So, producer extrodinaire Danger Mouse, noisy rock band Sparklehorse, and avantgarde director and all around crazyman David Lynch walk into a bar… stop me if you’ve heard this one. EMI has already has, and they are threatening to sue the punchline.
My guess is EMI still has their panties in a bunch over that Grey Album hub-bub. Which is why they are threatening to sue DM if he decides to release “Dark Night of the Soul.” The album features music by Sparklehorse and vocals by various unheard-ofs such as Black Francis (from the Pixies), James Mercer (of the Shins), Wayne Coyne (of the Flaming Lips), and some sullen-looking character that goes by the name of Iggy Pop (flash in the pan, IMHO).
But being the resiliant rancontuer that he is, DM is going to release the album anyway, just sans any music. Instead, stuck on the jewel case is a sticker that reads, ‘For legal reasons, the enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.’ But fret not, because also inside is a 100-page booklet that features photographs by David Lynch, inspired by the music. So you can at least imagine what the music sounds like if it was filtered through the brain of a crazy person.
Now, what about the music? For the time being, NPR is streaming the whole thing for you to enjoy. And it’s really good. But what to do with that blank CD? I cannot condone the act of illegally downloading this work, and I sure as hell won’t tell you that it is already available on numerous bittorrent trackers and file-hosting sites.
I for one am glad that EMI is standing its ground on this one. At this time in history when the music industry’s death rattle is echoing off the walls, its nice to see that one record company has decided to shoot itself in the foot instead of making some sort of profit off of an obvious success. KU-dos, EMI. *insert sarcastic slow applause*
