DangerDOOM - "Old School" [CDM]

I've been banging quite a bit of both Danger Mouse and DOOM stuff the last few days, so what's better than a reminder of how great they were as a team. The chances for a new full-length from the duo seems highly unlikely even if it's been talked about, however the "Mouse & Mask" LP and the "Occult Hymn" EP is enough to rank as one of the best group projects from both artists in my opinion. Of course one of their illest songs is the Talib Kweli assisted "Old School", which also was one of two singles released from the LP (the other being "Sofa King"). The way DM flips the horn-driven funk of Keith Mansfeld's "Funky Fanfare" into an unresistable hip-hop groove speaks volumes of his talents in the hip-hop field (which I really hope he returns to one day). The true greatness of this single is however the two B-sides, which are both remixes of songs from the album. Madlib's take on one of DOOM's quirkiest stories in "Space Ho's" and DM's own revisioning of "Sofa King" make this a worthwhile purchase if you stumbles across it. Both songs also appears on "Occult Hymn" but the quality found here is a lot better.

01. "Old School" (Ft. Talib Kweli)

02. "Space Ho's" [Madlib Remix]

03. "Sofa King" [Danger Mouse Remix]

DANGERDOOM - "OLD SCHOOL" CDS

LEX Compilation - "Complex Vol. 1"

LEX Records, the label behind many of Danger Mouse's releases, is celebrating their 10th Anniversary this year. For the event, the label has released "Complex Vol. 1", a collection of ten exclusive tracks of different genres. Of special interest to The Lost Tapes readers is two MF DOOM collaborations, as well as a prequel to DM & Jemini's classic "Knuckle Sandwich".  Some different, but pretty cool shit for sure. The whole album can be streamed for free, but is also available to purchase on wax and in HQ digital download. Shout outs to Food For Thought for the info!

LEX RECORDS - "COMPLEX V.1" [order / listen]

DangerDOOM - "Be Afraid..." EP (2005)

Considering that there haven't been a whole lot happening worth giving any attention to the last couple of days I decided to hit y'all up with  a lil' Lost Tape so to speak. After watching the almost two hour long MF DOOM interview in Madrid that I posted yesterday, I've been inspired to revisit alot of the MF classics such as "MM... Food" and "Madvillainy". One of his absolute finest hours to me though is his impeccable work with UK-born producer Danger Mouse on the LP "The Mask & The Mouse", released as DangerDOOM. Mouse's beats were more stripped down and cleaner sounding than what we're used to hearing DOOM spit on which I think really brought out his unusual way of wordplay and mind boogling lyrics to the forefront.

There's been talk of a follow-up album in the works but since DM haven't shown much interest towards his hip-hop roots as of late, I'm not ready to get hyped for those rumors just yet (definitely don't sleep on his work with groups like Broken Bells and The Good, The Bad & The Queen though). A while back I uploaded the "Occult Hymn" EP with a few extra tracks so this will be the final round of D.D. posts considering that this is the last known material out there. The work in question is a promotional 6-tracks CD that Lex Records gave away with purchases of the November '05 issue of Hip-Hop Connection Magazine. It consits of two songs from the then forthcoming album as well as a few DM productions. The "Knuckle Sandwhich" remix was exclusive to this release and I believe that "Doomage" is half rare too (it's the only song on here produced by MF btw). Even if you've heard these songs this is still a nice 15 minutes to kill on this cold ass Tuesday evening so check it out!

01. DangerDOOM - "Mincemeat"
02. Prince Po / MF DOOM - "Social Distortion"
03. Non-Prophets / Slug / Brother Ali - "Doomage"
04. Danger Mouse / Sage Francis - "Garden Gnomes"
05. DangerDOOM - "Perfect Hair"
06. DM & Jemini - "Knuckle Sandwhich" [DM Remix]

DangerDOOM - "Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid..."

DangerDOOM - "Occult Hymn EP" (w. extras)

I remember when I was first introduced to the UK producer Brian Burton, better known as Danger Mouse. This was around 2005 when I heard the incredible mash-up album "The Grey Album" which was soon followed by the equally amazing collaboration with Metal Fingerz DOOM, "The Mouse & The Mask". The way Danger Mouse chopped up obscure samples, incorporated humorous vocal clips and musical bits and utilized drums that was as crisp and banging as the best hip-hop producers of the new decade, made me hold him as the brightest shooting star; I saw a connection between him, Dilla and Madlib as some sort of the holy trinity of out-there underground producers. Burton's heavy but playful boom bap was a perfect match for MF DOOM's unorthodox multi syllabels and animated rhyme style. The album was of course made in a very special way as it was not only a collaboration between a amazing producer and an incredible emcee but also a collaboration with the late night cartoon network Adult Swim. This meant we were getting small cameos from a host of the networks animations including Master Shake, Louis Griffin and The Space Ghost. DOOM also rhymed around these characters, creating stories involving them, making the album totally unique and undoubtly an underground phenomena. 

While we didn't get another full-length album from the dynamic duo, well at least not yet, the two once again teamed up with Adult Swim in 2006 and released a seven track EP following the theme of "The Mouse & The Mask". After a short intro, the listeners are treated to a impeccable remix of "El Chupa Nibre" that might even be superior to the original; the EP also features a severely sick Danger Mouse remix of "Sofa King" and a very different Madlib remix of "Space Ho's". In fact I've always wondered if the so called Madlib "remix" in fact the original version as DOOM drops the lines "Madlib switch the beat and walk him to the desk/ While Danger holding down the control room" on both versions of the song. The EP also features two completely new songs that both fits the description of "great shit"; "Korn Dogz" and "Perfect Hair II" plus an hilarious three minute interlude featuring a cameo from the Space Ghost. Besides these banging seven tracks that runs for about seven minutes, I added the three tracks that predated the "Mouse & The Mask" album with three Danger Mouse productions that featured DOOM as a guest artist. All in all this is a very interesting listen as it features everything these two ever released together, and especially if you never heard the EP in the first place this will probably make your day.

01. "Skit #1"
02. "El Chupa Nibre" [Remix]
03. "Perfect Hair"
04. "Korn Dogz"
05. "Skit #2"
06. "Sofa King" [Remix]
07. "Space Ho's" [Madlib Remix]
08. "Social Distortion" (Ft. Prince Po) [*]
09. "Somersault" [Remix] (Ft. Zero 7) [*]
10. "November Has Come" (Ft. Damon Albarn) [*]

DANGERDOOM - "OCCULT HYMN EP" (w. bonus tracks)

Gnarls Barkley working on 3rd album

 This is just incredible news for me; MC/Singer Cee-Lo Green is once again teaming up with super producer Danger Mouse for a third installment of Gnarls Barkley. Since I first heard "St. Elsewhere" I was absolutely blown away, as with the the previous Goodie Mobb albums and D.M. produced albums like "The Grey Album", "Ghetto Pop Life", The DangerDOOM LP, "Demon Days", etc. has been constantly making me hit the rewind button over the years.

Danger Mouse is one of the most original and abstract producers of the decade and he just can't stand still, always trying to push the envelope further. Similary, Cee-Lo has always been an incredible talented and daring artist with a large, large dose of that SOUL. Gnarls Barkley might just be my favorite project from either one of them though; one of the best modern producers of all time as far as modern experimental and often abstract production goes that really meshes well with Cee-Lo's unique style. A clear winner.

I can't fucking wait for this project since this is easily two of my favorties. I realy hope this will turn out as good as "St. Elsewhere" and "The Odd Couple". What you think, will this be just milking something that's already been done to perfection and can't be improved or might it be equally good  as the previous LP? Drop a comment in that section with your thoughts on this. I for one will most definitely check it out, that's for sure! STAY TUNED!!!

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi (LP Stream)

While not a hip hop album per se, Danger Mouse has definitely done enough hot shit in that area to warrant a listen to whatever he choose to drop if you ask me. Last year it was the self titled debut as the duo Broken Bells together with James Mercer, which was one of my favorite albums in the non hip-hop department, and this time the ridiciolously versatile Mouse has hooked up with Italian composer and arranger Daniele Luppi. Luppi has previously contributed on previous DM releases including both Gnarls Barkley albums, "Broken Bells" and "Dark Night Of The Soul", mainly as an arranger of strings. The new album has been given the title "ROME", a modern homage to the classic Spaghetti Western soundtracks of the '60s and '70s that the duo recorded last year at Ennio Morricone's Rome's Forum Studios in Italy. 

The sounds are experimental and features a vast array of instruments including an assembly of guitars, strings, keyboards, and contributions from the original musicians that performed Morricone's scores for flicks such as Once Upon a Time in the West, all floating on top of DM's patented drum pattern magic. What we get is something that is maybe best described as a cross between Gnarls Barkley, Broken Bells and the score of The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. The majority of the LP is instrumental but the listener also gets to hear guest vocalists Norah Jones and Jack White lend their voices to circa three tracks each.

I was listening to this in full yesterday and was impressed with what I heard but if you're only thing is hip-hop I would advice you to stay away from this. If you on the other hand have an interest in experimental music that might have a touch of pop sounds, yet strays far away from the commercial bullshit mostly played on the radio these days, then why not give it a shot? If you like what you hear, "ROME" will be released tomorrow on Capitol Records but til' then they put up the entire album for free streaming (if you just want a quick taste I'd recomment tracks #8 and #11).

01. "Theme Of Rome"
02. "The Rose w. The Broken Neck"
03. "Morning Fog" (Interlude)
04. "Season's Trees"
05. "Her Hollow Ways" (Prelude)
06. "Roman Blue"
07. "Two Against One"
08. "The Gambling Priest"
09. "The World" (Prelude)
10. "Black"
11. "The Matador Has Fallen"
12. "Morning Fog" (Interlude)
13. "Problem Queen"
14. "Her Hollow Ways"
15. "The World"

DANGER MOUSE & DANIELE LUPPI - "ROME" [STREAM]