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Mark Hoppus' SXSW Pick: Broken Bells

Hopp on Pop

By Mark Hoppus on March 18, 2010 8:02 AM (7) Comments

Broken Bells

When he's not commandeering the stage as the boisterous bassist for SoCal punks Blink-182, Tweeting wisdom to more than 1.6 million followers, or handling album production duties for bands like Motion City Soundtrack and New Found Glory, you'd think Mark Hoppus would turn down the music.

Not. Possible.

In our continuing series, Hopp on Pop, Hoppus shares his favorite acts, culled from his incessant pursuit of all that rocks -- and now he's picking bands slated to play this week's SXSW festival in Texas. (Click here to discover Mark's previous picks, including SXSW performers Rogue Wave and Neon Trees, pop punkers We the Kings, and many more.) Check out his new entry below, and come back to SPIN.com every Wednesday for Mark's latest discovery.

Be sure to follow more of Mark's opinions and exploits via Twitter and on his blog! And check out Mark's 8 Favorite Albums of 2009!

BROKEN BELLS

HOMETOWN:
New York

THE BASICS:
It's a collaboration between chart-topping Shins frontman James Mercer and hit-maker Danger Mouse, the sought-after producer who broke rules with his Jay-Z/Beatles mash-up, The Grey Album, then topped the charts as Gnarls Barkley with hip-hop impresario Cee-Lo Green. Broken Bells' self-titled debut, which came out just last week, pairs the clattered, heady production of DM (aka Brian Burton) with Mercer's reverb-drenched croon. The pair are booked for two announced gigs at this week's SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

WHERE HOPP HEARD THEM FIRST:
"I was on NPR.com the other day, listening to the new Gorillaz album, and they had a feature on Broken Bells. Being a huge fan of both the Shins and Danger Mouse, this sounded like an incredible pairing, so I had to check it out. The next day their full-length album was released and I picked it up on iTunes immediately."

WHY THEY ROCK:
"I love that Danger Mouse cannot be constrained to one genre of music. From mashing Jay-Z into the Beatles, to working with MF Doom, and now collaborating with the Shins' James Mercer, he is as creative as they come. Just like you can never guess what the next Kanye West album is going to sound like, you never know what Danger Mouse is going to take on next. Mercer has a gift for creating quiet, beautiful songs with the Shins that are simultaneously moving and touching. Together, these two artists have built an album of beat-driven, melodic, quiet, indie hip-hop. I couldn't think of a more disparate pairing, and somehow this is the freshest sound so far in a musical year filled with monotony."

HOPP'S TOP TRACK:
"The High Road."

LISTEN: Broken Bells, "The High Road"

FIND OUT MORE:
brokenbells.com

Topics:

Posted By Janine

03.28.10 4:08 AM

I've heard great things about Broken Bells debut album, but with SXSW there's sooo many bands, you can't just pick one, you need to do a list or something. I've heard Hole were amazing I'll have to see them. But next time you do SXSW, Mark, make a list of bands to see. ;) Also NXNE is coming up in Toronto although it isn't that important in the US I don't think. And I don't know if Spin's ever done an article about it, but it would be awesome if they could. I need to check out more of Danger Mouse's stuff. He made an album with the late Sparklehorse and I have it so I should listen to it. but Mark is picking good music so I like this. much love Mark!! :)

Posted By Buzz

03.23.10 2:49 PM

Agree! check out this, gave you guys another voice! http://blog.thebuzzcompany.com/?p=167

Posted By Blank_Canvas

03.19.10 3:42 AM

I'll be honest, I hadn't heard of Broken Bells before this column. But I'm not really impressed. It sounds like an indie-rock version of the backstreet boys meshed on top of an indie hip hop beat.

Come on Mark, you got WAY better stuff to put in this column! Come to Vancouver, there's TONS of bands you'd love! TONS!

Posted By valventura

03.18.10 12:21 AM

I am a huge mark hoppus and spinner fan...but please Hoppus pick some bands that we dont really know about...and especially new bands that could really help a lot..pick even unsigned bands i dont think theres some copyright around to stop you from that..you produce awesome bands and so on...just give a try to the smaller ones too..

Posted By Anonymous

03.17.10 10:34 PM

Like someone said last week, pick some bands that Spin readers haven't already heard of.
SXSW is humongous and so many smaller bands play there to try and get national attention. Picking Broken Bells, made up of two already well-established musicians, just takes away from a spot that could really help out one of these bands that doesn't get a lot of attention. Also, the fact that Mark Hoppus just heard of this band is quite sad to me, especially with his connections in the music industry. Broken Bells first single was released before Christmas, three months before Hoppus had heard of the band. December/early January would've been a great time for Broken Bells to be in this column, not mid March.
Picking We The Kings (a band targeted to preteens and early teens, and has hosted Radio Disney) was really a slap in the face to all Spin readers, IMHO.
TIP TO SPIN MAGAZINE: Your wasting your money paying Hoppus to do this column. If you want to save some money, the dignity of your magazine and maybe give Hoppus a break from his "busy schedule", I am an eighteen year old freshman in college that would love to take over the column. Hell, I'd even do it for free and I could guarantee it'd be better than it's been thus far.
Spin used to be my number one music source but over the past year or so it's taken a huge hit.

Posted By Anonymous

03.17.10 7:29 PM

If you really think this is the "freshest" album of the year, then you need to throw on some Joanna Newsom. Broken Bells is nothing but boring, quasi-experimental crap for people like you, Mark Hoppus, to think is revolutionary and forward thinking. It's a shame you have the position to recommend tunes to this many people.

Posted By idlehands237

03.17.10 7:08 PM

I am not a fan of this really..not a big danger mouse fan...and Mercer really left me shrugging my shoulders on the last Shins record...I think hes better when hes making upbeat music. He tends to bore me in the slower moments. I could do without this one. And what do you mean you dont what youre gonna get with a Kanye album haha..You will get his wack rapping skills with songs about how great he thinks he is..PLease....