Label: EMI
Rating: 4 Guns
Written By: Victoria H. (Urban Editor)
I am going to review book/album, but the twist is that the album is not available in stores due to a dispute with EMI. EMI will not go into the specifics as to why the album will not be released, but they said that “Danger Mouse is a brilliant, talented artist for whom we have enormous respect. We continue to make every effort to resolve this situation and we are talking to Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) directly. Meanwhile, we need to reserve our rights.”
The book accompanying the album is available for sell and will contain a blank recordable CD-R. All CD’s will contain the message, “for legal reasons the enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.”
Both parties have remained silent about the details, but it is believed that the problems with distribution center around a record deal that Danger Mouse signed with Lex Records.
The album can be streamed on NPR’s website.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104129585
Dark Night Of The Soul is an album written by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse (Mark Linkous). The album features James Mercer of The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Frank Black of The Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, David Lynch and Scott Spillane Of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils. The singers also help composing and producing the album.
Now you might wonder why David Lynch is on the album since he is the creator of Twin Peaks and the director of Blue Velvet, but Danger Mouse wanted stark and powerful images to go with the music and he felt that David would be able to accomplish the tasks. While David also appears on the tracks, his voice is not a singers voice, but he does well enough.
The artists on the album come from the worlds of pop, rock and alternative and through the excellent production of Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, the voices and songs fit very well and do not seem disjointed. The production and the lyrics are dark and seem like you are listening to the soundtrack of Twin Peaks.
Some of the stand out tracks include, “The Man Who Played God” sung by Suzanne Vega about making your craziness work for you and “Daddy’s Gone” on which Mark Linkous and Nina Persson talk about the freedom that comes with being abandoned. “Insane Lullaby” which features James Mercer contains some very haunting lyrics like “Dreams float up from fishes in the flood; at a new dimension; leaving only parts to play; needs are forming again; a good life would just never be enough.”
Unless the dispute between Danger Mouse and EMI is resolved, this will become another “lost album” like The Grey Album (Jay-Z’s Black Album, remixed with The Beatles’ White Album), which would be a shame as the Dark Night Of The Soul is just brilliant concept from start to finish.
CWG Magazine 