St. Elsewhere

Performer: Gnarls Barkley
Producer: Danger Mouse
Distributor: Alternative Dis. Alliance

Notes: Gnarls Barkley: Danger Mouse, Cee-Lo. Gnarls Barkley--a collaboration between hip-hop/soul crooner and Goodie Mob founder Cee-Lo and DJ/mash-up kingpin Danger Mouse--sounds like it came from another planet; or what inhabitants of another planet might make of the elemental sounds of 21st-century pop music. Classically soulful R&B vocals, smart hip-hop/electronica beats and samples, and infectious hit-making melodies all serve to make the basic musical template familiar enough, but even a passing listen to the first single, "Crazy" (an Al Green-meets-Outkast groover that was a pre-release smash in the U.K. via downloads alone), illustrates that these fellas are definitely traveling some alternate spaceways. But if the warped summer jam "Who Cares" or the unsettling big-beat-cum-folkly suicide dirge "Just A Thought" isn't proof enough of the duo's extra-terrestrial originality, then check out the frenetic, almost sleazy, bubblegum-electro take on the Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone." (Um...say what?) Like the entire album itself, it's a bizarre, unexpectedly brilliant reconfiguration of what was once simply called pop music. Who knows what to call it now? Gnarls Barkley--a collaboration between hip-hop/soul crooner and Goodie Mob founder Cee-Lo and DJ/mash-up kingpin Danger Mouse--sounds like it came from another planet, or what inhabitants of another planet might make of the elemental sounds of 21st-century pop music. Classically soulful R&B vocals, smart hip-hop/electronica beats and samples, and infectious hit-making melodies all serve to make the basic musical template familiar enough, but even a passing listen to the first single, "Crazy" (an Al Green-meets-Outkast groover that was a pre-release smash in the U.K. via downloads alone), illustrates that these fellas are definitely traveling some alternate spaceways. But if the warped summer jam "Who Cares" or the unsettling big-beat-cum-folkly suicide dirge "Just A Thought" isn't proof enough of the duo's extraterrestrial originality, then check out the frenetic, almost sleazy, bubblegum-electro take on the Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone." (Um...say what?) Like the entire album itself, it's a bizarre, unexpectedly brilliant reconfiguration of what was once simply called pop music. Who knows what to call it now?

Rolling Stone (p.56) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[A] genre-bending debut from the Goodie Mob rapper-crooner and Gorillaz beat-brewer Danger Mouse." Spin (p.63) - Ranked #02 in Spin's "The 40 Best Albums of 2006" -- "[M]ind-ticklingly brilliant." Entertainment Weekly (p.80) - "[C]aptivating....Their sense of humor is wonderful...nothing beats soultronica gems like 'Just A Thought'." -- Grade: A Entertainment Weekly (p.128) - Ranked #1 in Entertainment Weekly's "Top 10 Records Of 2006" -- "ST. ELSEWHERE is endowed with a timeless panache that suggest it will sound as fresh and innovative 10 years from now as it does today." Q (p.109) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Danger Mouse has raised the game as far as producers are concerned....His warm, spacious and instantly recognisable sound dominates St. Elsewhere..." Q (p.124) - Ranked #10 in Q Magazine's "100 Greatest Albums of 2006" -- "[A] winning blend of hip hop, blues and psychedelia..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.104) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "An atmosphere of inspiration and accident runs throughout this debut....[With a] self-confident, audience-challenging vibe..."

Gnarls Barkley is the remarkable collaboration between DJ/producer/mash-up king Danger Mouse and psychedelic soul crooner/MC Cee-Lo, of the Atlanta hip-hop group Goodie Mob. Both refreshingly outre and delightfully accessible in the manner of Outkast's best work, the duo's first single, "Crazy," was a huge hit in the U.K. before being released state-side to similar fanfare. Gnarls Barkley's 2006 debut, ST. ELSEWHERE, also contains a truly bizarre reworking of the Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone," which perfectly exemplifies the duo's creativity and originality.

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