Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Stick it the Man

When I heard of “Dark Night of the Soul” for the first time, it was while perusing through National Public Radio’s web site. I stumbled upon it and rubbed my eyes after a precursory glancing through the story. Not only did NPR review the album, but it was streaming from their site.

The reason for such astonishment was simple: Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse put together the star-studded line up of James Mercer of The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Frank Black of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils and David Lynch.

Yes. David Lynch. The award-winning, mind-blowing movie director had a hand in the making of this haunting work of sound. He actually supplies the vocal tracks on two songs, one of which (the title track) sounds much like the lo-fi bellows of Tom Waits’ steam engine voice, minus the gruffness.

The album hasn’t been released officially yet, although it’s streaming on NPR.org and torrents are floating all over the Internet Danger Mouse’s spokesperson said: “Danger Mouse remains hugely proud of ‘Dark Night Of The Soul’ and hopes that people lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are as excited by it as he is.”

For now, though, you can buy a 100-page book from www.dnots.com, which is filled with photography from Lynch that supposedly accompanies and is derived from the music. The album can’t actually be bought yet because Danger Mouse is having some sort of dispute with EMI Music. But, in a genius swift move of stickin’-it-to-the-man, Danger Mouse is including a blank CD-R, which can be used “however you see fit,” according to dnots.com.

The music of “Dark Night of the Soul” is surreal, grim, diverse and haunting. Just take Vic Chesnutt’s song “Grim Augury.” The music sounds like it’s straight from a low-budget, sci-fi thriller of sorts. Or listen to “Pain” featuring Iggy Pop. Even though the lyrics are a bit contrived, Iggy can still deliver with some of the gloom and doom he used to. Or try “Just War” featuring Jason Lytle, which is reminiscent of Brian Wilson.

After a first listen, and then a second listen, and then a third, these tracks just stick in your head more and more. It’s the culmination of more than three years of collaborating for Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse and although it’s unfortunate that this album won’t be available for an unknown amount of time, enjoy the tracks online and be thankful that this music was even made.