soulRocks » Danger Mouse

soulROCKS minitape pt.9

soulrocks — Thu, 19 May 2011 19:52:49 +0000

Track listing
1. Danger Mouse/Daniele Luppi/Norah jones – Black
2. Bilal Oliver – Free
3. Mayer Hawthorne – Green eyed love (wajeed remix)
4. Sterolab – ?
5. Quardon – Slipping
6. Erykah badu – Gone baby don’t be long
7. Gorillaz – On melancholy hill
8. Pigeon John – The last sunshine

Gorillaz

soulrocks — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 10:46:18 +0000

Conceived as the first “virtual hip-hop group,” Gorillaz blended the musical talents of Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, Blur‘s Damon Albarn, Cibo Matto‘s Miho Hatori, and Tom Tom Club‘s Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz with the arresting visuals of Jamie Hewlett, best known as the creator of the cult comic Tank Girl.Nakamura‘s Deltron 3030 cohorts Kid Koala and Del tha Funkee Homosapien rounded out the creative team behind the Gorillaz quartet, whose virtual members included 2-D, the cute but spacy singer/keyboardist; Murdoc, the spooky, possibly Satanic bassist and the brains behind the group; Russel, a drummer equally inspired by “Farrakhan and Chaka Khan” and possessed by “funkyphantoms” that occasionally rise up and provide some zombie-style rapping; and last but not least, Noodle, a ten-year-old Japanese guitar virtuosa and martial arts master. The group’s website, www.gorillaz.com, showcased Hewlett‘s visuals and the group’s music in eye- and ear-catching detail.

Gorillaz debuted in late 2000 with the Tomorrow Comes Today EP, which they followed early the next year with the popular Clint Eastwood single. A self-titled, full-length debut album arrived in spring 2001. Gorillaz was a massive worldwide success and achieved platinum-level sales in the U.S.; worldwide, it sold over seven million copies. The group’s Svengalis were quick to capitalize, and released the B-sides collection G-Sides, the Phase One: Celebrity TakedownDVD, and the dub-inspired remix album Laika Come Home in 2002. The project soon went on hiatus, however, as Albarn resumed work with Blur for their seventh album, 2003’s Think Tank.

When he was ready to begin the next Gorillaz album, Albarn turned to Danger Mouse (the DJ behind The Grey Album, the infamous mash-up of the Beatles‘ White Album and Jay-Z‘s Black Album) and a host of other collaborators, including De La Soul, Shaun Ryder,Debbie Harry, Dennis Hopper, and Martina Topley-Bird. Although Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Nakamura did not return, 2-D, Russel, Murdoc, and Noodle were all present and accounted for on Demon Days, another Top Ten hit, which arrived in spring 2005. The album went double platinum in America and enjoyed even more success in the U.K.; it also received a host of Grammy nominations, a sign that the band had secured critical as well as commercial approval. Gorillaz broke ground for a new album in 2007, but the project wasn’t released until 2010, when Plastic Beach marked the band’s third studio effort.

http://gorillaz.com/

Gnarls Barkley

soulrocks — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 10:36:19 +0000

The Gnarls Barkley collaboration didn’t bring producer Danger Mouse to the top of the British charts for the first time, but it did mark his debut as the pilot of a hit record. Mouse, born Brian Burton, first gained the ears of discriminating listeners when he concocted The Grey Album, a bootleg that mashed the vocals from The Black Albumby Jay-Z with music samples courtesy of The White Album by EMI flagship the Beatles. Although the label posted a cease-and-desist order, one of their employees, Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz, was one of the impressed, and he hired Burton to create the beats for the second Gorillaz album, Demon Days. Just one year later,Danger Mouse was back in the charts with another collaboration project, Gnarls Barkley, with singer Cee-Lo Green (a solo artist and former member of Atlanta’s Goodie Mob). The pair had met in Atlanta in the late ’90s, and began recording together around the time of a 2003 DM record titled Ghetto Pop Life. A few recordings were passed around and played by many associated with the pair, and eventually one of the leaked tracks, “Crazy,” became a hot property for the download market. It became the first single vaulted to the top of the British charts by digital distribution, and the resulting album, St. Elsewhere, peaked at number one on the album charts. A follow-up was not long in coming; The Odd Couple dropped in early 2008.

www.gnarlsbarkley.com

Danger Mouse

soulrocks — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 18:15:30 +0000

Brian Burton, the man better known as artist/producer Danger Mouse, was born to a schoolteacher father and a social worker mother in White Plains, NY, but spent much of his childhood upstate in Spring Valley. When he was 13, his family moved to Stone Mountain, a suburb of Atlanta, where he was introduced to the hip-hop sounds of the South and Midwest. Though Burton had always wanted to be a cartoonist while growing up, the opportunity to attend college on a full scholarship appealed to the 18-year-old, and he went to pursue a degree in telecommunications at the University of Georgia. While in school, he was introduced to Nirvana, Pink Floyd, and Portishead, as well as the burgeoning indie rock scene in Athens (he even remixed songs from local band Neutral Milk Hotel) and also began making his own electronica music under the namePelican City, releasing The Chilling Effect (1999) and Rhode Island(2000) on the December First label while still a student.

More success followed in 2006, when Danger Mouse joined Goodie Mob‘s MC/singer Cee-Lo in forming Gnarls Barkley. The duo’s debut album, St. Elsewhere, went double platinum on the strength of the smash single “Crazy,” which topped the U.K. charts and peaked at number two in America. A second release, The Odd Couple, followed in 2008. Late the next year he announced a new project with the Shins’ singer/guitarist James Mercer dubbed Broken Bells. Their self-titled debut album followed in 2010. Meanwhile, Danger Mouse continued producing and/or remixing material for a number of artists, including Sage Francis, Beck, the Black Keys, Bright Eyes,Dinah Washington, and Joker’s Daughter.

www.gnarlsbarkley.com/

Cee Lo Green

soulrocks — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 17:35:55 +0000

Multi-talented and flamboyant, Cee-Lo initially made a name for himself and his trademark crooning as part of pioneering Dirty South rappers Goodie Mob before he broke away in the early 2000s for a colorful solo route. Along with fellow Atlanta rappers OutKast, Goodie Mob laid out the blueprint for the Dirty South style during the mid-’90s, making serious waves with their debut album, Soul Food(1995). Cee-Lo was an important member of the group, often singing the hooks to many of Goodie Mob‘s best songs (e.g., “Cell Therapy,” “Soul Food,” “Black Ice”). But the group didn’t last too long, and after a few releases over a five-year span, Cee-Lo split with Goodie Mob for a promising solo deal with Arista.

In 2006, Cee-Lo enjoyed his greatest success to date as half of Gnarls Barkley, a duo also featuring producer Danger Mouse. “Crazy,” the lead single from St. Elsewhere, the duo’s debut album, was an instant hit in the U.K. and steadily rose to the top of the charts in the U.S. by the end of the summer. The critical acclaim and commercial success of Gnarls Barkley awarded Cee-Lo the most attention he’d ever enjoyed in his career to date. Cee-Lo and DMfollowed it up with a second Gnarls Barkley album, The Odd Couple, in early 2008. A frequent collaborator, Cee-Lo also worked with producer Jazze Pha for Happy Hour, Jazze Pha‘s singing and rapping debut, with Cee-Lo co-producing and sharing vocals. In addition, Cee-Lo teamed up with PlantLife‘s Jack Splash for the Heart Attack project.