{"id":517,"date":"2009-06-26T01:03:46","date_gmt":"2009-06-26T05:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/underbellyofsunshine.com\/?p=517"},"modified":"2009-06-26T01:03:46","modified_gmt":"2009-06-26T05:03:46","slug":"the-odd-couple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/underbellyofsunshine.com\/?p=517","title":{"rendered":"The Odd Couple"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love music, all kinds of music. When it comes to music there is no point in closing off an avenue where you might hear a sound, beat, or lyrics that may change your world. It could be hip-hop, disco, rock, pop, ska, trip-hop, electronic, and everything in-between. I myself have an eclectic mixture on my playlist at home and in the car. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care too much if people find it amusing that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Copacabana\u00e2\u20ac\u009d will be blasted from my car or if it is stereotypical that I will bob my head along to some too loudly played Busta. I just get into it.<\/p>\n

Even with all of that I have a relatively small CD collection. It is not that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go looking for music it is just that when I do 80% of the album is crap. It comes as such a disappointment. I still managed to rack up about 60 albums and most of those I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t listen too just because there is no point. The rest of the collection is made up of compilations, soundtracks, and mix-discs put together my friends or myself. I prefer to listen to those because there is a good variety and I get to choose what I hear. What is even bigger is my MP3 collection. There are a couple of thousand songs there. I just open up my Winamp, put it on shuffle, and then press play. It will jump from Mozart, to Madonna, to the Ink Spots, to Radiohead, to Johnny Taylor, and to Pharrell. It is always a surprise.<\/p>\n

Why am I telling you this? Well it is because recently I have felt like I am not hearing the music that I want to lately. My song collection has become stagnant and need a bit of refreshing. I actually when out and bought some CDs. It is something that I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t done for almost 2 years just because I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hearing anything of interest. My friends have been recommending artists and songs that have been good but weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t satisfying my hunger for some good hard beats.<\/p>\n

About a month ago I walked into an HMV with the sole intention of getting some music. I speedily walked past all the movies I wondered around and flipped through most of their selection. I picked out 2 CDs and I was happy with my selection but wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t overly optimistic about any of it. One of the discs I picked up was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Odd Couple\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by Gnarls Barkley. It is not \u00e2\u20ac\u0153new\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but it was released just over a year ago.<\/p>\n

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I have to say I was floored when I listened to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Odd Couple\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. I sat there wondering why I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hear this stuff on the radio. It is thoughtful, complex, well executed music. It has been perpetually in my CD player ever since.<\/p>\n

The CD has a clear beginning middle and end just like a movie. It starts with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Charity Case\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, an infectiously upbeat song about a lost soul looking for salvation (that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what I get from it anyways). And the juxtaposition between the light and the dark in this song are so seamlessly intertwined that you just get into it. The beat automatically gets your foot tapping and it prepares you for the songs to follow.<\/p>\n

All the songs that follow are lyrically deep and musically astonishing. The duo manages to create a cohesive whole while using vastly different parts. There is Soul, R & B, Trip-hop, Bossa Nova and Jazz to be found. You would think that these would not fit together but the talent portrayed here by Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo is simply immense.<\/p>\n

It is hard for me to pick a favourite song off the album because the whole thing is just so good. But 2 songs that stick out in my mind are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Would be Killer\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Whatever\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. These 2 songs are in the middle of the album, full of angst and rage. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Would be Killer\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is a dark, menacing little song that seems to relieve my tension. I get to be wicked for those 2 minutes as I sing along. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Whatever\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is full of suffering and optimism. Cee-Lo whines through the song about being alone and tormented daily. But at the chorus there is a lightness as he says \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cool. It could be better. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care. Whatever.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d This song is for anyone who has ever been an outcast.<\/p>\n

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