Cougar Microbes

School Of Seven Bells dropped the follow up to their 2008 album ‘Alpinism‘ this summer showcasing an increased awareness in their dreamy electro landscapes. The trio’s success on ‘Disconnect From Desire‘ lies in conveying emotions through the lyrics and atmospherics in vivid fashion.

New single ‘I L U‘ is full of subtle intricacies and comes equipped with a delightful stop motion video.

School Of Seven Bells set out on the road in Northern America early next year on tour with Interpol. ‘Disconnect From Desire‘ is out now on Vagrant Records.

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Out of intense envy for everyone who is going to SxSW I considered a silent protest for the duration of the event. However, having featured Nevada‘s Burning Man Festival a few days ago I figured the awesome Austin event deserves some Cougar loving too.

Besides, as you can see from the flyer above the guys at Vagrant are putting on showcase next week is below featuring some of the bands we have been covering on these pages. If you are out there drop by and make sure you tell them Cougar Microbes sent you.

Talking of Vagrant bands, It has been a while since I have written about Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and that just can’t be right so here is a new remix of  ’Home‘. Considering this is my personal favourite track anybody fiddling with is heading into risky territory. I’m glad to say André Anjos of RAC manages to pull it off creating a track that is unique in its own right yet doesn’t hide the source material entirely from the listener.

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School Of Seven Bells are a band you must hear. Despite hailing from Brooklyn, the bands sound could easily be linked up with a series of minimalist electronica act gracing Northern Europe at the moment. A listen to their 2008 debut ‘Alpinisms’ evokes the glacial scenery of British duo Goldfrapp, the detached danceability of New Order’s and the emotional delivery and production values of Bat For Lashes.

What makes SVIIB unique is the combination of intricate melodies provided by the Deheza sisters and dashed sparingly across the tracks. ‘Alpinisms’ is an album that is representative of vast melodic landscapes rather than individual tracks and single material.

There is a feeling that the song writing process must have occurred in very organic fashion with the band not over elaborating and obsessing over their ideas so as to avoid diverting too far from their raw sketches. In contrast a lot of attention has been devoted to the production values of the album to excellent results.

In anticipation of their new album ‘Disconnect From Desire’ (due in 2010) the band released ‘The Deluxe Edition’ of ‘Alpinisms’ last month. This is a it is a good window into the bands thought process covering the original 11 tracks plus an additional 9 tracks that include alternate versions, new mixes and a live cut. It also helps to explain why Ben Curtis was both eager and willing to forsake Secret Machines to work on this exciting project.

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School Of Seven Bells – Iamundernodisguise