Album review: 'Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi Present Rome'
3.5 stars (out of 4)
The projects by serial collaborator Danger Mouse, a k a producer-songwriter Brian Burton, have ranged from cultish (“Dangerdoom” with rapper MF Doom) to spectacularly (if unexpectedly) commercial (the 2006 Gnarls Barkley album, “St. Elsewhere”). Almost all of them have yielded music that shows omniverous range and a sure feel for melody.
On “Rome” (Capitol), Danger Mouse joins composer Daniele Luppi to revisit the golder age of Italian film scores, specifically the “Spaghetti Westerns” of Ennio Morricone. This is about big-picture soundscapes rather than individual star turns, so even high-profile guests such as Jack White and Norah Jones meld into the concise but richly detailed songs (Jones’ self-effacing personality is well-suited toward that sort of approach, while White allows his voice to become just another creepy texture on “The Rose With a Broken Neck”).
Burton and Luppi are wise to employ many of the original musicians and singers featured on classic ‘60s soundtracks such as “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” and “Once Upon a Time in the West.” They also recorded in Rome’s Form Studios, founded by Morricone. The wordless harmonizing by Alessandro Alessandroni’s choir, the evocative vocals of soprano Edda Dell’Orso, the melancholy chime of a celesta, the queasy rumble of a carnival organ, clipped guitars playing against a swooning string section – each of these sounds connects with a beloved, bygone era. But “Rome” does one better than conjure nostalgia; it puts those vintage signifiers in service of fine, contemporary songs.
greg@gregkot.com