DANGER MOUSE レコード& CD

Review: It's been 17 years since Danger Mouse's last hip-hop album - the epic collaboration with the late great MF Doom. For the first time since 2005, we have a new one, Cheat Codes, to get stuck into following collabs with Daniele Lupi and Karen O and some production work with Gnarls Barkley and Gorillaz. It is a triumph, too, with tough beats uplifting while the rapper lays down endless bars that are free for choruses. It is a mix of the new school and the old school that is utterly, typically, intoxicating.

Review: A new album that is not a new album. It was written more than 20 years ago but somehow never saw the light of day until now. It is soul and funk-infused hip-hop gem that follows on from Danger Mouse and Jemini's debut LP, Ghetto Pop Life, which itself is 20 years old in 2024. Inspired by the success of that album, Ghetto Pop Life, the duo went out on tour and also wrote Born Again but shelved it until now. The previously unheard record retains the debut's fun-loving, shit-talking innocence while adopting a more introspective tone. Jemini's free-flowing cadence and Danger Mouse's resonant instrumentals create a classic hip-hop record that blends light-hearted topics with personal, poignant lyrics about redemption and relationships.

Review: This marks the first re-press since the 2019 release of Lux Prima, which is the critically acclaimed album by Yeah Yeah Yeahs' lead vocalist Karen O and renowned producer Danger Mouse. Hailed as a "dreamy and poignant collaboration" back then, the album featured the single 'Woman' which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance and a Spike Jonze-directed performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The reissue includes original artwork and a 16-page booklet highlighting their interactive exhibition, An Encounter with Lux Prima, which featured a 360-degree soundscape mixed at Skywalker Ranch.