Dark Night of the Soul (album)

Dark Night of the Soul
Studio album by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse
Released July 12, 2010[1]
Genre Indie rock
Length 46:18
Language English
Label Parlophone/EMI Records (Europe)

Capitol/EMI Records (North America)
50999 6 48136 2 2
C2-48136
Producer Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse
Alternative Cover
Final release cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
onethirtybpm 86%[2]
Pitchfork Media 7.4/10[3]
SPIN Magazine [4]
BBC Positive[5]

Dark Night of the Soul is an album written by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse.[6] It features a wide range of singers, including James Mercer of the Shins, Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casablancas of the Strokes, Black Francis of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of the Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, David Lynch, and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel and the Gerbils; these singers also had a hand in composing and producing the work.[6]

This was the final album that Sparklehorse leader Mark Linkous completed before his suicide on March 6, 2010, although In the Fishtank 15—recorded in 2007—was released later, and Linkous was working on another LP at the time of his death. It was also one of the final works recorded by Vic Chesnutt before his suicide.

Book and album

The album features a hand-numbered 100-plus-page book of photos taken by David Lynch, said to be a visual narrative for the music.[7] This book was limited to 5,000 copies.

There are two book packages of Dark Night of the Soul:

Album

There are multiple music packages of Dark Night of the Soul:

Legal dispute with EMI

Because of a dispute with the record label EMI, it was initially reported (in early 2009) that there was a possibility that the album might never see release.[6] However, the book was made available for sale on the official Web site of Dark Night of the Soul, bundled with a blank recordable CD-R. All copies were clearly labeled as follows:

“ For legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will."[8] ”

The audio portion of the album was widely leaked around the same time.[9]

Without going into detail, EMI acknowledged the legal dispute and released the following statement:

“ Danger Mouse is a brilliant, talented artist for whom we have enormous respect. We continue to make every effort to resolve this situation and we are talking to Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) directly. Meanwhile, we need to reserve our rights.[6] ”

Both parties of the dispute remained silent about the particulars, but it is believed that the problems with distribution centered around a record deal that Danger Mouse signed with Lex Records.[10]

In early 2010, it was announced that Dark Night of the Soul was slated for a tentative summer 2010 release, even though the CD-R version had been available since the previous May.[11] A Lex Records logo appears next to the Capitol Records logo on the final version.

The full album was officially released July 12, 2010, in multiple formats.

Songs used in other media

The song "Revenge" (featuring The Flaming Lips) was used at the end of a first season episode of Person of Interest (#21 "Many Happy Returns"). It was also used in the 2011 film Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Track listing

All songs written, composed and produced by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse.

No. Title Length
1. "Revenge" (featuring The Flaming Lips) 4:52
2. "Just War" (featuring Gruff Rhys) 3:44
3. "Jaykub" (featuring Jason Lytle) 3:52
4. "Little Girl" (featuring Julian Casablancas) 4:33
5. "Angel's Harp" (featuring Black Francis) 2:57
6. "Pain" (featuring Iggy Pop) 2:49
7. "Star Eyes (I Can't Catch It)" (featuring David Lynch) 3:10
8. "Everytime I'm With You" (featuring Jason Lytle) 3:09
9. "Insane Lullaby" (featuring James Mercer) 3:12
10. "Daddy's Gone" (featuring Mark Linkous and Nina Persson) 3:09
11. "Man Who Played God" (featuring Suzanne Vega) 3:09
12. "Grim Augury" (featuring Vic Chesnutt) 2:32
13. "Dark Night of the Soul" (featuring David Lynch) 4:38
Deluxe Edition MP3 bonus tracks
No. Title Length
14. "Dark Night of the Soul" (Sparklehorse Mix) 4:34
Exclusive MP3 download bonus tracks
No. Title Length
14. "Revenge" (Instrumental) 4:54
15. "Everytime I'm With You" (Instrumental) 3:11

References

  1. ↑ "Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and David Lynch's album gets official release date". NME. April 22, 2010. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  2. ↑ Woodall, Chris (June 11, 2009). "Album Review/Download: Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse — Dark Night of the Soul". onethirtybpm. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  3. ↑ Harvey, Eric (May 27, 2009). "Album Reviews: Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse: Dark Night of the Soul". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  4. ↑ Walters, Barry (June 9, 2010). "Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present: 'Dark Night of the Soul' (EMI) Entrancing transmission from the grim beyond". SPIN. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  5. ↑ Lawrence, Alistair (July 7, 2010). "Music — Review of Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse — Dark Night of the Soul". BBC. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Hilton, Robert (June 27, 2010). "Exclusive First Listen: Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Team up with David Lynch". NPR. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
  7. ↑ "Dark Night of the Soul". Retrieved May 15, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Danger Mouse to release blank CD". BBC. May 16, 2009. Retrieved May 16, 2009.
  9. ↑ Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse: Dark Night of the Soul Review, Michaelangelo Matos. The A.V. Club, 13 July 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2012
  10. ↑ Sisario, Ben (June 11, 2009). "A New CD that Has No Music but Lots of Pictures". New York Times. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
  11. ↑ Greenblatt, Leah (March 9, 2010). "Remembering Sparklehorse frontman Mark Linkous: 1962-2010". CNN. Retrieved March 9, 2010.

External links