Danger Mouse Album Blocked by EMI

So track it down by whatever means necessary, kids!

By Fred Mills

Remember yesterday when we told you about that stream of the new Danger Mouse/Sparklehorse album Dark Night of the Soul? The one featuring guests like David Lynch (providing "visuals," such as THESE), Iggy Pop, the Flaming Lips, Black Francis and others? It was streaming at NPR Music and fans were indeed flocking to the stream.

However, if you've visited the NPR site today to check out the album, you will also have encountered this little addition to the information provided: "The album was initially going to be released with a book of photos by director David Lynch in July. But a dispute with EMI records may delay or kill the project."

Well, that's exactly what's happening. Despite the fact that the album is still streaming at NPR (don't hold your breath on that folks), and that advance CDRs of the album have already been sent out to the press (we're lookin' at ours right now... shiny.... Ooh... silvery.... Nice....), according to a report filed late yesterday by TheTripwire.com, there's a dispute between EMI and Danger Mouse that for the moment has left the project in limbo. Or at least the musical portion of it.

See, the limited-edition package was to include, obviously, the DM/SH album along with a book containing David Lynch photos. Now, however, the way things stand is that it the book will be accompanied by a blank CDR.

Tripwire reports that according to a spokesperson for Danger Mouse, the package will "come with a blank, recordable CD-R. All copies will be clearly labeled: ‘For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.' Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to release the recorded music for Dark Night Of The Soul without fear of being sued by EMI. Danger Mouse remains hugely proud of Dark Night Of The Soul and hopes that people lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are as excited by it as he is."

What's interesting is that thus far, there hadn't even been a label announced for the project; not even the Danger Mouse p.r. team knew. So the whole deal about EMI stepping in is bound to raise plenty of speculation about the reasons behind the aforementioned "ongoing dispute."

One thing's for sure: given the fact that press copies are in circulation both in CDR and MP3 form, nobody's going to be able to prevent people from being able to hear the album. As Danger Mouse himself put it in the statement above - by whatever means.

Oh, and watch for a BLURT review of the album soon anyway...