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Welcome! This is a Tumblr devoted to School of Seven Bells, run by Jazz (goldmine-owl) & K (korhwythkevrinek)
Get in touch: ask, email or tweet.
Ben's currently in and out of hospital for cancer treatment. If you'd like to send him something, here's the address:
Wiz Kid Management
86 E. 10th Street, #1
New York, NY 10003
Donate to medical bills here:
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"Light & Love"
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Be The Match
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
School Of Seven Bells - “Scavenger” (2012) vs. a chase scene from The Driver (1978).
From what I’ve read, this movie is essentially comprised of nothing but car chases, and was influential on the recent movie Drive.
I wish I could go back in time to this past April when I stood a few feet in front of SVIIB as they played this song, since I’m kind of obsessed with it now, but wasn’t really familiar with it then, because it’s on their new album which had just come out. Luckily, it turns out that I filmed it.
[Update, May 2013: I saw Drive last month and was quite underwhelmed, but the cinematography is good.]
Good morning! And apropos of that comic I reposted last week, here’s Scavenger, re-imagined as music to crash cars to. It really works, what a brilliant video!
OMG SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS COMIXXXXXXX!!!!
That last panel is absolutely OTM.
(Though he left out another kind of SVIIB song, which is “inspirational montage of an underdog sports star training while running up steps to this song” which is basically all of Put Your Sad Down)
Light and Love for Benjamin: Day 50: Show Me Love
It’s the tiny details that get me on this song: it’s not actually the massive chugging distorto-guitar which forms the backbone that I love most. It’s tiny sonic flourishes like the step delay on the “Hey! (hey… hey… hey… hey…)” of the chorus that comes in at 1:54, and the 3 spangly,…
Light and Love for Benjamin: Day 49: Reappear
Album version (Official Video)
Ridiculous ~chillstep~ version I secretly kinda likeLike the calm after the storm, the tense, ambient chords wash out like the first pale glimmers of light after a cloudburst, or the feeling of emotional exhaustion and utter depletion after a massive blow-out…
Light and Love for Benjamin: Day 47: Lafaye
This is the only song where the musical nostalgia threatens to overwhelm the propulsive forward-motion of the album. If I close my eyes, I’m still in high school, staying up late to catch the debut of the new Siouxsie and the Banshees or Cure video on 120 Minutes. That exotic air of mysterious…
Light and Love for Benjamin: Day 46: Love Play
No! No! Oh god, see, stuff like this is why I try not to read reviews or watch interviews with the band, because Benjamin kinda spoilered this song for me. It’s odd, for a band I love this much, and say that they are my favourite band - probably as much an identity thing as an aesthetic thing,…
Light and Love for Benjamin: Day 45: The Night
From the opening bell-like chimes, and that driving bass riff, riding up high through the waves like a swaggering Hook-shaped Viking, this song is a declaration of intent. Come on, my friend, you might as well be wearing a T-shirt that declares “My name is Benjamin Curtis and I am a New Order…
Light and Love for Benjamin: Ghostory
Is there anything more simultaneously nerve-wracking and exciting than waiting to listen to the new album by your favourite band? Especially when you follow loads of music journalists who receive promo copies or advance streams a month or more before you do, and have to boast about it in that rush…
This year, School of Seven Bells were not only able to maintain the momentum created by their 2008 and 2010 releases (Alpinisms and Disconnect from Desire, respectively), but kicked things into overdrive with Ghostory. The word “dream” gets tossed around a lot when describing this New York City duo, and for good reason; the band’s glossy and spacey synth work and vocal effects cast a graceful, misty haze on all of their songs. That said, this is very much a waking dream – nobody’s falling asleep here. Whether it’s the dark, hypnotizing indie-disco bang of “Low Times” or the hot and breathy bedroom-eyed pulse of “Show Me Love”, Vibe is king on Ghostory.
“With their third record Ghostory, the Brooklyn band fully realise the dance flirtations that shoegaze has been hinting at for over twenty years - ever since the release of My Bloody Valentine’s magnum opus of a single Soon. For all their reverie though, School of Seven Bells don’t simply ‘sound like’; more so than ever, their work only explores the past in order to push expectations. Indeed, here the aesthetic of Soon acts as a pivot from which to expand and reinvigorate one of music’s most pigeonholed genres in a way that belies the band’s peers. Ghostory uses its influences as a foil rather than a crutch; that’s not revivalism, that’s just plain smart.”
Number 2 in my ‘Albums of 2012’ blog series is up now! Give it a read/listen over here.
In case you missed yesterday’s tweet, here’s my good friend Hayden’s review of Ghostory in Tumblr form.
