Customer Reviews

Dark Night of the Soul [BOOK ONLY]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There are reviews bashing Dark Night Of The Soul, and these are obviously uninformed sources.

The musical portion of Dark Night Of The Soul is not included with the book. Instead, a blank CD-R is included that is clearly labeled: "For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will."
This is due to an ongoing legal dispute between Danger Mouse and EMI, it is uncertain if the music will ever be commercially released. So the CD is included in the hope that there might be an alternative avenue to getting the music.

(This is the part where you learn how to get music from the internet. On your own.)

If you love the surreal world that David Lynch creates in a movie, and the visual style he uses to create them, then this book is a visual treat. Here in a collection of Lynch's color photography we get to see new Lynch scenes created for the still image. It's like fragments of unseen David Lynch movies and characters that we can only imagine. Are we in Twin Peaks? Or Inland Empire? Highly recommended for David Lynch fans. And since it's limited to just 5,000 copies this will probably go out of print quickly so probably better not to delay your purchase too long. Since I'm primarily buying this as a David Lynch fan I don't miss having the music, but it was pretty easy to find on the internet if you're looking for it.

I don't have the book yet,but plan on getting it after my next pay check.Anyway,I'm glad that the artists involved chose to go the Reznor,Radiohead,etc. route(in a sense) and just said "screw the label--the fans deserve the art".There are FAR too many awesome albums that get put on the shelf,never to be released,that could be classics.Happens all the time to work-a-holics like Bill Laswell.

Buuut...this project was totally unexpected!Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse doing a duo album would've been enough to sell me on it,but then they added in all the great guests and somehow Lynch jumped on board to handle art direction,some vocals AND a book of new art to accompany it?!Insane in the best way.More collaborations like this could be what saves the record industry from imploding.That's what they need to do:make albums that involve more than just digital info put on a CD that can be easily downloaded.Get back into the business of making albums that stand on their own as art instead of pumping out CDs in the most cost-effective manner.

The music:more-or-less this is another Danger Mouse album that has his distinctive, poppy beats and song structures.The addition of Sparklehorse adds guitar and a mellow aspect to the album;he is probably most-recognized in the song "Pain" with Iggy Pop--a good guitar-driven song that is almost punk but isn't because of SH's mellow tinge to the guitar sound.David Lynch's vocals are fed thru pro-tools or some other program that adds distortion;he sounds the same as he did on the Bluebob album and on the "Inland Empire" soundtrack--not so distorted that you can't make out the words, but not so clear that your focus drifts to how,erm...not-so-great of a singer he is.It works for him in the same way that the roboticized vocal distortion on Cynic's two albums does.All the other guest vocalists do a great job and there isn't a single filler track in the whole album.This bodes well for Danger Mouse fans and folks who dig the more poppy side of music;I'm not a huge fan of most of DM's work and I can't stand 90%of pop music,but this album's full of pop music that you won't be slightly ashamed to listen to.This was a bit of a risk for DM too,associating himself with dark lyrics and the dark reputation of Lynch after becoming a household name for producing "sunshine pop" or club-friendly tunes for the most part up until now.

The lyrics are great,the music has lots of repeat-listening value,and it is pop music that I'm not ashamed to say that I enjoy for one of the first times this decade!

This is a must-have collection of color photographs. If you like his surreal movies than this is book is a visual treat. It's limited to an edition of 5,000 copies so don't let this one slip by.

future collectible item for sure.
get your signed copy before they are too expensive!

this is a review for the CD, not the book.
I don't have the book... since it's selling for crazy $$$$...
But it's easy to download the music on the web...
Type the title into google...

The CD is good. Some of it better than others, each song different and featuring different guest artist, with DJ dangermouse running the show...
Oh and it's free.
Also, check out the new Broken Bells - that CD is incredible.

I am slightly biased as a huge fan of david lynch's work towards the photos. they are beautiful and dramatic and my partner and i hope to blow up a few of them and have them as prints in our house.

the music is also excellent and moody and a lovely counterpart. the book only comes iwth a blank cd so you have to find the music yourself but its not too hard. i really loved this

i love this so much. it blows my mind. i could stare at it all day with the album blaring on my stereo. genius!!

This book to go along with the album is intriguing to say the least. What was being conveyed through the images and music was definitely something that I haven't seen before. Thus making it enjoyable on a new level. Concepts like this are rare since most artists in music don't go for more than one plane of art. It is spectactular!

The story behind the album is well known, so I'll cover the music instead. The songs are incredible. Very dark and mellow, but somehow it manages to be catchy in a odd way. The vocals are done by a variety of guest musicians. Full listing is:

1. "Revenge" (featuring The Flaming Lips)
2. "Just War" (featuring Gruff Rhys)
3. "Jaykub" (featuring Jason Lytle)
4. "Little Girl" (featuring Julian Casablancas)
5. "Angel's Harp" (featuring Black Francis)
6. "Pain" (featuring Iggy Pop)
7. "Star Eyes (I Can't Catch It)" (featuring David Lynch)
8. "Everytime I'm with You" (featuring Jason Lytle)
9. "Insane Lullaby" (featuring James Mercer)
10. "Daddy's Gone" (featuring Mark Linkous and Nina Persson)
11. "The Man Who Played God" (featuring Suzanne Vega)
12. "Grim Augury" (featuring Vic Chesnutt)
13. "Dark Night of the Soul" (featuring David Lynch)

Personal favorite tracks are 2, 7, and 12, though there isn't a bad track on here. It comes with a book of photos by David Lynch which is meant to be a visual narrative. This album will be on everyone's best of '09 list.