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CMU Playlists
Playlist: School Of Seven Bells
By CMU Editorial | Published on Saturday 24 July 2010
Formed by ex-Secret Machines guitarist Benjamin Curtis and identical twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza, formerly of On! Air! Library!, School Of Seven Bells released their debut album, ‘Alpinisms’, in 2008. Although it arrived with little fanfare, the record quickly found a devoted set of fans, making them the band of choice amongst the recent surge of shoegaze-influenced acts.
Album number two, ‘Disconnect From Desire’ (which you can listen to in full at www.sviib.com), was released earlier this month, to yet more acclaim, and shows at Latitude festival and London venue The Scala both left audiences breathless, with a collection of songs that rise and swell underneath the Dehezas’ perfect vocals.
We asked Benjamin to put together a playlist for us, which he duly did, telling us: “I don’t usually listen to my iPod on shuffle, but I do enjoy DJing, or just playing music for friends. In the moment, it’s always so fun to take inspiration from people’s reaction, or whatever mood the music puts me in at the moment. I’m just gonna pretend all of you are here sitting with me in my hotel room in Liege, Belgium, right now, and I’m just gonna play whatever music suits the mood. Setting the scene, it’s 8pm, there’s a huge purple tree outside of my window, and I’m getting hungry…”
BENJAMIN CURTIS’S TEN
Click here to listen to Ben’s playlist in Spotify, and then read on to find out more about his selections.
01 The Cure – Plainsong
I put this on a playlist the other day on a whim, and it reminded me what a beautiful atmosphere it has. The fact that it’s the first song on one of the best records ever made isn’t bad, either.
02 Seefeel – Plainsong
I think the reason why this popped into my head is obvious. It’s one of the best things Seefeel ever did, and that’s saying a lot, because they’re great.
03 Section 25 – Looking From A Hilltop
This song’s been popping up a lot lately for me. To me, it’s probably one of the coolest early dance tracks around. I love this bizarre breakdance side to the Factory Records sound. Produced by Bernard Sumner from New Order.
04 New Order – Thieves Like Us
Well, now I’m just on a Manchester kick. New Order are probably one of my favourite bands. I have no idea why I picked this song in particular.
05 Eurythmics – Belinda
Still in the UK, musically speaking. This is from ‘In The Garden’, which is the first record they ever did. It’s an amazing piece of leftfield pop music.
06 Phantogram – Mouthful Of Diamonds
Phantogram are my favourite band around right now. We toured with them last year, and have been close ever since. Please buy their record. Period.
07 Blonde Redhead – 23
This song is super sentimental for all of us. Blonde Redhead were the first band to ever bring us out on the road with them, and are a huge inspiration. This is an amazing single, if you’ve never heard it.
08 Spiritualized – Any Way That You Want Me
I live in a fantasy world where I can tell everyone about Spiritualized for the first time every day and it makes me happy.
09 Simple Minds – 70 Cities As Love Brings The Fall
This is one of our tour jams. If you haven’t listened to Simple Minds first three albums, I suggest you do so NOW. You don’t know what you’re missing.
10 Killing Joke – Requiem
This is an amazing song. We got to play right after them last year at ATP, and it was spiritual. Alley and I got to say hello to Jaz Coleman, and it was a great moment for me.
