PurrView #11 - Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi - "Rome"

Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi - Rome

   When in Rome (literally), one can only hope and aspire to do what Danger Mouse and a handful of seasoned musicians have done on the Rome project, due out May 17, 2011.  Imagine – rounding up the original surviving performers of Ennio Morricone scores from classic 60s and 70s (Eastwood, Wayne, Fonda-esque) spaghetti westerns; having them record these decades-old  instrumental songs again; then having Jack White listen to the tracks, recorder in hand in order to generate on-the-spot, raw lyrics; and then topping off that sound with the hypnotizing voice of Norah Jones.  Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi have done just that, the product being a 15-track album complete with interludes to compliment the essence of the project.

   Over the last several years, seemingly superhuman producer, Danger Mouse has produced or contributed to so many projects that one would have to wonder if he has time to sleep. His resume consists of such projects as Gorillaz’s, Demon Days album, earlier remixes of Neutral Milk Hotel tracks, collaborations with MF Doom and The Black Keys, his (credibility catalyst) Grey Album (in which he mixed Jay Z’s Black Album with The Beatles’ White Album), and of course his Gnarls Barkley project with Cee Lo Green (formerly of Goodie Mob). As busy as the man is, he somehow found time to dream up and implement the Rome project and collaborate with Italian-born genius composer, Daniele Luppi to bring together a concept made complete with lyrics and vocals by Jack White of The White Stripes, and female vocals performed by Norah Jones, who was solicited solely for the sheer beauty of her voice.

   Rome is an album over five years in the making, the concept stemming from a mutual interest Brian Burton a.k.a. Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi have in old spaghetti westerns and the distinct music style that characterizes them.  Some of the original performers from these classic musical scores are still around-- Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi literally went to Rome, Italy to seek out these fine souls once a year for about four years. They connected with these old musicians, collaborated with them in an analog-embracing manner, re-creating the original sound that we’ve so often enjoyed hearing as our eyes feasted on vengeance, mayhem, and old west politics in movies like A Fistful of Dollars (1964). Original vocalist from 1966’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Edda Dell’Orso herself is even featured on the opening vocals on Rome. The Rome project, spanning two continents, was made complete by the valuable lyrical and voice contributions of Jack White on tracks such as “Two Against One” (video below) and Norah Jones’ ethereal voice as she sings lines like, “Have you seen the Problem Queen? She’s never far away from me…”. 

  

   Rome deserves applause for its subtle timelessness, its capriciousness in the face of what our ears are typically bombarded with nowadays, its beauty in musical score/vocals/concept, and of course the relentless passion and patience that went into the quality of detail on this album. Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi have taken a wonderful step into a world that conjures up images of 10 gallon hats, chaps, black & white and rolling credits, bringing us a sound, at times, almost reminiscent of Gotan Project’s 1960’s French-flick sound.  This album is probably not going to be one that’s “big with the kids”, but it definitely gets my eclectic stamp of approval!

~Meow~

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