DJ Danger Mouse, famous for being one half of Gnarls Barkley, and for his 2004 mashup CD They Grey Album (mixing the Beatles ‘White Album’ with Jay-Z’s ‘the Black Album’) is releasing a new album this week, however there is one catch; there wont actually be any music on it.
In the case of the ‘Grey Album,’ record label EMI sent out cease-and-desist letters to all fans who posted the album anywhere online and even threatened those who protested the label’s actions. The label and the DJ are still in an ongoing dispute and therefore Danger Mouse is not allowed to release any music under his own name.
The new album, Dark Night Of The Soul, as a way to get around EMI, will simply be cover art and a blank recordable CD-R. Burn the tracks (however you find them) to the CD-R and enjoy the music, says the DJ.
His official statement reads:
Danger Mouse’s new project Dark Night Of The Soul consists of an album length piece of music by Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and a host of guest vocalists, along with a collection of original David Lynch photography inspired by and based on the music.
The photographs, which provide a visual narrative for the music, are compiled in a limited edition, hand numbered 100+ page book which will now come with a blank, recordable CD-R. All copies will be clearly labeled: ‘For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.’
Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to release the recorded music for Dark Night Of The Soul without fear of being sued by EMI.
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Result for: cover art
In commemoration of its upcoming Nine Inch Nails: Lights in the Sky tour, the band has released a nice five-track EP on its website with songs from itself and four other bands which are on the tour.
According to the NIN website, the songs are all “high quality, DRM-free, fully-tagged MP3 files” and each download will even come with “cover art and a pack of digital extras.”
The five track EP includes the following songs:
1. a place to bury strangers - “to fix the gash in your head”
2. does it offend you, yeah? - “we are rockstars”
3. crystal castles - “crimewave (crystal castles vs HEALTH)”
4. deerhunter - “like new”
5. nine inch nails - “echoplex”
For those interested in picking up the free EP, all you need to do is sign up here and provide a working email address. You will then be emailed a download code for the EP and digital extras.
In early May, the band was applauded for fighting back against the record companies and giving away part of its album “Ghosts I-IV” for free in better-than-CD quality. The band also offered the CD in physical format and the rest of the CD in digital format for much cheaper prices than most CDs cost today. Their “experiment” is said to have netted $1.6 million USD for the band, with little to no production costs and nothing to pay to the labels.
