Dark Night of the Soul (album)

Dark Night of the Soul
Studio album by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse
Released	July 12, 2010 (2010-07-12)[1]
Genre	Indie rock, Alternative Hip-Hop
Length	46:18
Language	English
Label	Capitol/EMI Records 50999 6 48136 2 2 C2-48136
Producer	Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse
Alternative Cover
Final release cover

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
onethirtybpm	(86%)[2]
Pitchfork Media	(7.4/10)[3]
SPIN Magazine	[4]
BBC	(positive)[5]

Dark Night of the Soul is an album written by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse.^[6] It features a wide range of singers, which include 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.^[6]

This was the final album 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.

Book and album

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.

There are two book packages of Dark Night of the Soul:

• Dark Night of the Soul book and blank CD-R
  • Limited edition art book containing 100+ pages of original photographs by celebrated film director David Lynch. Only 5,000 copies were printed and each one was hand-numbered.
  • 24"×36" poster
  • Custom-designed CD-R
• Dark Night of the Soul alternate poster and blank CD-R
  • Alternate 24"×36" poster
  • Alternate CD-R design

Album

There are multiple music packages of Dark Night of the Soul:

• Dark Night of the Soul deluxe boxed set (Only 5,000 copies)
  • 1 Double-Vinyl Gatefold LP (complete album)
  • 2 CDs - (complete album and complete instrumental)
  • 3 Lobby Cards
  • 1 Poster
  • 1 Photo Print
  • 1 12" booklet with David Lynch photography

• Dark Night of the Soul Standard LP
  • 1 Standard LP (13 tracks)

• Dark Night of the Soul heavyweight double vinyl gatefold LP
  • 1 Standard LP (Complete Album - 13 tracks)
  • This set comes with the complete mp3 downloads of the album.

• Dark Night of the Soul CD
  • 13 tracks

• Dark Night of the Soul MP3 download
  • 13 tracks

• Dark Night of the Soul Deluxe MP3 download
  • 14 tracks
  • Bonus track – "Dark Night of the Soul" (featuring David Lynch) [Sparklehorse Mix]

• Dark Night of the Soul exclusive version MP3 download
  • 15 tracks
  • Bonus tracks – Instrumental versions of "Revenge" and "Every Time I'm with You"

Legal dispute with EMI

Because of a dispute with the record label EMI, it was initially reported that there was a possibility that the album might never be released.^[6] However, the book is available for sale on the official Web site of Dark Night of the Soul, bundled with a blank recordable CD-R. All copies were clearly labeled as follows:

“

For legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will."[8]

”

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

“

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.[6]

”

Both parties of the dispute remained silent about the particulars, but it is believed that the problems with distribution centered around a record deal that Danger Mouse signed with Lex Records.^[9]

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.^[10] A Lex Records logo appears next to the Capitol Records logo on the final version.

The album was released July 12, 2010 in multiple formats.

Track listing

All songs written and composed and produced by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse

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. "Every Time 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. "The 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

Deluxe Edition MP3 download bonus track

14. "Dark Night of the Soul" (Sparklehorse Mix) – 4:34

Exclusive MP3 download bonus tracks

14. "Revenge" (featuring The Flaming Lips) [Instrumental] – 4:54
15. "Every Time I'm with You" (featuring Jason Lytle) [Instrumental] – 3:11

References

1. ^ "Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and David Lynch's album gets official release date". NME. April 22, 2010. http://www.nme.com/news/danger-mouse/50778. Retrieved April 22, 2010. 
2. ^ Woodall, Chris (June 11, 2009). "Album Review/Download: Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse — Dark Night of the Soul". onethirtybpm. http://onethirtybpm.com/2009/06/11/danger-mouse-and-sparklehorse-dark-night-of-the-soul/. Retrieved July 19, 2010. 
3. ^ Harvey, Eric (May 27, 2009). "Album Reviews: Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse: Dark Night of the Soul". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13193-dark-night-of-the-soul/. Retrieved July 19, 2010. 
4. ^ Walters, Barry (June 9, 2010). "Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present: 'Dark Night of the Soul' (EMI) Entrancing transmission from the grim beyond". SPIN. http://www.spin.com/reviews/danger-mouse-and-sparklehorse-present-dark-night-soul-emi. Retrieved June 9, 2010. 
5. ^ Lawrence, Alistair (July 7, 2010). "Music — Review of Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse — Dark Night of the Soul". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/qb3q. Retrieved July 19, 2010. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d} Hilton, Robert (June 27, 2010). "Exclusive First Listen: Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Team up with David Lynch". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104129585. Retrieved May 15, 2009. 
7. ^ "Dark Night of the Soul". http://www.dnots.com/. Retrieved May 15, 2009. 
8. ^ "Danger Mouse to release blank CD". BBC. May 16, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8053471.stm. Retrieved May 16, 2009. 
9. ^ Sisario, Ben (June 11, 2009). "A New CD that Has No Music but Lots of Pictures". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/arts/music/11danger.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all. Retrieved June 11, 2009. 
10. ^ Greenblatt, Leah (March 9, 2010). "Remembering Sparklehorse frontman Mark Linkous: 1962-2010". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/09/sparklehorse.frontman.mark.linkous.ew/index.html. Retrieved March 9, 2010. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Official site
• NPR's stream of the album
• Danger Mouse's Next Album Will Be A Blank CD-R