There's been much talk about copyright infringement as of late (here and here, for example) and more specifically, DJ Dangermouse's recent project, The Grey Album (here and here, for example).
Well, as the saying goes, no publicity is bad publicity. I was never a DJ Dangermouse listener prior to this whole controversy, but I've always loved the Beatles' White Album, DJ music in general, and hip-hop. This project was a must-listen for me as soon as I heard about it.
Let me put the hubbub aside for a moment and talk a bit about the album itself, and how it stands up on its own two feet. Briefly, for those who haven't heard of the album yet, what DJ Danger Mouse did is to take an a capella version of Jay Z's The Black Album, and put those lyrics over beats created from samples taken from The Beatles' The White Album. The result works very well, and truly shows DJ Danger Mouse's abilities as a DJ and producer.
The beats created are very well put together, and really nice to hear, since sampling of the Beatles works is such a big no-no. The "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" sample fits perfectly over the lyrics to Jigga's "What More Can I Say." The choruses meld together quite nicely to complement each other. Danger Mouse's dropouts are perfect punctuation for Jigga's lyrics. I honestly got goose bumps. "99 Problems" displays a nice fusion of select snippets from "Wild Honey Pie" and "Helter Skelter."
The beat on "Dirt Off your Shoulder" is almost like John Lennon meets Bobby McFerrin. Danger Mouse uses a very intelligent use of vocal non-verbal sounds (from "Julia") over a very up-tempo, dirty south reminiscent beat. This track is a wonderful contrast to the very lovely and somber "Julia." On "Allure," "Dear Prudence's" guitar is looped with predominant kicks and a crash to create a wonderfully melodic beat. Overall, Danger Mouse undoubtedly put a lot of thought into the actual production of the beats and matching them to tracks.
Article comments
1 - mars sanford
Thanks for fixing this Eric, Philip, or whoever did so. My Blogcritics routine has obviously become rusty in my absence.
2 - Damion
This whole thing is BULLSHIT! I never even got to hear the Grey Album because of the controversy. This is what I don't get. If these record companies don't want you to download music,then why do they have downloading sites? The REAL robbers are not the kids downloading but the record companies themselves who rip-off their own artists. but the artists are too DUMB to notice it. Now I know there are people who download whole albums and sell them cheaper than the record stores. These are the people they should go after. in closing CENSORSHIP SUCKS!