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Before The Grey Album blew up on the internet he had some ideas of releasing it. Due to all the Beatles samples I don’t think he was expecting it to be sold in stores was more likely to be a free promo kind of thing. Anyway I got a review copy and press release in the mail one day. I liked it and shortly after I talked to him and we went over track by track on the album. I wrote up a little thing and this was published in Tablist magazine (issue #4).

Lawyers got involved pretty fast and Danger Mouse was given a cease and desist and never had a chance to put out the album. It did make it’s way online and was downloaded over a million times on its first day. It quickly spread around the web and really put Danger Mouse on the map. Since Tablist has long since been out of business and the info is no where to be found on the web I thought it would be a good idea to republish it here.

Jay-Z “What More Can I Say” [Danger Mouse Remix]

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In November of 1968 The Beatles released The White Album. 35 years later, Jay-Z dropped The Black Album. After more then 200 hours of work Danger Mouse created The Grey Album; acapellas from The Black Album over beats that were made from samples from The White Album. Danger Mouse sat down with charlie bucket to explain the method to his madness.

PSA – I sampled “Long, Long, Long.” This was hard because the loop wasn’t in 4/4 time. It was in 3/4 time so I had to count it out.

What More Can I Say – I sampled “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” The baseline wasn’t clean. I had to go back and edit out the notes before I could use it.

Encore – I sampled “Glass Onion” for the first part and “Savoy Truffle” for when it switches up. “Encore” was one of the last songs I did. I wanted to do something simple. It’s basically just two loops. The only thing I really did was play with space and drop instruments in and out.

December 4th – I used “Mother Nature’s Son.” It works good and I like that on this song. It has his mother talking to him and the Beatles song is “Mothers Nature’s Son.” On this song I started going crazy with a lot of different drum patterns.

99 Problems – I sampled “Helter Skelter.” This one actually took me the longest to do. I wanted to match the feel of Rick Rubin’s original. I couldn’t get the rhythm right. I kept trying to fit the drums but they didn’t work. So basically I did the bassline instead. If you listen to it the drums are just kind of there and it’s the baseline that’s rolling. It’s what moves the song.

Dirt Off Your Shoulder – I sampled “Julia.” I set it up so people could see what I used to make it. It sounds Eastern. I wanted to keep the feel of Timbaland’s original.

Moment of Clarity – The sampled “Happiness is a Warm Gun.” It made it kind of a darker song.

Change Clothes – I sample “Piggies.” That song is crazy on its own. I don’t think most Beatles fans like that song. I had fun combining the two. I sampled the bassline from “Dear Prudence.”

Allure – I sampled “Dear Prudence.” It completely changed the feel of the song.

Justify My Thug – I sampled “Rocky Raccoon.” I wanted to change the feel of the song a little bit.

Lucifer – I sampled “Revolutin 9″ and “I’m So Tired.” It’s kind of a play on the records back then when they said there were messages hidden in Beatles records. If you play it backwards there are some surprises in there. It was just for fun.

My First Song – I sampled “Cry Baby Cry.” I wanted to make a beat that would be insane but still somewhat work with the accapella. A lot of people don’t like this one, but I do.

Related Links
The Beatles – Website
Danger Mouse – Website
Jay-Z – Myspace / Website
The Grey Video download

Introducing is a new feature I’d like to bring to the site where I shine a spotlight on a up and coming and or not well known yet artist. To kick things off I talked to producer Alex Goose. Although he messed with things over the years he has been producing seriously since 2004. He started with an Ensoniq EPS sampler but has moved on to other things but was secretive on what he is using currently using.

Alex Goose “Hova Needs This”

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Alex Goose “Dear Winter”

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He just recently put up a free album called The Blueprint 3 Outtakes.The story goes an A&R with the Roc heard the stuff Alex did for Brittany Bosco and got in touch via Myspace to get a tape from him for Blueprint 3. Alex went though hundreds and hundreds of his beats that he thought might work well with Jay-Z and made some new ones and sent the best in. “The A&R liked them but he told me Jay didn’t really hear anything that he was looking for. My tracks didn’t match the sound of the Blueprint 3 obviously. I just made what I envisioned could be a classic record for Hova. Our visions didn’t click together. It happens.“ So Alex made some of the tracks he sent in available to download for free to share what could have been. He and his team did a nice job on the presentation of the site as well. Although when I downloaded the album it took a really long time, I imagine it was due to everyone trying to grab it at the same time.

But even though that Jay-Z opportunity didn’t work I asked what other artists would he like to work with. “Beck, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Nas, Kid Cudi, Raekwon, The Black Lips, Deerhunter, Beirut, Grizzly Bear, Warpaint..those are just some of many I have on an actual list. Mostly rock bands because I feel like I could learn more. I feel like it’s harder to politically push boundaries within hip-hop because people are scared to take chances but chances usually equal success. Let’s be honest…when was the last classic album put in hip-hop? I’m so tired of 808 claps.“

In the past he has worked with Brittany Bosco and Danny! and is currently working with and Jake Troth (Myspace). Def Jux rapper Danny! is the most well known out of the bunch. They met each other in school. Both attended the Savannah College of Art and Design and began working on music together in 2005. Alex did all of the production on the upcoming Danny! record called Where is Danny? some of the guests include Che Grand, Danny Brown, Von Pea, and Drake among others. Talking about the record Alex said “It’ll be interesting to see what people think because it’s a different sound compared to anything him or I have done in the past. It’s not particularly my production style but i wanted to capture what he was going for, which is minimalism. He was particularly inspired by the Madvillain record and wanted to push boundaries of what people perceive as a hip-hop record. I listen to a lot of garage, folk rock and pysch rock from the 60’s which is where a lot of the inspiration came from on the production end. It contains a lot of obscure samples and psychedelic tones. It’s kind of like an art record.“

I also asked if he was a fan of Ant (of Atmosphere) as some of his stuff samples the same songs Ant has and wondered where he stood on the whole this sample has been used before issue. “I find this all a bit funny so I’ll explain my take on it. To me, samples are free ground and it’s all about who can flip it the hottest if it gets into any “they used this sample first” type of thing but I don’t really care. It’s obvious we both look through similar sample sources. The “soul” sampled tracks on the BP3 Outtakes including “Walk Away” are pretty old. Like “Walk Away” was made originally made in 2004, but I resurfaced it last spring and changed the drums on it because I wasn’t as good at drum programming then but I knew it could be good for Hova. I went through like 600+ old tracks to see if there was anything I started awhile ago that I could resurface and that was one of them. I sampled a lot of stuff of that Laura Lee album actually. Same with “Rise” which is a Bo Hanson sample that I’ve had for years because I love his music. The tracks on this album aren’t even everything I sent him, just my favorite ones. Either way, Ant and I obviously sample similar things. I rarely sample soul any more these days but more so, late 60’s psych rock, prog rock and french and italian soundtracks… because that’s what I actually listen to in my own free time. I’ve got people hitting me up saying that I flipped the samples better than him which is tight but I don’t really care about all that. I just wanted to make good music that I thought Hova could rock too. Funny story…I sampled “In The Space” by Janko Nilovic years ago, the same one No I.D. used for Jay’s DOA song. I’ve had that sample for so long. So I know how that feels…“


Danny! “Lip Flappin’” (Produced by Alex Goose)

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Brittany Bosco “It Was You” (Produced by Alex Goose)

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As for as upcoming projects the previously mentioned Where is Danny? album is coming out soon on Definitive Jux records. Also Alex is doing some work on Brittany Bosco’s album Black along with producer Omer Ferrer & The Big Up!. Also a small update to the article Alex will be working on an album with Chicago rapper GLC (Myspace) best known for being on the Kanye’s songs “Drive Slow” and “Spaceship”. It will be a kind of music + fashion thing with Alex producing, GLC rapping and designer Matt Senna doing clothing through his company Jamie Marx (website) for the project. You can download The Blueprint 3 Outtakes for free at theblueprint3outtakes.com also he did some work on Brittany Bosco’s Spectrum 2.0 and you can download the album or select tracks for free at brittanybosco.bandcamp.com

Links

• Alex Goose Facebook / Myspace / Twitter / Website
• Danny! Facebook / Myspace / Twitter / Website
• Brittany Bosco Bankcamp / Facebook / Myspace / Twitter

This weeks Vs. is a battle between Just Blaze and Dave 1. Both use the same Jackson 5 sample to create their songs. Just Blaze produced the original “P.S.A.” on The Black Album but this is a remix he also did that appeared on S.Carter The Re-Mix (2004) album. S Carter The Re-Mix was a promo album given away when you bought some of Jay-Z’s Reebox shoes a few years ago. The Dave 1 version is on the song “Cult Leader” by Non Phixion it appears on their album The Future is Now (2002). Dave 1 is also 1/2 of the group Chromeo and is DJ A-Trak’s older brother. As I mentioned it’s a Jackson 5 sample from the song “Walk On” from their Goin’ Back to Indiana album. The Jackson 5 song “Walk On” is actually their take on an Isaac Hayes song called “Walk On By” that will be focus of next weeks Vs.

Jay-Z “PSA Remix”

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Non Phixion “Cult Leader”

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Which song do you like better and who do you think (Just Blaze or Dave 1) did a better job with the song? Leave a comment

As I might have said before Janko Nilovic was the reason I got interested in the MP2000 label so I turn to another one of his impression records for this MP2000 Monday. Psyc Impressions is an early record #06 in the MP2000 line up. It recently got some attention because No I.D. sampled a different song from it for Jay Z’s “D.O.A.” song on Blueprint 3 but certain people have known about this record for a long time. Enjoy.

Janko Nilovic “Shadow Of Our Life”

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Also MP2000 fans don’t forget to check out the MP2000 Super Posts 1,2 & 3 for lots of more info and goodness