Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere

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Combining the talents of Goodie Mob member Cee-Lo and DJ Danger Mouse, Gnarls Barkley has released their first album off the back of the hit single Crazy entitled St. Elsewhere. Danger Mouse received great praise for his mixing of Jay-Z’s Black Album with The Beatles’ White Album to make the Grey Album, and if you haven’t heard it, check it y’all. Cee-Lo, like Andre 3000 is one of the more avant garde figures in modern Hip-Hop, and how refreshing it is to see the result of two such talented people working together.

With so much of today’s urban music being so formulaic, it is so wonderful to hear an album such as this, and remember that urban music can be so groundbreaking. Like Public Enemy and Brand Nubian’s back in the day, the likes of Outkast and Gnarls Barkley are flying the flag for a new style of Hip-Hop sound. The first single Crazy has reached dizzying heights on charts around the world, and for good reason. Danger Mouse’s beat is an unforgiving cacophony of sounds, which charge ahead without pause, and Cee-Lo’s enchanting lyrics play just on top of these sounds, daring the listener to focus on the words rather than the music.

Perhaps the standout track is Just a Thought where Danger Mouse uses an old DJ Shadow trick by constantly changing the beat so that the listener can never really get accustomed to the sound. The beat is jarring, and it plays as the perfect folly to Cee-Lo’s haunting description of his thoughts of suicide. There are a couple of lower points on the album, namely Necromancer, which is a messy track that never really finds a fluidity to suit the rest of the album, and Gone Daddy Gone which is also slightly weaker. However, on a whole, St. Elsewhere is outstanding and critical listening for any punter who still believes that music can be revolutionary.