#1 Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi: Rome
Words by Dirk Calloway
The best album of the year is Rome, starring Jack White & Norah Jones - wait, what? Norah Jones? "Starring" Jack White? Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot?! Tell you what, let's back up a moment. So, this is the definition of a 'concept album' in 2011. It's an imagined soundtrack to a movie that doesn't exist. If the film was real though, it would surely be a spaghetti western. But it doesn't, so what you are seeing is a labour of love by producer Danger Mouse and film composer (for real movies) Daniele Luppi. Let them explain it for you though, they'll hopefully make things more clear:
If you didn't watch the video, let me summarise it: the record's been 5 years in the making. They recorded it in Rome, using 70 - 80 year old musicians who used to work on this type of film score, and they always had the idea of featuring both a male and female voice. Jack White was involved fairly early on, while Norah Jones was roped in later in the piece's construction. Several years after it began, it was done, and conveyed a complete sonic vision.
With this record, Danger Mouse has pulled off one of the most amazing hat-tricks in producing history. He rose to infamy with The Grey Album - an excellent mashup of The Beatles' White Album and Jay-Z's The Black Album. From there, he proved his hip-hop and pop bonafides with the likes of Gnarls Barkley, MF Doom, Gorillaz, The Good The Bad And The Queen, records. Along the way, he cemented himself as a rock producer with his work on The Black Keys' Attack & Release, Brothers, and El Camino, as well as Beck's Modern Guilt (my pick for album of the year in 2008). Since 2005, he's been Grammy nominated for Producer of the Year 5 times, and won it once. In 2011 he proved he's now a genius at producing hip-pop, rock, and... spaghetti western soundtracks:
The album's basic structure is feature either White or Jones for a song, then do an instrumental or two, then back to the vocalists again. It keeps things fresh while you're listening to it. Just like a real film's score might, it languishes in lulls and reaches for massive highs, creating a roller-coaster ride of emotion for the listener. Most importantly though, like a real film score, you know there's a consistency and integrity to the overall sound. You're in safe-hands, with a composing team that are setting up themes early on, then paying them off several songs later. It's an approach that rewards each re-listen, and that makes more and more sense after you've spent a long time in the album's world.
I'll be the first to admit that it's not to everyone's tastes. But then, this isn't a Rolling Stone Top Albums of the Year list (who, just so you know, thought the best record was by Adele, and the second-best record was Kanye & Jay-Z's awful Watch The Throne); nope, it's Dirk Calloway's Top 20 Albums of the Year, and he only ever picks an album that will stand the test of time. This record will make just as much sense in 2021 as it does in 2012. When I was agonising over the final selection of 'Record of the Year' in the last couple of days, this is what was the deciding factor. The Kills' Blood Pressures might be bettered by a follow-up by the band in a few years, and that record might be looked upon as a warm-up to something that ended up being better. Likewise, Beirut may yet reveal a masterpiece as grandiose as Sgt Pepper, making The Rip Tide seem like A Hard Day's Night in comparison. But Rome, half a decade after it began its search for life, will stand the test of time. I'm sure of it.
Thanks for reading folks, we're all done now! The rest of the Top 20 reviews can be read here.
Preface: Over the last three weeks, I've reviewed the best 20 albums of 2011. This is the final review in the series. You can catch up on the other 19 by clicking this link here.
The best album of the year is Rome, starring Jack White & Norah Jones - wait, what? Norah Jones? "Starring" Jack White? Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot?! Tell you what, let's back up a moment. So, this is the definition of a 'concept album' in 2011. It's an imagined soundtrack to a movie that doesn't exist. If the film was real though, it would surely be a spaghetti western. But it doesn't, so what you are seeing is a labour of love by producer Danger Mouse and film composer (for real movies) Daniele Luppi. Let them explain it for you though, they'll hopefully make things more clear:
If you didn't watch the video, let me summarise it: the record's been 5 years in the making. They recorded it in Rome, using 70 - 80 year old musicians who used to work on this type of film score, and they always had the idea of featuring both a male and female voice. Jack White was involved fairly early on, while Norah Jones was roped in later in the piece's construction. Several years after it began, it was done, and conveyed a complete sonic vision.
With this record, Danger Mouse has pulled off one of the most amazing hat-tricks in producing history. He rose to infamy with The Grey Album - an excellent mashup of The Beatles' White Album and Jay-Z's The Black Album. From there, he proved his hip-hop and pop bonafides with the likes of Gnarls Barkley, MF Doom, Gorillaz, The Good The Bad And The Queen, records. Along the way, he cemented himself as a rock producer with his work on The Black Keys' Attack & Release, Brothers, and El Camino, as well as Beck's Modern Guilt (my pick for album of the year in 2008). Since 2005, he's been Grammy nominated for Producer of the Year 5 times, and won it once. In 2011 he proved he's now a genius at producing hip-pop, rock, and... spaghetti western soundtracks:
The album's basic structure is feature either White or Jones for a song, then do an instrumental or two, then back to the vocalists again. It keeps things fresh while you're listening to it. Just like a real film's score might, it languishes in lulls and reaches for massive highs, creating a roller-coaster ride of emotion for the listener. Most importantly though, like a real film score, you know there's a consistency and integrity to the overall sound. You're in safe-hands, with a composing team that are setting up themes early on, then paying them off several songs later. It's an approach that rewards each re-listen, and that makes more and more sense after you've spent a long time in the album's world.
I'll be the first to admit that it's not to everyone's tastes. But then, this isn't a Rolling Stone Top Albums of the Year list (who, just so you know, thought the best record was by Adele, and the second-best record was Kanye & Jay-Z's awful Watch The Throne); nope, it's Dirk Calloway's Top 20 Albums of the Year, and he only ever picks an album that will stand the test of time. This record will make just as much sense in 2021 as it does in 2012. When I was agonising over the final selection of 'Record of the Year' in the last couple of days, this is what was the deciding factor. The Kills' Blood Pressures might be bettered by a follow-up by the band in a few years, and that record might be looked upon as a warm-up to something that ended up being better. Likewise, Beirut may yet reveal a masterpiece as grandiose as Sgt Pepper, making The Rip Tide seem like A Hard Day's Night in comparison. But Rome, half a decade after it began its search for life, will stand the test of time. I'm sure of it.
Thanks for reading folks, we're all done now! The rest of the Top 20 reviews can be read here.
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