The Odd Couple

全英9週1位の『クレイジー』から4年！ナールズ・バークレイ・イズ・バック！2006年の音楽シーンを席巻したDJのデンジャー・マウスとヴォーカルのCee-Loからなるスーパ・プロジェクトのセカンド・アルバムが到着。今作も前作同様カッティングエッジな内容ながら、前作以上にCee-Loのソウルフルな歌声が前面に出た内容。あのジャスティン・ティンバーレイクもキャメオ出演しているプロモ・クリップも話題のサイケデリック・ソウルなシングル「Run」を含む本作は、ロック、ソウル、ファンク、ヒップホップ、エレクトロニカなどあらゆる音楽を取り入れた、またまた型破りな内容！

Rolling Stone (p.60) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "'Charity Case' is Gnarls at their finest, with chain-gang grunts and gasps, tinkling chimes, spy-movie guitar and R&B organ..." Spin (p.91) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[O]ne of the remarkable things about THE ODD COUPLE is its seamlessness....It's a parti-colored pop trip unlike anything else out there." Entertainment Weekly (p.65) - "ODD is impeccably produced and impressively layered, an esoteric love letter to both of-the-moment studio trickery and bone-deep vintage soul." -- Grade: B+ Uncut (p.95) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Most of these tracks combine a seductive, upbeat surface with unsettling sonic textures beneath....The result is a milestone in modern psychedelic soul." CMJ - "'Who's Gonna Save My Soul' is a haunting three-minute journey through sultry film noir alleys, replete with a melancholic plucked guitar..." Vibe (p.69) - "The finished product has glorious results -- it sounds like an antique shop where dusty albums by Ennio Morricone, The 5th Dimension, and Reverent C.L. Franklin are always playing on three turntables." Q (Magazine) (p.127) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[A] pop record at heart....The production seems brighter, sharper, with more emphasis on melody -- exemplified by the haunting 'Who's Gonna Save My Soul'..." Blender (Magazine) (p.77) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Gnarls tap in to the lingering power of old soul music: the terse structures, the testifying vocals, the danceable beats and, especially, the full-fledged melodies..." Record Collector (magazine) (p.92) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[The album brings] a little bit of dark imagination into pop's mainstream....Cee-Lo's one of the most interesting hip-hop/R&B stars..." Clash (Magazine) (p.113) - "'No Time Soon' is a cracked-magenta torch song of staggering beauty...and 'Who's Gonna Save My Soul' bursts clean out of the widescreen soul frame..."

In a world where it's the norm to have a one-off collaboration between a producer and a rapper, something special has to happen to prompt a sequel. Of course, "Crazy" was all the prompting needed for Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse to rejuvenate Gnarls Barkley, their collaboration by mail that sparked the brightest and catchiest single since OutKast's "Hey Ya." But fans and critics have to understand that these two were exactly the types to walk away from a follow-up simply for the purpose of a cash-in, which makes that follow-up, The Odd Couple, such a strange proposition -- it's exactly like St. Elsewhere, and fails to reveal a single new thing. All the hallmarks of a follow-up record are here -- similar sounds and themes, for sure, but also a clear lack of innovation, lyrical and production touches that have since become cliches, and more than just a few passages that will prompt a severe case of listener deja vu. (Of course, many listeners may enjoy that sense of deja vu.) As before, Danger Mouse's productions are miniature, modernist spaghetti Westerns, very closely detailed whether their major voice is an acoustic guitar or a choir of unholy voices. These are then chained to amped-up beats and beefed-up basslines to create something that sounds both vintage and up to date, all at the same time. Cee-Lo's lyrics and vocals again reveal a lunatic (or seer) who's occasionally more lucid than the sane, an enlightened psychopath wrestling with his demons and revealing the thin line between being crazy and sensible. At times, The Odd Couple is a more beautiful record than its predecessor -- the duo has never put out anything more moving on a musical and emotional level than "Who's Going to Save My Soul," and Danger Mouse's production work outshines St. Elsewhere on one track ("Open Book"). But all too often Cee-Lo relies on the same sort of lyrical cipher as on St. Elsewhere, although none of them are as effective. "I don't understand how I'm so understanding"; "I'm goin' on, and I think they'll have a place for you too"; "I could be a would-be killer" -- these are the ramblings of a madman; they may sound deep and profound late at night, but they're revealed as nonsense with the light of day. ~ John Bush

“Crazy”のデビュー・ヒットで名を馳せた怪コンビの2作目は、前作以上にシー・ローの才能が際立った一枚となった。変幻自在な怪鳥ヴォーカルはいっそうソウルフルに炸裂し、強烈にブルースを感じさせるものに。現在はベックと絡んでいるデンジャー・マウスもこの濃い素材を見事にポップへと昇華させていて、完成品はまさにハイブリッドとしか言いようがない仕上がりだ。両者の出会いが必然だったと改めて納得させられる傑作!
bounce (C)金 雄大