Danger Mouse

So I got the Grey Album from your library yesterday, and I listened to it in the car on the way home. I really like it-- the mix of the Beatles plus Jay Z is one I would have never imagined on my own. The way Danger Mouse starts off pretty much each song with some sort of Beatles song, then manipulates it into a rap/hip-hop song takes a lot of talent. I haven't listened to the CD enough yet, but so far I enjoy "Encore." What makes this album even better is that EMI tried to stop the distribution of it (according to Wikipedia) because Danger Mouse used unauthorized cuts of Beatles songs, whereas Jay Z released acapella versions of his songs for the purpose of mixes and mash-ups.

I found The Grey Video which is a music video promoting "Encore"; it's really interesting the way Danger Mouse collaborated and took clips form A Hard Day's Night (which we watched in class so I'm pretty much an expert at this point right).

Also the video is in BLACK and WHITE.... get it?

I also got a quote from Danger Mouse about his work on the album and I think it's really interesting to hear his process:

"A lot of people just assume I took some Beatles and, you know, threw some Jay-Z on top of it or mixed it up or looped it around, but it's really a deconstruction. It's not an easy thing to do. I was obsessed with the whole project, that's all I was trying to do, see if I could do this. Once I got into it, I didn't think about anything but finishing it. I stuck to those two because I thought it would be more challenging and more fun and more of a statement to what you could do with sample alone. It is an art form. It is music. You can do different things, it doesn't have to be just what some people call stealing. It can be a lot more than that."