Weekly Release Spotlight: School of Seven Bells
Posted on 11/02/2008
School of Seven Bells
Alpinisms
[Ghostly International]
Last summer's phenomenal Ghostly International release Asa Breed by Matthew Dear was the first ever proprietor of the Weekly Release Spotlight honor here at Radio K. Well, the Ann Arbor-based home for chilly-but-bright electronic-tinged records of all varieties has now brought us their masterpiece for 2008, Alpinisms by Brooklyn's School Of Seven Bells, and we're grinning ear to ear that it's our featured record this week. Dear's flowery instrumentation and rainy croon presented a perfect soundtrack to the season at the time, and Alpinisms does the same for this awkward period of time between fall and winter - things are dying all around us, but beautifully so.
Mournful, contemplative, and yet uncannily effulgent, Ben Curtis (formerly of Secret Machines) and the singing sister duo of Alejandra and Claudia Deheza have formed a trio that really does sound like seven anthropomorphic bells ding-donging away in reverberating classrooms at the tops of the highest Alpine mountains. Both the band name and album title are more firmly rooted in reality than any ridiculous sonic metaphor, however. Named after a legendary South American school for pickpockets that may or may not have ever existed and a term meaning "the art of climbing mountains," coined by a French author, respectively, the sounds these three create do both effectively: slyly stealing from the best kraut/dream-pop artists whilst artfully ascending toward imaginary musical apexes.
Sounding mildly detached, like an autumn leaf falling to the hard bristly ground beneath, the Dehezas' soft yet crisp voices are so curiously gorgeous you can't help but focus on them. However, Curtis's beds of wafting synth and bubbling guitar effects reel in an equally unassuming amount of attention and turn the record into an experience that could be heard in multiple different ways upon multiple listens. Whether it's the 11-minute centerpiece "Sempiternal/Amaranth" or the lilting opener "Iamundernodisguise" (previously recorded/mixed as "Class of 73 Bells" on Prefuse 73's last effort), School Of Seven Bells feels both utterly relaxing and exultingly eye-opening. The sparkle of "Chain" and the jumble of "Face To Face On High Places" also delight, bringing us a stint of joy in this sad decline into our wintry months.
Stream: School of Seven Bells - Half Asleep
School of Seven Bells will be playing at the Triple Rock Social Club on November 22nd with M83.
Written by Chris Polley, Radio K volunteer and host of Now Like Photographs.