danger mouse - the grey album
for those of you who have been stuck in a post-brits party for the last few days you may have missed the lowdown on this very naughty album.
basically :
black + white = grey
where black => jay-z (the black album)
white => beatles (the white album)
danger mouse (from dm and jemini fame - creator of the fabulous ghetto pop life album) didn't keep this fact quiet, instead he shouted the basis for this remix experiment (or bootleg..) large and loud. clever or stupid. you decide that aspect. in the meantime, i have got my copy.
as i have not heard either of the source albums i came to this album fresh and with open ears, and for me it works brilliantly. but, then i come from a different era of hiphop than todays dr dre/neptunes/outkast fans. i recall the wonderful days pre-sampling laws. when def jam spliced sampled rock riffs against minimal beatbox, when every hiphop crew ripped into james browns back catalogue, when public enemy threw so many samples into a track it was impossible to distinguish what was what, when hiphop was creating new genres and sonic collisions on a weekly basis.
then we hit aural gold with the daisy age masterpiece '3 feet high and rising'. everything changed. de la soul/prince paul were taken to the cleaners over the use of a fairly obscure 60's track and old band members suddenly saw the mortgage being paid off once and for all and record companies suddenly realised that they were going to have to control this whole new sound. and so, the hiphop world had to change, and fast. for me the new era was far far less interesting, backing tracks became interchangeable and the whole party vibe that was the basis for much of the genre suddenly evaporated into gunsmoke, thug imagery and genuine murder.
well, danger mouse has revived the glorious experimentalism of those early days. the strange instrumental cutup beats and acoustic guitar licks, mellotrons, and sitars recorded 3 decades ago are set against jay-z's smooth flow in a wild and eccentric manner. i cant give exact details as to which track samples which as this aspect doesn't really interest me (check pitchfork for a more thorough rundown), instead i just love this, danger mouse has not gone down a basic "take a simple drum loop and put the vocal over the top" route, instead the beats are stuttering, and the soundcapes are quite messy/cluttered, a sonic revolution.
naturally emi lawyers have stepped in. which considering that they are now flushed with inner pride over a overly camp glam rock band who have recycled another (emi) 70's overly camp glam rock band through and through to a whole new generation, but recycling rock riffs and stage presence is perfectly ok as opposed to using some old sounds and recycling those and creating something new .. of course there is no hypocrisy in that process at all. no, of course not.
and, for the record, where is the pain? word is that jay-z has given his backing for this and loves it, has anyone asked the remaining beatles for their opinion? surely its not a financial issue?
if danger mouse hadn't told the world would anyone other than a few underground hiphop fans have made the connection?
the album raises lots and lots of questions and issues, which i am sure everyone has very different opinions on, especially the hardcore beatles fans.
this must be a good thing.
if you want to hear a fascinating 45 minutes of modern hip-hop (having never heard jay-z i have to say i am mighty impressed with his vocals) clashed brilliantly with sounds that you may recognise then rush out now and grab this via any means necessary.
grey ?
not at all, full on technicolour fun.