Dark Night of the Soul (album)

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Dark Night of the Soul
Dark Night of the Soul.jpg
Studio album by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse
Released July 12, 2010 (2010-07-12)
Genre Indie rock
Length 46:18
Language English
Label Parlophone (Europe), Capitol (North America)
Producer Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse
Alternative cover
Final release cover

Dark Night of the Soul is a studio album by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, featuring collaborations by numerous notable musicians. Its release was postponed due to a legal dispute with the album's distributor EMI and was finally released in July 2010, about a year after it had been leaked to the internet and Danger Mouse had released a blank CD-R as a way of working around the dispute.

Content

The title of the album derives from Noche oscura del alma, the title given to a poem by 16th-century Spanish poet John of the Cross.

Dark Night of the Soul features a wide range of collaborators, 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.[1]

Release

Legal dispute with EMI

The album was the subject of a legal dispute with the project's record label EMI. It was initially reported in early 2009 that there was a possibility that the album might never see release.[1] However, the book was made available for sale on the official website of Dark Night of the Soul, bundled with a blank recordable CD-R. All copies were clearly labeled as follows:

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For legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.[2]

The audio portion of the album was widely leaked around the same time.[3]

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

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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.[1]

Both parties of the dispute remained silent about the particulars, but it is believed that the problems with distribution centered on a record deal that Danger Mouse signed with Lex Records.[4]

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.[5] A Lex Records logo appears next to the Capitol Records logo on the final version.

Official release

The full album was officially released July 12, 2010, in multiple formats.[6] 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.

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.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 73/100[8]
Review scores
Source Rating
The A.V. Club B–[3]
BBC favourable[9]
The Guardian 4/5 stars[10]
The New York Times mixed[11]
Pitchfork 7.4/10[12]
PopMatters 9/10 stars[13]
Rolling Stone 3.5/5 stars[14]
Slant 4/5 stars[15]
Spin 8/10 stars[16]
Uncut 3/5 stars[8]

Dark Night of the Soul has been well-received by critics. PopMatters wrote: "Few contemporary pop albums have spoken to the human condition so eloquently, and given the listener so much pleasure in the process, than Dark Night of the Soul. It's no exaggeration to say Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse have crafted a near-masterpiece."[13] The New York Times was less favourable, writing: "especially for a record that required so much effort, too much here feels incidental. Dark Night may end up being the final document on the ineffectiveness of Danger Mouse, a better conceptualist and prankster than producer."[11]

Track listing

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

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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