the Grey Album (DJ Danger Mouse)

[once again, we're a week late on a post (sorry!)...so here's a quick one to keep us on our weekly-ish rhythm]

i've had a busy, rough, few weeks (don't worry, all is good, and everything will be alright in the end). 5 stages of grief and all that. today was anger. but i still had a lots of work. so what do i do? crank the loud. and for those occasions, this is one of my go-to albums...

[hit play, and ignore the screaming girls for but a taste]

"The Grey Album is a mashup album by Danger Mouse, released in 2004. The album gained notoriety due to the response by EMI in attempting to halt its distribution, despite the fact that both Jay-Z and Sir Paul McCartney said they felt fine with the project."

When this came out, i only had heard of it due to the commercial notoriety - especially given the story of our new tech world clashing with the old commercial one of years past (we were a few years past the Napster era, and Sean Parker had not yet convinced a young Mark Zuckerberg to "lose the 'the' ".

i instantly downloaded the Grey Album, and turned it up to eleven. and while i normally (still) hate mash-ups of any sort, this then-unheard of "Danger Mouse" (pictured, right) was onto something...beyond a cool name from one of the coolest British cartoons of my youth. Brian Burton, as he's also known, later went onto significantly more notoriety with his other amazing projects (Broken Bells, Gnarls Barkley, and even the Gorillaz second breakout album). and honestly? back then, i didn't really know much of, or frankly, like Jay-Z or the Beatles, so this was a great gateway album.

since then i've become a HUGE Beatles fan (thanks Rajiv!), and have build an appreciation for some, if not all, hip-hop and rap (thanks Keith!). and while the White Album is great, and the Black Album changed the game, the Grey Album is a work of art.

enjoy.