Dangermouse & Daniele Luppi:Rome

8.5 /10 dropps

Brian Burton, otherwise known as Danger Mouse, is known for consistently collaborating on interesting projects with various musicians and artists, as well as producing huge albums and exceptional remixes with unexpected surprises along the way. However, before remixes of Jay-Z and The Beatles, before the song of the decade with his short, soulful comrade Cee-lo Green, before producing an album that would bring The Black Keys to the mainstream map, and before teaming up with James Mercer to create the phenomenal and adventurous duo of Broken Bells, Danger Mouse worked on a project he never expected would take seven years to finally finish. With the help of a dear friend and extremely talented Italian producer and composer Daniele Luppi, the pair decided to co-produce and write an album that would pay tribute to the original scores of famous 1960s Italian spaghetti westerns, or in other words, Rome.

Rome is an album that takes old sounds and turns them into something completely fresh and new. Seven years back, during the album’s early phases, neither Luppi nor Burton expected to make a largely successful album – they were just experimenting with mock film scores. Over time with the growth of both of their careers, they were able to be joined by fellow friends Jack White and Norah Jones to accompany the album. Luppi felt in order for the album to be complete and fully conceptually driven it wold have to be recorded in Rome, and it was. From start to finish, Rome is a deeply melodic and somewhat dark record. With nine of it’s 15 tracks being instrumental works, the experience of Luppi’s musical background adds dimly lit, moody arrangements and chords to the flawless drums and guitars of Burton’s style. This isn’t the typical hip-hop production we’ve become familiar with from Danger Mouse, which adds to the excitement behind the record.

The album is full of great gems, but a few really stand out and stick with you. For the wonderful instrumentals, the sad and lightly heart-breaking “The Gambling Priest” is sure to please. “Morning Fog” sounds like cowboys or gauchos riding into battle prepared to fall, and on “The Matador Has Fallen,” the echoing choir and eerie organ take listeners right into the world of tumbleweeds, spurs, horses, and heat waves. Jack White brings in his own modern twists on the vintage track “Two Against One” with a laid-back ease to accompany the cool and confident orchestral compositions. As for the three Norah Jones features, they are complete standouts. Her beautiful and organic voice seem to be an absolute fit for this record, with “Season’s Trees” being the best song on the album.

While Rome is a big step away from DANGERDOOM, Gorillaz, Gnarls Barkley, and Broken Bells, it feels as if the record is near the core of Danger Mouse’s soul. After such a strong and lengthy process behind the work, it only seems fitting that the album is a superb arrangement of well-selected, conceptually driven songs. Rome is a masterpiece in itself, and another work of magic to add to the overly impressive and growing resume of a man who with Rome brings us into a world that seems more true, more attractive, and definitely more loving than the one in which we find ourselves actually living.

-Jay Wolman

Released on Lex Records

http://lexrecords.com/