Band To Watch: Bell
Bell is New York-based Olga Bell and friends. Bell does the singing, some of the samples, clapping, keyboards, and wields a laptop. She's joined by a three-piece band, consisting of drummer Jason Nazary, bassist Mike Chiavaro, and guitarist Grey McMurray. That said, the project uses her last name as its moniker for a reason: The main focus is her strong, assured, at times Björkian voice and the often quirky ways she uses it. To date she's been best known for her montage of Radiohead's "Videotape" and Tom Yorke's "Eraser" (listen, here) but with her six song EP about to see the shift from the hand-decorated CD-R she sent us to an official, more widely available pressing, that should change.
Bell was born in Moscow in 1983 and moved to Alaska in 1990. About her earlier childhood she told us, "When I was growing up in the USSR we only got bananas once every six months. No joke ... you had to eat them reeeeeally slowly. Also, I remember the first McDonald's opening up when I was about four, waiting in line with my mother for two hours to get a tiny filet-o-fish. mmm ... bananafish." (We always enjoy a good J. D. Salinger reference, Olga.) She played classical piano from 7-17, graduating from the New England Conservatory in Boston when she was 21. At that point, she moved to New York and, in her words, "bought a laptop." That vastness of experience and good humor of her responses is present in her music, which is windswept and ambitious, but intensely personalized and spare (despite the layers of clean, sharp production). Take a listen, for example, to the lead-off track, "Echinacea," a re-recording of a song that's been floating around a while.
Bell - "Echinacea" (MP3)
See, there's that laptop she bought. Across the EP, no two songs fit the same mold -- "Housefire" is a dramatic flurry with moments of spare My Brightest Diamond sparkles; excellent standout "The Miner" overlaps live percussion, skittering 'n' smoky electronics, and dusty noisiness as Bell sings about suffocation and an Alice In Wonderland swallowing of glass and gold: "And with this glass I can't grow old / Because it doubles me in size."
Sticking to her DIY approach, Bell's putting out the new version of the EP herself. You can order it at her site. She tells us it should be available mid-April, though in the meantime, you can hear more at her MySpace. And, if you're in the NYC area, you can catch Bell live this Friday:
03/28 - New York, NY @ The Delancey w/ Claymation Velociraptor, Pocketknife, and the Bloodsugars
Here's the poster she made for it.
Posted at 2:24 PM in Band To Watch, MP3
Tags: Bell | Olga Bell
That doesn't sound kinda like Bjork, it sounds EXACTLY like Bjork.
Posted by: John Claude at March 25, 2008 3:38 PM | ReplyScore = -2
Hot.
Posted by: Jesse at March 25, 2008 3:39 PM | ReplyAlso nice song.
Score = -1
yeah, i wouldn't mind bjorkin her
dah-dunk-dunk
Posted by: gimme at March 25, 2008 3:51 PM | ReplyScore = -4
it's Bjork if she had to do her best to write a pop song. I like it.
Posted by: Liz at March 25, 2008 4:25 PM | ReplyScore = 2
Here's another song I got from a blog awhile back (can't remember which). Doesn't sound as bjork-y and is quite lovely:
Posted by: aldo at March 25, 2008 8:04 PM | Replyhttp://www.zshare.net/audio/9536730212ac6f/
Score = 0
claymation velociraptor is on this show? awesome. definitely going. they are amazing live.
Posted by: briguy at March 26, 2008 12:03 AM | ReplyScore = 2
how completely generic.
Posted by: dan at March 26, 2008 8:20 AM | ReplyScore = -4
I'd show that hen who the rooster is.
Posted by: Allah at March 26, 2008 9:19 AM | Reply(Guys, I'm talking about sex...with Bell)
Score = -3
it's so... so... so much like every other NYC female-singer group. Add a hot girl, mix it with a laptop, get some haircuts in there, name the group after the girl... POOF!
internet smash!
she talks more about her life before the age of 18 than about music. so what, could care less about your 9th birthday! seriously, if all you want to do is look at hot girls, then go to a strip club or watch a porno.
me, i'd rather hear someone doing something DIFFERENT
Posted by: Alex at March 26, 2008 9:38 AM | ReplyScore = -7
very very glad to see Bell featured here! well done guys. everyone should go see the band live, much fun.
Posted by: EF Matt at March 26, 2008 9:50 AM | ReplyScore = 4
That last part of the Videotape/Eraser cover are inspired!
Posted by: Luis at March 26, 2008 1:16 PM | ReplyScore = 1
i'm totally going for Claymation Velociraptor!
Posted by: zaypay at March 26, 2008 2:43 PM | ReplyScore = 2
She sounds like Robert Smith
Posted by: Theodore Roosevelt at March 26, 2008 7:58 PM | ReplyScore = 0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OWIBV9gmR0
Posted by: lissy at March 27, 2008 2:38 PM | ReplyScore = -1
I could understand why she sings like Bjork, but I don't understand why I need listen to. It's funny but "echinacea demo" from her myspace resembles CocoRosie.
Posted by: globaldog at April 4, 2008 12:07 AM | ReplyScore = 0
I could understand why she sings like Bjork, but I don't understand why I need listen to. It's funny but "echinacea demo" from her myspace resembles CocoRosie.
Posted by: globaldog at April 4, 2008 12:14 AM | ReplyScore = 0
Posted by: lisa at April 10, 2008 2:32 PM | ReplyWin a $150,000 recording contract at woozyfly.com/contests!!
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