has more of a synth-driven sound such as on "The High Road," the first single from Broken Bells.

Both of these dynamic duos only have one album out to date. The Postal Service also has 3 EPs out, which are basically just singles for songs off their full length. Interestingly enough the Such Great Heights EP has a cover of "We Will Become Silhouettes" done by the Shins on it. It will be interesting to see if either of these groups release another album. I have my doubts about seeing another album from Postal Service just because of the time that has passed since their last album (although Sub Pop lists them as an active artist, so we'll see). It's possible that Mercer and Danger Mouse might get together for another one, but that might depend on the success of this album. Who knows what might happen, so keep an eye out for them.

Favorite Tracks (Postal Service):
-Such Great Heights
-Clark Gable
-Brand New Colony

(Broken Bells):
-The High Road
-The Ghost Inside
-October

What DID make Milwaukee famous?

Wow, so I totally forgot to write a post for last Friday, so this post is a little late. But better late then never, right? So here goes.

This week's band is What Made Milwaukee Famous, a band that takes it's name from a Jerry Lee Lewis song. These guys are one of the reasons I love indie music; What Made Milwaukee Famous is not a very well known band, but they play some awesome music. And on top of that they have some crazy music videos. Like this one with a "special guest":



On top of that these guys are so cool they even played a song on a bus.

What Made Milwaukee Famous has lots of guitar and keyboard, but Michael Kingcaid's vocals (with harmonies from the rest of the band members) are what complete their sound. So far What Made Milwaukee Famous have only released two full lengths and an EP of acoustic versions of a few songs, all played in one take, off of their two albums. Hopefully we will see a new album from them soon.

Currently, What Made Milwaukee Famous is signed with Barsuk Records, one of my favorite indie recording labels and also the former label of Death Cab for Cutie.

Favorite Tracks:
 -Trying To Never Catch Up
-idecide
-Sultan