Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi - Rome

Once again, Danger Mouse returns to the scene with one of his endless one-off collaborations to prove his status as the King Midas of music production, turning into gold every record he touches.

Record after record, the man has had the chance to work and create some fine material with the likes of Sparklehorse, Cee Lo or James Mercer. This time, Danger Mouse teams up with Italian soundtrack-composer Daniele Luppi for a record that pays tribute to the great soundtracks of spaghetti-westerns, Italian cinema of the 60’s and to that great composer that is Ennio Morricone.

In 15 tracks the duo manages to do a mighty job, constructing lush soundscapes and a nostalgic atmosphere, traveling back in time and then forward, to bring us what could very well be the soundtrack to a Sergio Leone production.

While the duo work as the brain, composing and producing, the front stage is left to the voices of Jack White and Norah Jones that serve surprisingly well for the purpose, adding and contributing several layers of depths to an already rich sound. Such is the case with Season’s Trees calm, poetic, violin-rich atmosphere, complemented by Norah Jones warm vocals - it all works too well.

The record is now and then broken up by little interludes, all instrumental, that serve as a bridge between the different parts of the album and the different vocals. It is, however, with Her Hollow Ways (Interlude) that you are left begging for more, as Daniele Luppi does a wonderful job creating an amazingly tender and heart-aching composition that unfortunately lasts less than a minute.

Now, I’m afraid Jack White’s voice isn’t exactly what I would call the best set of vochal chords. However, I really must admit that in this case, Danger Mouse has had the insight to cleverly assign his vocals to such tracks as Two Against One that, admittedly, sounds excellent, as if it were exclusively composed for Mr. White.

It is apparent then that Danger Mouse is a stone that cannot be moved. He knows what he can do and who to work with, and this is something he just keeps on proving without fail. They might not become records that will remain imprinted into people’s minds for years to come. Still, it is undeniable that if you are told that a record has been produced by Danger Mouse, you will know that you will like it and you will want it in your music library.