quiet please. gnarls barkley has the floor…
I adored Gnarls Barkley’s 2005 debut, St. Elsewhere because the album was less of feat of great lyricism than an imaginative tapestry of jazz, funk, hip hop, odd beats and syncopated rhythms. It was music reminiscent of the 1970s, songs I heard on stoops, on boomboxes, but it was also the manic arrangements and disassociation found in the music of the dotcom 90s, yet it also had the stirrings of music right right now and offered a sound of what’s to come. No doubt aided by the delirious and manic stylings of Cee-lo Green and Danger Mouse (Gorillaz). So, imagine how thrilled I was (thrilled!) to hear Barkley’s first single “Run” from their upcoming, The Odd Couple (April 8th). But as is the fashion these days, tracks from the album have already been leaked, but a quick google search reveals that many of the pages with the leaked mp3s have been removed (and I’m getting old and paranoid to download anything that says “download now” as I’m all about streaming online or iTunes purchases – I’ll leave the risky business for the kiddies. Kids today!).
*Update: the video for “Run” was removed from MTV because execs determined that the video (because of its strobe effects) failed the Harding Test — guidelines established to prevent TV images from triggering epileptic seizures.
*Unrelated, but pretty fabulous: Here are two of my recent radio interviews: one with the esteemed Dr. Alvin Jones, and the first of a two-part chat with Second City Magazine. Bob & I chatted at one of my favorite coffee shops, Naidre’s.
