Danger Mouse and EMI Settle "Dark Night of the Soul" Dispute

Nearly nine months after Danger Mouse's Dark Night of the Soul project hit stores with a blank CD, the producer and EMI have reached an agreement to formally issue the album with music on the compact disc, the BBC reports. As Rolling Stone wrote last May, a legal hassle between Danger Mouse, or Brian Burton, and EMI stemming back to The Grey Album — Danger Mouse's mash-up of the Beatles' White Album with Jay-Z's Black Album — held up the release of Dark Night, a collaboration featuring the Shins' James Mercer, David Lynch, Julian Casablancas, Frank Black and more artists.

Because Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous was signed to EMI and featured prominently on Dark Night of the Soul, EMI threatened to sue if the album was released. Danger Mouse combated the threat by including a blank CD, hinting that fans should download and burn the leaked version of the album. However, Danger Mouse now tells the BBC, "The problems of last year are last year, so hopefully it will be out soon in June or something like that." EMI also said that their issues with the producer had been resolved and that they were looking forward to working with him again. Danger Mouse previously produced Gorillaz's Demon Days, released through EMI, and had no problems then with the label.

Broken Bells, Brian Burton's latest project with the Shins' James Mercer, will release their self-titled debut album next week. The pair, who are featured in the new issue of Rolling Stone, first joined forces on the Dark Night of the Soul album.

Related Stories:
• Danger Mouse's Dark Night Of the Soul Album Threatened By Lawsuit
• Behind Danger Mouse's "Dark Night of the Soul" With Linkous and Lynch

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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