This piece should have been called “esreveR nI elpuoC ddO ehT yawA eviG yelkraB slranG. Gnarls Barkley’s The Odd Couple just became odder. Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo have inexplicably posted their new album as a free download. One thing, though: it’s backwards. Starting with album closer “A Little Better,” elpuoC ddO ehT features reversed vocals and backwards beats all in one thirty-eight-minute-long track. While sounding like the soundtrack for a film about Satanists, Danger Mouse’s production still shines through, deemphasizing Cee-Lo’s voice and putting the instrumentation more in the forefront. Download the thing for yourself here.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Gnarls Barkley frontman Cee-Lo Green. “As you can see,” he said from stage at New York City’s Highline Ballroom last night, “I’ve grown a full head of beautiful hair!” Onmi-pop duo Gnarls Barkley played their first show in support of just-released second album The Odd Couple, and yeah, first things first: Cee-Lo rocked a huge pompadour and clutched what looked like a vintage Shure, leading his six-piece crew (including producer Danger Mouse) as the howling frontman of a puffy-shirted soul band — maybe the kind that would play a bar mitzvah or the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance in Back to the Future. Together they previewed the set they’ll presumably be bringing out to the festival circuit this summer when they hit Lollapalooza, the KCRW World Festival and probably a couple others.

(Check out photos from the show here.)

It was a night of working out kinks — opener Santogold smiled and joked through her technical problems and her issues with remembering stage props. But when she hit the growling synths of “Creator,” everyone freaked out anyway, whether they knew her as the next rising kitchen-sink popster or just “Santowho?” she definitely made an impression. Apologizing up front for their own tech glitches, there were ostensibly problems with Gnarls Barkley’s earpiece monitors, what appeared to be an unplugged Moog, some ill-placed stage banter and a little lag-time when the five-blue-jacketed multi-instrumentalists approximated Mr. Danger Mouse’s kitschpunk productions by hectically switching from glock to upright bass to whatever — but damned if we noticed or cared. (more…)

In the current issue of Rolling Stone, Austin Scaggs spoke with Gnarls Barkley’s Cee-Lo about what comes after “Crazy” and the nature of genius. The crooner born Thomas DeCarlo Callaway also chatted about Goodie Mob, Kurt Cobain and dressing up like Dr. Evil. For an expanded version of the interview, click here.

[Photo: Jeffery A. Slater]

The new Gnarls Barkley disc won’t be released until April, but we got the chance to hear a few new cuts early. The verdict: Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse have produced another album of super-catchy tunes that veer between retro-soul shakedowns, tricked-out psychedelic rock and trunk-rattling hip-hop. While nothing sounds as indelible as “Crazy,” the first two tracks that the pair are considering for a lead single are pretty ace: one is a funked-up organ groove complemented by French horns, a chorus of “la la la”s and Cee-Lo crooning in his throaty rasp, “Here it comes/Say it loud!” The other track, which we’re told is the duo’s favorite, is drastically different: a sinister ballad featuring intricately strummed acoustic guitar chords. Cee-Lo’s mood turns dark as he repeats over and over, “Who’s gonna save my soul?/I know I’m out of control.” It’s a stylish, spooky take on Robert Johnson’s delta blues—and even that suits them just fine.

[Photo: Getty]

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