The new duo has joined forces to blend a new kind of soulful hip-hop and create this year’s hottest single.
“Music was better when we were kids,” says Danger Mouse, half of the new experimental group Gnarls Barkley. “We had longer attention spans back then. Now, if kids don’t like the first few bars, they’re gone. You’ve got to grab them. I tell you what the problem is it’s downloading.”
His opinions are ironic, considering Gnarls Barkley recently made musical history when their song Crazy became the first to top the UK charts based on the sale of downloads alone.
The group was created by producer Brian Burton, more popularly known as Danger Mouse, who received massive press for producing The Grey Album, a mix of the Beatles’ White Album with Jay-Z’s Black Album, as well as his work with the Gorillaz. To create Gnarls Barkley, Danger Mouse joined Goodie Mob member Thomas Calloway, who refers to himself as Cee-Lo.
Together, Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse create a unique sound that is very difficult to categorize, like much of Danger Mouse’s other work. Cee-Lo is a rich soul tenor, with a voice that Andre 3000 of OutKast would envy. After Cee-Lo created the melodies and lyrics, he sent his music to Danger Mouse, who produced and mixed it to form St. Elsewhere.
The album has a remarkably large range, covering cartoonish horror stomps, sing-along Eighties pop and even a Violent Femmes cover (Gone Daddy Gone), all while maintaining its soulful hip-hop style.
“I call it industrial euro-soul,” says Cee-Lo. “Some of them beats are dirty like a factory. They sound like [Danger Mouse] is on the laptop with gloves on. The ‘euro’ is because industrial music is more European like Krafterwerk or Aphex Twin.”
Danger Mouse prefers the term “psychedelic soul.” Lately he has been using experimental music from the Sixties and Seventies as inspiration for his work. “They would make music knowing that they could have made it more sellable, but they didn’t,” Danger Mouse comments. “I love that. That’s the spirit I wanted here. Experimentation and melody.”
It seems as though experimentation has paid off. Many are hailing Crazy the Single of the Year. Folk Singer Ray LaMontagne has made a cover of the song, and Paris Hilton has delayed the launch of her album because she also wants to record a cover of the song.
More…
- Crazy (video)
- Gnarls Barkley on MySpace Account
- Gnarls Barkley on The Guardian
- Gnarls Barkley on Pitchfork Media
- Gnarls Barkley's Unofficial website
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