Culture Blues

Music: “Dark Night of the Soul” – Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse

Some things in life go together so well it forces us to wonder why they aren't always combined: Chocolate and peanut butter, baseball and a summer day, and, apparently, Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse. Their new project, Dark Night of the Soul is a complete success and an amazing example of two widely respected artists collaborating to make a great record. They weren't entirely alone though. Each track features a guest artist that was involved in the song writing/production process, and really contributes their own flavor to the recordings. The cameos are diverse, and range from the sublime (James Mercer, Suzanne Vega, Gruff Rhys, Nina Persson) to the inane (David Lynch, and sadly Black Francis), yet all come together to make a record that feels very cohesive.

The entire story of the record can not be told without explaining that it is not just a record. The two producers wanted the album to be accompanied by a book of surreal and, well, dark images (a visual narrative if you will), so they enlisted acclaimed film director David Lynch to produce the art. EMI (Danger Mouse's label), however, blocked the release of the record and, to this day, copies of the book (and the alternate poster packaging) ship with a blank CD-R with a label that reads "Use as you will." Thankfully the record is widely available online and streams for free on NPR. But enough with boring litigious nonsense.

The most compelling feature of Dark Night of the Soul is the absolutely stellar production. Wave forms are tweaked, twisted, filtered, and pulverized into aural textures and landscapes that both scintillate and awe. There are pristine Abbey Road like moments, there is grainy Aphex Twin like madness, and just about everything in between. All while showcasing the "talents" (Lynch sings on two tracks) of the guest vocalists, and nodding to their individual genres. However, all is not perfect. I could have really done without TWO contributions from Jason Lytle (his tracks come off as a bit trite), I have already expressed my displeasure with the Lynch tracks, and the Black Francis effort is just stupid (this is the lyrical hook:"Fucking all day/ on my Angel's harp").

It may require some effort, but if you can find this album by all means give it a spin and enjoy the show.