Jon Brion |
Jon Brion
Landmark work Kanye West, Graduation
Ass-kicking recent release Spoon, “The Underdog”
Wrestling name Sugar Magnolia!
A behind-the-scenes fixture on the LA singer-songwriter scene, Jon Brion sees no reason why a nice little folk-pop album can’t offer the same amount of ear-tickling detail as a state-of-the-art hip-hop track. His productions for Aimee Mann, Robyn Hitchcock, and Old 97’s frontman Rhett Miller are compact marvels of instrumental and textural detail. Ironically, it was his work on a version of Fiona Apple’s Extraordinary Machine album (a version that never saw the light of day) that brought him as close as he ever has been to household-name status. After squabbles with Apple and the label, Brion was canned and the album was finished by Mike Elizondo (see below), but a leaked Brion version of the album became an illicit Internet sensation, and Brion used the renown to expand his portfolio. First, he became a go-to guy for whimsical film-score sounds (that’s him plucking your heartstrings in Punch-Drunk Love and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Second, he started making state-of-the-art hip-hop tracks. Kanye West hired him to juice up material on both Late Registration and the new Graduation. Brion the orchestral maximalist also produced “The Underdog,” the hit cut on indie-rock minimalists Spoon’s recent Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, which demonstrates his growing devotion to diversification.|
— Mikael Wood
Danger Mouse |
Danger Mouse
Landmark work Danger Mouse, The Grey Album; Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere
Highly anticipating upcoming release Black Keys’ next album, as yet unnamed
Wrestling name Ikonoklast!
Known to his mother and to the Social Security Administration as 30-year-old Brian Burton, Danger Mouse has made a career out of defying easy description. Is he a smart-ass underground hip-hop guy, as suggested by his work with rappers Jemini and MF Doom? Or is he a touchy-feely soul-music maven, best represented by his hit collaboration with Cee-Lo in Gnarls Barkley? He’s also worked with scruffy hipster bands such as the Rapture and Sparklehorse — so is he a rock dude? The answer to all questions is, Yes. Danger first turned heads with 2004’s Internet-only The Grey Album, his meticulous mash-up of Jay-Z’s The Black Album raps with the Beatles’ “White Album” music. Since then, he’s treated the strictures of genre with very little respect. If it’s a sonic signature you’re looking for, start with chewy beats and then proceed to catchy choruses and crisp headphone background noise. But most important, expect the unexpected: Danger’s currently at work in the studio with the Ohio blues-rock duo the Black Keys, and he just finished work on a new album by former Tricky associate Martina Topley-Bird. He’s most interested in keeping us guessing.
— Mikael Wood
Related:
Guest lists, Neo-new-what?, Post-punk pantheon, More 
- Guest lists
What small, private lists like this remind us is that big, honking institutional lists are largely fictions, mirages of a consensus that no longer exists, if it ever really did in the first place.
- Neo-new-what?
The real album of the year is a disc that probably didn’t cross many people’s paths in 2006, a Rhino comp titled Future Retro that pairs various DJs/electronicists (Richard X, Tiga, the Crystal Method) with classic new-wave tracks by the Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen, Depeche Mode, and New Order.
- Post-punk pantheon
They were, by definition, misfits.
- Year in National Pop: New attitudes
Are we fated to pretend?
- Hip-hop is dead
Depraved hip-hop is the biggest thing to hit trailer-trash America since sliced meds — and not just in redneck pockets, where rap music hardly reached before, but in suburban enclaves where acts like Twiztid and Tech N9ne sell out shows with ease.
- Hip-hop from Hell
Depraved hip-hop is the biggest thing to hit trailer-trash America since sliced meds.
- 2008 Listravaganza!
We are not at all sick of bands with animal names yet and seem to have a soft spot for Erykah Badu that we kept very hush about all year.
- Forward into the past!
Could it be just a coincidence that as I sit here writing this, a grizzled Bob Seger is gearing up for the release of Face the Promise , the Detroit rocker’s first proper studio album in, oh, forever and a day? The Lemonheads, "No Backbone" (mp3)
- Portland Phoenix Best Music Poll local winners 2000-2007
- Top 10 Hyphy Videos of all time
With Warner Bros. snapping up the cream of the Yay Area rap scene , TVT capitalizing on Hyphy Hitz , and even indie-rock geeks learning how to ghost ride the whip , we figured it's high time to take a quick look back at how we got here. So get your stunna shades on and get ready to go dumb: it's the top 10 hyphy videos of all time!
- Big business
Now that the music biz has licked its wounds from a nasty 2005, things are finally starting to heat up, and an indie-heavy winter is giving way to a more major spring.
- Less
Topics:
Music Features
, Britney Spears, Timbaland, Amy Winehouse, More
, Britney Spears, Timbaland, Amy Winehouse, U2, Gnarls Barkley, Mick Jones, The Black Keys, Danger Mouse, Danger Mouse, James Blunt, Less
