Track Listing

1. Go-Go Gadget Gospel
2. Crazy
3. St. Elsewhere
4. Gone Daddy Gone
5. Smiley Faces
6. The Boogie Monster
7. Feng Shui
8. Just A Thought
9. Transformer
10. Who Cares?
11. Online
12. Necromancer
13. Storm Coming
14. The Last Time

Release Info

• Released: May 9, 2006
• Label: Downtown Records
• Produced By: Danger Mouse

• Rating:

• 

It’s hard for me to find new music I like.

And it’s nearly impossible for me to find new music to love.

But regardless of what either my age or perspective has done to jade me so, I’m so happy to say that I love Gnarls Barkley’s “St. Elsewhere” with all of my little heart.

The first ever collaboration between producer extraordinaire Danger Mouse and rapper/singer/producer Cee-Lo Green is a mind-bending free fall through hip-hop, psychedelia, alt-rock, and retro-soul that, in my view, captures the promise of what future music classics should sound like.

The songs on the disc flow effortlessly between manic extremes and sublime meditation, pushing plenty of emotional buttons. The opener, “Go-Go Gadget Gospel”, is as much spiritual credo and declaration of independence as it is forcing the audience in to anarchistic moshing chaos. The energy starts high and even as the moods shuffle through the different songs, the intensity remains.

Needless to say, at the time of this writing the album’s smash “Crazy” has become ubiquitous and is now part of the pop culture lexicon. But it bears mentioning that though the track has all the ingredients for pop greatness, the catchy chorus and danceable drums wrap a profound and beautifully spoken message. One that reminds us that the line between an insane fool and a visionary may depend only on execution, sung with such inspiration that even the most pious rendition of “Amazing Grace” is left sounding like a karaoke performance.

And speaking of performance, both Mr. Mouse and Mr. -Lo Green shine with virtuosic command over their roles. Cee-Lo’s voice is flooring, much as we’ve come to expect from both his solo albums and work with Goodie Mob, and Danger Mouse’s beat styling rivals his own past work not by defeat, but by taking on another personality entirely. Few producers can maintain such high quality and yet shape-shift to create projects that sound like completely separate, different artists (a trait I find rare and hold in high regard).

Ultimately it’s this creative production and awe-inspiring vocal talent that meld with expertly crafted songs to create an immediately memorable experience. This is not an album to sample at random via your iPod, but a disc that should live in your CD player for about 6 straight non-stop months. Buy and listen immediately.