A Thread For School of Seven Bells Love!

Also: http://vimeo.com/13924411

(think I posted those before, but worth your time)

http://www.spin.com/articles/benjamin-curtis-obit-dallas-icon/

http://blog.ghostly.com/post/71755440915/ghostly-remembers-benjamin-curtis

(I will never get used to that bizarre half-life of the interface between social media and the dead. The heartbeat of hope and terror when a retweet or something makes you think someone is still alive for a brief moment.)

35 years old. fuck.

An appraisal.

this is so terrible, my best wishes to anyone who knew him.

R.I.P

Just feel gutted by this. I'd looked up current treatment and prognosis, and thought BC had a very good chance of a complete remission, at least for a while.

Sincere condolences to his family, friends, Alejandra, and everyone else whose lives Benjamin touched.

The full Berlin set from the 2012 tour.

some good viewing/listening

That Grantland piece that Alfred linked - like, I can't even articulate why it made me both angry and kinda sad, but it did.

Partly, I guess, my feeling is, it's too soon for that kind of "appraisal". More it's because, for a piece that claims to lionise him as an artist, it sure has a lot of lazy dismissals and "I didn't bother"s dressed up as "Things People Think". But mostly it's just because that kind of bean-counting "why didn't they sell more records? people are stupid and have bad taste" approach to discussing an artist's career is just... I find that way of conceiving and thinking and talking about music way more depressing than an artist I love not getting the attention I think they deserve.

But this shit:

But the immediate and wide-ranging outpouring of the condolences and nostalgia was a surprise, as was the consensus and faintly apologetic nature of it all; people wish they were more adamant about this sadly overlooked and underrated artist in real time.

Speak for yourself, man. This sounds like some Grade-A level projection. "faintly apologetic nature"? Seriously, what the fuck. People spontaneously outpoured condolences and nostalgia? That might have actually been because Benjamin was that rare thing, a genuinely good human being who had the gift to connect with others, and people miss him, not some weird projected collective guilt for not paying his music enough attention.

I've read a lot of obits and memorials over the past couple of days. That's the first one that's actually made me cross. Timing as much as approach, but still.

"Appraisal" -> avoid.

There are ways to say "why was this artist almost criminally underrated?" without sounding like a morbid bean-counter. This might be better at it:

http://www.stereogum.com/1617192/remembering-benjamin-curtis/franchises/essay/

(As an aside, always astonished and mildly amused by the variety of creative ways critics come up to spell Ali/Aly/Ally/Alley's name.)

The two kinds of reactions described at the start are interesting to me since I pretty much fell into a different place, the older writer who pretty much missed everything about the Secret Machines until well after the fact and almost solely views him through the School of Seven Bells lens. I have no idea if that is weird or not.

That Grantland piece bothered me too, something about how it uses a sad event as an opportunity to be incisive about marginally related things. He wouldn't be talking about year-end lists if it were the middle of summer right now.

A post about a little footnote in his career:

http://www.feedmewithyourkiss.com/2014/01/forgotten-tracks-13-when-babies-eat-pennies/

the angle about SVIIB being underrated, as if they'd only circumstantially missed out on huge critical acclaim or number one hits, just seems irrelevant to me. that scenario never looked a likelihood to me, they were a cult/niche act, and what was important was what they meant to the fans who did love them deeply, not the people to whom they just weren't on-trend enough.

One of the things that I re-posted on the SVIIB Tumblr but it would feel kinda weird to post here, because it was such a personal post by someone I don't know... really touched on that:

That people who were really *obsessed* with SVIIB, people who didn't just go "oh yeah 47th best album this year" or whatever (and I totally include myself in those purple crayon fans) often had a sense that SVIIB's music was made just for them. Of going to gigs and being surprised that there were other people there, because they captured something so intense and personal that it felt almost specifically personalised just to that one fan. This was kind of what I was getting at, at the beginning of this thread, talking about "their music was like finding your childhood bedroom in a stranger's house" - but also, I think in the early days of the band, they (especially Alley and Claudia, but most especially Alley IIRC) talked about how they had made something so intensely personal and special and just-for-them (this was when they were all living together, and created this kind of mutual dream-world they all participated in) that they couldn't really believe that anyone else would like it - let alone respond with the love that people did.

But I think that is really kind of key to understanding them, and understanding their appeal, selective though it might be. It wasn't about "big pop hits with mass appeal" (even though I do think their stuff is quite poppy) but "OMG, mutual-dream-world just for me."

(This is another thread that I've been meaning to start, based on a conversation I had with you, Lex - about "seeing yourself as the subject of the song" vs "seeing yourself as the object of the song" - SVIIB are one of those few, few bands, whose music, I really feel like I'm being addressed as the "you" in the song more than the "I" in the song.)

SVIIB were actually one of the few bands i loved whose lyrics i didn't especially care about (iirc for ned it's the exact opposite) - but that "wider cultural angle", which seems to be more and more of a requirement for music thinkpieces, just isn't applicable to all artists.

Yeah, well, I know we've already had this conversation, but I'll just repeat it on ILX: that one of the most appealing things about SVIIB's lyrics is that they were women (well, woman for the past couple of years I guess) who often specifically and unambiguously wrote lyrics about and addressed to other women.

(Actually, I'm not going to get into whether SVIIB's lyrics were ambiguous or not, because they were decidedly poetic, meaning that they had double and sometimes even triple meanings, so yes, they were ambiguous, but they did still address other women by name (even if those other women were sometimes projected archetypical aspects of the singer's own self). Though I guess many of the "you"s in the song are quite ambiguous in that I don't think a male person listening to the song would feel excluded by it.)

I am, in general, an "I don't listen to the lyrics" person, but Benjamin made it a habit to work with extremely good lyricists, so I found myself paying attention.

oh i didn't mean i didn't care about them as in i didn't like them, i meant as in i still don't know what half of them even are - they're not the most clearly enunciated lyrics - and that hasn't mattered

iirc for ned it's the exact opposite

Actually no, I'm more with you -- SVIIB lyrics sometimes hit with a key line or two but otherwise it's more the usual flow and sound for me. But that's why BB's take is great to read. Also was it on this thread or somewhere else that I read that apparently the lyrics really dig into what it's like to be a twin as well -- which sounds obvious enough but in this case was said by someone else who is a twin, so it's like an even more secret language.

I don't know if it's always overt "twins doing twin things" (but certainly lyrics like The Night imply so - definitely seeped in that "secret language" kind of aesthetic - though Lex specifically asked Alley "are the lyrics on Ghostory about your sister leaving?" and she was like "OMG, I hope not! Not deliberately" or words to that effect. She's talked before about how lyrics are weird like that, writing them with one specific situation in your mind, but they turn out to also be about something completely different) but that whole family-dynamic is really, really Urgent & Key in both the bands where Benjamin had major songwriting input.

When people asked him, "why are you always in these family situations, is it deliberate?" he said yes, definitely. And I can't remember if it was him or Alley that said it's much easier to be honest with family members, that with a stranger there's that expectation of politeness, but with a sister or brother, it's perfectly fine to just say "that bit SUCKS" and be honest.

I'll be honest and say I thought that the band really next-levelled up after Brandon came (back) on board as producer. My favourite thing they ever did was the Put Your Sad Down mini-album and to be honest, the production - especially the drum production on that album - I kept thinking "this is as much TSM as it is SVIIB." I was so happy they were working together again. Brandon's production skills + SVIIB magic = pure gold.

I know it is way, way, waaaay too soon to ask, but I do wonder what will happen to the last stuff that they were working on while Benjamin was ill. He was working with a fury and a sense of urgency, it would be devastating and emotional to listen to, knowing the whole story. But at the same time, it's clearly something that was so important to him to do, it would be disrespect to his memory and his dedication to his art not to get it released somehow. Though, that said, I completely understand why Alley - or Brandon - would not want to dig up those masters right now. Too soon, too painful.

Argh. Just... argh. Every time I start to get to a place of "happy nostalgic thinking" it kind of re-hits...

Shit, I only just heard about this. Disconnect From Desire was a really important album for me in the summer when it was released, going to put it on now. RIP.

I'm really sorry to hear this news. I discovered SVIIB through this thread and listened to Ghostory a lot during the autumn just gone. I hope that in due course, Alley will regroup and find another collaborator worthy of her talents. She has one of the most gorgeous voices I've ever heard.
RIP Ben.

I just found this out. I was scrolling through one of my Rhapsody playlists when I noticed a "Remembering Benjamin Curtis" playlist that Rhapsody happened to be featuring. I wasn't even aware the man was sick. So sad. :(

So I might actually buy the NME for the first time in forever.

http://fuckyeahsviib.tumblr.com/post/73505124239/gehain-nme-18-jan-2014

^^^Paul Banks says some beautiful and loving things.

COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE JOKE ALERT (I swear when my eyes scanned the headline, I missed the "Benj" and just saw "Interpol's Paul Banks Remembers Ian Curtis" and was about to do a massive eyeroll.) COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE JOKE ENDS.

I am honestly a touch surprised here:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152344710821063

Dear Friends,

On behalf of Alejandra, we’re excited to say that we have some new School of Seven Bells news to share with you in the upcoming days, weeks and months. But before moving forward with that, we wanted to take a moment in memoriam of our friend and founding member of SVIIB. We’d like to acknowledge all the letters of support and caring words that so many of you have sent in, every one of them appreciated. Today, we turn a page, and tomorrow we’ll bring you the first of some new SVIIB news. But first, a moment of silence for the friend we’ll never forget…..

(I think I know what this is; a certain someone told me, but I've been keeping schtum. If it is what I think it is, yes, it's exciting.)

Hmm! Well color me intrigued for tomorrow's news here.

'Put Your Sad Down' came up on shuffle play the other day and I couldn't help but feel a touch sad.

I hope you put it down, though.

irl lol

NEW NEWS!! SO EXCITED!! WHAT CAN IT BE????

I'VE BEEN OUT ALL AFTERNOON. IS THERE ANY NEWS YET?

I feel like an overexcited puppy wherever SVIIB are concerned, really.

Think it's just PYSD getting a physical release for record store day, although I'd love to be wrong and find out there's more.

That is in fact the case:

The Put Your Sad Down 10″ will be made available at participating stores on Record Store Day 2014 (April 19, 2014). In August 2013, an extremely limited run of 500 copies of the EP were manufactured and solely on sale at a special sold-out benefit in NYC, to raise money to support Benjamin Curtis’ recovery during his battle with T-cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. This marked the first and only time the EP was released physically.

The remaining copies unsold from the benefit will be made available for the first time since, this coming Saturday. Each of the 300 copies comes with a dust sleeve designed by graphic artist Blanda Eggenschwiler, commissioned specifically for the production and 100% of the proceeds went directly to Benjamin and his fight. Put Your Sad Down is the last studio release recorded by School of Seven Bells.

In re: final statement, makes me think a live album is coming...

Ah! That is exciting, but not what I thought it was going to be. (Really quite glad I didn't say anything else now.) I did think it was actually really too soon for ... anything else.

Put Your Sad Down is the last studio release recorded by School of Seven Bells.

C'mon though, Ryan, don't say things that are easily contradicted by their own instagram accounts.

OK, I'm not going to say anything else now, because if they wanted to talk about stuff, they would talk about stuff. And the fact that they're not talking means clearly they're not ready to talk about stuff, which I completely respect, and therefore I am going to STFU and stuff my fist in my mouth and hum. Ignore anything I said so far.

I got one!

Just announced:

We are pleased to announce the official video for the anti-cancer track "I Got Knocked Down (But I'll Get Up)" originally by Joey Ramone. Throughout 2013 Benjamin had been courageously combating T-cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. Recorded in it's entirety to his laptop from his hospital bed at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York City, 'I Got Knocked Down (But I'll Get Up)' is Benjamin's final recording before passing on December 29, 2013. The track will be made available for purchase digitally on 6/24 and the video will be premiering on 6/25 exclusively on CultureCollide.com. Stay tuned for more details and plans from School of Seven Bells coming soon.
Directed By: Toby Halbrooks & Alan Del Rio Ortiz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR48SIJznHU

Finally! One of the things I was told about. (They left out the cute/morbid detail (depending on your viewpoint) that Benj's hotel room was literally across the road from Joey's.)

More details:

http://exclaim.ca/News/school_of_seven_bells_final_recording_to_be_released

"It was a very spontaneous decision to record this track," said School of Seven Bells singer Alejandra Deheza in a statement. "Benjamin had been talking about the song a lot, and then he just decided he was going to do it. We couldn't record vocals in the hospital, so he actually FaceTimed with me and his brother while we recorded vocals in the studio. He spearheaded the whole thing on FaceTime, would even tell us which knobs to turn and listen to levels etc. We'd even see nurses in the background from time to time! It was really amazing. But that was Benjamin, and producing was what he did. It was therapeutic and took his mind off being really sick. This song was really important to him and I'm happy we were able to record it."

That man was just so amazing. I can totally imagine him lying in a hospital bed, telling Brandon "No, twiddle that knob, it needs more sparkle on the etherealiser!"

Single out tomorrow:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152496685826063

Just downloaded it this morning and listened to it on the bus to work. It doesn't reach the highs of "Put Your Sad Down" but it's still pretty solid and obv makes me really bummed that it's, like, the last new thing we will ever hear from them.

I just had such a huge emotional response to it that I can't really be objective about it at all, but it's like... balancing the knowledge of "this was recorded by a guy literally lying in a hospital bed" with the sensation that this is a band still in their Imperial Phase, whose peak was still to come!

(I don't know if any of his other stuff will ever see the light of day, like, it's completely understandable if it doesn't, but at the same time, the fan in me thinks it is such a loss.)

I was able to grab a copy of Put Your Sad Down on RSD from the store I used to work at. It's the one record that I own where the context makes it really intense to listen to.

Listening to I Got Knocked Down right now and it's amazing how they transformed it from a Joey Ramone composition into...this! If it's the last SVIIB thing any of us are ever graced with, I think it's a fine goodbye.

It is indeed. There forever.

http://culturecollide.com/feed/detail/exclusive_school_of_seven_bells_I_got_knocked_down_full_song_premiere#.U6pNzo1dXcl

Phew. The cat's out of the bag now.

Prior to passing, Benjamin had recorded his portion of the record in its entirety, both before he was diagnosed and after, between treatments, and now Alejandra is picking up where they left off, and heading into the studio to finalize the next record.

http://culturecollide.com/feed/detail/school_of_seven_bells_exclusive_video_i_got_knocked_down#.U6r0BK61aRl

There, Brandon, I said nothing!